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iss. VII Vol XXIII Spring 2010
Exclusive Interview With
Celebrity Chef - Author
Joe Ciminera
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cover Story
Chef Joseph Ciminera Pg. 2-3 Pg.
A Sicilian Odyssey
Tom Dreesen
Lolita
Paulie Malignaggi
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Pg. 26
Pg. 19
Pg. 41
Editorial + Amici Journal Subscribe ........................................................1 Joseph Ciminera Cover story .................................................................. 2-3 NIAF monthly News ....................................................................................4 NIAF Media Forum ......................................................................................5 Why Italians love food.................................................................................6-7 Dining in Milan.................................................................................................8 Risorgimento + Sicilian Museum..............................................................9 Five Centuries Italian History ..................................................................10 Regions Puzzle................................................................................................11 Golden Globes 67th......................................................................................12 Italian Fiction week........................................................................................13 A Sicilian Odyssey....................................................................................14-15 Rigoletto Opera...............................................................................................16 La Scala Teatro dell Opera..........................................................................17 Antoinette La Vecchia + Clender of Events.........................................18 Tom Dreesen Story.......................................................................................19 Doctor Rosenfeld House calls....................................................................20 Reagan Legacy Meaningful Day..............................................................21 Rossella Rago cooking with Nonna...................................................22-23 Duomo d’ Milan spread........................................................................24-25 Lolita’s Fabulous art.......................................................................................26 Basic art of Italian cooking...........................................................................27 Italian Restaurant Guide..............................................................................28 The Flaming Greek......................................................................................30 History of Pisa.................................................................................................31 Promises to Keep......................................................................................32-33 Memories of Young faces ............................................................................34 St. Joseph Hospital Italian Honor............................................................35 My Italian Family Unique Town.............................................................36 Nick Campanella’s decision.......................................................................40 Malignaggi and Diaz....................................................................................41
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Portrayal of ItalianAmericans! In this edition we bring you the renowned Celebrity Chef Joseph Ciminera. We are pleased to have theworld Chef grace our cover. We are always honored And proud of the stellar individuals that have given us exclusive interviews The cover of Amici Journal has been graced by many celebrities. These celebrities have been selected for our covers because they were chosen, to be at the forefront of their craft or industry and are influential in our overall culture. As such, they are usually busy with their hectic routines. On many occasions, we have waited as long as a year to get on their schedule. These efforts have proved to be fruitful and we have had the privilege of having them on our cover, or feature story. Whether it’s the photo shoot, the actual interview or simply the negotiations for approval the Amici Journal has fulfilled its commitment to journalistic integrity. These iconic individuals are examples of how determination and resilience can feed the awesome supply of energy needed to succeed. We at Amici Journal thank them for this inspiration and gift of a lifetime. For anyone who is offended by MTV’s portrayal of Italian-American people in their new show “Jersey Shore” UNICO National President Andre DiMino said in a very poignant statement “MTV has festooned the ‘bordello-like’ house set with Italian flags and red, white and green maps of New Jersey while every other cutaway shot is of Italian signs and symbols. They are blatantly as well as subliminally bashing Italian-Americans with every technique possible. The cast members are an embarrassment to themselves, their heritage and their families.” Italian Americans as a whole, have been distorted just the phrase used “Guido”, this is a racist remark, is this how they distort our heritage, by calling themselves Guido’s? Unfortunately this is real, the “Jersey Shore” group can identify themselves in this manner. However they need not degrade the Italian American. Domino’s Pizza recently pulled their commercials from airing during the show. Tim McIntyre, the company’s vice president of communications, stated, “One of the ads happened to show up and once we saw what the program was, we decided that the content wasn’t in keeping with what we’re all about. Dell also pulled their ads during the airing of the show,. There are still a variety of companies that, choose to support Bigotry of a nationality, while advertising, with MTV’s Jersey Boys. I find this show appauling, while there are those that condem actors such as Robert DeNiro, Frank Vincent and a host of others, for acting with their talent. I wonder what these organizations have to say about the Jersey Boys., and those companies that support ethnic slurs and negative stereotypes that demean Italian-Americans. Amici Journal, will continue to present stories of true celebrities, and true stories that define the culture of the Italian American. And not the usual, stero typing of our heritage. Amici Journal is honored to be amongst those that will continue to preserve and promote our Italian American culture and our shared Italian American Heritage. Send all correspondence to Amici Journal Publications, Inc. P.O. Box 595, River Grove, IL 60171 or email us at amiitalia@sbcglobal.net. Look for AMICI JOURNAL in your local stores or order direct www.amiciorgit. net or 773-836-1595 calls for information on, advertising rates, and our distribution program! Sincerely Andrew Guzaldo Editor Amici Journal
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Spring 2010 / AMICI 1
Exclusive Interview with Celebrity Chef
Joseph Ciminera By Andrew Guzaldo
I
In recent years, I have heard quite a bit about Chef Joseph Ciminera. And after this interview, I can see why those that know him, speak so highly of him, and his celebrity culinary, status. Ciminera is a 4 star chef and is also a TV personality. Chef Joseph Ciminera has come a long way from, when he first started at “Eat at Joe’s”. It is there he would invite a variety of Chefs’ to his show. And to this day , has many of the original producers, and writers. This shows what a fine outstanding individual Chef Ciminera truly is. Ciminera was born on the East side of New York, and raised in Queens NY. He enjoys going to Italy at least 1 month out of every year He has been involved in a culinary carrer since 1991, his training started at a number of great restaurantes troughout Italy. After that he began to work with world renowned, top chefs including Daniel Boulud, Christian Doulevere, Pierre Manor, Mike Depirito ,and Jean Louis Pallidan.His latest venture , is to help fight against one of America’s growing health issues…Childhood Obesity. He had worked, for several, very known 4 star resturants such as Le Cirque, Le Petite Bijou, Lespinase and Les Celebrite. He always desired to become a television Celebrity Chef. And his career in television took off in early 1999. He was invited to cook on TV with Julia Child, she was quite impressed with his New York times review, when Ciminera was at the young age of 24. When asked what this did for his career he replied. “ After being on her show I was introduced to her long time friend and associate producer who, launched my cooking show career.” Although all of his family is near and dear to the Chef, absolutely, adores his wife and 2 beautiful little girls. “They have endured long awaited hours for me to come home only to find me working hours on end. They are true inspirations to my success.” says Ciminera. Ciminera’s mother, father and grandparents, also played a big role in his 2 AMICI / Spring 2010
culinary ideas. In introducing him to great food, and great recipes. “ I still have my grandmothers book, that is falling apart. It has penciled written recipes from the 1920’s. It is these recipes that are the foundation for my cooking. I have added and changed things around a bit, however the foundation is still there and strong, Their passion for food has showed him that food is a way of life, and part of our Italian culture.” Replies the Chef. The Chef, does not relax much, this is one of his problems. It seems that whenever he has spare time of any sort. He is either thinking of food, and new recipes. Or as strange as it may seem, produces horror films “I love film and that genre. Other then that I think about food so much that its perverse.” A 2-hour movie, shared with his family, is vacation enough for him these days. The Chef tries to, get 2 to 4 weeks a year, where he cannot be reached. It seems we all have a little kid in us from time to time. You might even catch me at some remote amusement theme park somewhere in the world. Ciminera’s training started at the Five Star Five Diamond Hotel. Venesia, in Milan, and tutelage, under master Chef Vincenzo Provino. Every year he films 6 episodes in Italy. This last year he was in Sicily touring all of the Islands from Ruffino to Modica, all the way back to Palermo. Which he feels is the best market place in the world. Ciminera is scheduled to film 4 episodes of Taste This TV, in Naples and Calabria May of 2010 “Food in Italy is a way of life, everything is grown, controlled and bottled for consumption at a later date. The Italian culture thinks ahead, and uses no artifical ingredients, their respec for their land is unprecidented and have a huge respect for the land. One thing that I like most about the food in italy is that its very simple. They don’t mask the flavor of the food with tons of heard ans sauces. When they cook a piece of fish they only add things that will enhance the flavor not take away from it. Many chefs have contributed and have helped, me along the way, each chef gave a different teaching technique that had influenced me.” Concludes Chef Ciminera Given the fact, the Ciminera, has a full plate, he has also enriched ones reading with the books he has written, as well as the cuisines he prepares. His first book was entitled “In The Weeds”; a volume of chef’s tales that has sold over 650,000 copies. His latest book is entitled latest “Joseph Ciminera’s new American Cooking” this will undoubtedly sell an estimated 1 million copies sold by the end of this year. As other Chef’s have done in the past, we like to end the article with a quote and this is what he shared with our readers
“There are no rules in Cooking”
Chef Joseph Ciminera
www.tastethistv.com
The salad outside of Naples 6 ounces Roasted Red Peppers 1 cup Parmesan cheese ½ cup Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 cup Dell Amore Sweet Basil Tomato Sauce pinch of salt and pepper 1 pound Baby Field Greens 2 each Belgium Endive 1 head radicchio 8 ounce focaccia bread, cut into1/2 cubes
For the vinaigrette:
In a vita mix blender add the roasted peppers, parmesan cheese, olive oil, tomato sauce and blend on low speed. Blend until all the ingredients are smooth and sheen in color. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste
For the lettuce:
Chop the Belgium endive in thin strips, discarding the bottom root that is inedible. Shave the radicchio with a wusthof pairing knife, so that you achieve clean small cuts. It is important to use a sharp knife when cutting lettuce, it will result is a crispy taste in each bite. In a large mixing bowl add all the greens and mix until incorporated. Add1/2 cup of vinaigrette and mix well. Continue to add the rest of the vinaigrette until desired. Make sure that the lettuce is not dressed until it is ready to be served. Place the cubed pieces of focaccia on the top of the salad.
Baby Greens and Raspberry Vinaigrette
For the vinaigrette:
In a china cap, place the raspberries and press with a ladle to squeeze all of the juices out. Keep pushing until all the juice is extracted and the seeds are left in the china cap. Place the raspberry juice, salt, black pepper, cocktail sugar, and red wine in a blender on low speed. Gradually add the oil a little bit at a time until a full cup is added to the blender. Taste for salt content and desired sweetness.
For the salad:
On a 10” plate take the cucumber and mold into a circle, the cucumber will stick together because of its water content. In a separate mixing bow add the Mesclun lettuce and gradually add the raspberry viniagrette continually mixing. Add a desired amount to the greens then place some of the wet lettuce into the cucumber ring mold. Garnish the top with radishes, radish sprouts, and pear tomatoes.
Joe’s Tip:
Remember not to wet the lettuce until you are ready to eat the salad, the vinegar has a tendency to make the lettuce wilt.
Egg and bacon in a Tortilla Wrap 4 eggs, brown (Organic Valley) 2 slices Gruyere 2 ounce spinach, fresh 2 La tortilla Tomato wraps 8 slices bacon, fully cooked 1 tomato, sliced thin 1 tablespoon of butter pinch of salt and pepper
For the wrap:
Lay the tomato wrap flat on the table and add the eggs in the center. Add the Gruyere cheese, tomatoes, spinach, and bacon. Wrap the tortilla shell tight to avoid any food falling out.
1 pint Raspberries 1 cup Filippo Berio Sautéing Oil 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt 1 pinch black ground pepper 1 pinch Cocktail Candy Sugar ¼ cup red wine vinegar 1 seedless cucumber, sliced lengthwise 1/16” thick 1 pound of Mesclun green 1 pint radish sprouts 2 sliced radishes, sliced paper thin 1 pint pear shaped tomatoes
For the eggs:
The key to this simple dish is to whip the eggs until bubbles form. Add the salt and Pepper to and continue to mix for a few moments more. Place your All-Clad 10” sauté pan on medium heat and add the butter until it form a slow simmer. Evenly distribute the butter all over the bottom of the pan. Add the eggs and move around the pan with a wooden spoon, forming the eggs in an omelet form.
Joe’s tip:
Try cutting the tortilla on a bias, its easier to eat especially when you add more food in the wrap.
Available at www.amazon.com
Spring 2010 / AMICI 3
NIAF News Monthly A monthly bulletin for Italian American organizations and media outlets, dedicated to promoting the language, culture and traditions of Italians and Italian Americans.
January - February 2010 NIAF Scholarships Now Available Online More than 100 scholarships will be available to students through the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) for the 2010-2011 academic year. The Foundation has awarded millions of dollars in scholarships and cultural grants since its inception in 1976, including more than $1,000,000 in 2009. NIAF celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. Since NIAF’s inception, the scholarship program has grown from four scholarships of $250 each to more than 100 annual scholarships ranging from $2,000 to $15,000 each in the humanities, medicine, engineering, business, music, Italian language and culture, and other specialized fields. Last year, the average scholarship to students in the United States was worth more than $3,000. Applicants either must be of Italian descent, with at least one ancestor who has emigrated from
Italy, or astudent of any ethnic background majoring or minoring in the Italian language, Italian studies, Italian-American studies or a related field. NIAF scholarship recipients are selected based on academic merit. Students must have a minimum GPA of 3.5 to apply. Contributors to the NIAF scholarship program include individuals, corporations, and organizations across the U.S. NIAF will also consider matching scholarships with other organizations. Apply online for a 2009-2010 NIAF scholarship at www.niaf. org/scholarships. The application deadline is March 5, 2010. To establish a NIAF scholarship, contact NIAF Director of Education and Culture Serena Cantoni at 202/939-3111 or serena@ niaf.org.
New Books To Check Out
Celebrate Heart Awarness Month To celebrate Heart Awareness Month in February, the new book “Back to Life After a Heart Crisis” by Marc Wallack MD and longtime NIAF supporter Jamie Colby, correspondent for FOX News Channel, will be at bookstores on February 4, 2010. With all the mentions of red wine and olive oil, you would think this book was written just for Italians. The husband and wife team offers their moving personal story along with a guide to reclaiming your life after a traumatic heart event. This book shows readers how to not only gain emotional strength, but also heal physically by working through eight important milestones. “Back to Life After a Heart Crisis” helps patients and
their loved ones heal hearts and minds. Visit www.backtolifethebook.com. The Lady Queen Joanna I, the fourteenth century queen of Naples and Sicily, had a kingdom that was one of the most prestigious in Europe. It was home to artists and writers of the period in southern Italy including Giotto, Boccaccio and Petrarch. Nancy Goldstone’s new book tells the story of a leader who ruled for 30 years and has been proclaimed “The Lady Queen.” Visit www.amazon.com. Hungry for Italy? Eric Dregni wanted to live in a place with the
Wonder What Italians Bought For Christmas?
Italian American Director Qualifies For Academy Awards
ANSA, Italy’s national wire service, reported that an increased percentage of Italians bought domestic goods this Christmas. Compared to other countries, where populations buy national products at an average of 59 percent, Italians buy at an average of 75 percent according to the Coldiretti Famers Union. These statistics were reported in a survey by the Deloitte Research Group. An increase in domestic products proved that Italians are confident that homemade products are created through respected environmental norms and labor laws.
Up-and-coming Italian American director Justin Ambrosino recently qualified for the Academy Awards with his short film, “The 8th Samurai.” Born in New York City, Ambrosino received his M.F.A. in film direction at the American Film Institute where he was given the Patricia Hitchcock O’Connell Scholarship. “The 8th Samurai” has gone on to win numerous awards and has been shown at 23 festivals around the world. Visit www.the8thsamuraimovie.com.
Winter Festivities In Italy In Italy, Italians believe in La Befana, an Italian folklore character who delivers presents to children. On January 6 La Befana fills their socks with candy and presents if they are good or a lump of coal or dark candy if they are bad. The child’s family typically leaves a small glass of wine and a plate with a few morsels of food for La Befana. Carnevale tops the list of festivals in Italy during February. In Catania, Sicily, a big festival held on Saint Agatha’s Feast Day is the second largest religious procession in the world. Another festival includes an almond blossom fair.
best food in the world. His dream led him from Minnesota to Milan, Italy and finally to Modena: the birthplace of balsamic vinegar, Ferrari and Luciano Pavarotti. In his book, “Never Trust a Thin Cook,” Dregni retells the stories of his travels. The new release is a funny travel tale full of his unexpected adventures, awkward moments and deliciousfood. Visit www.upress.umn.edu/Books/D/dregni_ never.html.
Italian Classes For Kids And Adults In California Registration is now open for the spring session of Italian classes for youngsters and adults by Fondazione Italia in Burbank, Hermosa Beach, Los Feliz, West Los Angeles and Irvine, Calif. Classes start February 6, 2010 and are offered at all levels. Download a class schedule and pricing information at www.fondazione-italia.org/, e-mail info@fondazioneitalia.org or call (310) 739-9350.
Search for NIAF on Facebook & Twitter for latest events! News Monthly Coordinator Natasha Borato 1860 19th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 Contributing Writer Gina Ghilardi and Ginan Nakshbendi, Research Carlo Piccolo, Director of Communications Elissa Ruffino, Director of Pubilcations Monica Soladay Please send your group or city’s news of Italian-American exhibits, cultural events, scholarships and special events to Elissa Ruffino at the above address or e-mail elissa@niaf.org. Events/programs noted are not necessarily endorsed or sponsored by NIAF.
