Dan Madaffari, owner of MadaVera’s, an Italian bakery and New York style deli, has been involved in the food industry in Florida for decades. With 25 years experience in restaurant management — overseeing everything from advertising and marketing to hiring — he managed corporate food chains, as well as launching new restaurants for private individuals.

“But one day last year, I told myself I’m not going to open a restaurant for anyone else — only me,” he said. “And so MadaVera’s was conceived.” Madaffari and his wife, Elecia, put their heads together and decided they wanted to open an authentic Italian bakery and NY-style deli. The name of the bakery and deli would be MadaVera’s — a combination of their surnames - ‘Mada’ from Dan’s last name and ‘Vera’ from Elecia’s maiden name Primavera.