Four generations ago a family legacy was formed in the restaurant business... Today, Jack and Rocco Collucci carry on that legacy, backed with years of experience, excellence and pride. Theirs is a story of family history with its roots planted firmly in an otherwise unstable era. In the early 1940’s, Jack and Rocco’s great grandfather, Charlie Maddalena, purchased “Wardell’s Inn”, a speakeasy in Hyannisport, MA. Once acquired, the name was officially changed to “Charlie’s.” The new restaurant quickly became the local hotspot, located just across from the Hyannisport Country Club, and just down the road from the Kennedy compound, lending itself to stories still told today involving the crowd that patronized it. Charlie Maddalena successfully ran “Charlie’s” until his death in 1952. In his passing he left “Charlie’s” to his only daughter, Barbara, and her husband Rocky. In the fall of 1952, Barbara and Rocky left Brockton, MA, and moved to the Cape with their son John and daughter Barbara. Occupying the small apartment above “Charlie’s” Rocky and Barbara took over the operation of the restaurant and began a family tradition of having the children work right along side them in the kitchen. “Charlie’s” success continued as Rocky and Barbara managed the restaurant and a growing family. At the early age of eleven, Rocky and Barbara‘s son John found his calling and quickly learned the ropes. After graduating from Barnstable High School in 1961, John continued his climb and enrolled at the Yale Campus of the Culinary Institute of America (C.I.A.), where he met his beautiful bride-to-be, a young Italian girl by the name of Cathy Riotto, currently majoring in Bake Shop. Meanwhile, because John had decided he wanted to find his own way in the world, Rocky and Barbara had decided to sell “Charlie’s” and move to California with their three other children. In love, John and Cathy graduated from the C.I.A. in 1963. John, the President of the class, and Cathy, the first woman to ever graduate and hold a degree from the C.I.A. The young couple married the same year and shortly after moved to California to be with John’s family. It was in California that Jack and Rocco were born. In 1967 John and Cathy moved back East with their two children. The little family soon expanded to six. John spending most of his time working at local restaurants, and Cathy taking care of the four boys, while doing some baking on the side. In 1975 John had become the chef at a small Italian restaurant called “Luigi’s”, in Hyannis, MA. On the weekends, Jack (11) and Rocco (10) would beg John to take them to work with him. John laughs, “They would beg and plead with me, and Cathy would just give me one of her looks, and off to work we would go. Those two were always happier going to work in the kitchen with me, than outside playing ball or whatever.” At Luigi’s Jack and Rocco would divide their time between helping their father in the kitchen and wandering around the restaurant, exploring the old place. Before long Jack and Rocco learned the workings of the restaurant. During the day they would wash pots, make salads, portion spaghetti, pound veal, etc, and at night they would help out either in the salad/dessert station, or the dishroom. Rocco recalls, “Dad would tell the two of us to consider it ‘bootcamp’ and say ‘whether or not you get into this business, you will always have something to fall back on. You’ll always be able to find a job’.” Truer advice the boys never heard. By the early 1980’s the dream of owning and running their own restaurant had been set. “Rocco and I would stay up late and talk about the menu we would have, the kind of desserts, the prep lists, everything. Every little detail would be worked out,” remembers Jack. And although the boys wanted their father to stay at “Luigi’s” so that they could one day buy it from the owner, John made the decision to move on and teach at Johnson & Wales Culinary School. In 1982 Jack graduated from Dennis-Yarmouth High School, and joined the U.S. Navy to see the world. In 1983 Rocco graduated from the Culinary Arts Program at the Cape Cod Technical High School in a decision to carry on the family torch. Both applied the hard work ethic taught them by their father years earlier at “Luigi’s” and both became successful in their own ways. In 1993 Rocco took a job at the popular “Tugboats” restaurant, on the waterfront in Hyannis, while Jack explored possible entrepreneurial opportunities. Rocco eventually became Executive Chef at Tugboats and remained so for 6 years. At last, a long awaited dream had come to fruition... 4 years ago Collucci Bros. Diner, complete with chrome accents, sassy waitresses and a tin roof, opened in Hyannis, MA... “This is in our blood,” then explained Jack… “It’s what we’re supposed to be doing.” When asked what they thought were the keys to having a successful business, Jack explained; “We both feel the keys are simple: work hard, and have fun while you are doing it.” Rocco added, “If you can’t have fun while you are putting in all those hours, you’d better find something else to do!” Jack and Rocco quickly became known as characters around town with their funny radio ads, dining room antics and of course, the much loved Collucci Bros. cable TV show. And well, maybe all that sensation has gone to their heads because they’re at it again… …the celebrated success of The Diner has encouraged The Boys to expand their business and open 4 Bros. Bistro at The Cove at Yarmouth Resort in West Yarmouth, MA. According to The Boys “The Bistro is everything the Diner is – only bigger and better!” And who knows bigger and better than the kings of oversized portions!? With experience running their own restaurant under their belts here’s what they have to say now… “today we begin the next chapter in the story of our famiily.”