4 AMICI / Spring 2010
CHICAGO JOURNALISTS MEET TO DISCUSS ITALIAN AMERICAN AGENDA *Chicago Blackhawks President Speaks at NIAF Media Forum*
“Our Legacy Continues…The Italian American Agenda in Chicago” was the theme of the National Italian American Foundation’s (NIAF) seventh media forum on Joseph Del Raso, Peter Arduini, Vince January 12, 2010. John Gerasole-reporter, Ken Marino û McDonough, president of NIASHF Board of Directors the Chicago Blackhawks, spoke to an audience of more than 30 journalists of Italian ancestry about the importance of building a bridge from the past to the present. The Frank J. Guarini/ NIAF Media Forum, underwritten by The National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (NIASHF), was hosted by George R. Randazzo, founder and president of the NIASHF, and Robert V. Allegrini, NIAF regional vice president for the Midwest and Hilton Hotels Corporation vice president of corporate communications for the Americas. The luncheon was cochaired by Mike Adamle, sports anchor for NBC5 Chicago, and Lissa Druss Christman, executive producer of Comcast SportsNet Chicago. Adamle and Christman opened the luncheon and thanked attending journalists for their continued support in promoting all things Italian. To build on our Italian American legacy, as well as energize the Italian American community, NIAF President Joseph V. Del Raso discussed the importance of collaborating with NIASHF and local community organizations. Del Raso, noted that television producers and Peter Arduini programmers and Robert Allegrini need to be held
w ww.oliveoilof th e w o r l d . c o m
responsible for exploiting young adults and promoting bad behavior in such shows as MTV’s “Jersey Shore.” At the podium McDonough remarked how he was surrounded by many of his heroes in the broadcast world seated before him at today’s luncheon. While discussing the Chicago Blackhawks legacy and heritage within the National Football League (NFL), he praised the makers in the industry including Tony Amonte, Tony and Phil Esposito, Dino Ciccarelli and Tony Granto. He also noted that the Blackhawks fan base is composed of Italian Americans. Also joining Del Raso and McDonough at the forum were Peter Arduini, a member of the NIAF Board of Directors and corporate vice president of Baxter Healthcare Corporation, John C. Sciaccotta, a NIAF area coordinator and attorney at Shefsky & Froelich Ltd., Ken Marino, a NIASHF board member, and Alessandro Motta, Italy’s Consul General in Chicago. Lauren Schaal, a participant of NIAF’s Ambassador Peter F. Secchia VoyPeter Arduini, age of Discovery program, an NIAF Board Member educational and cultural initiaand Mike Adamle of NBC 5 tive that sends Italian American students to Italy, shared her experiences with guests. Also on the agenda in Chicago, NIAF will launch its sports council, a special membership level for those in sports-related industries, with the help of national and local sports figures in March. Similar media forums are planned in February in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Phoenix. The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) is a non-profit, non-partisan foundation dedicated to promoting the contributions of Italian Americans. The Foundation has a wide range of programs that provide scholarships and grants, conferences and cultural seminars. Visit www. niaf.org. Elissa Ruffino, 202/939-3106, elissa@niaf.org or Natasha Borato, 202/939-3116, natasha@niaf.org
561-386-0736 Spring 2010 / AMICI 5
T
WHY ITALIANS LOVE TO TALK ABOUT FOOD Friuli Venezia Giulia
he mark of the ancient Roman Julian clan is concealed twice in the name of this region. The word “Friuli” is derived from forum julii. Proud of its distant conquest, ancient Rome aspired to affirm its supremacy in this province for eternity, through its constructions and laws, and through the imperial name. Nevertheless, the allure of this outlying area lies in its non-Roman character, its spotty Slavic nature resulting from its proximity to the Balkans. Notices written in Latin letters here often have a Slavic resonance. Bread (the principal food of all Slavic peoples) sometimes makes a fine showing in the center of the table and sometimes disappears entirely from daily use. At country fairs, sometimes wheat is sold, sometimes corn. In one village they eat pagnotte, round loaves; in a neighboring village, polenta. In the Roman era and in the Middle Ages, Friuli Venezia Giulia was dominated by the opulent city of Aquileia, which abounded in mosaics and was rich with gold. Founded in 181 Prosciutto A.D., Aquileia was the center of all maritime trade between Italy, the East, and northern Europe. Consular roads leading to the Balkans passed through here, and via its port amber was imported into the Roman world. It was amber that allowed the already vast range of the local artisans’ products to be expanded. In some towns in Friuli (for example, in Spilimbergo, which is known as “the City of the Mosaic” and which still houses the Scuola Mosaicisti of Friuli, an instructional center of worldwide repute), the art of inlay and mosaics flourished, and has been handed down to our day. This art is even applied to small pieces of jewelry, but above all to the creation of street mosaic painting. The basic material for the mosaics was right under the ancients’ feet: the yellow gravel of the Meduna River; the black, green, and red gravel of the Tagliamento; and the white gravel of the Cosa. Wonderful piazzas and terraces were made in Friuli Venezia Giulia with these stones, and with imported materials as well: blue cobblestones from Ireland; black ones from Belgium, and red ones from the Pyrenees. Friulian mosaicists acquired their reputation in the Roman era, but little has changed in the sixteen hundred years since the fourth-century pavements of Braida Murada, recently restored, were created. While stonecutters and laborers from the Spilimbergo area were summoned to work in many Italian and European cities toward the end of the seventeenth century, in the twentieth century they created famous mosaics throughout Europe (for example, in the Paris Opera House) and even overseas (St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City). Trieste, an open city and free port from time immemorial, is the capital of Friuli Venezia Giulia, but it has some difficulty fitting in with the rest of the region. Trieste has its own psychology and traditions, associated mainly with the memory of its role as an important center of Mitteleuropean culture in the period in which it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The symbolic center of the actual place is represented, one might
6 AMICI / Spring 2010
say, not by Trieste, but rather by the ghost of Aquileia. Though it no longer exists today, in the days of ancient Rome this city that arose on the muddy banks of the Grado Lagoon was the chief town of the province Venetiae et Histriae. Later on, after the fall of the Roman Empire, Aquileia was transformed into a bastion for the young Christian communities and the main transit point for pilgrims heading to Rome on foot. The lagoon offered protection from bandits and from religious persecutions. During the first raids of the Huns, the inhabitants of Aquileia hid on the islands in the surrounding marshes, where they were able to live on eels, crayfish, frogs, marsh birds, and monkfish. The marshes could offer shelter for months and years. The fugitives ate fish, used fish fat for lighting and heating, and covered their boats with fish skin, symbolically uniting in daily life the fish as the ideal symbol of Christianity and as a mainstay for survival in years of scarcity. As a center of early European Christianity, Aquileia was comparable in importance to Ravenna or Milan. In 381 it was the site of the famous council in which Mosaic” and which still houses the Scuola Mosaicisti of Friuli, an instructional center of worldwide repute), the art of inlay and mosaics flourished, and has been handed down to our day. This art is even applied to small pieces of jewelry, but above all to the creation of street mosaic painting. The basic material for the mosaics was right under the ancients’ feet: the yellow gravel of the Meduna River; the black, green, and red gravel of the Tagliamento; and the white gravel of the Cosa. Wonderful piazzas and terraces were made in Friuli Venezia Giulia with these stones, and with imported materials as well: blue cobblestones from Ireland, black ones from Belgium, and red ones from the Pyrenees. Friulian mosaicists acquired their reputation in the Roman era, but little has changed in the sixteen hundred years since the fourth-century pavements of Braida Murada, recently restored, were created. While stonecutters and laborers from the Spilimbergo area were summoned to work in many Italian and European cities toward the end of the seventeenth century, in the twentieth century they created famous mosaics throughout Europe (for example, in the Paris Opera House) and even overseas (St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City). Trieste, an open city and free port from time immemorial, is the Pinze (Focaccias) capital of Friuli Venezia Giulia, but it has some difficulty fitting in with the rest of the region. Trieste has its own psychology and traditions, associated mainly with the memory of its role as an important center of Mitteleuropean culture in the period in which it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The symbolic center of the actual place is represented, one might say, not by Trieste, but rather by the ghost of Aquileia. Though it no longer exists today, in the days of ancient Rome this city that arose on the muddy banks of the Grado Lagoon was the chief town of the province Venetiae et Histriae. Later on, after the fall of the Roman Empire, Aquileia was transformed into a bastion for the young Christian communities and the main transit point for pilgrims heading to Rome on foot. The lagoon offered
protection from bandits and from religious persecutions. During the first raids of the Huns, the inhabitants of Aquileia hid on the islands in the surrounding marshes, where they were able to live on eels, crayfish, frogs, marsh birds, and monkfish. The marshes could offer shelter for months and years. The fugitives ate fish, used fish fat for lighting and heating, and covered their boats with fish skin, symbolically uniting in daily life the fish as the ideal symbol of Christianity and as a mainstay for survival in years of scarcity. As a center of early European Christianity, Aquileia was comparable in importance to Ravenna or Milan. In 381 it was the site of the famous council in which St. Ambrose, having come from Milan, denounced the Arian heresy. Thenceforth the diocese of Aquileia took the name “Veneziana,” and in the fifth century escaped from Rome’s dominion at almost the same time as the exarchate of Ravenna. The city was thus transformed into a territory of Byzantium. But in 590 Gregory the Great, now pope, decided to take remedial measures and sent a regular army against the separatist city. The region later became filled Presnitz with schismatics, who played hideand-seek among the small islands scattered throughout the lagoon. Later, when the period of pilgrimages and jubilees arrived (that is, from the eleventh to the fifteenth century) all of Eastern Europe landed in Aquileia, continuing on to Rome on foot. The city was the first point of entry for the pilgrims, who organized themselves and coordinated the logistics of their journey. There were periods when the patriarch of Aquileia, head of the diocese of Venice, was no less influential than the pontiff of Rome. In the eighteenth century Friuli Venezia Giulia was part of the AustroHungarian Empire, and it is natural to look for the bygone Mitteleuropean greatness of the Hapsburgs there. But much more discernible in the character of this area is the mark of that lengthy period from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century when the region was under the dominion of neighboring Venice. Controlling the seas, constantly seizing new islands and founding new colonies, Venice was not too concerned about the well being of those who had been easily and quickly subjugated in its own backyard. On the continent, in fact, it limited itself to constructing new military strongholds in areas with few prospects, such as Palmanova, a unique architectural complex built in 1593 by the best Venetian strategists, engineers, architects, and historians of fortificaCrawfish tion. Designed according to plans developed by city planners of the Renaissance, the city still preserves the form of a perfect nine-point star, surrounded by three orders of bastions: two rows of walls erected by the Venetians, and a third added in the Napoleonic era. The Friulians were of interest to the Venetians mainly as manpower, to be employed in the construction of the capital and as potential recruits in Venice’s war against the Ottomans. The consequences were devastating. Without a government and without organization, the Friulians
soon experienced desolation and neglect, hunger and poverty, with uncultivated fields and a declining population that would perhaps have been extinguished entirely had it not been saved by corn in that period (see “The Early Gifts from the Americas”). Imported from the New World, easily cultivated and nutritious, corn spread throughout Friuli Venezia Giulia during the last quarter of the sixteenth century. In order to ensure the necessary supplement to their rather monotonous diet, Friulian peasant families in the poorest wooded areas (especially those in the hills, where oaks, chestnuts, and hazelnut trees grow) always raised a pig. The animal roamed freely, feeding on acorns and chestnuts. Friulian pigs, rightly considered quality specimens, are fed today with whey (a by-product of local dairy farming), marc (a byproduct of the local wine industry), and also, of course, corncobs. The butchering of the pig is still of fundamental importance in the daily life of the countryside. This is the most important event for both the family and the entire region: children stay home from school to attend it, and the adults take a day off. Family and neighbors await the great moment: the arrival of the purcitar, the itinerant swine butcher. First the pig’s throat is surgically slit; then the animal is placed on a workbench to allow the blood to drain. Meanwhile the excitement grows all around. It is necessary to proceed quickly, since the intestines and blood must be processed within a day. The farmers roast tasty blood sausages and make sweet bread with blood and cracklings (pan de jrizze dolce). In San Daniele del Friuli they age one of the two most famous prosciutti crudi (uncooked, cured prosciutto) in Italy, the San Daniele to be precise, which is eaten with figs or melon and is the subject of much romantic admiration. In Carnia, in the extreme north of Friuli, speck (smoked ham) and Montasio cheese are produced. Benedictine monks developed this cow’s milk cheese, aged from two to several years, in Monkfish the twelfth century for pilgrims who, traveling to Rome along the Aquileia road, needed provisions that were not perishable. Local wines considered particularly suited accompanying pork sausage-Collio, Grave del Friuli, and Colli Orientali-are among Italy’s best white wines. In order to maintain their prestige, the state limits the area of the vineyards. Wine in Venezia Giulia and in Friuli is an indispensable accompaniment to human relationships, a cardinal element of the ritual of the tajut (little drink). The Friulian who has concluded his workday and wants to enjoy some well-earned relaxation sits in front of the entrance of a bar and invites acquaintances passing by to drink a little glass with him. This is a unique aspect of the richness and quality of social life: “The glasses are tiny, friendship is big.” The wine is usually accompanied by pinze (focaccias) and presnitz (cakes of walnuts, raisins, and candied fruit). It is common knowledge throughout the world that the Friulians distill exclusive grappas (in this area Friuli vies with Piedmont). The production of grappas in these parts is viewed as an aesthetic process. Elegant flasks and goblets in thin blown glass, intended for the bottling and sampling of grappas, are manufactured both in the region itself and in the workshops of Murano. A dazzling container with grappa, enclosed in a wooden case and displayed in the window of a fashionable bar in Rome or Milan, can cost as much as five hundred or a thousand euros-or as much as the vendor has the nerve to ask.
Spring 2010 / AMICI 7
Dining in Milan
by John Rizzo Milan. One of the great cities of the world. Like New York, Milan is the business and financial capital of its nation. For over a century, it was the opera capital of the world. It still is the planet’s fashion capital. But it is also the center of Italy’s agricultural heartland and thus, the sister city of Chicago. If you are vacationing in the beautiful Tre laghi area or the unique Dolomites of the North, and you fancy an urban sojourn, Milan provides a delightful change-of-pace with some trendy shopping, fantastic art, impressive and historic architecture and the world-acclaimed La Scala Opera. The typical tourist will want to stay around the hub of the city - the Piazza del Duomo, from where everything you want to see is in walking distance. In this area are numerous modestly-priced hotels and some neat ristoranti that won’t cost you an arm and a leg. In our most recent trip to Milan, my wife and I dined at three restaurants that we would heartily recommend to future visitors.
Ristorante Pizzeria Dogana Via Dogana, 3 www.pizzeriadogana.it
The Italians are getting better at making pizza. At least their pizza is a lot more like Chicago pizza than it was twenty years ago. At the Dogana, less than a block away from the Duomo, we had a Diavola pizza with salami piccante and a Siciliana pizza with anchovies. Both were thin-crust pizzas with a mozzarella and tomato base. They were a little too thin for my taste, but they were very tasty and really hit the spot. We also had dinner there, which turned out to be a wise decision. For openers we had two appetizers. One was a pretty straightforward mix of spicy cold cuts, the Affetato Misto di Salumi. Actually there were some slices of prosciutto and capicolla along with the Milanese salami (which is my favorite salami in the world). The Ristorante Pizzeria Dogana other was a tasty Bruschetta that miraculously did not fall apart. For pasta (or as they say in Italy, piatta prima) we had wonderful servings of Lasagna al Forno, with plenty of meat sauce, and Spaghetti Carbonara, a bit sharper and cheesier than you get in the States. Everything else was so good that we went on to the entrees. They have two types of I Secondi - Carne or Pesce. We opted for meat. Whenever I’m in Milan I have to order the Costalette alla Milanese, or veal Mianese, and so I did at the Dogana. The veal was tender and the crust was light and flaky, as usual in this city. My wife shared my entree and ordered some kind of chocolaty concoction from the dessert cart, that made regular forays up and down the aisles. The most memorable thing about the Dogana was the wine, which was better than that of any other place we dined at. From a decent selection of all the major Italian vintages, I chose a bottle of Chianti Classico whose brand name is Torre Delle Grazie. It was not really expensive, but light and dry and very, very tasty. If I could get that brand of wine here....I better wait until I get back to Milan.
Al Dollaro
Via Paolo Cannobio, 11 www.paginegallo.it/ristorantedollaro
Al Dollaro 8 AMICI / Spring 2010
Nestled into one of those block-long little byways that are so typical of Italian cities, the Dollaro is only a couple of blocks south of the Duomo and is well worth looking for. Open for dinner only, the Dollaro offers both a buffet and sitdown service with a rather large bar and definitely is more a favorite for Milan natives than for tourists. Nevertheless, we were treated like regulars and had a great dinner there. For appetizers we had a refreshing order of Prosciutto Crudo e Melone and a small mixed seafood platter
called Insalata di Mare Caldo. Both were small compared to American equivalents, but they were excellent! My wife had the Dollaro’s version of Risotto Milanese, which was a bright yellow in color because it was made with saffron. I tasted it, found it delicious, and made such an aggressive move for it that the poor girl had to shield it until she was finished. It was not on the menu, but Dollaro Buffet the chef graciously made me some Spaghetti con Pesto Genovese. It was green, basilly, garlicky and just what I wanted! The Dollaro features a typical list of entrees, from which we selected Salsicce Grigliata and Carne Misti. The sausage was different than the succulent Italian kind we get in Chicago and had the look of sliced hot dogs. But like so many other Milanese dishes it was very flavorful and satisfying. The assorted meats were okay, but some, like the lamb chops, were better than others. For dessert my wife had her favorite, creme brulet, while I was content to finish my excellent wine and listen to the Italian hilarity from the customers around me.
Galleria Cafe
Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele II, 75 www.ristorantegalleria.com One of the coolest places in the world is the Milan Galleria, a huge, enclosed, multi-storied mall crammed with boutiques and outlets for industry leaders like Gucci, Prada and Ferrari. Dedicated in the 1880s, it was a favorite hangout of Puccini and Toscanini who were regular customers of some of the many “outdoor” cafes and restaurants found on the mall’s main floor. In the 25 years we have been coming here, my wife and I have tried a few of these, but our favorite place to drink, dine and watch the world go by is Galleria Cafe the Galleria, at the north end of the mall. This Milanese version of our “Magnificent Mile” is extra attractive because of its location - it connects the Piazza del Duomo with the Piazza alla Scala. Because we have patronized the Galleria over the years, we were actually recognized by the establishment’s sharp and multilingual manager, Massimiliano LaRossa. “How did you know us?” I asked. “I know everything,” he replied crisply, not without a touch of humor. When the other restaurant staff members saw that we were known by LaRossa, we were given the red carpet treatment every time we stopped in during the week we were visiting. Whether it was beer, coffee, wine or a pizza from a very extensive list, everything we had there was superb (and much less in cost from what you’d pay in downtown Chicago). But the best time I had on the entire vacation was after the opera at La Scala, when we went to the Galleria and ordered their version of Risotto Milanese. With a live pianist playing jazz music in the background, this was one of the tastiest dishes I have ever had and I can hardly The Galleria at Night wait to go back to this delightful cafe and order it again!
American Risorgimento, An enlightening.
Novel of the role Italy played in our History.
Avaiable at amazon.com
By Andrew Guzaldo
Giuseppe Garibaldi, 1866. July 4, 1807, died June 2, 1882, Caprera, Italy. Italian patriot, and soldier, of the Risorgimento. He came under the influence of Giuseppe Mazzini in 1834, took part in a failed mutiny intended to provoke a republican revolution in Piedmont, and escaped to France. He lived in exile in South America (1836 -48) and learned guerrilla warfare tactics during liberation attempts in Brazil and Uruguay. He returned to Italy in 1848 with his small band of “Red Shirts� and fought in Milan in the war of independence against Austria. After Pope Pius IX fled Rome (1848), Garibaldi for a while defended the city from
the French when they attempted to reinstate papal rule. His bold retreat through central Italy made him a well-known figure. He lived in exile again until 1854, and in 1859 he led an army in another war against Austria. In 1860, with no government backing, he raised an army of about 1,000 men and attacked Sicily; by the end of his campaign, he commanded 30,000 men, with whom he seized Naples. He handed all of southern Italy over to Victor Emmanuel II and hailed him as the first king of a united Italy. With secret support from Victor Emmanuel, he led unsuccessful campaigns into the Papal States in 1862 and 1867. Abraham Lincoln offered Garibaldi, a post of Major General, in the Union Army. He was exiled in New York, in the year of 1850. It was there he received an American passport Although Garibaldi considered America, his adopted country; he might have accepted the post of Major General. However he made a request, which he wanted to be honored prior to accepting any post. He made it perfectly clear that, he would only accept the post, if the United States would abolish slavery. Of course that was not, possible to grant such a request, at the time. This request positioned Garibaldi as a dedicated Republican, and advocate for world freedom, mores so then Lincoln at that time.
Tours of Casa Italia Museums Available Upon Request www.casaitaliachicago.org
Spring 2010 / AMICI 9
IES OF FIVE CENTUR ITALIAN-AMERICAN
H I S T O RY
Richard Capozzola
1984 Mary Lou Retton (Rettoni), sixteen-yearold wins an Olympic gold medal in women’s gymnastics and six years later becomes the youngest athlete to be inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame.
Geraldine Ferraro, congresswoman, becomes the first woman in American history to be nominated by a major political party, for Vice President of the United States.
Suzette Charles (Suzette De Gaetano)– “There she goes, Miss America.” A scandal ousts Vanessa Williams who is replaced by Suzette Charles. She becomes the first Italian American to be called, Miss America.
1985 “Vic Tanny”, born Victor Tannidinaro in Rochester, dies. Tanny’s chain of health clubs gain worldwide recognition and for him the title, “Father of the Modern Fitness Revolution.”
Sandra Zummo – Writes a tribute to her grandfather which appears in the Staten Island Advance. Perhaps no article about Italian Americans has been more copied and circulated from coast-to-coast.
Hector Boiardi – At age of 87, dies in Ohio. He is better known by his company’s name Chef Boy-Ar-Dee.
1986
Dr. Robert Gallo – One of the nation’s most distinguished and controversial medical scientists, files for a United States patent in discovering the HIV virus causing AIDS.
10 AMICI / Spring 2010
Antonin Scalia – He is appointed to the United States Supreme Court by President Reagan, the first Italian-American to achieve the honor.
Learning Italy by Regions ! Puzzle
By Andrew Guzaldo
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Across 3. Il suo capoluogo e Roma 5. L’Emilia 6. Regione dei trulli 9. E famosa per i suoi laghi 12. Trascina 13. Guardala Sicilia 14. La sua costa Amalfitana e meravigliosa 16. Dove nacque la lingua italiana 18. Inganna i pesci 19. Ci viveva San Francesco d’ Assisid’Assisi 20. Friuli-Giulia 21. Trentino-Alto 22. Animale con otto zampe 23. Parte dura del corpo 24. Contina con I’Austria
Down 1. Friuli-Venezia 2. A il piu importante porto d’ltalia 4. Potenza e il suo capoluogo 6. Dove si fanno Ie Fiat. 7. La piu grande isola d’ltalia 8. Romagna 10. E al nord dell’Abruzzo 11. Una grande isola del Tirreno 13. Dimora 15. E al nord della Puglia 17. Si sporge sull’Adriatico 20. Una sua citta galleggia suI mare
Spring 2010 / AMICI 11
More Than 50 Stars Were Presenters at Golden Globe Awards “The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards” More than 50 Hollywood stars were set as presenters at “The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards” on January 17. The show, hosted by Ricky Gervais, was broadcast live coast to coast on NBC (5 to 8 pm PT, 8 to 11 pm ET) from The Beverly Hilton. The presenters included Amy Adams, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Aniston, Kristen Bell, Halle Berry, Josh Brolin, Gerard Butler, Cher, Chace Crawford, Robert De Niro, Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Colin Farrell, Harrison Ford, Jodie Foster, Matthew Fox, Jennifer Garner, Mel Gibson, Lauren Graham, Tom Hanks, Neil Patrick Harris, Sally Hawkins, Kate Hudson, Felicity Huffman, Samuel L. Jackson, Nicole Kidman, Jane Krakowski, Ashton Kutcher, Tay-
Sandra Bullock is adored by many, however she won Golden Globe for Best the Actress in a Drama , she was also the worst dress in her, Bottega Veneta dress.
lor Lautner, Sophia Loren, Paul McCartney, Helen Mirren, Jim Parsons, Amy Poehler, Julia Roberts, Mickey Rourke, Zoe Saldana, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kiefer Sutherland, Sofia Vergara, Olivia Wilde, Kate Winslet, Reese Witherspoon, Sam Worthington and the cast of “The Hangover” Justin Bartha, Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms. “The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards” will be seen in more than 160 countries worldwide and is one of the few awards ceremonies that span both television and motion picture achievements. The special will be produced by Dick Clark productions in association with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Philip Berk is President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Orly Adelson, president of dick clark productions, and Barry Adelman will executive produce the special. Chris Donovan is the director and Bob Bardo is the executive in charge of production.
