Mirco Morganti was born Oct 29, 1962 in Pittini, Pescia, Toscana Italia, the second son of Rosanna (Sturlini) and Guiseppe Morganti.
Mirco lost his father at three weeks of age in a vespa accident.
Mirco loved his brother Stefano dearly and in him had a common love of fishing.
Rosanna went on to find her life long love, Lamberto Gregori, and moved the family into the old walled city of Lucca Italy. Lamberto became the father he admired greatly, he always wished he could be as good a man.
Under the guidance of his mother, Mirco went to Chef and Sammellie school at the age of 15, in Toscana, and France. His four-year internship was at the Hotel Savoy in London England where he was then hired as Chef de Partie and Sommelier. He worked there for several years but was called to his duty in the Italian military as a paratrooper where he completed the Steffatta Cacciatori dell Alpi marathon.
After his army duty, he returned to London and worked for a short time at the Carlton Club, before moving on to help open Le Carice as a Sous Chef. Chris and Jeremy greatly admired Mirco’s culinary and management skills, and he thrived in this environment.
Mirco married and moved to New York, where he had a son, Gianluca. Later, he married Charlene (Nelson) and moved to Fargo so their baby girl, Ariana, would be close to extended family. Shortly thereafter they opened Toscana restaurant in downtown Fargo.
Mirco was a man of many talents and interests; besides his passion for culinary, fishing with that crazy Italian rod, cycling, and riding Ragbrai every year since 1997. Ragbrai is a ride, not a race, but to him, if you get on a bike, it’s always a race. An avid fan of soccer, formula one racing, horse races, and of the outdoors.
He was a self taught woodworker, building cabinets and furniture, or any request, he would spend everyday in his shop.
His dream was to retire back in Toscana to be close to his family. He said he would fish every morning and then go to the beach.
Proceeded by his father, Guiseppe Morganti; mother, Rosanna (Sturlini); father, Lamberto Gregori; and brother, Stefano Morganti.
Survived by his wife, Charlene (Nelson) of Fargo; sons, Preston Blazek of Texas, Gianluca Morganti of New York, Devon Blazek of Fargo; daughters, Alicia Blazek of Fargo, Ariana Morganti of Fargo; Sister, Serena and Marco Bernicchi of Italy, Laura and Vittorugo Franchi of Italy; In-laws Kenneth and Jean (Nihill) Nelson of Fargo; and three grandsons.
A GoFundMe has been setup for his family, and can be found at
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-morganti-family
I met Mirco and Charlene when I was with the VFW in Fargo. I really liked them. Kindest people ever. It’s hard to loose a loved one. John Lennon said before his death, to his wife…”We’re still together, we’re just doing different things.” It’s hard to find comfort when there is a loss. God Bless
My condolences to Charlene and the family. Our family came down from Winnipeg and had a great experience at the restaurant. I was looking for an Italian road bicicletta and Charlene asked Mirco to come out of the kitchen and help me out. He went out of his way and helped me locate an authentically Italian made bici. Our daughter loved the food and always said when can we go back to the ‘amazing restaurant’. God Bless you and your family in this time, our paesan left us too soon.
Oh my goodness! Thinking of you guys during this hard time, and so very sorry for your loss. I hadn’t seen you guys in Menards for a long time. I am so sad to read of his passing. Thoughts and prayers.
My condolences to his family. Mr. Morganti was an amazing chef and I loved his restaurant. I will miss him a lot.
I worked with Micro for a while and the man was full of passion. Passion for food, passion for cycling, passion for life. I am so regretful I didn’t stay in touch when I moved away. There was only one Mirco.