BOSTON (AP) – Boston restaurateur Joseph Tecce, who turned a fruit stand into a landmark North End restaurant that became a favorite of celebrities and everyday diners, has died.

Tecce died of heart failure on Saturday at his Boston home, according to a son. He was 94.

“Right up to the end he was involved, talking about new menus, renovations, and setting up tables on the sidewalk,” said his son, Sal Tecce, who still helps run Joe Tecce’s Ristorante and Cafe.

Food was one of his father’s passions, along with boxing and politics, Sal Tecce said. So it’s no surprise that the restaurant became a hotspot for political functions.

Former House Speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill, Boston Mayor Kevin White, and Govs. Michael Dukakis, Paul Cellucci and Edward King were among the politicians who were regulars.

Elizabeth Taylor, Nancy Reagan, Frank Sinatra and Al Pacino were just some of the celebrities who dined at Tecce’s.

The restaurant also hosted professional athletes including Boston Celtics star Larry Bird, Boston Bruins great Bobby Orr, New York Yankees slugger Reggie Jackson and Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda.

“He just had that kind of charisma that people were attracted to,” Sal Tecce said.

Tecce, the son of Italian immigrants, opened a fruit stand in the largely Italian North End in the 1940s. He and his brother opened the restaurant, then little more than a pizza parlor, in 1947. The pizzeria’s menu gradually expanded to include more Italian fare.

Tecce’s was also famous for serving wine in soda bottles because it did not have a liquor license. Even after the restaurant received a liquor license in the 1970s, it continued the tradition until the 1990s.

Tecce was, above all else, a family man, his son said.

“His family was most important him,” Sal Tecce said. “He was 12 when his father died and he was the oldest of four children, so he took care of the family and did whatever he could do to keep the family together.”

During the 1960s, Tecce would shut down the restaurant for six weeks every summer and take his wife and four children on trips to Europe, and as far away as Hong Kong, Japan and Egypt, Sal Tecce recalled.

Tecce was married to the late Annette Tecce. He is survived by his children, Salvatore, Jacqueline, Joseph and Robert; seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

A wake will be held on Tuesday, with a funeral Mass scheduled for Wednesday at St. Leonard Church in the North End.

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