Dino Grisanti came from a long line of Italians, many by the same name, who have fed Memphis for generations in their well-known eateries.

Grisanti was a chef, trained at the Culinary Institute of America, and Dino’s Grill on McLean Boulevard, the business his grandfather started five decades ago.

But he was also an English teacher, so loved by the students at Immaculate Conception Cathedral School that they created a Dress Like Mr. Grisanti Day, pulling on flannel shirts, newsboy caps and hiking boots, and walking the halls with Grisanti’s characteristically sunny outlook.

Farm and Fig says goodbye to Memphis

Grisanti closed his Farm and Fig restaurant in January of this year, seven months after he was diagnosed with cancer, saying he couldn’t run it and fight the disease at the same time. He died Thursday, Sept. 19, at Saint Francis Hospital in Bartlett. He was 48.

The kitchen was quiet early Friday morning at Dino’s Grill, 645 N. McLean Blvd. The cook called in sick. Rudy Grisanti, Dino’s father, was working alone, getting lunch ready shortly after 8 a.m., as he does six days a week, and pacing himself for a day that would last another 13 hours.

“When Dino was a kid, he used to come down and bus tables and cook, all that stuff. He grew up in the restaurant business, and so did his brother, Mario,” Rudy Grisanti said.

The father-son team worked side-by-side for years at Dino’s, including when Dino Grisanti moved back to Memphis after finishing at the Culinary Institute.

“Dino was pretty serious about food. Other than that, he liked to have a good time. He loved ‘Star Wars.’ He knew everything about ‘Star Wars.’ He collected light sabers,” his father said.

“And he loved soccer. He played until he wasn’t able to.”

Grisanti grew up in Memphis. He attended St. Louis Memphis Catholic School and Memphis Catholic High School.

The senior Grisanti did not expect his two sons to make a living in the restaurant industry.

$10 Deal: Dino’s sandwiches are meaty, smothered in sauce

“Dino kind of wanted to get out of food service. So, he went to Memphis State and got his teaching certificate,” his father said, “and went over to Immaculate Conception.

“He taught the sixth grade. He loved being with the kids.”

Soon, he was running a “Star Wars” club after school and teaching students the artistry of comics, including how to make their own comic strips.

“I just remember his love, his genuine love for the students, and how much they loved him,” said June LaPorta, former director of communication and development for the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

One fall, the congregation’s annual festival, a combination of skits and dioramas, included a student-done rendition of Grisanti’s face, his mouth wide open.

“He was just that kind of teacher that the kids could poke fun of, and he’d be on board,” LaPorta said.

Because everyone at the cathedral instinctively knew Grisanti could cook, Grisanti was soon also running Cathedral Café, the Wednesday night congregational meal, cooking up entrees with the family red sauce and other specialties.

“He made charcuterie boards, anything we needed,” LaPorta said.

When the pandemic hit, Grisanti made bake-and-serve meals the families could order through a sign-up LaPorta made at the church.

“We knew the pandemic would eventually be over, and Dino didn’t want people to get out of the habit of coming to the church for dinner,” she said.

“Honestly, I’m Italian, and I had a hard time believing Dino was. He was too calm to be Italian,” LaPorta said.

“He was always even-keeled. Even when he would joke, there was this deadpan look on his face, and later you would realize what he had said was really funny.

“Even the best teachers will raise their voices from time to time, but I never heard Dino raise his voice,” she said.

Cooking for the congregation was a natural addition to his catering business, Grisanti’s Piccola Cucina, which he’d run since 2005.

“He decided he wanted to get back into food service, and he wanted to get his own place,” Rudy Grisanti said. “I asked him if he wanted to take over here, because he is my oldest son. He thought about it for a while but said he wanted to do his own thing. His cooking is different from my cooking.”

Dino Grisanti started Farm and Fig in 2018, a catering business he ran while still teaching school.

By late 2020, when the COVID vaccine was barely available and restaurants were limited by Shelby County Health Department restrictions, including masking, Grisanti entered the fray, turning the catering business into a take-and-bake shop and part-time restaurant at 800 S. Cooper St.

The favorites were Mississippi Sin dip, phyllo cups, Grisanti’s take on a fresh fruit tart, Caprese chicken and Asian pork tenderloin.

When he closed the restaurant in January, he said it was because he had to deal with his disease, not because he was tired of scratch cooking or watching customers enjoy the food.

Grisanti’s wife and co-owner, Carolyn Grisanti, said the community had been good to them, but the restaurant wouldn’t be the same without her husband.

“Dino is the heart and soul of Farm and Fig,” she said when they closed the restaurant. “Without him there day to day, it just isn’t right.”

In addition to his wife, Carolyn, and father, Rudy, Grisanti is survived by three daughters, Isabella, Lillianna and Sara; 3 sons, Giovanni, Cody and Conner; his mother, Sue Wynn; a brother, Mario Grisanti; and three grandchildren, all of Memphis, as well as numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

Funeral Mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 26, at Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, 1695 Central Ave.

Canale Funeral Directors has charge.