Vivian Cardia's life story has been a true New York tale. She grew up working at the historic Beatrice Inn in New York's West Village, a famous rendezvous for the city's high society. Cardia remembers how "Woody Allen filmed a movie there with Mia Farrow and Gena Rowlands. Charles Kuralt was there every night. Lovin' Spoonful lived across the street. You name it! Eli Wallach... They all came."

Cardia says she wasn't starstruck by the notable clientele. Coming from a family of hard-working immigrants kept her grounded. Cardia's Italian grandparents have a love story for the ages. She says they "met in New York and got married. They went back to Italy with three children, and then World War Two devastated Italy. And my grandfather told my mother in 1947, 'go back to New York, find a building and call for your mother and me'."