WINNERS!
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Sandra Bullock Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama - Jeff Bridges Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy- The Hangover Best Motion Picture – Drama - Avatar Best Director - Motion Picture - James Cameron Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Robert Downey Jr. Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - The Hangover Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy - Marion Cotillard Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy - Daniel Day-Lewis Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Penelope Cruz Best Original Song - Motion Picture“The Weary Kind” - Crazy Heart
Halle Berry stole the spotlight in a show-stopping Kaufman Franco gown and statement earrings.
Kevin Bacon wins Golden Globe for HBO’s Taking Chance George Clooney and Elisabetta Canalis arrive at the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 17, 2010, in Beverly Hills, California
Kevin Bacon, received a Golden Globe award for his portrayal of Lt. Col. Strobl who was assigned to escort the body Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps, who was killed in Iraq in 2004. Escorted home from Dover AFB to his final resting place in Wyoming.
Susan Downey and Robert Downey Jr. arrive at the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 17, 2010, in Beverly Hills, California.
From the left: 1. George Clooney - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama “Up in the Air” 2. Meryl Streep - Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy “It’s Complicated” 3. Helen Mirren Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama “The Last Station” 4. Penelope Cruz - Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture “Nine” 5. Robert Downey Jr. Best - Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy “Sherlock Holmes” 6. Vera Farmiga - Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture “Up in the Air” 7. Christoph Waltz - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture “Inglourious Basterds” 12 AMICI / Spring 2010 8. Joseph Gordon Levitt - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy “(500) Days of Summer”
Presentation of the Italian Fiction Week By Alessandra Grandi As part of the RAI Fiction Week, Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò` presented the film with Italian famous actors Beppe Fiorello and Giorgio Faletti The Draw is the story that was missing, the story that related the ‘Years of lead’ from the point of view of the third party, the people. Up until now the world of cinema has narrated the history of the Red Brigades either seen from the eyes of the State, or from the eyes of the terrorists. But the real unwilling protagonists of the story – the Italians – were caught somewhere in the middle. Those who were harmed have never had a voice within the national fiction. This film gives them back a voice by showing average men and women – who fight daily battles to gain bread and a parenthesis of lightness and passion – telling us about those distant 1970s. These citizens don’t recognize themselves in the State, and aren’t even aware of it. The State is seen as a master that takes without giving back. But at the same time they don’t agree with the methods and the violence of the terrorists. It’s them, the passengers of a derailed train, that must find their own answer, their fragile balance between that in which they believe and that which they must respect. The film takes place during the ‘70s in Turin, observing the life of FIAT workers. Tonino (Giuseppe Fiorello) is a man who lives without being overly concered about life. He’s not serious with his girlfriend (Gioia Spaziani), isn’t interested in the battles of his fellow workers, or in politics, doesn’t care about his mother’s expectations. His way of conquering lightness is by dancing. Tango is his suspension from the world, far from responsibility and hard work. But chance, a draw, forces Tonino to come to terms with his role in society. The time comes for him to make a choice, to take a side and decide what kind of man to be. He gets drawn for jury duty for a trial against the Red Brigades. His first reaction is one of confusion, not understanding what the State wants from him. What follows is an adolescent kind of joy in getting some days of paid vacation.
But in the end, chilling, comes fear. Terror. One by one, all the members of the jury are threatened by the Red Brigades. If the legal number of six members (six righteous people, as pronounced by the judge, played by Ettore Bassi) isn’t reached, then the trial can’t take place. And that’s the objective of the accused: dismantle the State’s structure through terror. Tonino is caught in the middle. He seeks help from his friend Gino, a Labor Union leader played by Giorgio Faletti, to find a solution to his doubts. Gino believes in individual responsibility, in the power of the single person, in reason, and that the State often makes mistakes, but also that mistakes can’t be washed away with blood. He tells him that is he declines his duty he loses the right as a free citizen to complain and criticize the wrongs of his country. The State is made of people, who make choices. Tonino is a tightrope walker, making his way along the thin rope of his conscience, knowing he could get killed, but also realizing that if he declines, he would be giving up the only opportunity he’d have to make a difference and would still be killing a part of himself. The movie was screened to a full house and the public was moved and appreciated the film. Members of the cast and crew of this challenging project declared their satisfaction for having presented the film for a New York audience. The director told us that he doesn’t consider this a historical film, but a film about the relationship between citizen and State that equally describes Italy today. In relation to this Giuseppe Fiorello told us that growing up in Sicily, the terrorism of the Red Brigades was hardly noticed, since there was another kind of terrorism to deal with on a daily basis, Mafia. That is why he chose to play this role. “I didn’t know many of the facts that the movie relates and that’s why I accepted the part. I frequently choose my characters because they represent the opportunity to get a closer look at reality and events I ignore. Luckily I don’t know anything – he said with a smile – so I always have the chance to learn something.” Luckily we can see this old story through a new pair of eyes, making it become a story about Italians today. Luckily we learn to recognize and admire the silent righteous men.
Giuseppe Fiorello
Giorgio Faletti
Gioia Spaziani
Ettore Bassi
www.ettorebassi.com IN THEATERS 02.12.2010 www.variety.com
Benicio Del Toro
THE WOLFMAN
Geraldine Chaplin
Elizabeth Croft
Sam Hazeldine
David Sterne
Anthony Hopkins
Emily Blunt
Hugo Weaving
Art Malik
Spring 2010 / AMICI 13
A Sicilian Odyssey By: Chris Shogren Thompson “Sicily is a crown, its towns its jewels, and its people its sparkle” spoke award winning director Jenna Maria Constantine of Chicago-based KaplaniKid Productions. “Sicily’s beauty is phenomenal and there is a surprise waiting to be experienced around every Sicilian corner.” Constantine filmed the Jade Entertainment documentary-fiction film, “A Sicilian Odyssey,” throughout all four seasons in all nine provinces of Sicily, capturing the landscape, culture and people as no American film has previously done. “I was drawn to this magical place, Jenna Constantine where I didn’t speak the language, knew nearly no one, and where I would have to stretch as a filmmaker,” said Constantine. There was something about family and people that engaged the director. She forged friendships with the Sicilians, graciously accepting the hospitality of many. “They were generous and warm, with a hospitable character unsailingly the same.” The Greek-American quickly learned that the Italian island had a history and a future as vast as its land and coastline. “I knew I could generate a different image of Sicily than we (Americans) have, a different look, an intentional glimpse by focusing on a different goal,” she acknowledged. Curiously inspired by Goethe’s famous quote, “Without seeing Sicily, Italy leaves no image in the soul. Sicily is the key,” Constantine found the perfect vehicle for the fictional element of “A Sicilian Odyssey.” The film’s main character, Nikki Barry, played by Evyenia Constantine, reluctantly embarks on a journey to Sicily to search for a treasure with only a magical key chain she received as a Constantine Family birthday gift from her mother. Barry makes the discovery of a lifetime, while finding the true treasure: the sons and daughters of Sicily who seek another story, another history.
The Sicilians Create Another Story Rita Borsellino, the woman who dared to challenge the Mafia’s grip on the Sicilian people after her brother who was serving as an anti-mafia judge was assassinated, serves as an inspiration to Barry. She is portrayed as one of the daughters of Sicily for her trailblazing efforts with “Un’Altra Storia” which permeates the film’s storyline. Fabio and Valeria, owners of a Punto Pizzo Free store located in Palermo demonstrate the great courage Sicilian business owners have when they refuse to pay “pizzo”, mafia protection money. They are featured in the film, being interviewed just seven days after the store’s doors opened. They and their store are a part of the Addio Pizzo movement, goodbye protection money, which grows stronger in Sicily each day, creating another story. Antonio Presti, whose father’s cement contracting business had dubious ties, received a grand fortune upon his father’s death. Presti used his inheritance to bring contemporary art to the people of Sicily through his one-of-a-kind hotel, Atelier Sul Mare in Tusa, and Fiumara d”Arte (River 14 AMICI / Spring 2010
of Art). Presti helps Nikki Barry learn the true meaning of “bellezza,” beauty. Leoluca Orlando’s appearance offers the climactic moment in “A Sicilian Odyssey” when Nikki Barry has a special meeting with the former Mayor of Palermo, anti-mafia activist, and renowned author, who leads Barry to make the discovery of her lifetime. Gaining access to these men, women, and other Sicilians proved to be nearly impossible, but ConJenna Constantine stantine gained their trust. “They trusted & Sicilian musician Alfio Antico I wasn’t going to manipulate words or goals or their sentiment. I wouldn’t betray them. They were willing to take the chance that one film could make a difference!” The Mayors and government officials from Palermo to Carini to Aci S. Antonio to Catania to Siracusa to Solarino to Trapani to Castelbuono and Corleone all supported “A Sicilian Odyssey.” Constantine noted, “They assigned me drivers, guides, translators, made introductions and in true Sicilian spirit called ahead and made the necessary arrangements for me to be received in the next province and the next city with Sicilian hospitality.”
“We are Much More than Mafia!” The film is dedicated to Frank Capra who was born in Bisacquino, Sicily and went on to win 3 Academy Awards for films that celebrated the nobility of the common man. “Capra’s films characterize what human beings do, or would do if they had the courage and the opportunity,” observed Constantine. “His film “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” is just like today’s Sicilians who are “pulling together to create a new Sicily.”” In true Sicilian spirit, Constantine brings Sicilian and Italian musicians and composers to the screen: Alfio Bonanno, Valeria Cimo, Toto Lovecchio, Alfio Antico, Umberto Leone, Andrew Fly, Rocco Pilla, Pino Veneziano, Robert Lombardo, Bob Solone, and Michela Musolino. Italian-born actor Graziano Pinna plays Archimedes and provides voiceover work for other characters, “As an Italian-born man living in the USA for almost a decade, I am extremely proud that I am a part of a wonderful Italy-based film. It allowed a tight connection with the beauty, the music, the lyric, and the culture of Sicily shown in “A Sicilian Odyssey.” Constantine recalls the experience she had with “the singing fisherman” of Selinunte, Antonio Coppola, who she refers to as the “Clint Eastwood of Sicily.” “He practically risked his fishing license to take me out on his small boat while he sang and fished from dusk to dawn.” Nikki Barry’s odyssey begins with the film’s opening scene at Mag
Valerie &Fabio Storeowner
Antonio Presti
giano’s Little Italy Restaurant in Chicago where American writer Nikki Barry, played by Evyenia Constantine is challenged to go to Sicily by Editor-in-Chief Max Madreluna, played by Chicago-actor Walt Sloan. “What Nikki Barry lacks in perfect pronunciation, she makes up for in her respect for the culture and her desire to humble herself to learn to speak Italian,” commented Evyenia. “When you learn the language with the heart first, your tongue will follow.” “People are always telling me, “You look Italian,” added Evyenia who is Greek-American. “After being in “A Sicilian Odyssey” and learning about their beautiful traditions and stories, I proudly take that as a compliment!” Constantine understands the magnitude of “A Sicilian Odyssey” and the far reaching effects the film will have. “When I started this project two years ago, the first thing that popped up if you Googled the word “Sicilian” was a reference to Mafia. Now you can Google “A Sicilian Odyssey” and you will come up with a film about a beautiful place called Sicily and the fabulous Sicilians who live there….who are much more than Mafia.” She added, “What my dear Sicilians friends taught me about amicizia e amore, friendship and love, was that even though my Italian and my Sicilian could be improved, just like the character Nikki Barry’s, we both discovered Evyenia Constantine that the language of friendship, respect, courtesy, hospitality and love are universal.” KaplaniKid Productions, A Jade Entertainment Film, will release both in Italian and in English “A Sicilian Odyssey” with subtitles. A sneak peek preview was held in Chicago at the Gene Siskel Film Center on December 20, 2009. “The ultimate goal is to reach a global cinema audience in every language reflecting the people who historically inhabitied Sicily,” added Constantine.
Leoluca Orlando
Rita Borsellino
Spring 2010 / AMICI 15
Rigoletto By John Rizzo
At La Scala Milan
Nucci is outstanding. The raw passion that he brings The transformation of Victor Hugo’s 1832 to the part is both exciting and refreshing. Nucci was play, Le Roi s’amuse, to Giuseppe Verdi’s 1851 solid in every scene, holding up his end of all the enopera, Rigoletto, did not happen easily. The same sembles with warmth and power. It is probably his forces that caused the Hugo play to be closed down acting, however, that brought the La Scala crowd to by the Parisian authorities after its first performance its feet several times in wild appreciation of his artwere still at work in Austrian-controlled Venice alistry. Another favorite was Elena Mosuc as Gilda. In most twenty years later. The play depicts the wanthe first act, she was deservedly cheered for a flawless ton acts of a dissolute monarch, with the protag“Caro nome.” And when she and Nucci polished off onist being a hunchback who is enmeshed in the Act 2 with the rousing duet, the audience was delirisnares of an implacable curse. For Verdi this was ous with joy, and it seemed that they would not be satElena Mosuc “the greatest subject and greatest drama of modern isfied without an encore. as Gilda times...worthy of Shakespeare!” But the Venetian The weakest performance was (not unexpectcensors groused that Verdi and his librettist, Piave, edly) by the tenor, Stefano Secco, as the Duke. Fortuhad squandered their talent on the “repulsive immonately for him, he sang all the right notes, so he was rality and obscene triviality of La maledizione [the tolerated, although not very much applauded, by the opera’s intended title].” Fortunately, with changes knowledgeable audience. Bass Marco Spotti, on the in names, titles and the setting, the opera we know other hand, was very well received for his fine poras Rigoletto was completed and produced with virtrayal as Sparafucile. His first act duet with Nucci tually all of its dramatic situations fully intact. was excellent as was his singing in the third act trio. There is a general consensus that Verdi’s Mezzo Mariana Pentcheva also was positively recogthree “middle masterpieces,” Rigoletto, Il trovatore nized for her contribution to the third act, especially Leo Nucci and La traviata, represent the Master’s greatest the quartet. The singing by the male chorus (the only as Rigoletto work. Certainly each is filled with beautiful meloone in all of Verdi’s operas) was also very good. dies from beginning to end. And there has never Maestro James Conlon kept a firm hold on the been any music written to surpass the inventiveness or the excel- superb La Scala orchestra, while exploiting Verdi’s music to its lence of the music in these three operas. With Rigoletto, Verdi also fullest. The various soloists all had a good night. For the most part, enhanced the dramatic element of opera in an unprecedented man- the stage direction was purposeful and supported the music well, ner, an achievement that changed the approach to opera composi- but in the third act things got a little sloppy. This was more a probtion forever. In this piece, the music and drama were fused as never lem with the set than the staging. The split stage, a requirement before. Consider the Duke’s initial aria, “Questa o quella.” The both of Hugo and Verdi, was just not right, and led to a number swaggering 6/8 rhythm alone speaks volumes about this latter day of movements that were just not dramatically credible. I can’t unDon Giovanni, who cares only for his own pleasure, regardless derstand why something so simple and effective cannot be accomof any harmful consequences to others. Then there’s Rigoletto’s plished in a venue of this international importance. second act “La ra, la ra,” which doesn’t need words to express the All nitpicking aside, there is something magical about turmoil in his soul. seeing an opera at a theater with the tradition of La Scala. And I The third act is purely sublime in the way that drama is can’t say that I’ve ever enjoyed a performance of Rigoletto more conveyed by music. The choral humming of the gathering storm than I did in the foremost theater of Italian opera. and the Duke’s immortal “La donna é mobile” are the prelude to the magnificent quartet, “Bella figlia dell’amore,” an undying testament to the virtue of Italian opera. Each character sings different words to different melodies, each expressing individual emotions, while the musical genius of Verdi weaves them together in a harmony of utter delight. Then, as Rigoletto exults over the sack that he thinks contains the Duke’s body it is music (the Duke’s canzone) that tells him what is really in the sack! The current Rigoletto at La Scala may not be the best possible production of this opera, but it is definitely a good one that does ample justice to Verdi’s music. In the title role, baritone Leo
16 AMICI / Spring 2010
La Scala Teatro Dell Opera By John Rizzo Let’s indulge in some word association play. When you hear or read “La Scala,” what’s the first word that comes into your mind? I’ll bet my house it’s “opera.” That’s because the Teatro alla Scala of Milan has a universal and mystical connection with the Grand Art unlike any other great theater or company in the world. What makes the association especially interesting is that it’s really 19th-century, or Romantic, opera that had its heyday in the venerable Milanese theater, and it’s this kind of opera that is by far the most popular today, and has been for over two hundred years. La Scala was also the nerve center of the risorgimento, the drive for Italian independence and unification, and thus stands as an icon of Nationalism. Yet today we mainly think of La Scala as the place where the five Masters of Italian opera all premiered some of their most memorable works. Opera was nearly two hundred years old when La Scala opened on August 3, 1778, producing a work of Antonio Salieri, Europa riconosciuta. A project sanctioned by Maria Theresa of Austria, the Teatro alla Scala was built to replace the Teatro Regio Ducale, which had burnt to the ground in 1776. The new theater got its name from the church that was demolished to make room for it, Santa Maria della Scala. It was designed in the then-popular neo-classical style (as are so many buildings in Washington D.C.) by Giuseppe Piermarini. For the opera lover, this design is absolutely perfect, as it implies a certain kindred to the timeless aesthetic idealism of classic art. This beautiful theater, with its six tiers of palchi, or boxes, topped with the loggione that catered to less affluent, but extremely knowledgeable patrons, was surely one of the reasons why Milan became the new center of Italian opera. It can be argued that the history of opera is also the history of theaters. Opera began in Florence, an initiative of the powerful Medici family, in 1597. The popularity of this novel type of music theater spread quickly throughout the European continent, but its earliest performances were only staged in the courts of the royalty and aristocracy. This all changed with the opening of the first public opera house in 1637, the Teatro San Cassiano of Venice. From this point on, Venice became one of the great cities of opera and the scene of vigorous competition between composers such as Vivaldi, Handel and Alessandro Scarlatti. But when the Teatro San Carlo opened in 1737, coinciding with the establishment of the bel canto school of singing and the dominance of the castrati, Naples became the musical capital of Europe. And when La Scala was young, and still housed a casino and stock exchange in its foyer to help mitigate expenses, the company staged mostly the currently popular works of Neapolitan
composers like Cimarosa and Paisiello. Milan’s La Scala began to grow in prominence with the aftermath of the earthshaking American and French revolutions. In the early 19th century, Milan and its opera house became more and more the gathering place for those who longed for Italian liberation and a new republic, like Mazzini and Manzone. At the same time, La Scala staged the works of the new and leading voices of Italian opera - Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti: Rossini: Aureliano in Palmira, 1813; Il Turco in Italia, 1814; La gazza ladra, 1817; Bianca e Falliero, 1819. Bellini: Il pirata, 1827; La straniera, 1829; Norma, 1831. Donizetti: Chiara e Serafina, 1822; Gianni di Parigi, 1839; Ugo, Conte di Parigi, 1832; Lucrezia Borgia, 1833; Gemma di Vergy, 1834; Maria Padilla, 1841. In 1839, La Scala impresario Bartolomeo Merelli took a chance on a young composer from Busseto, Giuseppe Verdi, by scheduling his new Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio for the Carnival season. The piece was successful enough to earn the composer a commission for three more operas at La Scala. But after the failure of the comic Il giorno di regno in 1840 in the wake of the untimely deaths of Verdi’s wife and children, the dejected composer sulked for two years before his triumphant Nabucco, in 1842. With this spectacular success, the occasion not only for a vibrant new type of opera, but for the beginning of an irrepressible revolutionary spirit that would propel Italy to liberation some twenty years later, La Scala became the nation’s unquestioned number one opera house. Verdi’s fourth and seventh operas were premiered at La Scala (I Lombardi alla prima crociata in 1844 and Giovanna d’Arco in 1845) but then the composer had a falling out with the theater’s management. It wasn’t until 1887, with his Otello, that Verdi allowed a premiere of one of his operas at La Scala. His last opera, Falstaff (1893) was also appropriately unveiled at Italy’s foremost theater. Even without the first performances of many Verdi operas, between 1845 and 1887 and up until this day, La Scala has still been recognized as the First Theater of Italy. After Verdi it was Puccini who became the King of Italian opera, and he also had several works premiered here. Probably the most dramatic moment in opera history came when Toscanini, conducting the deceased Puccini’s last, unfinished opera, Turandot, on April 25, 1926, ended the performance abruptly, turning to the audience and saying, “Qui finisce l’opera, perché a questo punto il maestro è morto” (“Here the opera ends, because at this point the maestro died”). The two hundred-year tradition of opera at La Scala, whose stage has been graced by the greatest singers of all times, cannot help but affect today’s patron, especially if that person loves opera. The feeling one gets from being in that red and gold shrine to the finest in music theater cannot be described. Go there and see! Spring 2010 / AMICI 17
Antoinette LaVecchia
Casa Italia Calendar of Events 2010 Theresa Sareo
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Starving Artist Cafe and Gallery Annual Christmas Party 249 City Island Avenue Bronx, NY We’re celebrating another rite of Spring with our favorite family on City Island!!
