In the small, sleepy town of Valley Ford, the building that houses Dinucci’s restaurant has remained a constant for over a century — first as a hotel for travelers and ranchers, and then as an Italian dining staple.
Around 1908, the Brambani family (also referred to as Brombani) erected a stately hostelry in Valley Ford known as the Depot Hotel, according to a May 7, 1921, brief in The Press Democrat. The hotel was purchased in 1920 by Bodega dairyman Peter Braga.
During the 1920s, people from around the county flocked to the hotel to enjoy meals prepared by Braga’s wife, Mary, who specialized in homemade raviolis.
“Mrs. Mary Braga of the Depot Hotel at Valley Ford, which has been the mecca for many Petalumans who enjoy real Italian dinners, has taken over the F’ior d’Italia restaurant on East Washington Street,” reported the Petaluma Argus-Courier on May 13, 1930. The Depot Hotel was then leased to John Pozzi.
John Albini and his wife owned the building in the ’30s and regularly leased the building to new managers during the decade.
According to a March 4, 1938, Argus-Courier brief, the two-story hotel, which was undergoing a remodel, featured a bar, dance hall, several rooms on the first floor and 10 rooms upstairs. Rooms were often “occupied by creamery employees and others residing in the rural section.”
In July 1939, Nellie O. Holmes of Santa Rosa purchased the Depot Hotel, adding in a new cocktail room. Holmes operated the business for a handful of months before selling it to Henry Dinucci and his cousin Paul Dinucci, according to a Feb. 17, 1940, Press Democrat article. The two Dinuccis were formerly employed at the Union Hotel in Occidental. When they took over the Depot, they announced the opening would include dancing and a free ravioli supper.
Henry Dinucci and his wife Mabel got to work making various improvements to the hotel, adding in a commodious dining room in 1944 and a waiting room for train and bus travelers in 1945, according to Press Democrat and Argus-Courier briefs at the time.
By the late 1940s, the old Depot Hotel was officially known as Dinucci’s. It had already long enjoyed a reputation of supplying authentic Italian food — and Dinucci’s became the talk of the town when it boasted an avian mascot of sorts.
According to a Jan. 29, 1947, Press Democrat brief, an eagle was shot on Charlie Hall ranch as it attacked a sheep. Henry Dinucci nursed the eagle back to health, and the local fish and game commission granted him permission to keep the bird.
For 20 years, Dinucci kept the giant golden eagle, named Oscar, in a cage behind the hotel, where it became a tourist attraction. According to the July 19, 1967, Argus-Courier, actor Marlon Brando stopped by Dinucci’s in 1965 and offered $1,000 for the eagle. Henry Dinucci refused the offer, yet asked Brando what he would’ve done with the eagle if he had sold it to him.
“I would have turned it loose,” Brando replied.
Dinucci admitted he would like to do the same, yet was afraid it would “die in the outer world or that someone would shoot it.” He finally gave Oscar up to a secure home in December 1969, a month after Betty and Gene Wagner began operating Dinucci’s.
Various other celebrities visited Dinucci’s over the years as well. Canadian Irish folk band the Irish Rovers was discovered by a talent scout at Dinucci’s in the ’60s, when it was briefly operated by Irishmen Jerry Murphy and Peter Moran. Other celebrity sightings at Dinucci’s include Clint Eastwood, John Travolta, artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, and Tippi Hedren of “The Birds.”
The Wagners’ daughter Jeanne and her husband Enrique Garcia, along with their daughter Geena, are carrying on the legacy of Dinucci’s Italian restaurant with Dinucci’s Restaurant & Bar.
Dining and Cooking