Owner of Upper East Side Restaurant Elio's Dead at 83

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The owner of an Upper East Side restaurant frequented by prominent New Yorkers for decades died Sunday, The New York Times reported. Elio Guaitolini, co-owner of Elio's on Second Avenue, died due to complications from pneumonia, his wife told the Times.

Guaitolini opened his first restaurant, Parma, in 1977. After that venture he moved on to open Elio's with his business partner Anne Isaak, the Times reported. Over the years the restaurant became a favorite for celebrities like Derek Jeter, Mick Jagger, Tom Hanks, Woody Allen and Tom Selleck, who once ate at Elio's 26 nights in a row while filming, according to the Times.

Guaitolini was born in Genoa, Italy in 1933. He moved to the United States as an illegal immigrant at the age of 26 and worked his way up through the restaurant industry, starting as a porter in a Manhattan nightclub. He is survived by his wife, son and sister.

>>> Read the full New York Times obituary here

[Photo: Google Maps street view circa May 2016]