Background
Mosca was born, raised and attended high school in Chicago Heights, Illinois.
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John Mosca
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Mosca enlisted in the United States Army during World World War II and served in the European Theater as an infantryman. He was wounded in action by shrapnel during battle in Italy. Mosca was awarded two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star for his service.
He was transferred to the British military forces, who assigned him as a waiter for officers and visiting dignitaries due to his restaurant experience prior to the war.
He served British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and future Yugoslavian President Josip Broz Tito in 1944 when they ate together at the Villa Rivalta in Naples, Italy. John Mosca also moved to New Orleans following the end of the war and his honorable discharge from the United States Army.
However, they decided to include local Louisiana ingredients and cuisine, including seafood, such as oysters and crabs. Among the newer entrees added by Mosca were marinated crab salad, barbecued shrimp and baked oysters.
The menu has remained virtually unchanged since the restaurant"s founding, as of 2011.
Mosca"s was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but rebuilt and reopened just ten months later. Mosca would wake up at 5 a.m. to shop for ingredients and make the pasta by hand. He worked at Mosca"s consistently until approximately a month before his death in 2011.
John Mosca died from prostate cancer at his home in Harahan, Louisiana, on July 13, 2011, at the age 86.
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Born
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Died
July 13, 2011 (aged 86) -
Nationality
United States