Ferdinand Plaku, the owner and head chef at Rebeka didn't always live in East Lyme, Connecticut. As a boy he lived in Albania, and always had a dream of working and opening his own successful restaurant. He moved to Venice, Italy and at a young age began to work as a chef in various restaurants, eventually saving up enough money to open his first restaurant in Venice, named Acquario. From 2005 to 2012 and was very successful, but he wanted something else.