On June 2, 2012 I had the pleasure and honour of being part of the Vancouver Heritage Foundation’s plaque presentation to Benny’s Italian Market. It was the heritage house tour weekend, Benny’s had tents and tables set up, the grill was turning out sausages, onions and red peppers, there was pasta too.

Francesca Benedetti spoke for the family and Jane Banfield represented the Foundation. I spoke on the plaque program and the research undertaken to create the 125 plaques and why I nominated Benny’s. A great afternoon.

The plaque text reads: The neighbourhood grocery store is the cornerstone of a community and Benny’s Italian Foods has served the Strathcona neighbourhood (Vancouver’s old East End) since 1917.

It is an important surviving and thriving example of a family enterprise once common in Vancouver. The founder and family patriarch, Alfonso Benedetti, immigrated from Abruzzo, Italy in 1909 and opened an ice cream parlour with a friend who he eventually bought out to set up Benny’s.

In Loving Memory of Alfonso and Violet Benedetti