By Andrew Guzaldo Antoinette’s most recent SAG feature, The David Dance is in post-production and will be released in 2010. She is starring as Victoria Woodhull in Victoria and Frederick for President in the NY Fringe Festival and she also just closed The Europeans at Atlantic Theatre Stage 2, in which she played a shiny Empress. Prior to that, she played Deborah Harford opposite Daniel J. Travanti and Ellen Crawford in Friendly Fire’s A Touch of the Poet which was in the Wall Street Journal’s Best of 2008 theater review; Terry Teachout included this production as one of three revivals that warranted his praise in 2008. This past fall, she performed as “Ariadne” in the “impeccably acted” (NY Times) Heartbreak House at Two River Theatre Co. and was thrilled to be in the world premiere of Max & The Truffle Pig, directed by Erica Gould, one of the elite selections of the New York Musical Theater Festival (NYMF) in which she played La Comtesse and various other roles. Earlier in 2008, she performed as “Diane” in an extended run of The Little Dog Laughted directed by Portland Center Stage’s Artistic Director, Chris Coleman. Favorite reviews describe her performance “as a smartass Mephistopheles in a white pantsuit” and “the heart and empty soul of the play.” She has been seen at The Public Theatre in The Bottle House, a new piece adapted from Sam Shepard’s poetry and short stories, at Playwright’s Horizons for a reading of Michael Watson’s new play, Safe and Sound with a cast led by Karen Ziemba and at The Culture Project, NYTW, EST, the Abingdon Theatre, the Lark Theatre and many others for workshops and readings of many new plays including Shirley Laura’s All Through The Night, Richard Vetere’s Lady Macbeth’s Lover, and Ted Sod’s The Lost Art of Conversation. She also joined Denis O’Hare, Bebe Neuwirth, Bobby Cannavale and others for The Fire Department’s AT WAR: AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHTS RESPOND TO IRAQ directed by Erica Gould at 45 Bleecker. Antoinette created the role of Rachel in Richard Vetere’s latest play, Three Sisters From Queens which has been workshopped as part of the NY Playwright’s Lab festival led by Israel Horowitz at The Cherry Lane Theatre and more recently at NJ Rep. Company. Most outrageously fun gigs: Debuting at Carnegie Hall as the Italian Narrator in a Puccini celebration, acting opposite Steve Buscemi in Tom DiCillo’s DELIRIOUS, being directed by the legendary Kathleen Turner in a reading of Crimes Of The Heart at the Williamstown Theater Festival, performing a slew of characters in the critically-acclaimed String of Pearls at Primary Stages opposite Ellen McLaughlin, Mary Testa and Sharon Washington and playing opposite Michael Rispoli and Ralph Macchio in the much-loved Magic Hands Freddy. She is a recipient of a Fox Fellowship and most recently, awarded an Anna Sosenko Assist Trust Grant and is a member of Actor’s Equity, SAG and AFTRA 18 AMICI / Spring 2010
May 24, 2010
Paralyzed Veterans Golf Open Belle Haven Country Club Alexandria, VA
May 1--15, 2010
Spring Concert Tour Germany/Italy I’ll be touring our American military medical facilities throughout Germany and Italy including Landstuhl Military Hospital near Ramstein AFB. Huge thanks to Chaplain James Griffith and Commanding General Carter Ham, US Forces in Europe for this wonderful invitation. Many thanks always for your continued support.
Love and Peace,Theresa
www.theresasareo.com www.myspace.com/theresasareo www.facebook.com
“ La Meglio della Gioventu “ March 12 Friday 7 pm
“ La Ragazza del lago” April 9 Friday 7 pm
“ Wait Until Spring Bandini “ March 19 Friday 7 pm
for info call Casa Italia 708-345-5933 Chieli Minucci MARCH 10
Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok Jazz Festival 2010 Central World plaza Chieli Minucci & Special EFX
MARCH 25, 8pm
Reading, PA 20th anniversary Renaissance BERKS JAZZ FESTIVAL has been re-released and is now available for purchase! Jam Session Finale MARCH 27, 7:30pm GUITARZZZ 8th Annual FundraisAkron, Ohio featuring er Mindi Abair Shilts Winter Breakout V Chuck Loeb Ken Navarro Chieli Minucci Nick Colionne Chieli Minucci & Paul Jackson, Jr. & others... Special EFX with special guests Peter White Marion Meadows Mindi Abair
MARCH 28, 4pm
Reading, PA 20th anniversary BERKS JAZZ FESTIVAL
MAY 1, 8pm
ChieliMusic.com
Milford, Connecticut (near New Haven, not far from NYC) Chieli Minucci appearing at Jay Rowe’s Smooth Jazz For Scholars
Interview with standup-COMEDIAN
Tom Dreesen
By John Rizzo
On May 20, 1998, Frank Sinatra was laid to rest. At the funeral ceremony of the legendary singer at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills were 400 mourners that included the likes of Tony Bennett, Milton Berle, Ernest Borgnine, Kirk Douglas, Sophia Loren, Gregory Peck, Nancy Reagan and Frank’s wife, Barbara. This was a super-exclusive group, no doubt. But as at any funeral, being one of the pallbearers, shouldering as sad a burden as there is, denotes a certain honor and a special relationship with the deceased that only a chosen few possess. One of the speakers as well as one of the pallbearers was Tom Dreesen, who did in fact have a special relationship with the greatest American artist who ever lived. “When I was a kid, shining shoes in a tavern listening to a juke box playing Frank Sinatra singing ‘Come Fly With Me,’ I never even dreamt that someday I would do just that,” reminisces Tom. But that’s exactly what happened. For over 13 years, Tom Dreesen provided the preliminary comedy that opened Sinatra’s shows. “He never knew how much in awe of him I was,” says Dreesen. Perhaps because of this, Tom became a close confidant of Old Blue Eyes. “Sometimes he wanted a buddy, sometimes he was like a father to me.” Those of us who are also in awe of Sinatra can only shake our heads and wonder how this kid from Harvey, Ill. got to be so close to true greatness. Dreesen’s relationship with Sinatra began when the comic had already won a well-deserved reputation on national television and had done the opening act for Sammy Davis Junior for three years. In the early 80s, when Tom was opening for Smokey Robinson at Caesar’s in Lake Tahoe, he went next door to Harrah’s to catch Frank Sinatra’s show. Backstage he ran into Sinatra’s lawyer Mickey Rudin, who offered Tom an opportunity for a week opening for Frank.” After a successful stint at the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City, Sinatra told Dreesen, “I like your material and I like your style.” Tom Dreesen became a fixture in the Sinatra entourage. Six months after he began the job he had plenty of opportunities to do his own thing on television. But Tom Dreesen was doing comedy, which he loved to do, and working with Frank Sinatra at the same time. How could he really do better than that? Given Dreesen’s extremely humble origins, it is a tribute to his talent and tenacity that he made it to the top of his profession. Born in Harvey in 1942, the man who gave Tom Dreesen his name was a hopeless alcoholic that could never really support his family or attain the wherewithal to move them out of real poverty. Tom’s actual father he found out later was Frank Polizzi, a very tough Sicilian immigrant who owned a saloon and belonged to a band called the Venetianiers. “He had a good voice,” recalls Tom. Besides inheriting that Italian show biz flair, Dreesen was also fortunate to have “an older brother that was more like a father.” It was this brother who “suggested shining shoes” as a way to make a few bucks, and years later “told me what the Jaycees were all about” and actually brought Tom into that organization. By the time Tom joined the Jaycees, he had served in the Navy, married, had a couple of children and was selling insurance. He had empathy for the poor, mostly black kids in the neighborhood who were constantly being arrested and jailed. “The number one problem was drugs,” Tom remembers, “and I wondered, how can I talk to them. I wrote a little program and proposed it to the Jaycee board. The newest member was Tim Reid (that’s right, later to be famous as ‘Venus Flytrap’) and he came up to me and asked if he could do the program with me. I told him that I already had a guy but, as Fate would have it, the next day this guy told
me he couldn’t do it, so I called Tim.” So Tom Dreesen and Tim Reid began doing their drug awareness program in classrooms in local public and parochial schools. Their act was very well received and on one occasion an eighth grader named Vickie Surufka approached the pair and said “you guys are funny, you ought to become a comedy team.” This idea appealed to both men and, after a period when they drove Tim’s wife crazy with never-ending rehearsals, they tried out their comedy act. They became America’s first and now history shows the last Black and White Comedy Team. “Tim and Tom,” as they were called, worked one Friday night at the local Party Mart Supper Club. That night didn’t turn out so well because they talked so fast. The owner told them to come back the next night and take it slower. Tim and Tom followed this advice and their show went over like gangbusters. Later, “I had an Epiphany,” says Tom. “Now I knew that this was what I wanted to do. People had laughed at something I wrote.” But he still had a long way to go. Tim Reid and Tom Dreesen were fairly successful as a comedy team, but a few years later, when Tim struck out for LA on his own and Tom’s wife told him she was leaving him unless he got a “normal” job, Tom had to decide what to do. Then, “One night I was sitting in my brother’s attic, listening to Sammy Davis Junior singing ‘I Gotta Be Me,’ I thought ‘I’ll go it alone.’” So in the early, 70s Tom went to Los Angeles, where he lived out of his car and begged to do comic routines for nothing. Even his erstwhile friend and colleague, Tim Reid, who had made it big on WKRP, advised Tom to give up and go back to Harvey. “They’re looking for kids,” he told the thirty-year-old Dreesen. But Tom didn’t give up. Pretending to be “agent Joe Stradavich” (a name similar to John Doe in Harvey), he wrangled an appearance on the Canadian Tommy Banks Show, from which he attracted a real manager, Dan Wiley. But, as the song goes, “The Best is Yet to Come.” The event that propelled Tom Dreesen into stardom was his triumphant appearance on The Tonight Show Frank Sinatra & Tom Dreesen with Johnny Carson. But to make this happen took a bit of finagling (and some diplomacy). Having begun to make some friends among LA comedians, Tom occasionally played softball with some of the guys. One day, playing third base on a team led by Gabe Kaplan (Welcome Back Kotter), an opponent slid into third base after being tagged by Dreesen and was called “safe.” Kaplan went ballistic over this, but when he tried to enlist Dreesen’s support in the argument, Tom whispered to Kaplan, “You’re already working the Tonight Show and I want a spot on it.” He had demurred from arguing because Craig Tennis, who was hiring talent for Johnny Carson at that time, managed the opposing team. Dreesen’s gambit paid off, because about “a month later,” he got his shot, of which he took full advantage. His performance was such a stunning success on the late-night show that it “unleashed” a string of appearances that led directly to his crucial connection with Frank Sinatra (whom he took one time to his favorite Italian restaurant in Chicago, Rosebud on Taylor Street). Today Tom Dreesen is a sought-after standup comedian as well as a motivational speaker and an Emcee for all kinds of events, like the Bob Hope Classic Ball, and occasionally performs his one-man play, Shining Shoes and Sinatra. You can read his full story in Tim and Tom: An American Comedy in Black and White and follow his schedule of appearances at www.tomdreesen.com. Spring 2010 / AMICI 19
House
alls
Endometriosis: Two New Options For Pain Relief Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld has had a long lasting relationship in the Italian American community. He was honored by the Foreign Minister of Italy, who conferred these honors to the Doctor as“Commendatore and Grand Uficiale della Republica Italian”
Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld More than 5.5 million American girls and women of reproductive age have endometriosis, a disorder in which tissue that normally lines the cavity of the uterus (the endometrium) appears in other locations, where it has no right to be. Some research indicates that the disorder affects more Asians than Caucasians or African Americans. In a woman with endometriosis, endometrial tissue has most commonly migrated to the ovaries (in 75 percent of cases), or to the fallopian tubes (along which eggs travel from the ovaries to the uterus), or elsewhere in the pelvis. But it is sometimes found between the rectum and vagina or in the rectum itself, in the appendix, in the urinary bladder, and occasionally in the stomach. It has even very rarely been present in the gallbladder, spleen, liver, and lungs. Symptoms (mainly pain, bleeding, and infertility) usually become apparent soon after the onset of menstrual periods, and the disorder comes and goes until menopause. The wandering endometrial tissue, wherever it happens to end up and by whatever route it got there, sometimes behaves as if it were still in the uterus. In other words, it can menstruate! That’s why symptoms of endometriosis are usually intermittent, and their timing is often related to the normal menstrual period. No two women with endometriosis have exactly the same complaint because their symptoms depend on the location of the misplaced uterine tissue. Unlike normal menstruating tissue in the uterus, wandering endometrial tissue has no way of being shed as it is from the uterus every month. It remains in its location, where it eventually forms scar tissue and adhesions that irritate the area, causing symptoms not only during the menstrual period but all month long. Why endometrial tissue wanders in this way is not fully understood. There may be a genetic basis to it. If your sister or mother has it, there’s a greater chance that you will, too. Many gynecologists believe, however, that this disorder is mainly due to an abnormal immune system that allows these cells not only to migrate from the uterus but also to survive where they don’t belong. There is no cure for endometriosis, but there are ways to reduce the pain it causes, restore fertility, and shrink the size of the “lost” tissue. However, the best long-term treatment option is to remove the offending tissue if possible. Managing endometriosis first and foremost involves pain relief. This is best done with aspirin, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and acetaminophen. The sooner you start taking them when you have pain, the more effective they are. If the pain is very severe, you may need a prescription-strength painkiller. Any drug or hormone (such as progestin) that stops menstrual periods will also ease the symptoms of endometriosis. This, however, is not a satisfactory long-term solution for many women. Progestin is not as popular
20 AMICI / Spring 2010
as it once was, because the high doses required result in bloating, weight gain, depression, and irregular vaginal bleeding. It may also sometimes cause a prolonged and negative effect on ovarian function even after it has been stopped. Other popular treatments are the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists that decrease the brain’s production of luteinizing hormones (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormones (FSH). (LH and FSH stimulate the formation of estrogen, the hormone that promotes growth of endometrial tissue.) GnRH agonists take about a month to work and are available as a nasal spray or as a monthly injection. Pregnant women should not use them. A team of Italian gynecologists in Milan treated 50 women with endometriosis by having them take oral contraceptives continuously without the usual 1-week pause. This ensured that there were no menstrual periods during which pain could occur. After 2 years, 80 percent of the women reported that they were satisfied with the treatment and that it had resulted in less pain. According to the president-elect of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, “if women suffering from endometriosis are not ready to become pregnant, continuous oral contraceptive use is one of the better ways to manage pain. The effect of the Pill is reversible, so future fertility is possible, and if side effects (of the Pill) are more troublesome than warranted by pain relief, it can be easily discontinued. For these reasons, oral contraceptives are an excellent option” for the management of the symptoms of endometriosis. There is no downside to taking the Pill continuously to suppress menstruation. The FDA has just approved Seasonale (ethinyl estradiol/ levenorgestrel), a contraceptive pill that allows women to have just four menstrual periods a year. Another promising approach to reducing the pain of endometriosis is one of the aromatase inhibitors used in the treatment of advanced breast cancer. In a small study done at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, researchers found that 10 premenopausal women with painful endometriosis who had previously not responded to any other therapy experienced dramatic improvement in their symptoms after taking an aromatase inhibitor. In this case, the drug used was Femara (letrozole), one of several in this class. There were no significant side effects or complications during a 6-month period. The Bottom Line If you are troubled by ongoing pain, bleeding, and cramps from endometriosis, and you cannot be treated surgically, you should consider going on the Pill and taking it nonstop -- that is, without the customary week off once a month. When you want to begin trying to have a baby, you simply stop the Pill. Another alternative for controlling the pain of endometriosis that’s worth exploring with your doctor is an aromatase inhibitor called Femara. Results of a small study of premenopausal women with pain not responsive to other medication suggest that it’s worth a try. Side effects and complications from its use appear to be minimal. Isadore Rosenfeld. M.D.C.M. F.A.C.P. Rossi Distinguished Professor of Clinical Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College
All books available at Amazon.com
A MEANINGFUL DAY FOR ALL www.reaganlegacyfoundation.org By Larry Greenfield, The Claremont Institute
The date November 9th had unusual significance in Germany. On Nov. 9, 1918, the short-lived Weimar Republic was established in post- emperor / monarchy modern Germany. By 1923, Hitler chose this date to attempt his rule. He failed and was jailed, only to rise again with his Nazi revolution. Plunging the Nazis fully and formally into their assault on humanity, Hitler again chose Nov 9, 1938, as the night of broken glass, Kristallnacht, the pogrom and violence against Jewish citizens, homes, shops, synagogues, and schools, and long- established civil life, throughout Berlin. Finally, November 9, 1989, twenty years ago, the moment of the fall of the Berlin Wall. This stunning and happy event was coincidentally too on Nov. 9th, although the spiritual may smile that fate finally dealt Germany a kind card. The accidental liberation and fall of the wall---a confused GDR leader simply announced to the press that East Berlin residents could cross unharrassed across the border checkpoints into the West after 44 years of Soviet enforced Cold War tyranny-- was, ultimately, of course, no accident at all. Reunification of Germany followed years of heroic German and Polish and many-sourced European resistance and rescue, and, in no small part, the role of American President Ronald Reagan. Both during and immediately after World War II, at Tehran, Yalta, and Potsdam, Stalin, Churchill, and FDR, and then Stalin, Atlee, and Truman, carved up spheres of influence and condemned millions of Eastern and Central Europeans to sad and unfree lives behind the Iron Curtain. The brutality of the East German Stasi military and political oppression, in Berlin, for example, marked years of human suffering, family separation, and failed socialist economics. The Poles, Czechs, Hungarians, and so many more in the Baltics, and throughout Eastern Europe, could only dream of joining the West in freedom. And Berlin was the front lines between the United States and the Evil Empire.As usual, the United States responded as the essential nation. Following the heroic U.S.-led invasion and liberation of the European continent and the defeat of Nazi socialist fascism in the 1940’s, American leadership, resolve, will, and moral imagination organized first the Marshall Plan to help rebuild Germany as well as our allies, then the 1948-49 American airlift to save 2 million West Berliners, and then the tanks and cold war confrontation / containment of communist expansion, enforced by millions of sacrificing U.S. troops, over decades.
President John F. Kennedy asserted a vigorous anti-communism and came to Berlin to declare that all free men stood with those behind the wall: Ich Bin Ein Berliner. And, famously, as far back as 1962, in debate with Robert F. Kennedy, future California Republican Governor Ronald Reagan asserted that his idea for cold war solution was simple: liberate the peoples behind the wall. President Reagan himself made 4 trips to Berlin: In 1978, as a private citizen about to run for the White House, where he re-confirmed in his mind his philosophical disgust with the Berlin Wall. In 1982, when, at the Berlin Wall, he purposefully and literally stepped across the line in the ground between the free west and the totalitarian east, signaling by personal gesture the meaning of his missile defense, and anti-communist rollback policies. In 1987 when he challenged Soviet leader, Mr. Gorbachev to come to this Brandenburg gate to tear down this wall. (Reagan overruled his own advisers who counseled a less clearly ambitious claim that all men are created equal and deserved to be free). And finally post-presidency, Mr. Reagan visited again, as a private citizen, to enjoy the newly re-unified and beautiful city of Berlin, one that would again become the capital city of Europe’s strongest and most successful economy. As our current U.S. friendship delegation visits Berlin, led by President’s Reagan’s political heir, Michael Reagan, we celebrate and promote the leadership and legacy of Ronald Reagan, with the opening of the permanent Ronald Reagan exhibit at the magnificent and famous Checkpoint Charlie museum, the house of freedom. But we are alerted to the continuing and troubling news from back home. The United States again faces challenges to its liberty, security, prosperity, and virtue.Domestic Islamic terrorism and unconstitutional big government threaten the American way. In every generation, President Reagan once clearly expressed, we must re-dedicate ourselves to the defense of freedom and our first principles. Let us on this special anniversary of the fall of a European wall of repression, therefore, now renew our own national commitment: We must always rise to the defense of liberty, which is our blessing, gift, inheritance, and sacred trust. And we remember the meaning of both 11/9 and 9/11. Fate plays another card. __________________________________________________________ Larry Greenfield is Fellow in American Studies at the Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy, and Executive Director of the Reagan Legacy Foundation.
