Without question, Grace is the first lady of specialty food retailing. She began her career at age 10, when her parents the great Louis and Maria Balducci opened their store in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. At their side she learned everything there was to know about the produce trade.

Grace Balducci met Joseph Doria in 1955 when he came to work for her father. Over cash registers and boxes of produce, they fell in love, and married in 1957. Grace and her husband started a family right away, and for a short time, she considered staying at home in Queens. But the business was in her blood, and so she found a wonderful woman to stay with her six children (she's now been with the family more than 33 years!) and Grace returned to the store.

Louis Balducci brought Grace along in every way, honing her instincts and sharpening her skills as they worked during their forty years together. Grace herself was instrumental in developing the category of the "home meal replacement," a department born out of necessity. She and her mother, Maria, incorporated "off-stand" produce (not fit for sale because of cracks or blemishes) into family recipes using a wide selection of fine quality products. These dishes first appeared at the deli counter and soon enough, the customers couldn't get enough. The prepared foods center, or "Tavola" as it became known, was established in the family's Greenwich Village store, and it became an overnight success.

Today, Grace remains active in her namesake operation. A long time resident of Long Island, she devotes her time to overseeing the marketplace, but she has passed the daily responsibilities on to her children. Grace Balducci Doria is a true specialty foods retailing expert, a woman who has helped preserve her family's legend through talent all her own.