We now live in an age when restaurants and food companies often develop an endearing yet fictional "mother" after which to name their products. Here at Mamma Lena’s, though, there was indeed a real Mamma Lena whose talent and life experiences are the backbone of what makes our restaurant so special.

     Mamma Lena (Maddalena Tortora Castaldi) was born in Torre del Greco,  a small town outside of Naples, Italy in 1920. She was raised in the typical Italian tradition where love of family was the center of her life, and the daily creation of delicious meals was one of the most important ways to express that love.

     As a young woman, she and the rest of her city were forced to endure the hardships of WW2, and bombing raids and extended stays in basements or bomb shelters became a way of life. During these times, she learned to make "something from nothing". The war made food very scarce, so she became proficient in making delicious meals out of the barest ingredients such as flour, potatoes, garlic and spices, a talent that eventually became the basis for the Mamma Lena restaurant philosophy of simple yet delicious food.

     She also suffered through the agony of wondering about the fate of her fiancé, Ciro Castaldi, who was arrested as a suspected American spy and imprisoned in a German concentration camp. Though given up for dead by everyone else, he managed to escape, hiding out in barns and forests, finally making his long way home to find Lena still waiting for him after more than 5 years. To this day, she is still lovingly referred to by some in Italy as "Sposa" (The Bride).  And up until she died, when Mamma Lena would recount the thrilling day the Americans marched into her town, freeing them from the Germans, she was often moved to tears by the memory.

     Years later, Lena found herself in New York, suddenly on her own in a strange new country with 3 children to raise. Yet, despite financial and language handicaps, she prevailed, establishing a home where nothing was more important than gathering her family around a lovingly-prepared meal.

     Eventually, she and her children moved here in Charlotte, bringing with them Mamma Lena's passion for great Italian food and a treasure-trove of old family recipes.  Her youngest son Raymond is the owner and manager of Mamma Lena’s Trattoria, and he has brought to Waxhaw his mother's enduring tradition of loving family and delicious, memorable food.