Giuseppe (Joe) Ricciardi

If Giuseppe (Joe) Ricciardi played the piano, he'd be called a virtuoso. If his field were mathematics, some would say he was a prodigy. But Ricciardi's aptitude is for restaurants, the first of which he bought and operated by the time he was eighteen. Today he owns and operates three successful eating establishments in the D.C. area, including Dolce Vita, Fairfax's favorite Italian trattoria.

In 1994, Ricciardi, a native of Naples, partnered with Tuscan-born Ricardo Bellucci, to open Dolce Vita. Focusing on the comfort foods of their Italian homeland, the two offer a menu of traditional Italian favorites with a nod towards today's tastes. Wood burning brick oven pizza, pasta, signature entrees like osso buco and vitello piccata have affirmed Dolce Vita as a destination for Italian food lovers. In 2004, they added the Cantina to the Dolce Vita family. Housed in a separate building next door to the trattoria, the Cantina accommodates up to 30 diners and is a private gathering space for meetings and celebrations.

Joe Ricciardi, his wife and two teenage daughters, live in Northern Virginia