- Chief Sandwich Creator
Mario grew-up in a small Northern California farming community, not far from Mendocino County. His Italian family had moved from the Little Italy section of San Francisco, creating for their new community what would be identified as one of the first Supermarkets in the region. The Del Pero family was known throughout the region as the purveyors of the finest meat the area had to offer, supplying many of the fine dining restaurants in Northern California.
Mario’s fondest memories of Big Sunday Italian Family Dinners were the Monday afterwards. Like many family's artful sandwiches the day after Thanksgiving, Mario’s father would reconstruct at the sandwich level every flavor nuance from the night before. The “Day After Family Meals” would become the core approach that Mendocino Farms practices today; making fine dining food approachable and affordable in the sandwich form.
Mario Del Pero entered the restaurant business serendipitously in 1993 while still at USC, helping his fraternity brother, Greg Newman, at his new restaurant start-up Baja Sharkeez. Mario was integral in the company’s growth from one family owned cantina to it becoming a premium beach lifestyle chain concept.
Mario struck-out on his own in 1998, creating a hybrid fast food “Beach Concept” blending the taqueria influences of Baja California surfer food with the teriyaki shacks of Hawaii, the restaurant was Skew’s. After opening three successful locations, Del Pero licensed the concept to pursue other restaurant opportunities.
Blue 32, a partnership project with Epic Restaurants gave Mario the chance to develop a concept that brought luxury and sophistication back to the sport’s bar and restaurant experience. Del Pero designed the menu and launched the restaurant, consulting on every aspect of the concept. Currently, the prototype, managed by Epic Restaurants is one of the most popular lounges in the South Bay.
Recently, Del Pero working with some of the top Mexican and Latin American chefs developed CASA, a modern interpretation to the classic Mexican restaurant. The restaurant is uniquely fast casual at the “time poor” lunch day part, morphing into a table service antojitos bar in the evening.
Mario Del Pero continues to be the harbinger of the Mendocino Farms' lifestyle.
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