Maryland Community Newspapers Online
Not long after they got married, Greenbelt couple Patrick and Cornelia Kennedy chanced upon a restaurant that, much like their marriage, was designed by coincidence.
It was coincidence that they met while working as holiday help at the Frederick J.C. Penney store in 1977, and it was coincidence that they found the brand new restaurant Pasta Plus while looking for a pizza restaurant in Laurel the same year as their marriage—1984.
"We decided to forgo the pizza and instead went inside and found a true Italian restaurant," Patrick Kennedy said.
Since then, the Kennedys have become "regulars," dining at the restaurant between nine and 15 times a year.
When their 25th anniversary came around, they decided to have a nice, quiet dinner together but Patrick Kennedy had another idea and contacted Pasta Plus co-owner Massimo "Max" Mazziotti.
"I asked him if I can get enough people together if we could have them close the restaurant to the public, and he said yes," Patrick Kennedy said.
With the Mazziottis' help, Patrick Kennedy set up the specialized menu for his wife and their 36 guests.
"We know [the Kennedys] and they are just nice people," Massimo Mazziotti said. "They are nice people in addition to being good customers."
Four times a year, Pasta Plus holds a special "wine dinner," which allows diners to sample hors d'ouvres, dinner and dessert with specially chosen wines.
The Kennedys have always wanted to go to one of the special wine dinners, but haven't been able to because of their work schedules and family conflicts. Patrick Kennedy is the TV production manager for Honeywell Technology Solutions, Inc., at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt and Cornelia Kennedy is the assistant executive director of the University of Maryland Alumni Association. They also have two sons, Sean, 17, and Andrew, 14.
Mazziotti agreed to open up the restaurant on Sunday morning, when they are usually closed, and help select a special menu in honor of the couple's anniversary because he's known them for so long.
Patrick Kennedy's plans to surprise his wife finally culminated on June 7, when he took her to their favorite restaurant.
"I was completely overwhelmed and taken by surprise," Cornelia Kennedy said.
Pasta Plus celebrated its 25th anniversary on June 1 by holding a special wine dinner that donated 100 percent of proceeds and donations to an Abruzzo, Italy earthquake relief fund. An earthquake totaling 6.3 on the Richter scale hit the Mazziotti's homeland of Abruzzo on April 6, killing more than 250 and injuring more than a thousand. To date, Massimo Mazziotti said his family has raised $17,000.
