Pine nut meticulous person) and are an essential component of Italian pesto sauce; the upsurge in the popularity of this sauce since the 1990s has increased the visibility of the nut in America, primarily on the West Coast. "Torta della nonna" (literally "granny's cake") is a generic Italian dish name that in most families indicates an old family recipe for any kind of cake but often is used for a tart or a pie filled with custard, topped with pine nuts and optionally dusted with icing sugar. "Pignoli" cookies, an Italian American specialty confection (in Italy these would be called "biscotti ai
Bertucci's 36 stores. In 1994, it expanded to Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago; Orlando, Florida; and New Jersey. Bertucci’s had 63 stores by 1995. A $10.4 million wrongful death lawsuit against Bertucci's was filed in July 1995. Janet Walker, of Salem, New Hampshire, went into anaphylactic shock and then slipped into a coma after ingesting pesto sauce that contained nuts. The waitress, according to the lawsuit, failed to mention the nuts. A week later, Walker died. The case never went to trial. Joey Crugnale attempted to take the chain private again in 1998, but though the board approved his attempt, he was outbid.