Luigi Toscano (Geeg) opened his first restaurant in 1975 named Star Pizza. It was very successful. However he wanted to up scale his talents as a chef, so in 1979 he converted his busy Pizza restaurant to Mammas Place named after his mom Carmela. He was thinking of calling it Carmela’s Kitchen. He still ran Star Pizza delivery service from the same kitchen, it was so busy!

Mammas Place was a bit upscale with fresco’s and waterfalls. Geeg managed to successfully apply for the first holding lounge license in the city of Vancouver. The food was excellent and the clientele was different. That’s what he was looking for as Star Pizza being a late night Steak and spaghetti house that seated about 85 people.

Luigi Toscano had a vision, and Mamas Place had great reviews from the food critics at that time. It was recognized as a 4 to 5 star restaurant each time. This gem was located on Kingsway and Victoria in East Vancouver.

Take a walk down memory lane. It’s interesting and fun to look at the original menu from 1979. Check out the prices. Mammas Place menu, page one, page two. Those days are definitely over! lol.

Geeg’s incredible gift for preparing, cooking and serving his amazing course by course Italian recipes has been an inspiration to me throughout the years. His dear wife Angeline was and continues to be one of my best friends to this day. Togther we are collaberating on the upcoming Cookbook, Romano | Toscano Top Secret Italian Family Recipes. It’s a must have for anyone who loves authentic Italian cooking!