ANTONIO CAGNOLO
OWNER
ANTONELLO RISTORANTE
WHY: Owner and operator of 45-year-old Italian restaurant located at South Coast Plaza Village shopping center. Also runs Quattro Caffé at South Coast Plaza.
IN THE NEWS: Business Journal’s 2024 Restaurateur of the Year. Antonello Ristorante is likely OC’s longest-running upscale restaurant still overseen by its original owner.
NOTABLE: From Northwestern Italy. Built hospitality career working in F&B at Royal Garden Hotel in London, Monte Carlo’s Hotel de Paris and Jimmy’z nightclub until moving to CA in 1975 to run Alfredo’s at Westin South Coast Plaza hotel. Late developer Henry Segerstrom loved his cuisine and eventually helped Cagnolo open his own restaurant in 1979. Notable guests have included Magic Johnson, Madonna and Vince Ferragamo.
QUOTABLE: “They’ll have to drag my body out of here.”
