Pasquale Giusseppe (P.G.) Molinari and his family leave a little town called Carrezano, Italy, in Piedmont, near Genoa. They leave in hope of finding a better life and better opportunities for work. The first stop in the journey is London, England, and then onto the long journey to Pacasmayo, Peru; stopping in Porto Prince, Haiti along the way.

Soon after arriving in Peru his mother dies of Typhoid and the entire family returned to Italy.

Ten years after the first trip, P.G. and his father, Francisco Molinari leave home again, and end up in Mexico City, where P.G. finds work at a restaurant.

P.G.’s father leaves him and heads north by mule, ultimately landing in San Francisco and deciding this was the place for them.

He returns to retrieve his son after two years and they both come back to San Francisco, never to leave again.

Once in San Francisco, P.G. and his father find a welcoming Italian community in the North Beach neighborhood, which becomes known for its Italian food and Italian markets for years to come.

P.G. quickly finds work at an Italian grocery store and sausage maker A.Chiesa, and he remains there for nine years, becoming foreman of the sausage factory, and perfecting his own recipes.

P.G. sends for his childhood sweetheart Marina, who grew up in the house next door in Carezzano, and they marry at St Peter’s & Paul Church in North Beach, San Francisco.

P.G. saves enough money to open his own salame factory in the basement of a delicatessen in North Beach at 433 Broadway.

The Big Quake brings the city of San Francisco to the ground, after all water lines burst and fires are able to burn until there is nothing left.

After luckily surviving the great quake, and receiving a loan from the Bank of Italy (later to become the Bank of America) P.G. reopens his business at 373 Columbus Street, where it remained until 1962.

P.G. Molinari Retires and his son Frank Molinari takes over the business along with his son-in-law, Peter Giorgi.

Molinari moves to a state-of-the-art facility at 1401 Yosemite Street in San Francisco, allowing for enormous expansion but without changing one single step in the time-honored art of salame manufacturing.

Peter Giorgi’s son Frank Giorgi takes over as head of Molinari and Sons Salame.

Molinari and Sons celebrates 110 years in business, and Frank Giorgi’s sons, Frank, Jr. and James, continue the tradition by joining the business.

Today, Molinari is the last family-owned Italian Salame producer in San Francisco, and has submitted expansion plans to The City.