Manzullo Responds to President Obama’s State of the Union Address WASHINGTON, Congressman Don Manzullo (R-IL) tonight issued the following statement responding to President Obama’s Address to Congress and the nation: STATEMENT “Without doubt, the biggest issue facing our nation is the need for unemployed Americans to return to work. Our nation will continue to struggle mightily as long as we have double-digit unemployment and millions of Americans are stuck on the sidelines, not able to provide for their families, and not able to contribute to our economy. “It’s good to hear President Obama talk about the need to help create jobs in America. But I’m concerned his fix will involve more deficit-hiking government spending. We have actually lost 3 million jobs since the
President signed into law the failed $862 billion stimulus bill, and our national debt has surpassed $12 trillion. “We need a colossal change in thinking here, and I implore President Obama to halt the ineffective government spending that is burdening future generations with debt, and instead focus on helping the private sector create jobs. At a minimum, Congress needs to stop pursuing job-killing legislation – like the health care and cap and trade bills – that would put another 8 million Americans out of work and hike taxes and health and energy costs for Americans. My American Jobs Agenda offers a host of legislative avenues to help create economic opportunities for our employers to put Americans back to work.” Spring 2010 / AMICI 21
ROSSELLA RAGO and her webisode series, COOKING with NONNA
By Andrew Guzaldo One would look at Rossella Rago and think, model or actor. But not so today, Rossella Rago is first generation Italian-American from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Her deeply rooted heritage finds its source in Mola di Bari, a small fishing village more commonly referred to simply as Mola. It is there that her her parents grew up. Mola has a fair sized population of 26,000 inhabitants located south of Bari in the Southern Italian region of Apulia (Puglia). Rossella Rago is 21 years old, has accomplished quite a bit in her young years. She is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists since the age of ten. She has appeared in many films and television series, including the film Confessions of a Shopaholic, 13 Going On 30 and The Sopranos. Rossella has also participated in several Italian-American pageants, winning the titles of Miss Mola USA in 2003 and Miss Idea USA in 2005. Rossella Rago is now the host of the all-new online cooking show and food websiode series, Cooking with Nonna. Rossella was born into a family of culinary aficionado’s and food lovers. Rossella has stated “Growing up, something was always on the stove.” With the Rago family cooking was never just about cooking, it was about family, community, and spending quality time with each other. Rossella recalls her childhood youth, how most of her time was spent, in the kitchen with Nonna Romana. Nonna Romana, has passed on a long legacy of recipes, from centuries of generations, taught Rossella’s. Rossella, was also lucky enough to learn, about different food culinary styles from various different regions throughout Italy. Which she now shares with her viewers Although she was in the kitchen before she could crawl, Rossella’s
early role in the family tradition was simply that of a taster. She remembers spending hours in the kitchen watching her mother, Nonna, and great aunts, all doing their cooking and talking. However being so young she was not able to touch anything. Not missing an opportunity to learn, Rossella begged her family to let her run errands and pick up signature ingredients for meals at the local markets in Brooklyn. It was at this time that she discovered the importance of selecting the right produce, spices, and meats for each dish. She continued her education in the summers, while spending time with her family in Mola di Bari and participating in the annual Octopus Festival-Sagra del Polpo. “Being born Italian, it’s hard to escape the cooking gene, even if you don’t know the classic techniques; you are empowered with certain tools and recipes as a child.” Says Rossella! Inspired by her love of food, her passion for entertaining and acting, as well as her love for her family and community, Rossella Rago began to star and host, with her new series Cooking with Nonna. Which aired in June of 2009, the very popular,online cooking show and food webisode series. Cooking with Nonna features recipes passed down throughout the generations, simple to make, delicious, and rich in their history. Both the passion for her parent’s native language and her experiences in high school propelled her to choose Italian as her concentration in college. She graduated from St. Johns University in the spring of 2009 with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Italian Literature. She is fluent in both Italian, and her native dialect of Mola di Bari. In addition to inspiring grandmothers from around the world to pass down their sacred recipes, entertaining audiences with her new show, and popularizing authentic Italian cuisine, with Cooking with Nonna, Rossella plans to raise awareness and promote healthy eating habits for young women everywhere. Her goal is to be a positive role model and inspire young Nonna Nina La Bruna & Rossella Rago women worldwide.
Online cooking show with Rossella cooking show and food, webisode series, Cooking with Nonna
22 AMICI / Spring 2010
www.CookingWithNonna.com www.RossellaRago.com
Risotto alla Milanese • • • • • • •
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 Lb - Risotto Arborio 1 Small onion finely chopped 1 Stick - Butter 1 Cup - White wine Parmigiano cheese Pinch of saffron Several cups of chicken broth
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large pan melt 1/2 stick of butter and let it melt. 2 . Add the chopped onion and saute` until the onions is translucent. 3. Add the arborio rice and mix well into the butter and onion. 4. Add the wine. When the alcohol is completely evaporated add a 1 cup of chicken broth. At this time also add the saffron filaments and mix well. The rice will begin to turn yellow. 5. Do not let the rice get dry. Continue to add chicken broth a bit at the time while you continuously stir the rice. 6. When the white internal part of the rice has disappeared and the rice is soft and fluffy, you are ready for process of Mantecare. 7. Add the additional 1/2 stick of butter (soft) and three Tbs of Parmigiano cheese, to the rice. Mix well until the butter is completely melted and serve by adding another sprinkle of Parmigiano cheese.
Buon Appetito!
Spaghetti alla Matriciana • • • • • • • • •
Tonno alla Evelina
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 Lb - Spaghetti 1/2 Cup - Pancetta cut in cubes 3 Cups – Crushed tomatoes 1/2 Cup - White wine 1 Medium onion 1/2 Cup - Pecorino romano 1 Peperoncino 2 Leaves fresh basil EV olive oil
• • • • • • • • • • • •
INGREDIENTS:
2 Tuna Steaks about 1” thick 2 Cups - White mushrooms 1/2 Cup - Diced pancetta 1/4 - Small Capers 1 Cup - White wine 1 Medium onion 1 Large carrot 3 Stalks of celery 3 Cloves of garlic 3 Fillets of anchovies 1 Peperoncino EV olive oi
DIRECTIONS: 1. In a large saute` pan add 1/4 cup of EV olive oil. 2. Add 3 cloves of garlic and saute`. 3. When the oil is hot add the anchovies and let saute`. They will quickly break up and almost liquefy. 4. Add the pancetta and let it color. 5. Chop the celery, the onion and the carrot into fine pieces and add to the pan. 6. Cut the mushrooms into slices and add to the pan. 7. Add the capers and the peperoncino... as desired and depending on how hot it is. 8. Move all the vegetables to one side and use the open space in the pan to sear the tuna steaks on both sides (3 minutes per side). 9. Add the wine and let the alcohol evaporate... about 5 minutes at high flame.
Buon Appetito!
DIRECTIONS: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
In a large saute` pan add 3 Tbs of EV olive oil. Chop the onion finely and saute` it in the oil. Add the pancetta and let it brown slightly. Add the white wine and let the alchool evaporate. Add the crushed tomatoes, the peperoncino and the basil. Cook for another 10 minutes. Boil the spaghetti very “al dente” and pour into the saute` pan. Add 3 Tbs of pecorino romano and mix for 2-3 minutes. Serve by adding a generous sprinkle of pecorino romano.
Buon Appetito! Spring 2010 / AMICI 23
Duomo Di Milano Marvelous Regions Of Italy
and Her Fabulous Art
By Rita Ostasz
At a recent signing of Lolita, and her hand-painted stemware at the local Von Maur store in Lombard, Il. I was fortunate, to have the opportunity, to do a photo shoot and an interview with the famed artist. Lolita has an array of glassware, as well as various other products, that she paints beautiful designs on. Her story is one of hard work, and never say quit. From just 2000 glasses a year sold, she now is selling a phenomenal 4 million yearly. And her determination to continue with other products is unprecedented. Below is my interview. kitchen I’m doing aprons, potholders, and kitchen towels. For the bathroom, I am doing shower curtains, bath towels, hand towels they are so cute and fun and the personality of the Lolita brand is about everyday life it’s about what is your moment. Painting, drawing, everything is all about having fun with art.” Rita - Do you have any new idea for the designs, that may be in the works for 2010? Lolita -”Yes I have a lot of new ideas coming out for some board games, plastic wine glasses, and also pajamas.” Rita - What do you do on your free time? Lolita - “I love to cook, love to entertain, read, and enjoy traveling.” Rita - Was it a challenge to start doing this even when you had other jobs? Lolita - “Yes it was I have never had my own business before except, when I was a child but that was different so I had a lot of hard challenges to look at.”
Rita - What made you start, with your art, and establishing the connection with glassware? Lolita - “I have always wanted to be an artist since I was a little girl. I always loved playing with colors, sketching, painting. And throughout my life I wanted to use my art as a career. I went to college and I double majored in fine arts, and marketing, and decided that I wanted to get into fashions as well, and some sort of sales, just to learn about product development and so I got into fashion and started working for a fashion designer for awhile as part of my experience of why I wanted to be a product designer.” Rita - Was there a particular, incident that made you choose the glass line product to paint? Lolita - “Where it started was at a girls night out, I was a new mother and I was bored I went out and had a martini and said “hey this glass looks naked”, and so I decided in my head that I wanted to do a line of stemware, and so I began to paint and started selling my product.” Rita - Did you have any other earlier experience, such as painting on canvas or other artwork? Lolita - “I have been an artist all my life, and I received my first copyright when I was twelve years of age, when I was a teenager at just fourteen, I won a stained art award. So I pretty much always competed with my artwork, and I enjoyed doing so. I continued to do art shows in college as well.” Rita - I hear, your doing a whole new line of work, on various other products? Lolita -“I am working on a whole line of home textiles. So for your 26 AMICI / Spring 2010
Rita - What is your next goal, which you have planned with your, distinguished creative imagination? Lolita - “My goal/ dream is to get more into fashion design and cosmetics I would love to get my own fragrance, and what I want to do is get more into colors because its so much fun and everyone loves to draw everyone has there own ways of drawing and the own artistic points of view. My children have always been my inspiration; they are a driving force, which gives me energy to proceed.” It all started with a girls’ night out… one that contained more than the usual laughter and fun. Browsing for the first time through a Martini menu, Lolita was inspired by the recipes. After being served a Cosmopolitan, her creative imagination made her see the glass differently – the way she thought it should be – a bit more dressed up with a pattern, with flair and a fabulous recipe on the bottom. It would become the first of many times Lolita would find a colorful vision dancing in a glass. After seeing each of her friends pick a different martini, reflective of their distinct personalities, the foundation for a product line was created. She knew this was something she had to pursue and she whole-heartedly did. The concept was developed in 2001 and after sketching, planning and nurturing the line, the “Love My Martini™” collection blossomed in 2004 to soon become the hottest gift brand in America today. As Lolita’s career moved on throughout her life, one can see, that she embraced a creativity that has evolved her in many directions, in the world of art, she so loves and desires. With each piece of her art, it is plain to see, her passion is introduced to a collection of outstanding, and quite unique work of art. I would suggest to everyone, to purchase this entrepreneurial work of art!
www.thelolitastore.com You Will Not Be Disapointed!
The Basic Art of Italian Cooking to Receive Gourmand World Cookbook Award The Basic Art of Italian Cooking Holidays &Special Occasions by Celebrity Chef Maria Liberati, selected as Best Italian Cuisine Book in US for 2009 by Gourmand World Cookbook Awards-Madrid ,Spain, January 2010: The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards have selected The Basic Art of Italian Cooking Holidays &Special Occasions by Celebrity Chef, Maria Liberati , art of living,PrimaMedia,Inc.) As the Best Italian Cuisine Book in the USA for 2009. The book, has already been featured in many national publications. The winners are selected from over 26,000 cookbooks by a prestigious board of judges including Chairman-Edouard Cointreau; Dun Gifford, President of the Oldways Exchange and Trust Foundation in Boston, Mass; Jean Jacques Ratier, Commissaire du Salon International du Livre Gourmand, Mayor of Sorges, France;Bo Masser, Director of Booktown, Grythyttan, Sweden, Basic Art of Italian Cooking$19.95 Available on Amazon. com and most bookstores!
Trattoria P o r r e t t a Ristorante & Pizzeria
The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays &Special Occasions joins a prestigious group of celebrity chefs and their cookbooks in receiving this award including Jamie Oliver, Heinz Beck and many others. The book is the second book in the best selling book series The Basic Art of Italian Cooking ,created by Celebrity Chef, former international super model, Maria Liberati has over 100,000 subscribers worldwide. Maria is considered one of the foremost experts on Italian cuisine and culture in the US. She has been described as the ‘Italian Martha Stewart’ (Celebrity Society Magazine 6/06). Ms. Liberati combines her knack for penning charming short stories about life in the mountains of Italy with her recipes, some traditional and regional and other new creations that are based on the principles of Slow Food and the Mediterranean diet. She has brought the home cooking of Italy to the homes of the World in easy to follow recipes combined with charming stories of life in Italy where many of the recipes originate, from. She is currently at work on her own cooking show hosted from Italy, to be broadcast in the US. The Basic Art of Italian Cooking contains 213 pages of recipes, menus, decorating, wine pairing tips for Holidays and Special Occasions, However, as Ms. Liberati explains “one can make any day a special one by using these recipes and menus any day of the week”. You don’t need to wait for a Holiday to have one. Everyday is a Special Occasion, enjoy it with special food and menus any day!” Gourmand World Cookbook Awards will be held at le Cent Quatre, the new artistic center of the City of Paris. The Awards will be given on February 11,2010 the day before the event officially opens. Ms.Liberati’s blog’s at http://marialiberati.com/blog2 For more information contact Melissa Napoleon at publicity2@marialiberati.com or 215-436-9524
For table reservation call 773 736 1429 3656 N Central Ave Chicago, IL 60641
Family Owned Ristorante for Your Family Dining! Ph: 773-736-1429 Trattoria Porretta is located in Chicago’s Northwest side on Central Avenue just north of Addison Avenue. For more information or directions, feel free to call us.
Ph: 773-316-1908
Fax: 773-736-1570 Spring 2010 / AMICI 27
2008-09 national italian restaurant guide Email us for info on
CHICAGO & SUBURBS, IL
3 Olives Restaurant / Twist Lounge 8318 W. Lawrence Ave. Norridge, IL 60706 Phone: (708) 452-1545 Agostino’s Ristorante 2817 N Harlem Ave, Chicago, IL agostinogustofino.com Phone: (773) 745-6464 Amalfi Ristorante 298 Glen Ellyn Rd. Bloomingdale, IL 630-893-9222 Capri Ristorante Italiano, Inc. 1238 W. Ogden Ave. Naperville, IL 60563 Phone: (630) 778-7373 Custom House 500 S. Dearborn St. Chicago, IL 60605 Phone: (312) 523-0200 Gioacchino’s Ristorante & Pizzeria 5201 St. Charles Rd. Bellwood, IL 60104 Phone: (708) 544-0380
Stars Restaurant Review Rating!
Via Carducci 1419 W. Fullerton Chicago, IL 60614 773-665-1981 Vince’s Italian Rest. 4747 N. Harlem Ave. Chicago, IL 60634 Phone: (708) 867-7770 Cafe Zalute & Bar 9501 W. Devon Rosemont, Il Phone: (847) 685-0206 Giuseppe’s La Cantina 1062 Lee St Des Plaines, IL Phone:(847) 824-4230 Victoria in the Park 1700 S. Elmhurst Rd. Mount Prospect, IL Phone:(708)456-1575
BOSTON, MA
Bacco Ristorante & Bar 107 Salem St. Boston, MA 02113 Phone: (617) 624-0454
La Piazza 410 Circle Ave., Forest Park, IL Phone: (708) 366-4010
Fiorella’s 187 North St. Newton, MA 02460 Phone: (617) 969-9990
Osteria via Stato 620 N. State St. Chicago, IL 60610 Phone: (312) 642-8450
Sorento’s Italian Gourmet 86 Peterborough St. Boston, Ma, 02215 Phone: (617) 424-7070
Porretta Ristorante & Pizzeria 3656 N Central Ave Chicago, IL 60641 Phone: 773-736-1429
MILWAUKEE, WI
Spacca Napoli Pizzeria 1769 W. Sunnyside Ave. Chicago, IL 60640 Phone: (773) 878-2420 Venuti’s Ristorante & Banquets 2251 W. Lake St. Addison, IL 60101 Phone: (630) 376-1500
Alioto’s 3041 N. Mayfair Rd. Milwaukee, WI 53222 Phone: (414) 476-6900 Buca di Beppo 1233 N. Van Buren St. Milwaukee, WI 53202
NEW JERSEY
Tutto Pasta 200 Washington St. Hoboken, NJ Phone: (201) 792-102
LAS VEGAS, NV Gina’S Bistro 4226 S. Durango Dr. Las Vegas, NV 89147 Phone: (702) 341 1800
NEW YORK, NY
Locanda Verde 377 Greenwich St (corner of N.Moore and Greenwich) New York, NY 10013 Phone: (212) 925-3797 Tarry Lodge 18 Mills St. Port Chester, NY 10573 Phone: (914) 939-3111 Carmine’s 2450 Broadway New York, NY 10024 Phone: (212) 362-2200 Massimo al Ponte Vecchio 206 Thompson St. New York, NY 10012 Phone: (212) 228-7701
MILAN, ITALY
Al Dollaro Via Paolo Cannobio, 11 Galleria Cafe Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele II, 75 Ristorante Pizzeria Dogana Via Dogana, 3 Phone & Fax: 02 8056766
Carini’s La Conca D’oro 3468 N. Oakland Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53211 Phone: (414) 963-9623
CONTACT US FOR RATES TO BE LISTED IN OUR NATIONAL RESTAURANT GUIDE 28 AMICI / Spring 2010
We’ve Expanded! Two new dining rooms are perfect for your large group or private party.
Just one bite and you’ll swear you’re back in naples
Lunch Wednesday – Sunday Dinner Tuesday – Sunday Reservations Accepted 1769 W. Sunnyside Chicago, IL 60640 • 773.878.2420 spaccanapolipizzeria.com
ESPRESSO
COFFEE EQUIPMENT
SALES SERVICE & SUPPLIES
DISTRIBUTORS WANTED Please look at website for info
www.LaCapanninaCoffee.com
CALL: 773-745-6755 FAX: 773-745-8678 Spring 2010 / AMICI 29
The Flaming Greek By Louie Giampa It’s all Greek to me. What better way to start this article! I watch a lot of cooking shows, but this one really caught my interest. Before getting into this chef’s new technique, Let me tell you a little about him. His name is Chris Kyriakides. Now if you are not Greek, his name may be too difficult to pronounce, so let’s just call him “The Greek”. Chris is a first generation Greek. His parents were from a little town outside Athens. The town was so small; most of the inhabitants were sheep. Chris and his 3 brothers and 1 sister were born and raised in Connecticut. His father was the main cook in the family, and at the early age of 7 he used to love to watch his father create the old world meals of Greece. At this early age, he made his first meal, breakfast. He made oatmeal with olive oil, butter, salt and pepper, with a side of eggs. That’s all it took, a simple breakfast-but he did it himself and he was hooked. The Greek loves the creative side of cooking, and is partial to Mediterranean recipes due to his heritage. He remembers his Aunt on the side of the road picking Dandelions. Americans would call them weeds, but to us it is called, dinner. If you know any Greeks, you would know someone in their family owns a restaurant. Sure enough, his brother, Tracey Kyriakides, is the owner of Tavern on the Green in Danbury, Connecticut. Chef Chris ‘the Greek” gives much credit to his success to Chef Joseph Ciminera. Mike Richards of “Good Eats Magazine” has quoted that Chef Ciminera is “undoubtedly one of the most creative, up and coming chefs today”. How would you like to have him as a mentor? By the way-look who is on our cover this issue!! Did you know that “The Greek” is the inventor of his famous cooking torch? He uses it to heat up his cast iron pans as well as cooking and food preparation (Hence the 30 AMICI / Spring 2010
name “The Flaming Greek”). He is unique and inventive and exciting to watch. He even uses the torch to light up his JL-Fuego cigars. How’s that for an attention getter? He appears on most cooking channels, and you can watch him in action, torching up a storm. The Flaming Greek is also available for celebrity events and can be reached at, 954-415-4478, or www.theflamingreek.com. This article is dedicated to one of my best friends Tony Lymperis. He has suggested to me, numerous times to write an article about Greek food. So, I am sure this will please him and his mother Georgia, who was a fantastic cook. Opa!!! I look forward to doing more articles, which diversifies the culinary aspect of the world…
The History of
The Tower of Pisa
By Andrew Guzaldo
The Tower of Pisa was built to show the rest of the world the wealth of the city of Pisa. The people of Pisa were very good sailors and they conquered many lands, including Jerusalem, Carthago, Ibiza, Mallorca, Africa, Belgium, Britania, Norway, Spain, Morocco, and other places. But they had only one real enemy, the people from Florence. And to show how well they were doing they started to build a really useless bell tower to go with the rest of the buildings near it - the Cathedral, Baptistery, and Cemetery.
