L'Italo-Americano

THURS DAY, ��� MARCH��� 28, ��� 2013 L'Italo-Americano PAGE��� 27 Separate But Equal: The San Francisco Italian Athletic Club ROBERTO���NATALINI For nearly a century, the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club has stood by its Latin motto: Mens Sana in Corpore Sano���a healthy mind in a healthy body. It has also stood by another tradition���women need not apply. Nowhere is this more apparent than at the monthly ���stag dinner��� where members and their male guests have assembled for decades to break bread, throw back a few drinks, lock horns, and enjoy a regular male bonding experience. Women are strictly forbidden, except for the occasional visit by scantily-clad Peroni Girls who help sell raffle tickets. Even the Peroni Girls, however, have to retire to the second-floor bar to enjoy their complimentary dinners. Undaunted by the SFIAC���s gender restrictions, a small group of women of Italian heritage joined together in 2010 to form a new group. The SFIAC generously gave them meeting space free of charge, and Le Donne d���Italia was born. Though the group is also genderrestricted, it does allow membership for both those of Italian heritage and italophiles as well. Recently, the group decided that if they couldn���t join the men for their stag dinners, they would just have their own gen- Julia Dondero. ���Why should the ladies stay at home?��� The event starts with cocktail hour at 6:00 PM at the SFIAC���s second-floor bar (the men have their cocktail hour at the firstfloor bar), followed by dinner at 7:00 PM in the Parkview Room der-restricted dinners. Coinciding with the men���s stag dinner, and being held in the same building (but on a different floor), Le Donne d���Italia will be holding their first Doe dinner on Tuesday, April 2nd. ���Why should the guys have all the fun with their stag dinners? Le Donne is starting our very own Doe Dinner���just for the ladies,��� said Marketing Director on the third floor (while the men have dinner in the ballroom on the first floor). Since SFIAC General Manager and Chef Paul Alioto has only one kitchen from which to serve both groups simultaneously, regardless of which floor your gender consigns you to, the menu will be the same: house salad with antipasto, rigatoni with meat The San Francisco Italian Language Group Among the countless lovers and fans of La Bella Lingua Italiana in the City, there is a constantly growing group that has been organizing events for almost ten years. The San Francisco Italian Language Meetup Group consists of more than nine hundred members, and still continues to attract Italian-American people Italy-related event on art, cinema, music, food, or just for fun. Once a month, the so-called Cari Amici get together in San Francisco���s Little Italy for ���Parliamo Italiano con gli Amici di North Beach,��� when only the Italian language is allowed to be spoken during a Sunday coffee and breakfast together. The San Francisco Italian Language Meetup Group during "Parliamo Italiano con gli Amici a North Beach" who share their most important passion: Italy. Almost everyone has lived or traveled in Italy��� often spending a considerable amount of time there���and all share a love of the country���s beautiful language. The first Organizer Gaetano, from Brooklyn, NY, moved to San Francisco many years ago, together with co-organizers Kelly (long time dweller of Florence), Michael, and Cathy, who almost every week coordinate to present interesting day and night meetings to all their members, each time picking an Recently a very crowded meeting was held on the occasion of ���North Beach First Fridays,��� when many members gathered for a drink at the historic Tosca Caf��, then wondered the neighborhood to visit art expositions, local galleries, music concerts and traditional Italian food. The last social meetup organized is ���Vino Rosso aperitivo e antipasti in italiano,��� a special apericena that will be held every last Monday of the month in an authentic Italian wine bar, consisting of an aperitivo (Prosecco, Lambrusco or beer) and mixed starters for the tables. This specific group is limited to 20 people for intimate and calm Italian-only conversation. With the approaching of springtime and mild weather, it will be the time again for a Grigliata at Crissy Field in San Francisco, for a special tricolore Sunday overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. Next Sunday, March 31st, the Italian Language Group will meet again to watch an Italian film, L���Ultimo Pastore (The Last Shepherd), after a coffee reunion at Stanza Caf�� conveniently located in front of Roxie Cinema. For complete information about all the future events visit http://www.meetup.com/SanFrancisco-Italian-LanguageMeetup/ SAVE THE DATE: ���L���ultimo Pastore��� (The Last Shepherd) Film e caffe��� Sunday, March 31, 2013 Roxie Cinema 6:00 PM at Stanza Coffee 3126 16th Street, San Francisco, CA sauce, bollito with vegetables and roasted potatoes, wine, coffee and dessert. Members and non-members of the female persuasion who wish to attend can contact Lisa Michelis at 415307-8034. Le Donne d���Italia also has other events coming up that may be of interest to female Italians. ���We are starting a monthly Italian Happy Hour, Aperitivo Italiano, at Dell���Uva in North Beach, every first Thursday of the month and our first will be April 4th. On May 19th, we are having our second annual Bubbly & Bingo event, and then in June we are teaming up with the Museo Italo Americano to host a Italy Travel event. One of the panelists, Susan Van Allen, is the author of 100 Places Every Woman Should Go In Italy.��� The new group and their new ���Doe Dinner��� may not bring gender equality to the old boys��� club, but it does provide an opportunity for women to enjoy comradery with others who share a love for all things Italian. Maybe someday the SFIAC will lift their men-only restriction, but for now Le Donne d���Italia can enjoy the SFIAC���s hospitality just so long as they know their place: on the third floor.

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