Together, they had built a successful career heading top kitchens and partnering with restaurants in Italy and New York.
But taking friends up on an offer to visit Arizona inspired Marcellino Ristorante owners Marcellino and Sima Verzino to trade life in the Big Apple for a life in the desert.
“On our fourth day here, we could see what was happening in this town. It was growing, it was beautiful… there was this buzz going on and you could feel it in the air,” said Sima, who handles front-of-the-house duties, of that day in January 2002. “We looked at each other and said, ‘Let’s do this.’ It was a snap decision.”
