crestled in a microcosm to Los Gatos known as Redwood Estates, you find a charming little town with a post office, a bodega, and what the area has known for the last 30 years as Nonno’s.
Whether it was with the intention of escaping the fast paced hustle and bustle of the Silicon Valley, or because you needed a quick stop along your summer traffic along Highway 17, the pizzeria that stood on this mountainside, right under a giant oak tree, served as a pillar of community and belonging for the last three decades.
The curator of that experience was a 73-year-old man by the name of Ralph DiTullio.
“Nonno’s came from my wife’s grandfather, as he was known as Nonno,” DiTullio says. “But it was an homage to my grandfather because he taught me how to cook and garden, my two favorite things.”
Right as DiTullio begins his story, a couple sits across from us and begins sharing a Mediterranean Pizza. They feed one another and smile.
He also loves the craft of gardening—the behind-the-scenes production that goes into the dining experience.
“If it grows, I’ll grow it: fruit, vegetables—and some of it makes it into the restaurant, too,” he says. “Connected to our lot we grow lemons, limes and oranges—and even some herbs. We even used to grow a lot of our own tomatoes.”
A true passion for the business and its process, DiTullio delves into what made the place such a success.
“The tri-tip is our best selling sandwich,” he says. “The Italian sub does really well, as a close second. Our best selling pizza is pepperoni, but also the combo, Hawaiian and margarita. Aroma tomato, artichoke hearts, fresh basil, pine nuts, and garlic makes the Mediterranean. That’s it. I hate to say it, but I learned it from my dad. I like to entertain people. I know people love the food, but it’s the package deal.”
He describes what goes into making the pizzas, as the couple next to us finish theirs. They’ve replenished themselves with nourishment and laughter.
DiTullio has a longstanding connection to Los Gatos, as he moved here with his family at the age of nine—though was born in East San Jose. He graduated from LGHS (Class of ’71).
He began working in the service industry early on.
“My first jobs were in the restaurant business as a busboy and dishwasher,” he remembers. “My first restaurant in Los Gatos was called the London Oyster. I worked there in 1970 when I was a Junior at Los Gatos High. It’s in the building where the Opera House is now.”
He recalls how exciting a time it was coming up with the concept for this restaurant.
‘It was all of us that built the community’
—Ralph DiTullio
“Nonno’s started in 1986 on Pollard Road, strictly as a take-and-bake for pizzas,” he says. “We stayed there for five years, until the lease was up. Then we moved to Kirkwood in Campbell and stayed there for about seven or eight years. One day my food sales gal came in to take my order, and she told me she knew of a perfect place. I was thinking of closing my restaurant at the time. I was approaching 40 and I thought my life was almost over.”
DiTullio laughs.
“I came and checked it out and thought it was a great location,” he continues. “At that time, we were making take-and-bake pizzas in about seven small markets in the area, around Los Gatos.”
It Take a Village
“About 15 years after being established in Redwood Estates, one of my regulars who worked at Apple came and said he liked the wood-fired oven at their headquarters so much that he asked me to look for one and he would buy it,” he says. “I found a guy; he built the oven; the customer paid $3,000; and they built it. His plan for the repayment was to pay $10 a week per pizza, if the pizza cost $22, per se. He didn’t want to affect my cash flow. So, he paid for every pizza that he got, basically. It took a couple of years to pay off.”
DiTullio’s opening of the pizza parlor turned out to be about much more than just business. Rather, it was a story of community—and how what you give out comes back to you, tenfold.
“I was always looking for my purpose in life,” he says. “I believe we are all put on this earth to do something. And most people never figure out what that is. I always had a strong need to help, or facilitate, other people to have a better life. The whole reason for me coming here to open the place up was to build a community. I saw the world fracturing. I wanted to be a force in putting people together. And I found a lot of people that think the same way in this community. Those people stepped up and helped me facilitate that.”
DiTullio describes his journey to make a safe haven on the outskirts of Silicon Valley.