They started to build the tower in the year 1173 that means the foot of the tower. After a while the war with Florence started again and they stopped. In 1180 the restarted and in 1185 they had finished the 1st., 2nd., and the 3rd. floor. And again war with Florence, which of course meant that they put all their money in warfare. In this year the tower started to lean to one side, so while they were building, it was already the leaning tower of Pisa. They must have been thinking that a bell tower without bell wasn’t a bell tower so the put some bells on the top of the 3rd. floor in 1198. After a another war with Florence, they started again for a period of nine years, from 1275 till 1284. But they didn’t have any reason to show off anymore since they had lost a big sea battle in 1284 against the fleet of Genoa. This was because they were betrayed by their own count. Count Ugolino della Gherardesca was locked up with his whole family in the tower of Gualandi. The people of Pisa threw the key in the Arno River and the count and his family died of starvation. In 1319 they finished all the floors. And finally they put the bell tower on top of it in 1350. In 1392 Pisa was sold to Florence, a big humiliation for the people of Pisa. They started a rebellion but in 1406 they had to surrender because they were under siege and everybody was dying of starvation. In 1499 they started another war against Florence who were using the people of Pisa as slaves. And again the brave but unfortunate army of Pisa lost and that is the history of Pisa. They never managed to gain the wealth as in the early years, and now it is a small city somewhere in Italy and they are still showing off with their tower. The laying of the first stone of the Tower took place August 9, 1173. This assertion is precisely affirmed in the inscription situated on the right of the door that enters into the monument. So had begun construction of one of the most unusual monuments of all times, whose history continues to the present as a circumstance often fictionalized. The building of the Tower, and especially its completion, represents the last element in the compliment of the celebratory complex of monuments that enrich the Piazza dei Miracolo. At the same time, the four representative monuments Cathedral, Baptistry, Bell Tower, Monumental Cemetery, by the intentions of those who were entrusted with the realization of the plan, demonstrate the considerable level of brilliance and power reached by this Marine Republic and they testify to posterity. Through
the works of the great religious architecture of its towns, the indisputable Pisa prominence reached from the galleys on the Tirreno Sea to the coasts of the Near East. The absence of precise written references places doubt on whoever had initially planned the Tower. Tradition attributes the work to Bonanno Pisano, in conjunction with William of Innsbruck. But the recent hypothesis does not seem at all out of place, considering recent research that the credit goes to Diotisalvi instead. Finally, according to Vasari, Nicola Pisano deserves the credit, along with his son Giovanni, who could not have been strangers to the construction of the best of the Pisan towers (whether or not the temporal references would specifically recognize it). Certainly they were involved in the subsequent phases of the work and in the studies of its unusual static behavior. In any case, to put aside the real identity of the designer, considerable skills are apparent in the one first to plan the bell tower, one who showed great technical capability and a good dose of boldness. And, in fact, it must be recognized that the foundations of the imposing construction have been situated at an inferior depth of three meters, on a bedding of dry stones. As though it was planned, the actual work was halted, beginning in 1184, suspended at completion of the third story, about ten years after the beginning of the construction, due to a yielding of the ground that had caused the first leaning of the constructed tower, with an polarizable sinking between 30 and 40 cm and an initial lean of about 5 cm. And therefore displaced by an inadequate foundation, a repair plan was needed for the already tilted Pisa bell tower. In the opinion of Professor Piero Pierotti, an architectural historian, the construction materials of significant weight and the functional characteristics created by the staircase, preventing reduction of the masonry toward the top, left few options to resolve the lean. Therefore, determined to resume the job in 1275, over a century after laying of the first stone, it came to be that Giovanni of Simone undertook the construction of three more floors. In 1284, the six gallery floors were completed, carrying the height of the construction to 48 meters. The accomplished technician mitigated, though still not level to the eye, the effect of the inclination by rising up one side of the galleries on the upper floors, partially correcting the lean of the bell tower. At that time the lean of the Tower was more than 90 cm., a difference that could be taken as a tormented mutation of the Tower, but it did not distress those people who were most affected by its construction and its completion. Long phases of delay during the construction, dictated, most probably, by any small war or political disruption, made the bell tower “rest”, and, most importantly, the Tower was able to settle into the ground and stabilize its most famous lean. The history of Pisa lives on in these hallowed walls, and continues to do so today. For those of you, that have not visited this historical monument of history, I would suggest you put that in your traveling plans for 2010.... Spring 2010 / AMICI 31
PROMISES TO KEEP
Part 1 of 2
Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless; tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! -Emma Lazarus, “The New Colossus,” 1883 It was in the early spring of 1910. The Italian sun bore down on young Domenico Forte as he guided the plow silently through the rich topsoil of his family’s hillside farm. As he reached the end of each row, he reflexively reined in the horse and wrestled the plow into a half circle. After each turn, he stopped and wiped his forearm across the sweat that burned his eyes. The sweat from his arm just made them burn worse. It was enough for one day. Haunted by the certainty that the plow would still be waiting for them in the morning, he released the harness and led the horse back toward the barn. As a young man, Domenico understood nothing beyond the drudgery of life on the small farm where he lived with his parents and two sisters. There were fields to be plowed, harvests to bring in, and animals to be fed. It was a hard life, but better, he reasoned, than most of the families nearby, who were, in large part, poor sharecroppers. For them, the land took everything and gave back only a fraction of its yield. At eighteen years of age, he had already grown skeptical of life as he knew it in the little wood plank house, bleached by the sun and worn by the years. On this day, however, a letter arrived. It was from his cousin living in a town named Beverly, in a strange-sounding state somewhere in America. It told of the good life there and the promise of fine wages in a shoe factory where most of the people in the town were employed. That was all he needed to know. Once the crop was in the ground, he was bound for Naples, where, working for his passage, he would sail off to the promise of the shoe factory. The town of Beverly is located on the northeast shore of Massachusetts Bay, about twenty miles from Boston. True to his cousin’s word, Domenico found a large Italian community, many of whom worked in the shoe factory. Unfortunately, at the time of his arrival, there were no job openings, and since he seriously lacked occupational and language skills, he quickly discovered that he was otherwise unemployable. Through the local grapevine, however, he learned of a job working on a large truck farm in nearby Southern Maine. Tempted by the opportunity, he journeyed north and was promptly put to work plowing fields, cleaning stables, milking cows, and slopping pigs-precisely the tasks from which he had hoped to escape. To make matters worse, he was given little, if any, pay, fed once a day, and forced to sleep in a barn with the farm animals. Three months had gone by, and he still owned nothing more than the shirt on his back. Late summer found him riding the rails back to Beverly, where he managed to pick up occasional work as a day laborer. Unfortunately, his visa was about to expire, so using his meager savings, he purchased train fare back to New York City, where he secured another work-for-passage arrangement for his return to Pico. Shortly after returning to Italy, he fell in love with fifteen-yearold Maria Civita DiMugno. They had first met in town, where her parents ran a small shop. It was casual at first, no more than a light flirtation. Domenico soon found excuses go into town more often, and he quickly became her Romeo and she, his Juliet. Things started going badly, however, when her parents learned of their relationship. Maria came from a family of moderately successful merchants while Domenico’s austere farming background 32 AMICI / Spring 2010
promised nothing. In spite of her parents’ objections, the young lovers continued to meet secretly. A few months later, her father learned from a customer that they were still seeing one another and confronted Maria Civita with the news. “He yelled like a madman,” she told Domenico. “What’s he going to do?” he asked. “He said that as soon as he can make arrangements, he is going to bring me to a convent in Frosinone. I believe he means it.” What can we do to stop him?” “Tell him the truth, I guess.” “Tell him what truth?” asked the puzzled Domenico. “That we are goin to have a child!” . They were married in Pico, at the Church of Sant’ Antonio in October 1913. With a bride in hand and a child soon to come, Domenico became painfully aware that although his family responsibilities had increased dramatically, his economic prospects had not. For the next few months, he continued to struggle with the land. It only reinforced his belief that if he remained in Pico, in all likelihood, he would die exactly as he came into this world: a poor dirt farmer. The choice was simple; he would return to America as soon as possible. His plan, like many Italian husbands of the day, was to cash in on any opportunity that presented itself and return with whatever he could save. During his earlier trip to Beverly, he learned of a city at the other end of the state called Pittsfield. It was the home of General Electric, a large electrical manufacturing firm, which employed over ten thousand people. Better yet, it was said to be home to a large number of Italian immigrants, some of whom even came from Pico. Buoyed by this new promise, he decided that America had not seen the last of him. There was little time to waste. On March 7, 1914, twentythreeyear-old Domenico Forte once again set sail for the United States, this time aboard the aptly named 5.5. America. Three days after he sailed, Maria Civita gave birth to their first son, Angelo. Domenico’s situation in Pittsfield proved to be far more rewarding than his earlier experience in Beverly. Life among the Italian immigrants on the east side of town was perfect, given his circumstances. Hampered by a serious language barrier, many Italians new to the country tended to congregate in small communities. They spoke primarily Italian, attended ethnic churches, shopped in Italian-speaking stores, and read EI Progresso. This was true in most of the factory towns that dotted the northeast, but because of their nearness to immigration entry ports, it was particularly prevalent in New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Factory work was hard, and the hours were long, but within a year, Domenico had saved a few dollars, which he would bring back to the farm along with the certainty that a better life was still possible. He thanked God daily that he had been able to drive a stake into the ground at last! However, things would soon turn sour. The newspaper headlines on that
fateful day in June 1914 proclaimed how, in Sarajevo, a young Bosnian student named Gavrilo Princip, living in Serbia, jumped onto the running board of a car carrying Archduke Ferdinand and his wife Sophia and shot them both. The archduke was heir to the thrones of both Austria and Hungary, and his assassination instantly triggered a series of diplomatic crises. Within a month, the Austro-Hungarian Empire demanded that Serbia allow them to have a say in the trial of the archduke’s assassin. Serbia promptly dismissed the ultimatum, and on July 28, 1914, AustriaHungary declared war on Serbia. A convoluted series of events quickly followed. Within a week, Austria’s ally, Germany, declared war on Russia and France and then immediately began marching through Belgium. The madness then spread to Turkey, Romania, and Great Britain, thereby lighting the torch of World War I. Back in Italy, there was considerable disagreement over Italian participation in the war, and, as a result, Italy did not immediately become involved. Concerned by reports that Italy was teetering on the brink of war, young Domenico hurried home to his family. Although his great American dream was once again on hold, he would at least be able to see his oneyear-old son, Angelo, for the first time. A few hundred miles to the north of the route Domenico’s ship had taken, a German U-boat torpedoed and sunk the British passenger liner Lusitania just off the coast of Ireland. Over twelve hundred civilian passengers lost their lives, including one hundred and twenty-eight Americans. This disaster would eventually tip the scales for the otherwise neutral United States to enter the war against Germany. In a remotely related matter, thirty-one-year-old firebrand Benito Mussolini was dismissed from the Italian Socialist Party because of his strong pro-war position. Not easily silenced, he then founded a newspaper in Forli called II Papolo d’ Italia and immediately began to use it as an editorial platform to persuade Italy to enter the war as soon as possible. Mussolini would get his wish. By May 1915, events had deteriorated to the point that the Italian government declared war on Austria-Hungary and marched immediately into southern Austria. The assassination of the archduke had now become known as the “shot heard around the world.” A simple man, Domenico knew little about the archduke’s importance and even less about the international repercussions of his murder; nevertheless, he soon found himself conscripted into the Italian infantry as a machine gunner. With a crop in the field and a wife and child at home, the reluctant patriot would spend the next two years fighting in an endless series of indecisive battles in the north of Italy, along the Austrian border. As it did on the western front, the fighting in Italy eventually settled into stagnant, bloody trench warfare. Life in the rugged mountain terrain would become the central topic of Domenico’s long letters home. His only comfort came from the knowledge that life in the enemy trenches was just as miserable as his. After suffering disastrous losses in the fall of 1917, the Italian high command became wary of initiating any major action for the better part of a year. This “do nothing” strategy was unacceptable to the Allies, so General Armando Diaz, the newly appointed Italian chief of staff, promptly sent fifty-seven divisions into battle across the Piave River in an attempt to cut off the Austro-Hungarian supply lines that ran through the town of Vittorio Veneto. As fate would have it, Domenico and his ammunition carrier, Patsy, occupied a forward trench in the division that was to spearhead this drive. Although they had been together since infantry training, Domenico and Patsy were a classic example of opposites attracting. Survival in the trenches of World War I was problematic at best, and it was this danger that fueled their camaraderie. Separately, each had been shaped by hard work and poverty, but together, they derived strength from the commonality of those experiences. Like many soldiers in many wars, they spoke longingly of home and loved ones. Domenico often retraced his experiences in America for Patsy, and together they vowed to go there, if and when this wretched war would ever end. For his part, Patsy was a rough and tumble product of the streets of Naples, whose black handlebar moustache hid the impish grin of a chronic prankster. On the other hand, Domenico’s trusting, rural manner usually
found him on the receiving end of many of Patsy’s tricks. Shortly after they were assigned to a forward trench, Patsy called Domenico aside and seriously intoned, “I just heard the captain is looking for volunteers.” “I never volunteer for anything,” answered Domenico. “Well, you might want to reconsider. This time it’s for some special retrieval project back at cavalry headquarters.” “Headquarters, you say?” “Yeah. It sounds like a good way to get out of this lousy trench for a few hours.” “That makes sense, Patsy. I’ll do it. Thanks!” Cavalry headquarters turned out to be a large horse paddock where Domenico spent the day “retrieving” horse droppings. He would reward Patsy for this kindness by lacing his canteen with vinegar. It was early on the morning of October 23 when they first heard the roar of Italian artillery from their rear as it began softening the enemy positions on the other side of no-man’s-land. “This must be what the captain meant when he said a big one was coming,” said Patsy. Domenico, his attention locked onto the whining shells as they passed overhead, nodded in silent agreement. The Battle of Vittorio Veneto was about to begin. Carefully, the two men inched their way up the walls of the slit trench and peered out over the edge, only to discover that the artillery shells were landing at least seventy yards short of the enemy positions. With their attention fixed on the thunderous fusillade, neither man heard the captain slip into the trench behind them. “Are you two crazy?” he barked. “Get down from there!” Knowing him to be short on patience and long on memory, they quickly slid down the trench wall and raced to where he stood. “Forte, I need a runner to go to headquarters,” he shouted above the din “Wait, captain,” interrupted Patsy. “He went the last time. I’ll gO!” Domenico thought back. His last trip to headquarters was anything but pleasant, and if Patsy wanted to go, why should he argue? He shrugged his indifference. “Fine, then,” said the captain. “Tell them that our artillery is falling short and we need to correct the problem immediately.” He paused, scribbled some numbers onto a paper, and then handed it to Patsy. “Here,” he continued, “give them these target co-ordinates, and good luck.” Paper in hand, Patsy moved out over the back of the slit trench and quickly disappeared beyond its rim. He’s done it to me again, Domenico suddenly realized. He’lf be a lot safer at headquarters than here in this God-forsaken hole in the ground. The shelling stopped precisely at noon, and the ominous silence meant that they would shortly be ordered over the top. Domenico felt the surge of blood pounding in his neck as he grabbed his helmet strap and slid it beneath his chin. With Patsy gone, he would be forced to drag both the machine gun and ammunition boxes to the top of the slit trench alone. He waited for the dreaded command. Fweep! Fweepf Two staccato blasts from the captain’s whistle sent men clamoring into battle along the entire length of the slit trench. The corporal next to him tapped the back of Domenico’s helmet and barked, “All right, Forte. This is it!” As Domenico struggled up the trench wall with his weapon and ammunition box, the corporal’s lifeless body crashed down upon him, knocking him back to the bottom of the trench. “Damn you Patsy,” he muttered. “The next time I see you, I’m going to flatten your face.1I He then picked up the corporal’s rifle and scrambled up the trench wall. Initially, the attack went well for the Italians as they moved decisively across the Piave River toward Vittorio Veneto. Domenico’s company managed to quickly capture a series of abandoned Austrian trenches-too quickly. By late afternoon, the Austrian-Hungarian forces had recouped and were putting up surprisingly stubborn resistance. As Italian casualties began to mount, Domenico’s company, which had served at the point of attack, suddenly found itself cut off from the main body. Shortly before sunset, on the “What’s he going to do?” he asked.
To be continued...
Spring 2010 / AMICI 33
Memories of Young Faces in harms way By Scott Hancock Those rare days when the newsletter arrives are never easy ones. When I find one in my mailbox, my mood always shifts. Upon the sight of my old unit crest upon folded paper, I find my inner me is suddenly stilled. From what ever busy hurly-burly pace of got-things-to-do-places-to-go mood I had been in, transitions immediately into a much more somber, quiet and reflective place, and I carry the thing back into my home unopened, a true mix of emotions churning inside. It may not be right away that I open and read it, that newsletter. I usually wait till bed that night, when things are quiet and I will be undisturbed. It is the best time, the best way I can handle reading it. Every year I think, this next time I will make the Unit Reunion, and yet, when it comes time to schedule such things, I find reasons not to go. I think I am afraid it will be too hard. Too hard to see faces of men grown older, faces whom I had only known as young, made harder to see by the remembering of faces of friends who never got the chance to grow older. Each year I tell myself, next year I will go, and wonder secretly if I lie to myself yet again. It was but one year. One year in Nam. But filled with moments seared indelible into the soul and psyche, dressed now in a burnished patina only years of tears can create. Don’t get me wrong, most days are spent never giving that one year in Nam a thought, but then, - but then, it is Memorial Day, Veterans Day, or a day like today when the newsletter comes, and I am there again, hearing the throbbing beat of an incoming Huey come to save our butts in an emergency extraction, feeling my heart pound in rhythm with the whirling blades, my nose filled with the pungency of cordite, and then come memories of my teammates faces and the knowing smiles we gave each other as we feel the bird lift us heavenward out and up from a green hill filled with death. The newsletter came to my mailbox today. Telling me of all those things it does. Of the reunion missed again, reminding me of promises I made myself and broke, of the chances missed not only to see living smiles of friends once known, but to see again the smiles of those Donut Dollies, whose presence out there was a touchstone to all that which lay backhome and which was worth fighting and dying for. I missed the Reunion again, another opportunity lost. I read in the newsletter Bill Carpenter’s call for history, for accounts and so on. One year, one year in Nam. The memories covered in a burnished patina. Forty years of tears, forty years of raising the flag and saluting, and remembering those faces. How can I write of that time, forty years past, and dare think I got it right? How many things might I write of and be writing only things as I can see them through that patina? How dare I even try? I know of those who have done so, written of events of their service, and they were able to capture each truth, each date and event, so precisely, as to leave no doubt as to historical accuracy. But I, I with my patina, my off colored glasses, dare I try to recount what happened, what I think happened, and why? I only know of hushed conversations while on patrol, of discussions of life and loves, of children and parents, of trials and fears. I only know the
34 AMICI / Spring 2010
feelings that turn within me, within my teammates, as Tet unfolded and we watched and listened as the world went mad, the calls on the radio matching the gunfire that came from all the LZs in every direction around us, until the radio fell silent by command order. But the gunfire and explosions went on. And I remember standing outside our HQ tent, in the dark one night, tears streaming down my face, listening as one of our teams, on the side of some hill, were being hit. I heard them calling for help. I heard them giving sitreps as the battle they were engaged in progressed. And in the background as they reported each time, was the crackle of gunfire, and the explosions of grenades. I stood there listening to it all, the sitreps coming in, the responses being made. And I wept, because I could not help, because I was not there, standing with them. I listened to the recounting of the wounds received, of the grenades coming in, of the damages taken, the movements of the enemy. And then the reports stopped coming. I stood there in the darkness, only canvas between me and the radio inside, and listened to those standing at the microphone calling again and again for a response, till it became quite clear, there would be no more reports received from that team. Ever. And then I went back to my cot, in my own tent just down the hill, and lay there staring up into the darkness, until dawn came. I know of some changes in procedures that were made while I was there, changes that many said were the root causes of some teams running into trouble. I remember discussions about the numbers of greenies being introduced into teams, about how it had once been that they would only put only one new man on a team at a time, and would not count that new man “experienced” until either the team said he was, or ten missions had passed. Only changes were made while my year passed, and experienced teams were broken up and made up of half newbies or so, and team members swapped around without care as to the working relationship of a veteran group. You team with a group, and like them or love them at first, if you come to trust each other, and come to know each other, then you will not be second guessing your team mates possible actions when the shit hits the fan. Second-guessing and uncertainties lead to take too much time, lead to too many mistakes. And in battle with rounds incoming, you have no time and can make no mistakes. Constantly mixing teams, treating men as if fully interchangeable parts, only works as long as they have time to learn each other. But my memories could be bad, or off the mark, I was but one guy in a Tiger suit. Not all memories be bad. Being among the first into Ashua Valley and standing watch as dawn came my first morning there, the light, the mist in the trees, will always be one of my most beautiful memories, and the coming to know the values of and giving full respect to the Montenyard scouts I came to know…, but not the least and the most treasured, are the memories I have of smiling faces of the men I served with, when I too wore a younger man’s face.
