NEED TO KNOW
Dave Cossetta, the fourth-generation owner of a 115-year-old St. Paul, Minn. Italian market, died unexpectedly at age 70
He died in Rome days after winning two international awards for his panettone
The locally loved business said it will continue honoring Dave’s vision of bringing people together
Dave Cossetta, the owner of a landmark family-owned Italian market in Minnesota, died while traveling in Italy. He was 70.
Dave, who died Wednesday, Nov. 11, according to CBS News, was the patriarch of the 115-year-old St. Paul, Minn. Italian market named for his family. His death occurred “unexpectedly” while traveling in Rome, days after winning an international panettone competition, the Cossetta family and team shared in a statement on Facebook on Thursday, Nov. 12.
While they did not share a cause of death for Dave, they said that he was surrounded by loved ones, including his wife, Gail, his team as well as other friends and family.
Dave was the fourth generation of his family to lead the market and was described as “the heart” of the business. “He built it into a gathering place on West 7th Street where everyone was welcome at the same table, and he never stopped dreaming about what it could become,” they wrote.
Cossetta is an Italian market in St. Paul, MinnCredit: google maps
The Cossetta team also pointed out how, “just days earlier, he had won two international awards at the Coppa del Mondo del Pannetone, the latest honors in an impressive career.”
The market shared on Sunday, Nov. 8 that it had won two international awards — one for having the best traditional panettone outside of Europe, along with the press jury award, during which food journalists selected Cossetta’s panettone from among participating countries.
“Cossetta is proud to have refined the delicacy outside of panettone’s traditional borders,” the team said, noting that Dave’s “next chapter” was to expand the business beyond Minnesota through the success of the company’s panettone, which “he had spent more than 15 years perfecting.”
“Above all, Dave loved his family, his city, and the people who walked through his doors,” the team continued. “We will carry on as Dave would have wanted; together, around the table.”
PEOPLE reached out to Cossetta for comment.
Opened in 1911, the family business offers an Italian market with imported ingredients, along with a Pasticceria section with Italian pastries, per its website.
Many community members paid tribute to Dave in the comments section of the team’s Facebook tribute.
“He will be missed, Dave was as big a part of the establishment as the building itself, the name itself,” one person wrote. “Dave was, is Cossettas.”
Another added, “So many of us have stories of working for Dave and what a great learning experience Cossetta’s was for us. I still visit every time I’m home and tell everyone outside of MN about it.”
Minnesota Wild, St. Paul’s competitive ice hockey team, wrote, “Dave helped strengthen Cossetta’s legacy as a Saint Paul institution and a cherished gathering place for generations of residents and visitors alike.”
A longtime friend of Dave’s, named Dave Cowley, told WCCO that people were stunned to hear of Dave’s death. “He was in great health and the life of the party and he just takes over a room,” Cowley told the outlet, adding, “Dave is an institution over here and without him, it’s just not going to be the same.”
Read the original article on People
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