18/05/2014
Please raise a glass to Mike Ghialarducci, friend, esteemed colleague and great traveling companion. His memorial takes place today at the Depot Hotel in Sonoma.
Thanks for all the good times Mike.
Dear Friends, Colleagues and Loyal Customers,
As many of you know, Michael, our beloved Co-owner, Chef-proprietor, and father to our Executive Chef, passed away suddenly this week. His career in the restaurant business spanned fifty-five years, beginning with his work in L’Auberge in Redwood City and his father’s restaurant Villa d’Este in Los Altos. Michael opened his first restaurant, “Chez Joseph” on Jack London Square in Oakland in 1970, followed by “Columbus Street” in Los Altos, and “Liaison” in Palo Alto.
On December 9, 1985, Michael and Gia purchased Sonoma’s historic Giacomo Mazza House, taking over a business long known locally as the “Depot Hotel Restaurant.” Michael and Gia converted the upstairs floor of the Mazza House into their family home, where they proceeded to raise their two children, Gianna Ghilarducci Kelly and Antonio Francesco Ghilarducci.
In total, Michael operated the Depot Hotel Restaurant with his family for 1,482 weeks, during which time he typically supervised ordering, menu preparation, and house operations. A week seldom went by without Michael pounding veal in the kitchen on a Wednesday morning, negotiating with wine salesmen at the bar at midday, or visiting tables and greeting guests at the door.
Michael was welcoming, gentle and affable; possessed of a deep, genuine laugh and a marvelous sense of mirth, yet also a seriousness and gravity as occasions called for.
We will carry on in Michael's spirit, as he would wish, by continuing to welcome guests and customers to the Depot. We look forward to seeing each of your smiling faces sometime in the coming months and hope that you will feel his warmth whenever you enter here.