St. Joseph’s Physician Receives High Honor From Italian Government
By Andrew Guzaldo
PATERSON, NJ, On December of 2009, Allan Strongwater, MD, Chief of Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Paterson, New Jersey, was honored by the Italian government with one of Italy’s highest and most ancient recognitions—the rank of Commander in the “Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity.” The award was presented to Dr. Strongwater by Consul General Francesco Maria Taló on behalf of Italian President Giorgio Napolitano at the Consulate General of Italy in New York. “Dr. Strongwater is truly a man of solidarity,” said Consul General Taló. “I am pleased to honor him for the work he has done to inspire hope and a brighter future for the children of Italy.” The honor is bestowed upon outstanding individuals in Italy and abroad who have made a social, cultural or humanitarian commitment to Italy. Dr. Strongwater was nominated by the Consulate General of Italy in New York and selected by President Napolitano due to his major medical contributions to Italian children with severe orthopaedic disorders. Dr. Strongwater serves local, national and international children with a wide spectrum of orthopaedic conditions, from common fractures and congeni-
tal deformities to neuromuscular conditions and rare diseases. “I am humbled to receive such an impressive honor from the Italian government,” said Dr. Strongwater. “From the bottom of my heart, I enjoy working with the children and their families.” Guests gathered to support Dr. Strongwater at the presentation and reception including his family and friends, Italian patients and their families, representatives from St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital, St. John’s University, and consular staff. Italian patient Alessio Cirelli has received treatment from Dr. Strongwater since 2004, and was in attendance with parents Sergio Cirelli and Tiziana Cresci. “Dr. Strongwater is a very motivated physician with a tremendous rapport with children,” said Sergio Cirelli. “We are grateful he has been able to provide treatment for our son.” The Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity was established in 1947 to recognize the achievements of Italians and foreigners who had played a distinguished role in the reconstruction of Italy after World War II. In recent years, it has been presented to intellectuals, economists, politicians, journalists and cultural workers.
The Statue of Liberty
By: Cookie Curci
Monument personified hope for generation of stalwart immigrants
The Statue of Liberty stands 151 feet, 1 inch high and weighs 225 tons. The length of her right arm is 42 feet long, her hand 16 feet 5 inches long. Her facial features include a prominent nose that measures 4 feet, 6 inches set between eyes 2 feet 6 inches in width. Standing on her concrete pedestal base, she rises to a neighborhood of 305 feet. Under her huge feet are broken shackles representing liberty’s victory over tyranny. Lady Liberty needs her mighty dimensions to hold a 23-foot-high cement tablet in one hand; the “Torch of Freedom” high above her head, in the other hand; and the hopes and dreams of millions, upon million, of immigrants cradled in her bosom. Sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, who christened his lovely lady, “Liberty Enlightening The World”, originally created the statue of Liberty. The statue was dedicated to America on July 4, 1884. The Statue of Liberty, as she would later be known, was finally completed in 1886 and she’s been welcoming travelers to our shore ever since. Between 1901 and 1910, nearly 9 million immigrants, from all parts of the world, came to this country. Like my grandparents, many of these travelers came here from Italy and settled in the Santa Clara Valley. Unfamiliar with the language and customs of their new country, the hard-working immigrants settled in to the poorer sections of town, often taking jobs in industries in which poor conditions, low wages and long hours prevailed. Back in the old country, the young and naive immigrants had been told wondrous stories of how the streets of America were paved in gold. But when they got here, they discovered three important things: First, the streets weren’t paved in gold; second, they weren’t paved at all; and third, they were expected to pave them! The children and grandchildren of these immigrants share a feeling of pride at their accomplishments. A thread that runs through each of our lives connecting, one to the other through the generations. History tells us that millions of immigrants have come to America and how they learned new trades and skills and evolved new lives and careers for themselves. As youngsters we all learned about the melting pot theory of American immigration and population growth. From an official population of some 5 million as of 1790, the first time a census survey was undertaken in our nation, we have grown to an estimated 248 million as of 1990, the last time a decennial census was taken. The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island foundation, in New York City, estimates that more than 12 million visitors have toured the Ellis Island im-
migration museum since its opening on Sept. 10, 1990. Authorities at the Statue of Liberty Ellis Island foundation estimate that four in every 10 United States residents have at least one forbear who immigrated through Ellis Island. The Immigration and Naturalization Service in Washington, D.C., reports that in 1996 (the last available figures) 915,900 people immigrated legally to the United States. My grandmother had an old saying. Translated in English it goes something like this: “It doesn’t matter where you start out in life; it’s where you finish that counts.” My grandparents lived their lives by that belief. My grandfather worked his way up from delivery boy in a local meat market to become the store proprietor. After learning all about the meat market business he saved enough money to purchase his own shop. With hard work and determination he went on to become a successful businessman. My grandfather never spoke much about his early days in America, or the long ship ride over the ocean, but he often mentioned the awesome feeling he experienced as a young boy when his steamer ship from Naples, Italy, approached Ellis Island. The moment was engraved in his memory. He recalled the almost eerie silence that fell over the ship; how his papa, who he had never seen cry, was now weeping openly as Lady Liberty came into view, embracing his wife and three children with uncontrollable joy. My grandmother and her two young siblings came to America as orphans. After losing their parents to influenza, the young trio pooled their resources and boarded a ship for America. To them, the sight of Lady Liberty meant hope for a new and better life. The grand statue had come to embody the spirit of their new land--exemplifying hope and prosperity. Whenever I asked my grandmother where she found the courage to take that voyage of a lifetime, she would invariably say, in her native Italian: “A ship is safe in port, but that’s not where a ship was meant to be.” She was right of course. A ship is meant to challenge the elements, ride the high seas and risk being sunk. Desire alone just doesn’t cut it. Tales of our immigrant ancestors are repeated again and again across America. From father to son, from grandmother to grandchild, we keep the legacy alive with every story told, with every memory recalled. On the plaque of the Statue of Liberty is the poem, “The Great Colossus” written by Emma Lasaras. The following words from that poem hung proudly framed on the wall of my grandparents’ home throughout their lifetime: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teaming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” Spring 2010 / AMICI 35
By Cristoforo Magistro
M
Part 3 of 3
y aunt left, my scribe’s task reduced, notwithstanding the correspondents had doubled and it deeply changed. In the meanwhile, my uncle began to write lesser happy contents less often and clearly. He engaged and sent us his girlfriend’s photo. She was a big dark-haired woman who could have surely been brought up in the nearby village. It was a sea village whose Saracen towers could not manage to keep it clear. There lived dark-skinned loudmouth people, rowdy people who were always ready to show off beyond belief and whose names were all Gerardos or Berardinos at the most. Our names were Rocco, Pietro, Giovanni, burning names like gunshot, serious names. Is the difference clear or not? What about now we are Pier Silvio and Gian Minchia, but in the nearby village they are Filiberto and Chantal, what fanatics. What a decadence this civilization! I was already half disappointed by this girl’s photo - I thought him with of one like Silvana Mangano, but also with some more ethereal types, like one Hepburn, for example - but it was my aunt’s letter to seriously alarm us. This aunt of ours had grown adult, got married and had children without ever meeting any evil in her life. She used to tell everybody was such a good and kind person. Sometimes, my father spoke up and called her honey mouth. She laughed, very happily, answering that it was necessary to have a plum tree at least in that garden of bitter lemon trees such as her family. My father lightly smiled telling her that she was right too. In short, that aunt was optimism personified. Therefore we got worried when she wrote us that our future sister-in-law was good and kind, and moreover, had a very beautiful name, Tereza with zed, she particularly appealed to that, but that her family was a little bit, not so much, less good and kind. Aunt Brunetta never talk bad of anybody, less than ever of a whole family. Suddenly I had to write her asking what she meant when saying Tereza’s family was not good. Not good. I began to express myself like that, too, because aunt Brunetta’s lessical Philadelphic spirit, her terrible verbal goodness were contagious. Something magic, a family of “masciari”, no news about what happened to Peppino that was what she answered. But she added not to get worried because uncle Raffaele, her husband, had been carabineer and he would have found out what was really going on. We calmed down a little bit because uncle Raffaele was really a good and kind man deserving the trust of the whole world. Then, I thought that maybe a Lucan ex-carabineer could not do much in S. Paulo, out of his jurisdiction. I spoke to my mother who seemed to be the brightest and less involved in the event and she replied me: what is that got to do with it? What on earth the “masciari”? Everybody asked. Where, in America , did my uncle end up? Maybe he mistook direction and instead of going to America he ended up somewhere else. It had already happened in History I instinctively rambled. I read it right in my book and also in the encyclopedia of the reading centre. Christopher Columbus went unawares to America , my uncle quite the reverse. It could be possible, maybe, the grown up said. We clung to everything to escape an event which was going to be full of dangers. I soon regretted offering that bait to their hope. I knew I could prove through my stamps that my uncle was really in one American country, in Brazil , but I began to understand that knowing more things than the others was good, but keeping quiet was often better. What “masciari”, I wrote quickly and faithfully like a shorthand typist. What did it mean that there were “masciari” even there? Maybe it was the first time I followed what my grandmother dictated me without arbitrary mediations of mine but without betraying my scholar condition because, in those circumstances, before such a danger any language difference between my grandmother and me had fallen down. Yes, there were, my aunt replied, but there was nothing to get worried about. Being simple not to get worried... A year after their departure my aunt and her poor tribe, who had also been overcome with “condomblé”, gathered their money left and returned to Italy . Not to the village. For two reasons: they were unable to earn their living there, but above all they did not feel up to face the shame of their unsuccessful project of new life. They felt almost like wrong-doers, including the young cousins, and even several years later when they economically recovered a little working like farm laborers in Alessandria ‘s area, they kept on bearing that shadow of defeat. In laboring South there is no pity for those trying to part from that world but failing. There is no room for prodigal sons in hopeless poor country. That is the way it is, that is the way it was, the rest is poetry. Uncle Peppino had not been writing for many months after his sisters’ return to Italy with her family. Was he overwhelmed with remorse for exposing his sister to ruin because he had been completely clouded by “candomblé” magic? Or worse...? My grandmother spoke no more. She had really not been saying a word for several years. She had always been very small, my uncle’s third part, but then almost suddenly, she began getting smaller and wrinkled like an apple in winter. When I went to see her, she embraced me tightly. She cried without sobbing and stared in my eyes. Even if I well knew what hardness and anger my generation, between archaism and modernity, had run into, I sometimes could not prevent myself from crying. Real pain, if it exists,
36 AMICI / Spring 2010
concentrated into this prehistoric little statue making it withering more and more. Her neighbors cuddled her in all manners, trying to make her speak and saying: Marfaela (Maria Raffaella) do you remember this? Do you remember that? She lightly smiled to her old friends and that was all. They seemed happy to entertain her a little and show their love. On a windy day - it was an oddly and almost spring cold, the air was clear, the sea was shining towards the hills of the village - it is an easy day to remember, in early March 1964, my uncle returned to the village. We felt like when a bad dream of ours suddenly changes in the end and we wake up happy because we realized that an event which seemed to be unchangeable might follow an unexpected course. My grandmother lived again, I know no different way to express that incredible thing. When I flied to her place to greet my uncle, I stared at them both thinking about Lazarus. She took us by hand holding to her temples one on one hand and one on the other hand. A month later my uncle left to Germany to join my father who had emigrated to Frankfurt a year before. He had been working for some time with him as building worker, then he worked as turner in another town. They loved each other a lot but they could not live together. They represented two incompatible worlds. For sure he had run away from Tereza and her family of magicians, but a few days after his departure to Germany , the big dark-haired woman came to my grandmother’s. No one has never known how she came to our village. But, she settled herself by my grandmother’s and never moved until her prey came back. Then I seldom went to my grandmother’s. Tereza and I hated each other and I could not hide it. I did not even understand why my grandmother was kind to her. Anyway, the family’s council had ordained that Tereza was right. He had married her so he could not leave her. Even so, nor at the village neither with his family’s help. If he had succeeded in getting rid of her in the vast world, much good might it do him, his family would not have disliked it. There is even no need to say it. Actually, it was not said. My uncle sadly left again to Germany and then to Brazil , without a great exchange of greetings. My grandmother grew more and more gloomy. He seldom wrote formal letters, more and more seldom, and I replied as usual also because different passions and worries were hanging over me. On a day, we received a parcel. A coffee parcel, of course. We were not accustomed to use it, yet. It was kept for me because that year I had my school-leaving examination and I used it practically alone. At last, I tried to study, but it was as to run to the railway station knowing that the train I should have take had already got to its far-away destination. I did not know what starting with. My gaps were really black holes I tried hard to keep distant from my thoughts for fear of being swallowed. The virgin areas of my knowledge were unexplored continents, nightmarish mountains making me literraly dizzy. I concentrated on Verga, Decadentism, Gottfried Benn, a nazified poet whose book I met with, the Communist Manifesto, Heiddeger, the history of Fascism. I knew nothing else and the subjects I was preparing had not mostly been even touched on in the programs. I used to drink a cup of coffee and some sour-cherry juice my mother used to prepare in large quantity right for my school-leaving examination. I used to smoke impudently before her, by then, but I could not get to sleep. My readings were getting crazier and crazier and I piled fragments of ideas up to myself to put into my Italian composition. Whatever the trace. In the meanwhile, we did not hear from my uncle anymore. He did not answer two or three letters of ours and we decided not to write him anymore. There were these absurd ways of pride making us suddenly breaking off with who did not correspond. We were always thinking about him but there was an agreement according to which just on important festivals it was allowed to talk about it to ask where he might have been. On a Christmas Day, in the seventies, my father received a rather well written greeting telegram causing great sensation among us. My father burted out sobbing unrestrainedly. It happened for the first time and we were all afraid of. I said that by this time my uncle should have come back. It was not so bad here and we all together could have helped him to start a new life. He could even come back to big dark-haired Tereza... I wrote to the Italian Consulate in S. Paulo, the Foreign Ministry, a newspaper of S. Paolo. No answer. About five years ago we gave someone somehow introduced into the embassy circle the task to investigate. The Consulate of S. Paolo answered that there were no news about the above mentioned man. I owed to the above mentioned man this reconstruction at least in order to be able to dream about him again in a more peaceful situation.. The End! ” If you are interested in authorizing a research project in your Ancestral town, go to: http://www.myitalianfamily.com/research/home_research.htm or call us direct at 1-888-472-0171. If you are interested in traveling to your Ancestral town, go to: http://www.myitalianfamily.com/trips/ or call us direct at 1-888-472-0171. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of My Italian Family LLC.
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NICK CAMPANELLA’S DECISION By Suzanne Gulino
I love sports. Can’t get enough. From pee-wees to pros, especially when they have an extraordinary season. That is one of the two reasons I wrote this story. The other is because of the admiration and affection I have for a particular group of three generations of Italian American gentlemen, especially the youngest one. The story begins with a very sad, very lost young man named Nick Campanella who was put into a situation where he had to make a difficult and adult like decision to attend a rival high school when his school abruptly closed. Nick is an extremely personable, respectful and talented teenager who loves the game of football. Driscoll Catholic High School announced their closing April of 2009 and closed in June of 2009. The entire Driscoll “family” was heartbroken for a host of reasons. One of which would be the end to a rich football program boasting seven consecutive state championships. Nick was fortunate enough to be a part of a state title in his sophomore year with teammate and older brother, Anthony. Any hopes for a chance to be on another championship team seemed grim. Contrary to the opposition of many classmates and alumni, Nick did a lot of soul searching and made the decision to attend rival Montini Catholic High School for his senior year. He knew some of his future classmates, but from opposite sides of a football field. Not a very inviting environment. But after shadowing at Montini, his fears of angry rivalry were unfounded. To his surprise, kids were friendly and accepting. Nick believed that this could be his new home for school and football. He was right. Thanks to a warm welcome by classmates, teammates, parents, teachers and coaches, the heavy weight of transition to a new school was made a lot lighter and the sad and lost feelings changed to calm and hopeful. Football camp- Both coaches and teammates were happy to have him on their team and welcomed him with open arms. He was able to get to know them on a personal level. Since Nick was to going play on both sides of the ball, offensively as Running Back and defensively as Defensive Back, he had the daunting task of learning a new offense and defense. Hardly discouraged, Nick accepted the challenge, worked hard and was able to learn and adapt. The season- The Montini Broncos got off to a rocky start, but the team came around a bit and went into the playoffs with a 5-4 record as a twelfth seed. In each playoff game, they improved. They kept winning. It was magical. By the time of the championship game, they were a team to be reckoned with. But could they beat the favorite, Joliet Catholic Academy in the 5A championship? No one expected a Bronco win. The date was November 28, 2009. It started out as a cold, sunny morning, but warmed up by game time. There was so much excitement in the air. A record number of students, their families and friends crowded the Montini side of the stadium. The game started, Joliet Catholic scored two touchdowns and Montini returned the favor to tie the game at half-time 14-14. In the second half, every bronco player, played the game of their life. It was like being at the Superbowl. The offense was awesome; the defense was the toughest I had seen all season and special teams were on fire. In the third quarter, Joliet Catholic scored and Montini blocked the kick for the extra point. Then Montini scored. Joliet Catholic scored again and converted. It was a nail biting, heart pounding, and undeniably the most exciting game my eyes have ever seen. Joliet Catholic was up 28-21 in the last three minutes of the game. Nick started off Montini’s final drive with a 37-yard run that set up a Montini touchdown. With a score of 28-27, the bold decision came from the coaching staff to go for two. Then, a perfect throw, a perfect route and a perfect catch. A two point, conversion that won the game at a score of 29-28. Spectacular. Unbelievable. What a game. ALL HEART!! What a team. 40 AMICI / Spring 2010
In his final high school game, Nick carried 13 times for a team high 122 yards and caught 4 passes for 52 yards. He played the entire game on offense and almost every play on defense making some key tackles including one that caused a Joliet Catholic turnover in the first quarter and two for a loss of yardage on defense. It takes an entire team to win a state title. Each player contributes to the team’s success. Nick’s contribution for the season includes 831 yards rushing and caught 67 passes for 747 yards, totaling 11 touchdowns. Team- Without the heart and hunger of his teammates or as he calls them “brothers”, he could not have experienced the feeling of a complete and winning season. He would not have been able to mend the broken heart he felt with the abrupt closing of Driscoll. He would always wonder about the season that could have been. He wouldn’t have made so many new and good friends if Driscoll had not closed. He would not have matured if he did not learn of loss, humility and adjustment. He would not have understood the word fate. In life, winners are destined to be with winners. They seem to have the unique ability to gravitate to each other. Also, everything happens for a reason. This story is a perfect example of my beliefs. Parents, and fans-There were a few Driscoll transplants in the stands, but not many. There were some old classmates and friends of Nick and Anthony’s from Driscoll. Having their support meant a lot to both of them. There were some people (adults with no children attending high school) who came purely because of the withdrawals they were experiencing without a Driscoll football season. I sat in the stands with a lot of new faces. It was a strange feeling at the beginning. But the new faces eventually became familiar faces. They were friendly, very complimentary and supportive of Nick. Throughout the season, I never heard a negative word about him. I never heard a parent complaining about the new kid taking away their kid’s playing time. It was a refreshing change. After games, parents and fans would walk up to Mike Campanella, Nick’s Dad, shake his hand and say things like, “I’m so glad your son came here” or “your son is a pleasure to watch”. Amazing. The Montini parents and fans are truly a classy and genuine group of people. Coaches- I am a believer in the Montini coaching staff and would like to thank all of them for an unforgettable season. In particular, Head Coach Chris Andriano, Offensive Coordinator Lewis Borsellino, Coaches Lewis, Jr., Anthony and Joe Borsellino have had a positive influence on Nick. They are all so different in personality, but their teaching skills and ability to mentor have an equal impact. Coach Andriano has been coaching at Montini for 31 years. He has a mild manner, but leads the Broncos with strength and authority and is highly respected by the coaching staff and team. He is a great motivator, has a keen eye for talent and is a wonderful spokesperson for the players. He loves and nurtures them as a father would. Nick’s collegiate future rested in his hands and his future looks bright. Coach Lewis Borsellino, a Montini alum, loves the school and football as much as the kids. He is a serious, self-assured, against the grain, painfully honest, but soft hearted and well meaning man who is, at times, misunderstood. But make no mistake, there is proven genius to his mystical coaching and gutsy play calling. Following in his footsteps is Assistant Offensive Coordinator Lewis Borsellino, Jr.. Defensive Coaches Anthony and Joe Borsellino are Montini alumni who were coached by Chris Andriano and their father Joe Borsellino, Sr.. Coaches Lewis, Jr., Anthony and Joe are young, but wise, coaches who instantly clicked with Nick, took him under their wing, taught him and have since treated him like a family member. Nick will never forget Driscoll pride, but has received a new gift, Montini heart. I attended every game. Sat in the sunshine, sat in the cold, wind and rain. I was determined not to miss a game. Happily, I did not. Love the kid, love the game, and I love Nick’s decision.
Malignaggi beats Diaz for NABO Junior Welterweight Championship Malignaggi wins rematch with Diaz???
