Nonno is Retiring

At the end of January, our beloved Nonno (Ralph DiTullio) will be retiring. Nonno’s Italian has been a Los Gatos institution since 1987, supplying take-and- bake pizzas to many neighborhood shops. Ralph ran the location in Los Gatos for five years, then moved to Campbell for another five years. When he expressed an interest in moving up into the hills, a woman told him about a vacant building in downtown Redwood Estates. It was a perfect fit! He opened in 1995.

Originally it was just going to be a wholesale outlet to make and distribute his take-and-bake pizzas, but so many curious neighbors poked their heads in to ask what A camera crew films a scene from the Netflix movie, This Side Up, at Nonno’s was going on and to buy pizzas, that soon he was spending all his time making food for the local residents. He expanded to breakfasts and sandwiches, opened the back room to diners, and had an outside wood-fired pizza oven built. Nonno’s Italian became a local hotspot.

In 2010, Ralph bought the building and land and developed the back yard. He built bocce courts and a small outdoor stage around a lovely dining area shaded by oak trees. Over the years, Nonno’s has hosted neighborhood birthday parties, anniversaries, graduation parties, celebrations of life, and rehearsal dinners. Customers enjoyed Oktoberfest, with accordion players, hot pretzels, sausage, and sauerkraut. Musical included an impromptu concert by Y&T, evenings with our local Flamenco guitarist Rod Teague, the Joint Chiefs, and “open mike” nights for local children. Do you remember when the Netflix movie, This Side Up, was shot at Nonno’s? All the locals came out for their 15 minutes of fame, though most of the Nonno’s scenes ended up on the cutting -oom floor. Ralph did have a short scene, though.

A lot of our local kids got their first jobs at Nonno’s. Ralph is gratified to be serving meals to the children and grandchildren of his original clients. Cat Rescue. Redwood Estates has always had a large feral cat population. In 2023, the population exploded. Ralph organized with Project Purr of Santa Cruz to hold a spay clinic. Over two-months, volunteers and neighbors trapped close to 100 feral cats. In one day, they were spayed,

vaccinated, and microchipped by Project Purr. About 40 of the cats were tamed and adopted, and the rest were released back to their original environments. A few more clinics were held over the last year and now the population is controlled. One important note: people often drop off cats at Nonno’s because they know they’ll be taken care of.

Please know that this accommodation will Cleaning Up Redwood Estates. In 1995, Redwood Estates was a very different place! Teenagers and young adults had taken over the area, dealing drugs, selling alcohol to minors, and street fighting. Local sheriffs helped Ralph convince the kids to be more What will retirement look like for Ralph?

He’s planning to clean up his 13 acres, plant a big garden, finally hang out with his wife Liz, and volunteer with Project Purr. Ralph is very appreciative to the Redwood Estates and surrounding communities for all their love and support over the last 30 years.

He wants to acknowledge that Nonno’s could never have made it without the help Nonno’s will close on January 31, and will re-open February 4 with new owners, Michael and Victoria Lehrman. They plan to re-name the restaurant Pizzeria Vittoria.

Please help them be as successful as Nonno’s for the meals and the memories,