If you like Italian food, I suspect you know Barresi’s in Deer Park (4111 Webster Ave; 513-793-2540), which has been around in one form or another since the early 1960s. Its longtime owners, Sal and Odessa Barresi, recently sold the business but here’s the good news: The new owner is Sarah Wagner, who started as a busser there when she was still in high school. Over the years she’s worked elsewhere, gone to culinary school and learned her way around a kitchen.

SARAH WAGNER returned to Barresi’s about a year ago. When the Barresis decided to sell, she stepped up. Wagner remembers a day years ago when she was still a young employee, studying to become a massage therapist. One of the chefs didn’t show: “Odessa looked around and said, ‘You don’t have a station and you’ve been here for four years: Why don’t you put together the salads?’ ” That was the beginning of a career. “It’s going to be the same place with the same recipes, served by the same staff,” Sarah says, “but we’ll be revving up the marketing and doing charity benefits.” Barresi’s has been frequented by diners who knew Sal and Odessa for years, and Wagner’s certain they’ll still enjoy it — but she plans to extend its appeal to her own generation. Sounds like a new star is rising in the dining firmament!