Juan Diaz & Paulie Malignaggi By Andrew Guzaldo Saturday December 12th 2010, it is at the UIC Pavillion in Chicago. Presented by Oscar de La hoya and Dominick Pasoli enterprise Productions. Juan Diaz against Paulie (magic man) Malignaggi This awaited fight, came to Chicago with much anticipation. As they entered the ring, fans cheered, as the Malignaggi team waved an Italian-American flag proudly. As this was a highly Italian American area in Chicago, they greeted cheering the entrance of Brooklyn’s Malignaggi. However the Houston Texas Diaz, was also greeted with cheers, and seemed impossible to choose who was the loudest, of all. It seemed that the crowd had just as many Diaz fans as Malgnaggi fans. With a whirlwind of controversy on the August 2009 decision between Milignaggi and Diaz The first round started out, with a quick, and speedy jab from the lanky, Malignaggi. Even though the speed of Malignaggi was quick, he did not do anything wrong. He was cautious in this round, as was Diaz. It seemed that Diaz was amazed at the speed of Paulie, and was trying to figure a strategy for the upcoming rounds. In the second round, Diaz came out strong; Diaz tied Malignaggi against the ropes, momentarily giving him some quick hits to the head. Malignaggi and his speed swung him away from the ropes. Paulie continued to jab away at Diaz. However the clowning around of Paulie, was somewhat childish in it’s entirety. While sticking his face, and tongue out at Diaz, did nothing other then get boos from the crowd. The third round, Diaz came out with a cut, which he received from Malignaggi in the round. Many thought it was a head but, however, it was ruled a punch. Diaz began slow in this round, and gave some good body shots to Malignaggi. Regardless of the hits, Paulie continued to clown, in essence telling or trying to say Diaz did not hurt him. However the commentator, Lenox Louis, replied, “usually when a fighter does that, it is because he did feel the blows.” This coming from such a fighter as Lewis, one can only agree with him. At the end of the round, Diaz came on strong toward the end tagging Paulie The fourth round, Paulie came out jabbing, as the round came to an end, Diaz finalized it with some blows. However neither fighter really dominated this round In the fifth Diaz had Malignaggi in the corner hitting him with some hard shots. And he failed to keep him there tied up. As Malignaggi, slipped away, and countered, against Diaz. They seemed to go toe in toe, and it looked like Diaz may have evened up the rounds. It was this round, which unanimously went to Diaz. The sixth round, Diaz came out quickly as in the others, this made Malignaggi, jump away and back off from Diaz. As the crowd booed, Paulie it seemed to give him some driving force, he clipped Diaz with a right hook that hurt him. Instead of finishing the fight, against the dazed Diaz and makinhg it championship worthy, he seemed to clown around once again. Winding his arm around, like Popeye, going to hi Pluto. However
it is said that Paulie likes to entertain the crowd in this manner, especially when they are yelling. In the seventh round, Paulie caught Diaz with a left hook, after that backed up quickly avoiding the body shot that Diaz was going to catch Paulie with, a left hook Into the ninth, Malignaggi’s jab, found its mark on Diaz. After the fight, Paulie said, “I didn’t throw as many right hands as I would have liked to, but the jab was working real well.” By mid-round, blood could be seen smearing down the left side of Diaz’s face. This was the first round the judges disagreed on, with two for Malignaggi and one for Diaz. The tenth round started with Malignaggi shoving Diaz. Diaz in turn hit Malignaggi with a right, however the referee gave Diaz a standing eight count. I cannot see how he did that. It seemed the glove of Diaz did not even hit the ground. I believe this to be a bad call. The twelfth and final round had the angry Diaz coming out strong, and focused. However this would be too little too late. In this round Malignaggi, was warned to stop using his elbow. I was amazed that the referee did not do this sooner; Malignaggi was doing it early on in the fight. Both fighters began to trade blows, each with an impressible effort to knock the other out. In this round all three judges gave the round to Diaz. At this point it was anyone’s call, when you would look back at the fight, and think of the focus of Diaz, and the clowning, act of Malignaggi, it could have easily went either way? All three judges scored the fight 116-111 for Paulie Malignaggi, He was now NABO Junior Welterweight Champion. Only this time, it was Diaz that refused to talk after the results were announced. Diaz, Hopkins from Golden Boy, promotions refused to speak as well. Some from the Malignaggi camp said it was the best fight of Paulies career. But that will soon be determined in upcoming bouts. Malignaggi, is having hopes to go against Hatton in the near future, he says he is stronger, and much better then the fight with Hatton, he replied “ he beat me bad, I had nothing left to give back to Hatton.” Whatever happens, down the road, I am sure Malignaggi will go over the video of this Diaz fight, and tweak, his performance for the next bout he may have. One thing is for sure; Malignaggi keeps the audience, entertained. Spring 2010 / AMICI 41
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DIRECTV System has a feature restricts accessthat to channels. LIMIT ONE BILL AND EACHprogramming/pricing ADDITIONAL RECEIVER. Inmay certain markets, programming/pricing may vary. Package pricing at directv.com/packages. DIRECTVthat System has a feature restricts access to channels. LIMITCREDIT ONE BILL PER DIRECTV ACCOUNT. **HD DVR INSTANT REBATE: Advanced equipment instant rebate requires activation of the CHOICE XTRA ($60.99mo.) package or above; MAS CREDIT PER DIRECTV ACCOUNT. **HD DVR INSTANT REBATE: Advanced equipment instant rebate requires activation of the CHOICE XTRA ($60.99/mo.) package or above; MÁS ULTRA or above; Jadeworld; or ULTRA or above, Jadeworld; or any qualifying international service bundle, which shall include the PREFERED CHOICE programming package, DVR service ($6/mo.) and HD any qualifying international service bundle, which shall include the PREFERRED CHOICE programming package. DVR service ($6/mo.) and HD Access fee ($10/mo.) required for HD DVR lease. LIMIT ONE ADVANCED Access fee ($10/mo.) required for HD DVR lease. LIMIT ONE ADVANCED EQUIPMENT REBATE PER DIRECTV ACCOUNT. SYSTEM LEASE. Purchase 24 months for EQUIPMENTreceivers REBATE PER DIRECTV ACCOUNT.base SYSTEM LEASE: Purchase 24 months for advanced receivers of any DIRECTV base programming package above) or qualifying internationalALL services advanced of any DIRECTV programming package ($29.99/mo. or above) or qualifying international services bundle($29.99/mo. required. or FAILURE TO ACTIVATE OF TO ACTIVATE ALL OF THE SYSTEM EQUIPMENT IN ACCORDANCELEASE WITH THE EQUIPMENTMAY LEASERESULT ADDENDUM RESULT IN CHARGE OF RECEIVER $150 PER RECEIVER bundleDIRECTV required. FAILURE THE SYSTEM EQUIPMENT INDIRECTV ACCORDANCE WITH EQUIMPENT ADDENUM INMAY CHARGE OFA $150 PER NOT ACTIVATED. FAIL MAINTAIN YOUR PROGRAMMING, DIRECTV MAY CHARGE A PRORATED OFTIMES $480.PROPERTY RECEIVERS ARE ALL TIMES NOT ACTIVATED.IFIFYOU YOU FAIL TO TO MAINTAIN YOUR PROGRAMMING, DIRECTV MAY CHARGE A PRORATED FEE OF $480. RECEIVERS AREFEE AT ALL OF DIRECTV AND MUST BE PROPERTY OFCANCELLATION DIRECTV, AND MUST BE RETURNED UPON OFCALL DIRECTV SERVICE, OR ADDITIONAL FEES terms APPLY. VISIT directv.com OR Programming, pricing, and conditions subject to change RETURNED UPON OF SERVICE, OR ADDITIONAL FEES APPLY.CANCELATION VISIT directv.com OR 1-800-DIRECTV FOR DETAILS. CALL 1-800-DIRECTV FOR pricing, terms and conditions change at any time.copy Pricing residential taxes not included. DIRECTV at any time. Pricing residential. TaxesDETAILS. not included.Programming, Receipt of DIRECTV programming is subject to thesubject DIRECTVtoCustomer Agreement; provided at directv.com/legal and in yourReceipt first bill.ofStarz and relatedis subject to DIRECTV Customer Agreement; copy provided at directv.com/legal and in your first bill. Starz and related channels and service marks are property of Starz Entertainment channels and service marks are the property of Starz Entertainment Group LLC. Showtime and related marks are registered trademarks of Showtime Networks Inc., a CBS Company. ©2009 DIRECTV, Inc. DIRECTV Group LLC. Showtime and related marks are registered trademarks of Showtime Networks Inc., a CBS Company. ©2009 DIRECTV, Inc. DIRECTV and the Cyclone Design logo, and the Cyclone Design CHOICEareXTRA and CHOICEofare trademarksInc. of DIRECTV, Inc.trademarks All other trademarks and service areproperty the property theirrespective respective owners. CHOICE XTRA and logo, CHOICE trademarks DIRECTV, All other and service marksmarks are the of of their owners.
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Spring 2010 / AMICI 43
32nd Annual Induction Ceremony and Gala Weekend
Saturday, February 27, 2010 Belvedere Events & Banquets in Elk Grove Village 11 70 West Devon Avenue Elk Grove Village, I L 60007 -3214 Cocktail hour from 6:00-7:00p. m. Featuring a special musical performance by the former Stars of the Chicago cast of Jersey Boys
In Honor of our 2010 Inductees: Chicago Bears great Rick Casares, 1987 ALCS MVP Gary Gaetti, Paralympics Gold Medalist Linda Mastandrea, 1981 American League Rookie of the Year Dave Righetti, National Speed Skating Pioneer Mario Trafeli, N IASHF Athlete of the Year and cu rrent NABO Junior Welterweight Champion Paulie Malignaggi And our Sportsman of the Year and TD Ameritrade Chairman Joe Moglia.
Special Guests include: Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda, Future Baseball Hall of Famer Mike Piazza, Chicago’s Immortal Goal tender Tony Esposito and many others from the sports and entertainment worlds are also expected to attend.
NIASHF group Hotel rates, available at the Hilton Chicago, 720 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago Il. Tel 312.922.4400 For further information please call NIASHF at 312.226.5566 or our website www.niashf.org
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IMPORTANT CONSUMER INFORMATION: Subject to Customer Agreement, select calling plans, and credit approval. Other charges and restrictions may apply. Screen images simulated. Coverage and service not available everywhere. Copyright © 2009 GreatCall, Inc. Jitterbug is a registered trademark of GreatCall, Inc. Samsung is a registered trademark of Samsung Electronics America, Inc and its related entities. *Not including government IMPORTANT CONSUMER INFORMATION: to Customer Agreement, select calling plans, and credit approval. Other charges and restrictions may apply. Screen images simulated. and service not †All available IMPORTANT CONSUMER INFORMATION: Subject to Customer Agreement, select calling plans, and credit Other charges restrictions may apply. ScreenCoverage imagescharges simulated. and service not available taxes, assessment surcharges, and set-up fee.Subject **Applies to phone and monthly service charges only, provided call time usage is approval. less than 30 minutes andand phone is in like-new condition. Usage mayCoverage apply. plans everywhere. ©CONSUMER GreatCall, Jitterbug is a registered trademark of Inc. Samsung a registered trademark ofinSamsung Electronics America, Incis and itsAmerica, related entities. *Not including government IMPORTANT Subject Consumer Agreement, select calling andU.S. credit approval. Other changes restrictions may apply. ‘For government everywhere. Copyright ©INFORMATION: GreatCall, Jitterbug is a to registered trademark of GreatCall, Inc. Samsung is aplans registered trademark of Samsung Electronics Inc and its related entities. *Not including require the Copyright purchase of a2009 Jitterbug phone.Inc. In2009 addition, there isInc. a one time set-up feeGreatCall, of $35. ††Jitterbug williswork almost everywhere the where cellular service available from and most of the major carriers. All rights ® set-up taxes, assessment surcharges, and fee. **Applies to phone and monthly service charges only, provided call time usage is less than 30 minutes and phone is in like-new condition. Usage charges may apply. †All plans taxes, assessment surcharges, and set-up fee. **Applies to phone and monthly service charges only, provided call time usage is less than 30 minutes and phone is in like-new condition. Usage charges may apply. †All plans , Inc. reserved. © 2007 TechnoBrands each Operator service, you’ll be charged a 5-minute “Operator assistance fee” in additional to the minutes used both for the length of the call with the Operator and any require the purchaserequire of a Jitterbug phone.ofIna addition, is In a one time there set-upisfee of $35. work almost everywhere in the U.S. where cellular is available most of the major All rights the purchase Jitterbug there phone. addition, a one time††Jitterbug set-up fee will of $35. ††Jitterbug will work almost everywhere in the service U.S. where cellular from service is available from carriers. most of the major carriers. All rights ® call©connected by Operator. * Not including surcharges and government taxes. +All plans require the purchase of a Jitterbug phone and a one-time set-up fee ($35). ++ ® , Inc. reserved. 2007 TechnoBrands reserved. © 2007 TechnoBrands , Inc.
Coverage and service not available everywhere. This GreatCall offer is available for limited time only. ** Please visit www.jitterbug.com for further information about terms and conditions. All rights reserved ©2007 TechnoBrands®, Inc. Copyright ©2009 GreatCall, Inc., Jitterbug is a registered trademark of GreatCall, Inc. Samsung is a registered trademark of Samsung Electronics America, Inc. and its related entities.
Spring 2010 / AMICI 45
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7411 W. GRAND AVENUE, ELMWOOD PARK, IL Tel: (708) 452-5652 Store Hours: Mon - Fri 8am to 9pm Sat - Sun 8am to 8pm
470 GEORGETOWN SQUARE, WOODDALE, IL Tel: (630) 521-0560 Store Hours: Mon - Sun 7am to 9pm
3720 ROSE STREET, SCHILLER PARK,IL Tel: (847) 678-6233 Store Hours: Mon - Fri 8am to 9pm Sat - Sun 8am to 8pm
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Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-Midnight EST Sat-Sun 8am-8pm EST
$99.00 Customer Installation Charge. 36-Month Monitoring Agreement required at $35.99 per month ($1,295.64). Form of payment must be by credit card or electronic charge to your checking or savings account. Offer applies to homeowners only. Local permit fees may be required. Satisfactory credit history required. Certain restrictions may apply. Offer valid for new ADT Authorized Dealer customers only and not on purchases from ADT Security Services, Inc. Other rate plans available. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Licenses: AL-09-1104, AZ-ROC217517, CA-ACO6320, CO-110357041, CT-ELC.0193944-L5, DE: 07-212, FL- EC13003401 GA-LVA205157, ID: 39131, IL-127.001042, KY-City of Louisville: 483, LA-F1082, MA: 1355-C, MD: 30339155,107-1375, MI- 3601204877, MN- TS01807, MO-City of St. Louis LC7017450,CC354, MS-15007958, NC- 25310-SP-LV, NE-14451, NJ- 34BF00021800, NM-353366, NV-68518, City of Las Vegas: B14-00075-6-121756, C1111262-L-121756, NY-Licensed by the N.Y.S. Department of State UID# 12000286451, OH- 53 89 1446, OK-1048, OR- 170997,RI-3428, SC- BAC 5630, TN- C-1164, TX-B13734, UT-6422596-6501, VA-115120, VT-ES-2382 WA- 602 588 694/PROTEYH934RS, WI- City of Milwaukee M-0001599, WV- WV042433, WY-LV-G-21499. For full list of licenses visit our website www.protectyourhome.com/MBIDS
• An array of countertops: 1/27/2010 - American Countertop Collection Quartz Surfacing by Sears - DuPontTM Corian® & Zodiaq® quartz surfaces
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• Flexible financing and Satisfaction guaranteed!+
HURRY! Offer ends 03/12/10. CALL NOW:
1-877-752-0203
*Offer not valid on prior sales or in combination with any other offer. Not valid on countertop only purchases. +See http://www.searshomepro.com/info/guarantee.aspx for Satisfaction Guarantee details. Sears Home Improvement Products, Inc. is a division of Sears Roebuck and Co. ±The following licenses are held by or on behalf of Sears Home Improvement Products, Inc. “SEARS”: AL (Res. Bldr. #3663; HVAC #8186); AZ (Res. Contr.#ROC117628; HVAC #ROC206649); AR (HVAC #1004181); CA (Gen. Bldg. Contr. #B-721379, HVAC #C20-721379, Glazing C17-721379, Roofing #C39-721379); CT (HVAC #303642-S1; HIC #0607669); FL (Gen. Contr. #CGC012538; HVAC #CMC1249510); GA (HVAC #CN209991; HVAC #CN003489;Gen. Bldr, #G18720 - City of Columbus only); ID (HVAC #C-6134, HVAC#J-6133; Contracting Bus. #RCE-25219); IL (City of Chicago Home Repair #1248977); IN (Evansville Res. Remodeling Cont. #RRC0185); KY (Master HVAC #M04667); LA (Res. Bldr. #84194; HVAC#45862); MD (HIC #87854; HVAC #6528; Contractor/Salesman #46542); MA (HIC #148607, All plumbing and electrical services performed by licensed subcontractors); MI (Res. Bldr. #2102131369; HVAC #7110944); MN (Res. Remodeler #20090017); MS (Res. Bldr. #RO5222); NV (Carp. Contr. #43242; Gen. Contr. #60609; Plumb. & Htg. Contr. #60610; Refg. & AC Contr. #60608; Gen. Serviceman #S1469; HVAC #A0072); NY (NYC HIC #1225166, Nassau County HIC #H1809170000, Rockland County HIC #9990, Suffolk County #41506-H, Westchester County WC #18371H06, Putnam County #3189-A, City of Yonkers #4213); NM (Gen. Bldg. Contr.#GB 98 58598; HVAC #MM98 52598; Elec.# EE-98 58598, MHD HVAC #MM98 C58598, MHD Elec. #EE98 C-58598); NC (Bldg. Limited. #47330; HVAC #15343 H-2, H-3-1, HVAC #26961 H-3-II); OH (HVAC #44752); OK (HVAC #106841); OR (Gen. Contr. #113202); RI (Res. Contr. #27281); SC (Gen. Contr. #105836-BD4; HVAC Res. #RBH-919); TN (HIC #2319; HVAC Contr. #54995); TX (Res. Bldr. Remodeler #9566; HVAC Dallas #TACLB00020401E, Houston #TACLB27482E, Lubbock #TACLB00027780E; San Antonio #TACLB00024674E); UT (Gen. Bldg. Contr. #B-100318604-5501; HVAC #S-350 318604-5501); VA (Class A Contr. #27-084717; HVAC #2710046587); WA (Gen. Contr. #SEARSHI011LA); Washington, DC (HIC #50006423); WV (Res. Bldr,. #WV025882, HVAC WV025882); WI (Dwelling Contr. Cert. #15151; Dwelling Contr. Qualifier #982570; HVAC Contractor #15151). Some services performed by Sears’ associates. Other services and installation performed by Sears-Authorized licensed contractors; additional Sears license information available upon request. ‡Subject to applicant creditworthiness.
Spring 2010 / AMICI 47
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PHOTOGRAPHER’S CREDITS Joseph Ciminera / Barnet Stevensonne Nick Campandella / Suzanne Galino Joe Cosentino La Scala article/ John Rizzo Restaurant Review / John Rizzo Raoul’s Tgif Jokes Lolita / Rita Ostasz
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Roman Amphithetre converted to cinema 48 AMICI / Spring 2010
E M I L B R I A A A B R I A U Z I A Z O S S O I N O
INDEX OF ADVERTISERS
Amici Journal
3 Olives Italian Restaurant . ..................................................................39 Adriana Trigiani ......................................................................................BC ADT Home Security...............................................................................47 Amici D’Italia Italian American Association ....................................37 Chieli Minucci Events ...........................................................................18 Cumberland Funeral Chapels ...............................................................43 Daniel L. Jaconetti D.D.S. Ltd. ............................................................37 Direct TV .................................................................................................42 Filippo’s Café ...........................................................................................46 Flower Fantasy .........................................................................................43 Food Channel ...........................................................................................38 Jitterbug Cellular.....................................................................................45 La Capannina Coffee Co . .....................................................................29 Law Offices Joel Gould & Associates .................................................47 Mary Kay Products..................................................................................37 Men’s Wearhouse .................................................................................. IBC Olive Oil of the World.............................................................................. 5 Sears Home Services ..............................................................................47 Spacca Napoli Pizzeria ..........................................................................29 Super Low Foods ....................................................................................46 Theresa Sareo Events...............................................................................18 Total Gym ................................................................................................44 Trattoria Porretta Ristorante & Pizzeria ...........................................27 TriLASTIN-CF ......................................................................................42 Troy Reality Ltd. .....................................................................................42 Variety News .....................................................................................13 Via Mare Fish Market ...........................................................................46
JOKE
MEN’S WEARHOUSE Brands Calvin Klein Joseph Abboud Kenneth Cole Jones New York Pronto Uomo Joseph & Feiss
1-800-776-SUIT(7848) WWW.MENSWEARHOUSE.COM
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This delicious new trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Adriana Trigiani is
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Vfs y !! Vbmfoujof Debuts in Paperback January 5, 2010
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Debuts in Hardcover February 2, 2010 Don’t Miss
VIOL A IN REEL LIFE Adriana’s Teen Novel—Available Now!
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ALSO AVAILABLE, ADRIANA TRIGIANI’S BELOVED NOVELS IN PAPERBACK