La Fontana Coast on Landis Avenue in Sea Isle is one of four La Fontana-branded restaurants at the Jersey Shore and in Philadelphia.
By Donald Wittkowski
In 1990, a young man named Bujar Daku fled his native Albania to escape poverty and the oppressive Communist government that ruled the European country at that time.
Attracted by New York City’s array of restaurants, hotels and huge population, the business-minded Daku thought of emigrating to the Big Apple, but ended up at the Jersey Shore instead after spending some time as a chef in Philadelphia.
Now 45 years old, Daku has made a remarkable climb from his Albanian beginnings to become one of Cape May County’s most influential restaurateurs. His La Fontana and Fratelli’s restaurant brands can be found in Strathmere, Sea Isle City and Avalon. He also owns a La Fontana restaurant in Philadelphia.
Daku is planning to add to his collection of restaurants by opening a new place in Avalon at 32nd Street and Dune Drive in the summer of 2018.
Giving a sneak preview, he said the new restaurant will offer upscale Italian cuisine similar to his La Fontana locations, but promises to feature an entirely new concept.
As he prepares to enlarge his footprint at the seashore, Daku explained that his expansion plans are guided by a simple principle: “If you’re in the ocean and you don’t swim, what happens?” he said.
Fratelli's waitress Boryana Yankova prepares to serve a specialty pizza to customers.
Daku pronounced Fratelli’s first summer in Sea Isle a success. He stressed that the profitability of the seashore’s restaurant industry strongly depends on good weather during the peak summer tourism season.
“It’s going good,” he said. “We have a lot of customers. Everybody loves it.”
“Fratelli,” an Italian word, translates to “brothers” in English. For Daku’s restaurants, the family-inspired name is certainly appropriate. His brother, wife, son, daughter, sister-in-law and other relatives help him run the eateries.
After leaving Albania, his first foray in the restaurant business in the United States began in 1991, when he served as a chef at La Veranda in Philadelphia.
While at the Jersey Shore several years later, Daku and the now-deceased Fausto Berardi decided to become business partners in La Fontana Del Mare in Strathmere in 1998. His La Fontana Coast in Sea Isle and La Vecchia Fontana in Avalon would follow as he became more successful. Translated from Italian to English, “La Fontana” means “the fountain.”
Bujar Daku stands in front of the $40,000 domed oven that is the centerpiece of his Fratelli's pizzeria in Sea Isle.
Although Daku concentrates on his group of restaurants at the seashore and in Philadelphia, he noted he also has a restaurant and hotel in Albania, where his parents still live.
When asked whether he might return to Albania to live one day, he emphasized that the Jersey Shore is his home now.
“This is my family environment,” he said, referring to having both his home and business at the shore. “That’s what I like.”
La Fontana Coast on Landis Avenue in Sea Isle is one of four La Fontana-branded restaurants at the Jersey Shore and in Philadelphia.
