Maria Teresa Grispino Nappi, ‘98, took the lessons she learned in and out of the classroom at La Salle University and turned them into a tribute to her family and her mother’s kitchen.

While running Altomonte’s Italian Market, Maria Teresa Grispino Nappi, ‘98, utilizes the lessons she learned at La Salle University. Now, she’s used those lessons to create and share a heartfelt tribute to family and Italian food in her cookbook, The Butcher’s Daughter.  

Nappi’s parents immigrated from Italy to Philadelphia in 1969, settling in the Germantown area and building a life there. Nappi was born in Germantown Hospital and in 1971 the family opened their first store, Mike’s Meats, on Wister Street.  

After eight years, the family relocated to the suburbs, but when it came time for Nappi to think about college, she couldn’t help but think about the city she spent her childhood in.  

“Even though our family eventually relocated to Warminster, I always held my Philadelphia roots close to my heart,” Nappi said. “I also knew I wanted to attend a Christian Brothers university, and La Salle felt like the natural place for me.”  

Nappi joined the Accounting Program knowing it would help her build a strong business foundation for any industry she eventually entered. And while those classes did build that foundation, she often thinks back  to her non-major classes that have helped her throughout life.  

A public speaking class led by the late Steven Meisel, Ph.D., helped build her confidence. Marketing classes almost made her switch her major. Although she saw her accounting degree through, the things she learned in those classrooms still influence how she works today.  

In her four years at 20th and Olney, Nappi gained invaluable knowledge both in and out of the classroom, including things like thinking critically, communicating thoughtfully, and receiving feedback with humility, she said.  

“La Salle gave me both practical knowledge and personal confidence. My accounting education provided the technical framework I rely on every day in business. My classroom experiences, from public speaking to marketing, taught me how to communicate clearly, understand people, and present ideas with conviction,” she said. “Those skills shape how I run our family business, connect with customers, and share our story with the world.”  

The family business, Altomonte’s Italian Market, was opened by Nappi’s parents in 1981 when they relocated to Warminster.  

After she graduated from La Salle, Nappi worked for a small accounting firm for a year, however she never really left Altomonte’s. Monday to Friday she was at the firm, the rest of the time she was at the market, doing accounting work, serving customers, and even slicing mortadella behind the deli counter.  

When Altomonte’s expanded to include bakeries, catering, an import company, and, most recently, Alto Caffè, Nappi left the accounting firm to work there fulltime. She took over the running of the market in 1999.  

For Nappi, Altomonte’s is more than just a store, it’s the heart of the family.  

“Growing up in an Italian market was a gift, even if I didn’t fully understand it at the time,” she said. “The store wasn’t just where we worked; it was where we lived our lives. When we weren’t in school, we were there in the middle of the hustle, the noise, and the constant rhythm of people, food and family.”  

She and her brother didn’t have babysitters or after school clubs; they had Altomonte’s, she said, and it helped raise them, teaching them work ethic, resilience, pride, and love.  

In 2020, after her father passed away, Altomonte’s gave her a more sentimental gift.  

“Because of our family business, I had something many people never get, I worked beside my father every single day of my life. Our relationship wasn’t limited to holidays or occasional visits. It was built in daily moments, side by side, behind the counter, year after year,” she said. “That time together is the greatest gift the market ever gave me.”  

It was in Altomonte’s interacting with customers that Nappi found inspiration for her most recent venture, the book The Butcher’s Daughter: Stories and Over 100 Family Recipes, that she wrote with her mother.  

She recalled numerous conversations with patrons of the market over the years, where they would reminisce over dishes their mothers made, the recipes lost after they passed away.  

“One day it struck me. That could easily be my own family someday if I didn’t document my mother’s recipes,” Nappi said. “Beyond that, my parents’ immigration story and the growth of our business embodies the American Dream. It’s a story of sacrifice, resilience, and love, one that deserved to be preserved and shared.”  

With that realization, work on the book began. It was a years long project, Nappi said, and involved her working side-by-side with her mother, who had no recipes written down and cooked by instinct, documenting everything she did in the kitchen. Nappi did this while working full time at the market, raising her family, and supporting her father through medical treatment.  

“It was demanding, but deeply meaningful work,” she said. “This book is a true labor of love. I wanted to preserve our family’s story and recipes for future generations, for my children, nieces, nephews, and cousins. One day, when it’s too late to ask questions, they can still know where they came from. And what Nonna’s kitchen tasted like.”  

She hopes that readers are transported back to their childhoods, sharing meals with loved ones, and that it inspires people who didn’t have that growing up to start the tradition themselves.  

Her mother’s dedication in The Butcher’s Daughter truly encapsulates what they set out to do, Nappi said.  

“The recipes in this book are more than food, they are pieces of my heart, my homeland, and our family. One day when I’m no longer here to cook for you, I hope you open this book and it brings you comfort,” Frances Grispinio, more lovingly known as Nonna Franca, wrote. “May these recipes remind you that family, food, and love are forever.”  

In 2025, The Butcher’s Daughter was published. Throughout the process, Nappi counted her La Salle education as one of the things that helped her see this project through. A proud first-generation student, she credits her time as an Explorer as helping to shape her confidence, leadership skills, how she shared this important story, and building a foundation that positioned her to succeed.  

An invitation back to her mother’s homeland allowed Nappi to, firsthand, see that foundation pay off.  

“Recently, my mother and I were invited to the Italian Parliament in Rome to present The Butcher’s Daughter,” Nappi said. “When my mother left Italy as a young woman, she left with very little. To return years later and be honored there was something she never dreamed possible. Standing beside her felt like watching a lifetime come full circle.”  

The Butcher’s Daughter: Stories and Over 100 Family Recipes is available for purchase at Altomonte’s Italian Marking and online here.  

–Naomi Thomas