The artisan tradition of Bay Edge began six generations ago in Carisolo, a village nested in the Italian Dolomites. Master grinders, Giacomo and Urbano Maestri brought their business to New York in the early 1900s and later Chicago where they founded Maestri Brothers Grinding Service.
In 1922, Giacomo’s son Pietro ‘Pete’ emigrated from Carisolo to join his father’s business. Pete’s three sons expanded the business to Wisconsin and New Mexico. The oldest, Peter Allen, founded Carisolo, Inc. in 1979 in Spring Green, Wisconsin, a town known for its artists and entrepreneurs.
Today, under the leadership of Peter’s son Peter Alex Maestri, Carisolo, Inc. provides cutlery service to more than 1,000 food industry professionals in many of the finest restaurants and grocery stores in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa.
In addition to his own sons, Peter Allen mentored and trained his nephew Kevin McCarthy who dreamed of one day expanding the family business to the Bay Area.
Fulfilling a lifelong dream together, Kevin and Kathryn McCarthy, along with Peter Alex and Michael Maestri, founded Bay Edge Cutlery Service in Berkeley in October 2009.