L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, JULY 21, 2016 www.italoamericano.org 8 SAN FRANCISCO ITALIAN COMMUNITY T he story that belongs to Salvatore di Grande starts from a very common jour- ney Italians used to take in the '50s. And it is not over yet. Sal, as most people use to call him, is today 81 and just retired after working as master chef for most of his life. He welcomes us at Bechelli's Flower Market Cafe in the early afternoon, at the end of one of his last shifts. By mix- ing Italian with English, he tells the story of his amazing life, from the trip he took with his father through his experience as a res taurant ow ner in N orth Beach, until the love for cooking he has shared with his kids, who have followed his path as cooks. Today, Salvatore Di Grande is considered one of the top chefs in the San Francisco scene. Sal, where did everything begin? I was 19 when I came to New Y ork, A merica w ith my dad from Sicily. We are originally from A ugus ta, a s mall tow n close to Syracuse. I am the oldest of four brothers. When I first got here, in 1953, I started working in North Beach in order to make some money and help my family. However, after some time, my father decided he did not want to stay in California and wanted to go back to Italy. I did not like that idea and told him "I do want to s tay! Let me make s ome money and I will come back." But I have never left. S o th at's w h ere you r American, personal journey as a cook started… For five years, while in San Francisco, I worked with cooks from Naples and could learn how to make pizza and spaghetti. After that, in 1958, I decided it was time to run my own busi- ness. I owned a restaurant locat- ed at Grant and Columbus called "Salvatore" for fifteen years. But things did not go how I expected. Those were the years of the w ars in K orea and Vietnam and North Beach start- ed loosing the Italian touch, being more a place for hippies and young people. Then what happened? There were a few occurrences in which people used to take advantage of the restaurant, eat- ing without paying for example. This is the label I have on my body of w hat happened one night: somebody did not want to pay for the dinner he had and, while I tried to ask him to pay his check, he attacked me and left a bite on my arm. That episode made me think it was time to give up and decided to sell the restaurant. It must have been a hard decision… It was, however I immediate- ly relocated myself in another restaurant. The owner of the original Mama's used to come to eat in my restaurant and, as soon as he found out I had sold it, he asked me to start working for him. I worked there for 22 years, so it turned to be the best deci- sion I could make at that time. SERENA PERFETTO rm rm C C 6 y s om ty se om ity T o m d al un al er atio r t o m w h ncs com an ww an d a Colonia i li m de e he C y ca i ta d ion ica d d g l. .italiancs.com 9413 6 www 5 6423 • nci o, CA 9 362 • 415 n F an Francisco, CA 9413 G S 67 Stree S 78 678 Green S et C C a . oh F ohn F F F. Fugazi asa e J Casa Coloniale J ill. wil tion and good dw dw s n t cation and good uca du du d p y, e on y, e ed ed ty, e un ty, e i unit it eng y, comm muni il il ily, comm m amil mil f h om f fam ng t c a hat com at com t t tha r uo ang a and s ia e h th engt hasi ul r tr s he s t r hasis on t the s h a p d p h an emp phasis on t phasis on t th an emp th an emp nd it e, w wi ur tur cult ing uage alian lang iv li tiv talian lang It he d p ing t the e ving t ving t mm r er r de re p and p pr pr de ing r d to hono ed to hono ed to hono i ie e m commi mi p h nd . W e liv v. W r ctive liv d uctiv rodu pendent and p prod li am hem y, inde ependent and p ependent and p an hy, inde th alt e he eal liv hem liv ve he an t f p t them liv them liv h n-A help t c d rour rc to B ed rour ed rour te rust trus h th it ili w wi Ita Ser a amili w fam fam an and d f it rs rs io enio ican senio ican mer e alian-Amer er C t n C talian-Ame talian-Ame It It alia Se y ay A B a v es id B rovid prov vices r Italian Community Ser rvices rvices s e er o or ma als r err atio nation d eferr o ormation and r er ommunit un • Inf formation and r dinat on a gran mm i vice coor e • Community ser t ti n f nsla w immigrants ne /ne s or senior anslation f for senior r • T Tr . . zi and om d 33 com Fugazi e and e e e e ar to W We ar c to a ea r A Salvatore DiGrande, A Top Master Chef With A Special Love for Quality Food and Family's Traditions After your experience at Mama's, another great time for your career as cook started. As it sometimes happens in this industry, one of the people working at Mama's decided to run his own business and opened this p lace here, Bechelli's F low er M arket Cafe. A t the beginning, we used to serve both lunch and dinner, then a couple of years we switched to only breakfast and lunch. So here I am, ready to end my career as a cook in this place, before I retire in a few days. Along this amazing career path, how did you keep your Italian roots alive? First of all, I am an Italian and got married to an A merican w oman, my w ife, w ho is of Italian descents too. She has Sicilian blood and you can tell she speaks more Sicilian than Italian itself! We kept our origins alive in our family, making sure our children and grand-children eat proper Italian food. O n Sunday, we always make riga- toni with Bolognese sauce and extra sausage and, for special events, lasagna, vitello sauté. Wh at is you r exp erien ce with the Italian food tradition in America? I think it has not changed much over time: seafood, steaks are still a must, however many people in San Francisco do not want to spend much money on eating. Sometimes, they just pre- fer hamburgers, omelettes, sand- wiches. And they are not part of the Italian tradition, as we all know. Most of them want to eat what they have already tried while visiting Italy for instance. They are not interested in learn- ing but they still love Italian food. Wh at's th e s ecret of th e Italian cuisine? As a chef, I have one only secret: cook with quality ingredi- ents, like olive oil or parmesan cheese. Did you keep your relation- ship with Italy tight? As soon as I retire, I am going to take my wife to Sicily and visit my family. I have a big family but all my cousins are now close to be 90. We are in touch at Christmas and Easter and we keep the communication running all year long. Italians all have the same interests: food and family. That's all is about! Salvatore DiGrande has just retired after more than fifty years working as master chef. Salvatore DiGrande with Mark Bechelli at Bechelli's Flower Market Cafe

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