Gino’s journey began in the coastal town of Chiclayo, Peru, where his mother owned a seafood restaurant called Dos Y Uno, just five minutes from the beach. The restaurant was famous for its fresh clams, crab, and oysters, bought daily from the nearby pier. In 1989, he followed his brother to Western Washington to start a new chapter where he found himself working for local restaurants where he met Kelly and later got married. Kelly grew up in California and Virginia where she worked at the front of the house at serval fine dining restaurants. 

In 2002, Gino and Kelly opened their first restaurant, Gino’s Bistro, which is now Gino’s Pizza, Pasta & Co. Over the years, the couple raised their four children — Keanu, Max, Kiara, and Nyah — in the lower Browns Point area, instilling a strong work ethic in them as they all began working at the family restaurants from the age of 14. These years have been filled with not only hard work but also countless memories and enduring relationships with their customers. Summer days were often spent at Dash Point Beach, where Kelly would take the kids to play and then treat them to clam chowder from the original Lobster Shop. In 2017, Gino and Kelly took a full circle step, purchasing the very restaurant that had become such a special part of their family’s story. Now known as Gino’s at the Point, this newest addition to their restaurant family is where Gino cooks and his two daughters still work, it remains a celebration of both past memories and new beginnings.