Caruso Brick Oven Trattoria, at 424 N. Main St. in Souderton, is closing after 20 years. Owner-operator Gaetano Chiaro and his business-partner wife are retiring; however, as Ryan Kneller reported for WFMZ 69 News, son Joseph will maintain the legacy.

Chiaro thanked his long-term clientele on Facebook. “Many … celebrations have taken place here. And we thank you for allowing us to share those moments with you,” he wrote.

Chiaro was born in Naples, Italy.  He came to the U.S. but returned to kitchens in Europe as a young adult.

In London, he cooked for well-known customers Peter Sellers, Roger Moore, Sammy Davis Jr., and Frank Sinatra.

A food critic in Munich wrote that his creations made Chiaro the “Pavarotti of cuisine.”

He brought those skills to Montgomery County and quickly became a neighborhood favorite.

Son Joseph Chiaro, however, is using his parents’ retirement to launch his own business and stay in the restaurant field.

He’s planning two sites in the borough: Peppe Steaks to highlight cheesesteaks and The Burger Shop (the second in a Souderton chain) for burgers.

“The [Peppe Steak] concept is very cool,” Joseph said. “It will feature 1980s- and ’90s-themed décor.”

More on the culinary-entrepreneurial genes throughout the Chiaro family is at WFMZ 69 News.

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Caruso’s in Souderton was name because its owner-operator was an Enrico Caruso fan; the opera star is shown here.