Cliff and Adele met in St. Augustine in the summer of 1986. He was a waiter at Aruanno's Restaurant, then owned by originator Vito Aruanno, and Adele was attending School at the Southeast Institute for the Culinary Arts in St. Augustine, and waitressing at another local restaurant. They married in June, 1987, and found themselves pregnant with their first child in February, 1988. Realizing that they were soon to be parents and now had to find themselves "real jobs", they panicked! Only for two days, though, as it was then that Vito approached them about purchasing Aruanno's.

By June, 1988, the deed was done; Adele and Cliff took over Aruanno's, with Vito's blessings, and in September, 1988, Alexander was born (hence, the Shrimp Alexander!). He was followed by Andrew three years later (thus, Shrimp Andrew!), and the four of them have pursued the restaurant business together for the last 14 years -- Alexander now hosts on occasional weekends, and Andrew awaits his turn to come on board.

Adele, an accomplished cook and graduate of The Southeastern Institute of Culinary Arts, serves as pastry chef. She prepares delectable desserts including homemade cheesecake, fresh fruit pies, Brandy Pecan Cake, and her own sinful version of "Death by Chocolate." What a way to go!

Aruanno's is now in its twentieth year of successfully filling St. Augustine's needs for Italian food -- voted two years in a row as one of St. Augustine's best Italian restaurants, it continues to expand its horizons by serving Italian, French and Continental cuisine.