Café Cortina Celebrates 50 Years – A Timeless Table of Heritage, Hospitality & Human Connection

Rina Tonon with her sons Giancarlo and Adriano of Cafe Cortina

Online marketplace brings a taste of Café Cortina directly to you

Chef Ernesto Cafe Cortina in the garden

Café Cortina has been dedicated to family traditions, authenticity, culinary excellence, and farm-to-table philsophy.

FARMINGTON HILLS, MI, UNITED STATES, January 26, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Café Cortina, one of Metro Detroit’s most acclaimed Italian dining institutions, proudly begins its 50th Anniversary celebration: A Timeless Table — a year-long tribute to five decades of culinary excellence, family legacy, and community connection.

Founded in 1976 by Rina and Adriano Tonon, Café Cortina began as a rustic country trattoria tucked inside a former apple orchard in Farmington Hills. Long before farm-to-table became a national movement, the Tonon family was quietly cultivating their own ingredients, honoring Italian agricultural traditions, and creating a dining experience rooted in warmth, authenticity, and human connection.

“When we opened Café Cortina in 1976, we weren’t trying to follow a trend — we were simply sharing the way our family lived: grow what you can, cook with love, and welcome people like they’re already part of the family,” said Rina Tonon, co-founder of Café Cortina.

Today, under the leadership of the family’s second and third generations — including Chef Ernesto Antopia and Café Cortina’s tenured culinary and hospitality team — the restaurant remains one of the Midwest’s most beloved destinations for elevated Italian cuisine, immersive hospitality, and meaningful celebrations.

The 50th Anniversary introduces a full year of special programming, culinary collaborations, community storytelling, and heritage experiences that spotlight the artistry, soul, and people behind Café Cortina. The year long celebration includes special dinners on Monday, March 16, 2026, Monday, June 29, and Monday, November 2, plus a Summer Garden Festival in Traverse City in mid September. Website will host all the up to date information.

Café Cortina at Home: Shop Online + Curbside Pickup
Since opening its doors in 1976, Café | Cortina has been dedicated to family traditions, authenticity, and culinary excellence. Still family owned and operated by the Tonon family, that commitment to freshness and quality is reflected in every product offered — both in the dining room and beyond it.

Café Cortina’s online marketplace brings a taste of Café | Cortina directly to your home (or your next gathering). Guests can shop the restaurant’s critically acclaimed pasta sauces, as well as its newest packaged product: Frozen Lasagna “Vincigrassi,” available for shipping anywhere in the U.S.

For fresh, made-to-order meals, Café Cortina’s hand-made pastas, famous lasagnas, and decadent desserts are ideal for family meals, celebrations, and larger office events. These offerings are available for curbside pickup seven days a week, making it easier than ever to bring the Tonon family’s tradition of great food to your table, wherever you are.

The Legacy Begins with a Founders Dinner Series: La Notte Di Famiglia
On Monday, March 16, Café Cortina opens its anniversary year with a deeply personal and nostalgic event: La Notte Di Famiglia, an intimate multi-course Founders Dinner inspired by the restaurant’s original 1976 menu.

This one-night celebration features:
• Historic dishes recreated from Café Cortina’s earliest opening days
• Family storytelling from founder Rina Tonon and special guests
• Wine pairings from the Tonon family’s ancestral region of Vittorio Veneto

The evening also introduces a commemorative Café Cortina Legacy Collection menu paired with archival photos, recipes, and oral history. It marks the debut of the anniversary’s digital archive — a growing living history of guest stories, family memories, and milestones shared through the restaurant’s social campaign #Cortina50.

“Fifty years later, what touches me most is not just the recipes — it’s the people,” said Rina Tonon. “We’ve celebrated engagements, anniversaries, and generations of families at these tables. Café Cortina has always been about connection, and this anniversary is our way of saying thank you.”

Highlights Include: 50 Years of Memories
Guests past and present are invited to share their Café Cortina moments — proposals, weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, family traditions, and the everyday meals that became cherished rituals. Select stories will be featured throughout the anniversary year in a digital time capsule.

Mini Documentary Premiere: The Garden That Fed Detroit
Café Cortina will release an original short film exploring its farm-to-table roots, the Tonon family’s culinary heritage, and the restaurant’s role in shaping Michigan’s dining landscape. The film will be shared exclusively with local media, long-term guests, and national culinary institutions, including the James Beard Foundation.

A Year of Celebration Ahead
The 50th Anniversary will continue throughout 2026 with a series of immersive events, including:
• The Culinary Evolution — a collaborative dinner with chefs and wineries for the Annual Spanish Dinner
• Una Notte d’Oro — a black-tie Golden Gala celebrating Detroit’s creative community, culinary arts, and Café Cortina’s enduring legacy
• Cortina in Fiore — an outdoor food, wine, and arts festival for three days in Traverse City
• Each event will honor the restaurant’s foundational values: gathering, gratitude, and the belief that food is one of the world’s most powerful connectors.

About Café | Cortina
Founded by Rina and Adriano Tonon in 1976, Café | Cortina is a nationally recognized Italian culinary destination blending farm-driven cooking, artisanal craftsmanship, and heartfelt hospitality. For five decades, the family-owned restaurant has earned acclaim as one of the Midwest’s premier foodie experiences, celebrating the Italian tradition of bringing people together at a timeless table.

For More Information:
Café Cortina Online Marketplace + Curbside Pickup: https://www.cafecortina.com/store/

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