Editing Caesar Cardini

{{Short description|Italian-American restaurateur, chef, and hotel owner (1896–1956)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Caesar Cardini
| image              = Caesar Cardini (Cesare Cardini) 1896-1956.jpg
| caption            = 
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1896|02|24}}
| birth_place        = [[Baveno]], Italy
| death_date         = {{death date and age |1956|11|03 |1896|02|24}}
| death_place        = [[Los Angeles]], California, U.S.
| occupation         = Chef
| spouse             = 
| style              = 
| known              = Inventing the [[Caesar salad]]
| awards             = <!-- {{Unbulleted list| FIRST | SECOND }} -->
| website            = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
}}

'''Cesare Cardini''' (also known as '''Caesar Cardini''' and '''César Cardini''', February 24, 1896 &ndash; November 3, 1956) was an Italian [[restaurateur]], [[chef]], and hotel owner who, along with his brother Alex Cardini (November 23, 1899 &ndash; December 22, 1974), is credited with creating [[Caesar salad]]<ref name=obit>{{cite news |title= Cesar Cardini, Creator of Salad, Dies at 60 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date= November 5, 1956 }} Accessed 2007-07-21.</ref> at his [[Tijuana, Mexico|Tijuana]] restaurant, [[Caesar's]].

==Biography==
Caesar Cardini was born as Cesare Cardini in [[Baveno]], a ''[[comune]]'' on the shore of [[Lago Maggiore]] in [[Northwest Italy]], 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]];<ref>"Nereo F. Cardini goes to Tijuana." ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'' (Santa Cruz, California) 22 Sep 1935, pg 8.</ref> Alessandro and Gaudenzio eventually were in the restaurant business in [[Mexico City]]. Alessandro, called Alex in the US, is reported to have been Caesar's partner in [[Tijuana]], [[Mexico]]. Cesare sailed as a [[Steerage|steerage passenger]] on board the [[RMS Olympic|RMS ''Olympic'']] which arrived at the Port of New York on May 1, 1913. After inspection at [[Ellis Island]], he boarded a train bound for [[Montreal]].

Cesare eventually returned to Italy but came back to the [[United States]] in 1919.<ref>[http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8945 Washington, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1961]</ref> With his partner William Brown, he ran Brown's Restaurant in [[Sacramento]],<ref>Advertisement, Sacramento Union, December 13, 1919, pg 2.</ref> then moved to [[San Diego, California|San Diego]]. At that time, he established the first of several restaurants in Tijuana, where he could avoid the restrictions of [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]]. He married the musician Camille D. Stump on August 27, 1924, in [[Santa Ana, California]]. The couple had one daughter, Rosa Maria Cardini (1928–2003).<ref>{{cite news |title= Rosa Cardini |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/09/22/db2203.xml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012180838/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/09/22/db2203.xml |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 12, 2007|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=September 21, 2003 |accessdate=2007-07-21 }}</ref>

Cardini is credited with creating [[Caesar salad]] 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.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/honolulu-star-bulletin-rosa-cardini-cae/89338146/ "Caesar hailed— His salad's never tossed out"], by Jeanne Ambrose, ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'', June 3, 1987, p.E-1</ref> It soon became fashionable among [[Cinema of the United States|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]] and the Mexican government's enactment of a ban on gambling, business from tourism to Tijuana drastically fell off.<ref>''San Diego Union,'' July 22, 1935; July 23, 1935; June 19, 1936. ''La Prensa,'' July 27, 1935.</ref> Cardini quit his Mexican businesses in 1936<ref>''San Diego Union,'' July 1, 1936. ''Los Angeles Times,'' July 2, 1936.</ref> and moved back to San Diego to establish the ''Caesar Cardini Cafe''.<ref>"Cafe Operator Remodels Downtown Corner." ''San Diego Evening Tribune,'' September 16, 1936. Grand opening display ad, ''San Diego Union,'' September 18, 1936. See also "Caesar Cardini Cafe." [http://classicsandiego.com/restaurants/caesar-cardini-cafe/ Classic San Diego: tasty bites from the history of San Diego]. Web.</ref>  For several years, he operated ''Tavern Hacienda'' in San Diego, the ''Beacon Inn'' in [[Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Encinitas, California|Cardiff-by-the-Sea]] and his own ''Caesar Cardini Villa'' in  [[Chula Vista, California|Chula Vista]].

The family moved to [[Los Angeles]] about 1938<ref name=obit/> and Cardini focused on the production and marketing of his salad dressing which he trademarked in 1948<!-- rm. "...starting in 1948" does not apply. Rosa, in referenced 1987 interview, talks about "patents". But she also notes to have helped with the marketing since 1938, in LA. Besides, what would Caesar have done there 1935-1938?-->. He died in Good Samaritan Hospital on November 3, 1956, in [[Los Angeles]] following a [[stroke]] at his home at 8738 Bonner Drive and was buried in [[Inglewood Park Cemetery]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Caesar Cardini Funeral |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date= November 7, 1956}} Accessed 2007-07-23.</ref><ref>See details and a picture of his gravestone at [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSvcid=4762&GRid=21732& Findagrave]</ref> His daughter took control of Caesar Cardini Foods Inc.<ref>"At the age of 10, Rosa helped to bottle her father's famous recipe, which the family sold from their station wagon at Los Angeles' Farmers Market after moving from San Diego." [https://archive.today/20070623105247/http://journals.aol.com/cdawriter/LifeInMyOpinion/ (From a 1987 interview with Rosa Cardini)]</ref> Later, the ''Cardini's'' brand was sold, and is now owned by the [[T. Marzetti Company|T. Marzetti specialty salad dressing company]]. It is still popular and offers more than a dozen varieties of the original recipe.<ref>See Cardini's Salad Dressings Product Info [http://www.cardinissaladdressing.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210195809/http://www.cardinissaladdressing.com/|date=2018-02-10}} product details.</ref>

==Legacy==
{| style="float:right; background:transparent; padding:0px; margin:0px;"
|- valign="top"
|[[Image:HotelCaesar.JPG|thumb|Nowadays ''Hotel Caesar's'' on [[Avenida Revolución]] (formerly Main Street), c.2000]]
|
|}
In Tijuana, Caesar's Restaurant and Bar on [[Avenida Revolución]],<ref>Tijuana tourism board: Restaurant 
[http://www.seetijuana.com/english/where-to-dine.php?id_dine=6&id_gallery=3 Caesar's Palace] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070919052229/http://www.seetijuana.com/english/where-to-dine.php?id_dine=6&id_gallery=3 |date=2007-09-19 }}, 8131 Revolucion Ave. [...]</ref> now under [[Baja Med cuisine|Baja Med]] celebrity chef [[Javier Plascencia]], serves the "original Caesar's salad".<ref>{{cite web |title=Caesar's - Grupo Plascencia |url=http://www.caesarstijuana.com/ |website=www.grupoplascencia.com |access-date=3 January 2021}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{Restaurants in Mexico}}

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