Actor John Ventimiglia plays the role of Artie Bucco. Artie is the owner of the Vesuvio Restaurant. However, he is not just the owner of the restaurant, he is also the chef of it. Artie is married to Charmaine, but his ties to Tony Sopranos were getting too much for his wife to bear. So she left him but she still continued to work in the restaurant.

Vesuvio is where Tony, his employees and his business associates usually eat. Even though Artie knows the position that Tony holds in the community and what he does for his livelihood, he has sincere affections for him. He considers Tony to be his friend.

The two of them has some history though. Artie and Tony had known each other since their high school days. Even though the lifestyle that Tony chooses disgusted Artie, yet at the same time he is drawn towards it. So drawn that he enjoys the status of being affiliated with the mob brings.

Tony considers Artie to be his friend too and because of that Tony decides to burn down the Vesuvio Restaurant. The reason why Tony did this was because he thought that this was his only option. He thought that he was doing Artie a favour. You see Tony found out that his uncle was going to have a hit carried out on someone inside of the Vesuvio Restaurant. If this happens it wasn’t going to be too favourable for the restaurant, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.

When Artie became aware of the reason behind his business being blown up, Tony found himself facing Artie’s hunting rifle. To say the least, Artie was neither in the understanding nor in the forgiving mood. Nevertheless, he did not shot him.

Anyhow that period passed and Artie opened the Nuovo Vesuvio Restaurant. With Nuovo meaning new of course. When he did that, Tony was also welcomed to this restaurant.

The Nuovo Vesuvio Restaurant has been faced with some competitions lately though. Its competitor is the Da Giovanni Restaurant. Artie, the chief of his own business has not been “cooking up” that dishes that all of Tony’s gang is satisfied with. So their eyes have been set on the Da Giovanni Restaurant and they have been eating a lot over there lately. This is really bad for Artie’s business, especially since the restaurant depends largely on the business that the mob brings his way.

There is one bright spot for Artie though and that is he and Charmaine is back together again. Even though they still have their problems, they are working at their marriage.

Actor John Ventimiglia has also appeared in other television shows. Show such as NYPD Blues and Law and Order. He has also acted in Cop Land, Girls Town and Mickey Blue Eyes, just to mention a few.

Mr Ventimiglia was born on the 17th July 1968 in Ridgewood, Brooklyn, New York, but he grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey.