Carolyn Del Curto Infante

Passed away peacefully into the hands of God on Thursday, July 13, 2017. She now rests happily with her beloved parents, Rino and Olga Del Curto, sister Diane Brown, husband Anthony “Coke” Infante, uncle Attilio Del Curto, and grandmothers Laura and Luisa.

She was born and raised in San Francisco, the city she loved and lived in her entire life. She studied photography and Italian at San Francisco State University and spent a year abroad in Rome and Nice where she became fluent in Italian and French. Her father was especially proud of how quickly she picked up the Italian language.

Carolyn travelled extensively with her family all over Europe in the 1960s and enjoyed transatlantic voyages on the SS France and SS Liberté. They truly lived “la dolce vita” on their vacations and would eventually return to Italy years later.

Carolyn and her sister Diane opened La Contadina Restaurant at the corner of Union and Mason on the cable car line in 1974. It quickly became a go-to lunch spot and was famous for its generously sized focaccia sandwiches named after local San Francisco characters. Although it was very hard work, they had the time of their lives.

In the late 1970s, Carolyn began working at her family’s real estate business and happily continued for the remaining 40 years of her life. She truly loved working with her family and carrying on the legacy her father had created.

Spending weekends at her family’s country home in the Napa Valley was one of her favorite things to do. There, she tended to her tomatoes, figs, olive trees, and vineyard, and enjoyed lying in the sun and doing laps in the pool. She learned how to grow olive trees and make oil by attending UC Davis classes with her nephew, Darin. She was proud of the fruits of her labor and generously gave oil and wine to friends. She enjoyed many years of making wonderful meals for her parents and friends. She was an excellent chef, learning from both her mother and father, and watching famous chefs from Julia Child to Mario Batali. She had many favorite dishes, but cooking Oxtail for her mother and father was at the top of her list.

She leaves behind her nephew Darin Brown, friend Gino Del Prete, Billy Sanchez, Dominic Garofalo, David Ward and cousins Rosetta Zimmermann, Steven Morani, Lauretta Cuadra, and Dan Celli. She will be dearly missed by her “Filbert Street” friends, her devoted secretary and friend, Cecelia Leong, and the many others who were lucky to call Carolyn a friend. She was deeply grateful and honored to be cared for by Margarita, Martha, and Editha in her final days. These ladies are true angels.

A Funeral Mass will be held on Tuesday, August 1st, 2017 at 10:30am at St. Vincent de Paul Church (Green & Steiner Sts). Private Entombment.

To honor her memory, please donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

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