“At my going away party, I told everyone that this was my dream,” he says. “I got a half dozen kids jobs when we were starting out. And encouraged them to find better jobs when the time comes. I had 13 acres, and I let people sleep in mobile homes. People that I knew had a chance to make it in life. It’s really hard to put what this place meant to me into words. Though, what I tell everyone is that this place was my mission of love. I never made much money here, but it was never my intention. I am leaving here with very little cash in my pocket. But the memories I have with people for the last 30 years are what I will leave here with.”
Transfer of Title
So, why’s he selling? “Because I’m 73,” DiTullio laughs. “In order to work here, I have to work six days a week, 12 hours a day, and three hours on my day off. I’ve had two vacations in 30 years. I owe my family a little bit of me. I’ve given myself to the public for 30 years. My wife sees me in the dark.
“I am most worried about my customers, but I believe in the new owners,” he says. “I want to say to all our loyal customers for the last 30 years, this: Thank you from the bottom of my heart. But, always remember it wasn’t just me. It was all of us that built the community.”
DiTullio has already been thinking about what comes next.
“I am going to go back to gardening full-time,” he says, and “—maybe make a little bit of wine.”
County Tussle
In recent years, Nonno’s became embroiled in a paperwork battle with the County over his liquor license, which he says ended up costing him around $70,000.
“They told me I had to cease and desist,” he says. “I ran out of money after that. So, I had to sell out.”
Mike and Victoria Lehrman, a married mid-forties couple, are the new owners of the business.
DiTullio becomes visibly passionate talking about this. It’s clear Nonno’s was his baby.
“I am angry, yes, but I am beginning to understand it very well,” he says. “The government is non-responsive. And I am as liberal as it comes. Nobody was able to look at this as a stand-alone. They’re forcing me to get a use-permit.”
As we finish up chatting about the nitty-gritty of business and politics, Mike Lehrman walks in.
He takes a seat.
“We have lived in Los Gatos for eight years—right here in the mountains, and we heard through the grapevine that they were selling,” Lehrman says. “We had come and talked to Ralph a year and a half ago, but we realized it was a bigger project at the time to undertake. But, things have changed.”
Lehrman has hotel management experience with the Fairmont and Hyatt Place in San Jose.
“Then, I opened six new Marriott Hotels in Silicon Valley,” he says. “We had one other project that didn’t work out, which led me here. Ralph told us he wanted someone who was going to keep it as a restaurant, as well as someone who had experience in the business—who recognized how much work lay ahead. It’s not for the faint of heart. Jan. 31 we will assume ownership, as we own the land and the business. Our kids go to school up here. My wife works at the school. I’m on the board of directors for our community. We want to be of service to the community space.”
Lehrman says he doesn’t want to let Nonno’s customers down. He knows he has big shoes to fill.
“We want to invest in the building and the land: fresh menu updates, new flooring, new paint,” he says. “We would like to retire in this community in the mountains. We will begin coffee service here starting in the spring, planning to open at 7am, sort of as a test run.”
The idea is to create “a place for people to gather and entertain in the morning that doesn’t exist as of now,” Lehrman says. “We want you to feel at home here.”
Tech-driven careers are what Silicon Valley has become known for in the last several decades. But, as those resumes climb up the corporate ladder, people seek a place where they can go to in order to feel like they are home.
A grandfather, or Nonno, to the community, Ralph DiTullio, succeeded in creating that space, for three decades.
Through his hard work, he extended a helping hand and received devoted customers, in return.
Now a new owner will take up that mantle.
While success can often seem linear, Nonno’s is a reminder that, no matter what route we choose, we get back what we give.
I knew Ralph when was a little boy. I lived in the same neighborhood and my best friend was Dave Hendricks. He lived across the street from the DiTullios. I graduated from LGHS in 1968. My mother taught English at LGHS. I wonder if she had Ralph as a student. I was incredibly lucky to have gone to school at LGHS and grow up in Los Gatos in the 50s and 60s!