Anna Maria Santorelli of Anna Maria's

The New York City police officer signaled the approaching van to stop. "I'm sorry, miss," he said, "you can't go downtown."  But after the woman displayed her credentials, he let her pass through the barriers. The woman was Anna Maria Santorelli, chef to Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, on her way to set up an emergency kitchen at the mayor's 9/11 control center.

Several days later, on September 23, 2001, Anna Maria was again called upon to organize a makeshift kitchen. This time it was in a locker room at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Relatives and friends of the Twin Towers victims had gathered for a memorial service called "Remembrance."

Oprah Winfrey addressed the crowd. "Every one of those people who got up last Tuesday, no doubt thought it was going to be an ordinary day, and by 8:48, we all knew nothing was ordinary anymore," she said. "We all know for sure now how fragile, how uncertain, yet extraordinary, life can be. May we always remember." Afterwards, Oprah sat quietly in the locker room as she ate a lunch prepared for her by Anna Maria.

Anna Maria was ten years old when her parents arrived from Naples in America with their five children (three boys and two girls) and settled in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. While a student at Grover Cleveland High School at the age of 17, she worked during her lunch hour and after school at her brother Alfonso's restaurant.

She attended the New York Restaurant School and prior to graduation, served a three-month unpaid internship at the Gramercy Park restaurant La Colombe d'Or. Following graduation, she joined the kitchen staff at Coco Pazzo, a Tuscan cuisine restaurant in Manhattan, and advanced to assistant pastry chef and saucier. After a friend told her about an opening at Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor of New York City since 1942, she interviewed and was hired as a prep cook. Several promotions followed and eventually she advanced to executive chef and chief administrator--in charge of both the kitchen and event planning.

Anna Maria served three mayors--David Dinkins, Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg. She fed many celebrities during her 13 years at Gracie Mansion, including actors Harrison Ford, Danny DeVito and Woody Harrelson; singer/actress Barbra Streisand; actor/comedian Billy Crystal; operatic tenors Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti; film director Francis Ford Coppola; and John Kennedy, Jr. 

Visitors from overseas, including heads of state, were popular guests at Gracie Mansion, too. Anna Maria often kept the menu simple and wholesome. When Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, then president of Italy, came to dine with Mayor Giuliani one evening in 1996, she served gemelli (two strands of pasta twisted together) with grilled chicken and vegetables, and fresh fruit and biscotti for dessert. 

She catered a victory party for the New York Rangers hockey team when it defeated Vancouver to capture the Stanley Cup in 1994. She also catered actor Tony Randall's marriage in 1995 at age 77 to actress Heather Harlan (50 years his junior). Mayor Giuliani performed the ceremony. 

She treasures a kiss from music industry legend Andrea Bocelli, blind since the age of 12, given in appreciation for a breakfast she prepared in his honor in October 1999. 

After Giulliani was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2000, she helped him change his diet and introduced well-thought-out and heathy new gastronomic experiences to Gracie Mansion, such as dishes prepared with tofu and soy. Anna Maria's job was very demanding. Seven-day work weeks were common. She not only worked in Gracie Mansion, she lived there, too.

She continued to serve in Michael Bloomberg's administration, but one day a new challenge presented itself: she accepted an offer from Donald Trump and joined Trump Grill in time to oversee food preparation for the staff and participants of the first  program in The Apprentice television series in 2004.

Decorating the walls wasn't a problem when she opened Anna Maria's in Larchmont in 2006. Her collection of autographed photos of Gracie Mansion visitors, from politicians to show business elite, filled all the available space. But as the days drew near for the restaurant's grand opening, a new opportunity came her way.

Unexpectedly, a job offer arrived from the George W. Bush White House. Flattered, Anna Maria says she was tempted and might have accepted it had it come a few months earlier, but by that time her heart was set on having her own restaurant. Following a warm reception from the Larchmont community, she says, "I knew I had made the right decision." 

Pollo capriccioso (sauteed chicken topped with arugula, cut tomato and fresh mozzarella in balsamic vinaigrette) and pollo scarpariello (chicken, including bone, with sausage slices, peppers and silver-dollar-sized potato thins with red wine vinegar sauce) vie for recognition as the restaurant's signature dish.

"The menu changes seasonally," says Anna Maria, "but if a special catches on, I'll add it to the menu." This was the case recently for Passion Pasta, a vegetarian pasta dish made with diced eggplant, diced mushrooms, ricotta cheese and homemade tomato sauce.

In early July, friends and relatives will attend a by-invitation-only fourth anniversary party for the restaurant.

Active with Westchester County charities and a strong food bank supporter, what's next for Anna Maria? A cookbook is in the early stages of preparation.

"It will include many recipes I haven't used since I left Gracie Mansion," she says.

Anna Maria's is open for dinner Tuesday through Sunday, and for lunch Wednesday through Sunday. Anna Maria's Italian Restaurant, 18 Chatsworth Ave., Larchmont, NY, 10538, www.annamariasrestaurant.com, (914) 833-0555.