Luigi Risotto, real name Lothar Folkman is the proprietor of Luigi's.
Biography
A cooking prodigy, Lothar Folkman opened his Italian restaurant in Springfield to critical success, but empty seats. No one wanted to eat Italian food prepared by someone named Lothar. But a fake Italian accent, name change, and makeover later, and his eatery was packed every night. Unfortunately, the charade has driven Luigi into a love/hate relationship with his customers that occasionally bubbles to the surface like tomato sauce in a pot that's one size too small.
Luigi owns an Italian restaurant in Springfield, that serves average Italian food. Luigi often treats his customers rudely, insulting and belittling them (such as calling Bart “the ugly kid”); at times under his breath, at other times in a conversational tone, and sometimes shouting the slurs to the (unseen) chef Salvatore (”Hey, Salvatore! Give the ugly kid a plate of the red crap!”). Luigi seems to have some connections to the mafia. Local gangster Fat Tony is a frequent customer at his restaurant, despite the fact that he was one of the targets of Fat Tony's plan to get rid of all other food retailers except Marge's.[1] He does not actually speak Italian, only "fractured English" with a strong Italian accent, as did his parents. He says the phrase, "I guarantee," a lot.
Luigi may be an illegal immigrant because he disappeared during an immigration officer's introduction at Luigi's restaurant and took the citizenship exam with Apu.[2]
When Homer was a food critic, he gave Luigi's eatery a poor review; in retaliation, Luigi hired a friend to place a horse's head in Homer's bed (a reference to The Godfather). Homer subsequently ate the head and gave it a bad review.[3]
His one on-screen companion is Giuseppe the monkey.
He can play accordion.
In The Simpsons: Tapped Out (app for Android and iOS), Luigi has a slip of his tongue and reveals his true accent is British. He quickly realizes his mistake and returns to his Italian. He also reveals that his mother died from getting her mustache caught in a dough mixer.
Behind the Laughter
Luigi is a parody of the "Italian pasta/pizza chef" stereotype, but seems to be aware of his status as a stock character. His surname is a reference to the Italian food risotto. He also seems to be a parody of Tony ("Lady and the Tramp") He also sounds like the Mario brothers.
Gallery
Appearances
- Episode – "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song"
- Episode – "Lady Bouvier's Lover"
- Episode – "Homie the Clown"
- Episode – "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds"
- Episode – "Team Homer"
- Episode – "Much Apu About Nothing"
- Episode – "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson"
- Episode – "Lard of the Dance"
- Episode – "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?"
- THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XI" (image cameo)
- Episode – "A Tale of Two Springfields"
- Episode – "I Am Furious (Yellow)"
- THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XIV"
- Episode – "Bart-Mangled Banner"
- Episode – "Large Marge"
- Episode – "The Wettest Stories Ever Told"
- Episode – "Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play"
- Episode – "Homerazzi" (On a cover of an magazine)
- Episode – "Crook and Ladder"
- Episode – "The Last of the Red Hat Mamas"
- Episode – "Funeral for a Fiend"
- Episode – "Million Dollar Abie"
- Episode – "Love, Springfieldian Style"
- Episode – "The Real Housewives of Fat Tony"
- Episode – "The Daughter Also Rises"
- Episode – "Bart's New Friend" (Billboard)
- Episode – "Walking Big & Tall"
- Episode – "Halloween of Horror"
- Episode – "Much Apu About Something"
- Episode – "The Burns Cage"
- Episode – "Simprovised"
- Episode – "The Old Blue Mayor She Ain't What She Used To Be"
- Episode – "Mr. Lisa's Opus"
- Episode – "Gone Boy"
Video game – The Simpsons Game