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By now, all of you know Chef Bruno Serato. He is the owner of the award-winning Anaheim White House and the founder of Caterina's Club, a charity we support each year with our annual PastaThon event to help raise money, and collect pasta & sauce to help Bruno feed more than 3,500 kids EVERY night in 60 locations in 20 cities across Southern California.
Last February, the Anaheim White House fell victim to a fire that destroyed the restaurant. (You can see the video and photos below to remind you of the extent of the damage.)
The restaurant suffered over $1 million in damage.
As devastated as Chef Bruno was, his chief concern were the children he feeds every single night and his employees.It turns out, he didn't need to worry....the community stepped in big time, providing locations for him to cook food for the kids so he didn't miss a single day. He worked with fellow restaurant owners to help find his employees jobs so they wouldn't be out of work.
The community rallied around his vow to rebuild the restaurant, a GoFundMe page raised over $200,000 in funds for costs insurance didn't cover.
In addition, in December, KFI's 7th annual PastaThon at Christ Cathedral to benefit Caterina's Club raised more than $460,000 and 100,000 lbs of pasta & sauce to ensure the program would be able to keep running while the restaurant was being rebuilt.
To date, Bruno has served more than 2 MILLION meals to kids living in local motels. In addition to that, he has helped 170 families move out of those motels and back into homes and graduated 134 students from his Hospitality Academy, which helps give teens the tools they need to get jobs in the hospitality industry when they are able and ultimately help break the cycle of homelessness.
Well....this weekend, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Chef Bruno held a three-day grand re-opening of the Anaheim White House!
Bill Handel was there and had the honor of cutting the ribbon on Saturday night. So, help support Bruno and Caterina's Club and get out there for some amazing food and good company.
Click HERE to make a reservation.
A few weeks ago, Dean Sharp gave us an exclusive sneak peek of the rebuild
On Friday night, Bruno cut the ribbon surrounded by his family.
Original video and photos of the fire and aftermath.
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Recently, the Today Show joined Bruno at the Anaheim White House for a very special day for a special meal for some very special first customers since the fire.