According to the Pioneer Press, Dave Cossetta was in a Rome hotel room packing loaves of his award-winning panettone to deliver to the Vatican when he collapsed and could not be revived, dying of what the outlet reports appeared to be a heart attack at age 70.

He had toured the Vatican earlier that day with longtime friend the Rev. John Malone. The restaurant confirmed the death in a statement posted Thursday, per MPR News, which reports no cause of death was given.

A group of more than 30 people, including his wife Gail, had traveled to Italy with him.

The timing is what has the food world talking.

On Sunday, Cossetta's team won Best Traditional Panettone Outside Europe and the Press Jury Award for Best Panettone at the Coppa del Mondo del Panettone in Milan — the culmination of more than 15 years perfecting the sweet bread, per MPR News and the restaurant's own statement.

Friends told FOX 9 that Cossetta was still celebrating the longtime dream when he died. Friend Mike Dickson told the Pioneer Press that Cossetta was in rare form at the Vatican, yelling 'fantastico!' as the tour guide shushed him.

After his death, Malone delivered the panettones to the Vatican, telling the Pioneer Press, 'It's what Dave would have wanted.'

Cossetta began in 1911 as a small market founded by his great-grandfather Michael Cossetta, and MPR News notes Dave was the fourth generation to run it.

The Pioneer Press reports he was a trained meat cutter who took over the family shop at just 21, later building the West Seventh Street corner into a roughly 40,000 square-foot restaurant, market and pasticceria complex after a $10.1 million expansion completed in 2013.

The family's statement, quoted by MPR News, said he built it into 'a gathering place on West Seventh Street, where everyone was welcome at the same table' and 'never stopped dreaming about what it could become.'

Friends say Cossetta's impact reached far past his dining room. Per FOX 9, he co-founded the nonprofit Serving Our Troops, which brought meals to thousands of U.S. service members stationed in places like Kuwait and Iraq.

Pat Mancini of Mancini's Char House told FOX 9, 'For me, he was my best friend. I've known him for 50 years.'

Mancini also told the Pioneer Press that Cossetta formed a band, The Goombas, and recalled his friend's uncanny organizational vision.

The City of St. Paul said in a statement that 'Dave made sure every one of us was welcome at his table,' and the St. Paul Police Department thanked him for his generosity, per FOX 9.

Mayor Kaohly Her said in a statement quoted by the Pioneer Press that her heart is broken, recalling that she stood with Cossetta last year to cut the ribbon on his panettone kitchen and had looked forward to celebrating his world-stage honor when he returned home.

The family's statement, cited by MPR News and the Pioneer Press, said service details will be shared as they become available and closed with a pledge: 'We will carry on as Dave would have wanted: together, around the table.'

Mancini told FOX 9 he hopes the panettones 'will live on forever,' and MPR News describes the story as still developing.