L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 www.italoamericano.org 11 L'Italo-Americano Italian Culture Follows Student to Work W h e n R o b e r t a R u o c c o searched for employment on line, she never suspected that her Italian heritage would be a big part of her new position. The 21-year-old part time col- lege student needed to find a job and naturally solicited the aid of several of the many job- s e a r c h e n g i n e s o n l i n e , a n d wound up in one of the largest Italian family-owned restau- rants in Little Italy. "I was born in Rome, Italy in 1994, and moved to the US when I was about 4-years old," recalls the Italian-American citizen. "When I began looking for work, I answered an ad for a position as a hostess about a year and a half ago, and have been working here ever since." She is currently employed at Zucchero's, an Italian Style C a f é c r e a t e d b y F r a n k Busalacchi who was trained by a Sicilian master. According to Busalacchi "You would have to go to Sicily to find the cassata Sicilian, "the cake of Sicily," a creation of marzipan, sponge cake, ricotta, and fruits with a f l o r a l d e s i g n w h i c h i s m a d e fresh on the premises." " I w o r k i n t h e c o f f e e b a r where we are responsible for a l l t h e c o f f e e r e q u e s t s ; t h a t means we serve cappuccino, espresso and macchiato cof- f e e s , " s a i d t h e b a r i s t a . H o w d o e s s h e l i k e w o r k i n g i n a n Italian family-owned business? "It has its ups and downs, and it can get crazy busy because we are located right under the h u g e L i t t l e I t a l y s i g n t h a t stretches all the way across the street. And knowing Italians, there is a lot of drama, but it's not serious bickering. "One of the big challenges, aside from the sometimes unbe- lievable crowds that descend on us, is the language barrier." Although Ruocco speaks fluent Italian, she said that there are workers from Mexico who are employed at the café and some- times it can get confusing as to whether someone is speaking Spanish or Italian, or a combi- nation of both; "not to mention t h e b r o k e n E n g l i s h t h a t w e o f t e n h e a r . " S h e a l s o m e n - tioned the confusion that can occur between Italians from Genoa, Naples and Sicily, each o f w h o m s p e a k s t h e i r o w n dialect. " A l o t o f p e o p l e c o m e t o Little Italy on Friday nights, beginning at happy hour, but we have a crowd pleaser that s t a r t s t h e w e e k e n d o f f o n Tuesdays," said Ruocco, speak- ing of Pietro Rizzi, The Italian Tenor whom she said, "has his own fan club; people who come in every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday starting at 7:00pm." "Trattoria Fantastica is right next door, and serves dinners so people often eat there then c o m e i n h e r e f o r c o f f e e a n d pastries. We serve about 35 dif- ferent pastries and we have to h a v e c a n n o l i o n h a n d a t a l l times. If we ever run out, we ROBERT GALLO have a baker on call to come in specially to make more canno- li." According to Ruocco, she has served for weddings and other special occasions, as well as graduations, proms and spe- cial parties. "We have a back r o o m t h a t c a n c a t e r t o b i g events, in fact we had The San Diego Padres in here several times." W h e n a s k e d a b o u t c u s - tomers, Ruocco said she would love to rate some of them on the ever popular Yelp social network. "We usually get reg- ular, normal people like any other restaurants, but some- times we get some who feel entitled. Another thing about customers is the tipping sce- nario. Because gratuities are n o t i n c l u d e d i n o u r b i l l i n g , some people just don't bother tipping at all. Foreigners are the worst, not because they are stingy, but because they don't realize that tips are not includ- ed in their bill." The hostess/barista said that working for her is like being in a big, Italian, functional fami- ly. "We have our good days, and our bad days, but everyone can be super loving, caring and kind, just like my Italian fami- ly. Did the fact that Ruocco's f a t h e r , R o b e r t o R u o c c o , P r e s i d e n t o f L i t t l e I t a l y ' s Italian Cultural Center have anything to do with her getting the job? According to her, he didn't even know she applied. "But having a father like him, and growing up in an Italian family makes this job seem like I a m t o t a l l y a t h o m e , " s a i d Ruocco. When not working, she can be found at Mesa College fin- ishing up her degree. She is a Dance Major and dancing is her passion. Roberta Ruocco

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