HAMBURG, NY -- Family is important to Tom DeNisco.
That's why the next six weeks will be very difficult. Tom owns Tina's Italian Kitchen with his wife Christine. The local restaurant is approaching a bittersweet milestone.
"The reason we're closing is because we are retiring. Thirty-four years is a long time in this business," DeNisco says, "and we have two grand-kids and we look so forward to spending more time with them."
Those reasons should come as a surprise to no one who knows the DeNisco's. They've poured themselves and their family into every drop of this place since 1981.
"I have two daughters. Christina, we named the restaurant after. Jennifer, we named our deserts after her, Jennifer's delights. And then I have Dante and Lucia, great dish on our menu," Tom proudly states.
"You're almost part of their family," adds Tina's server Kathy Ihle, who's been working here for over three years. "Tom and Chris, if you have something going on in your family, whether it's a death or a birth or anything like that, they're right there for you."
Patrick Abulone, a kitchen manager at Tina's, says, "They've been more then great to all of us, and it's about time they take a step back and do a little bit for themselves."
Tom, for his part, just seems to be taking everything in. "When you're in the middle of everything you just come to work every day. You don't realize what you've created," he comments.
It's fall in Hamburg, a town of just under 57,000 residents, all extended family members for whom December 15th will be a very difficult day. Six weeks, and there's only one way Tom wants to spend them.
"We welcome everybody to come back. Try us. All of our good customers who've been with us all these years, come in for one last pasta broccoli and a glass of wine and let's give a big hug and say goodbye."
