Cesare Cardini (also known as Caesar Cardini and César Cardini, February 24, 1896 – November 3, 1956) was an Italian

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspe ...

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

, and hotel owner who, along with his brother Alex Cardini (November 23, 1899 – December 22, 1974), is credited with creating

Caesar salad A Caesar salad (also spelled Cesar, César and Cesare), also known as Caesar's salad, is a green salad of romaine lettuce and croutons dressed with lemon juice (or lime juice), olive oil, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, anchovies, garlic, Dijon ...

Accessed 2007-07-21. at his

Tijuana Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...

restaurant,

Caesar's Caesar's is a restaurant inside a hotel of the same name on Avenida Revolución in Tijuana, Mexico. The restaurant is best known for originating the Caesar salad. History The restaurant was founded by Italian immigrants Cesare (Cesar) an ...

Biography

Caesar Cardini was born as Cesare Cardini in

Baveno Baveno is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, part of Piedmont, northern Italy. It is on the west shore of Lago Maggiore, northwest of Arona by rail. To the north-west are the famous red granite quarries, which have ...

, a ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' on the shore of

Lago Maggiore Lake Maggiore (, ; ; ; ; literally 'greater lake') or Verbano (; ) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the List of lakes of Italy, second largest lake in Italy and the List of lakes of Switzerland, largest in southern Sw ...

Northwest Italy Northwest Italy ( or just ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first level NUTS region and a European Parliament constituency. Northwest encompasses four of the ...

, and had seven siblings: Bonifacio, Annibale, Nereo, Alessandro, Carlotta, Gaudenzio and Maria. While the sisters, Bonifacio, and Annibale stayed in Italy, the other three brothers emigrated to America; Nereo opened a small hotel near the casino in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish language, Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the largest city and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population ...

; Alessandro and Gaudenzio eventually were in the restaurant business in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. Alessandro, called Alex in the US, is reported to have been Caesar's partner in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Cesare sailed as a steerage passenger on board the RMS ''Olympic'' which arrived at the Port of New York on May 1, 1913. After inspection at

Ellis Island Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...

, he boarded a train bound for

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. Cesare eventually returned to Italy but came back to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1919. With his partner William Brown, he ran Brown's Restaurant in

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

, then moved to

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. At that time, he established the first of several restaurants in Tijuana, where he could avoid the restrictions of

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

. He married the musician Camille D. Stump on August 27, 1924, in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana (Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As ...

. The couple had one daughter, Rosa Maria Cardini (1928–2003). Cardini is credited with creating

in 1924. Guests regularly crossed the California border to Tijuana for alcohol, not legally available in the U.S. during prohibition, and came to dine at Caesar's restaurant. According to a 1987 interview with his daughter Rosa, on July 4, 1924, they came in such numbers that Caesar "simply wasn't prepared for that many people" and he improvised by making the salad "to give the dinner guests a show as well as a meal", putting together the ingredients in the middle of the dining room. It soon became fashionable among

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

celebrities, especially after he had moved his restaurant a few blocks to the hotel, which was built around 1929 (nowadays called Hotel Caesar's). After the repeal of the

Volstead Act The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was an act of the 66th United States Congress designed to execute the 18th Amendment (ratified January 1919) which established the prohibition of alcoholic drinks. The Anti- ...

and the Mexican government's enactment of a ban on gambling, business from tourism to Tijuana drastically fell off. Cardini quit his Mexican businesses in 1936 and moved back to San Diego to establish the ''Caesar Cardini Cafe''. For several years, he operated ''Tavern Hacienda'' in San Diego, the ''Beacon Inn'' in Cardiff-by-the-Sea and his own ''Caesar Cardini Villa'' in

Chula Vista Chula Vista ( ; , ) is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is the second-most populous city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh-most populous city in Southern California, the 15th-most populous city in the ...

. The family moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

about 1938 and Cardini focused on the production and marketing of his salad dressing which he trademarked in 1948. He died in Good Samaritan Hospital on November 3, 1956, in

following a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

at his home at 8738 Bonner Drive and was buried in

Inglewood Park Cemetery Inglewood Park Cemetery, in Inglewood, California, was founded in 1905. A number of notable people, including entertainment and sports personalities, have been interred or entombed there. History The proposed establishment of "the larges ...

. His daughter took control of Caesar Cardini Foods Inc. Later, the ''Cardini's'' brand was sold, and is now owned by the T. Marzetti specialty salad dressing company. It is still popular and offers more than a dozen varieties of the original recipe.

Legacy

In Tijuana, Caesar's Restaurant and Bar on

Avenida Revolución Avenida Revolución (Spanish for "Revolution Avenue") is the tourist center in Tijuana, Baja California, México. It is a main thoroughfare of the historic downtown Tijuana, officially called ''Zona Centro'', which forms part of the ''Delegació ...

, now under Baja Med celebrity chef

Javier Plascencia Javier Plascencia is a chef from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, considered the most famous chef of the city and of all chefs, the one whose cuisine most helped define a new cuisine, Baja Med. Plascencia and Baja Med cuisine In 2011, Plascenci ...

, serves the "original Caesar's salad".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardini, Caesar 1896 births 1956 deaths Mexican people of Italian descent Italian chefs Mexican chefs People from Tijuana Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery Mexican restaurateurs Italian emigrants to the United States 20th-century Mexican businesspeople Caesar salad