Cafe Italia.....
Contributed by Pat D.
Four men sit locked into a game of "briscola" with a worn deck of Italian cards. The walls are blanketed with soccer mementos -- colorful reminders of the national passion. They stand also as a reminder of the agonizing day two years ago when Brazil was able to defeat the brave Italian team with a series of unmanly penalty kicks. That day, to which I can personally attest, was one of the most painful in the proud history of Cafe Italia.
The cases near the counter are filled with boxes of cookies, crackers, candies, and "Dal Colle" pastries. As I stand at the counter, three men are shouting and throwing cards violently on the table: one of them in apparent disbelief that anyone, even someone the size of this "buco di asinello", would throw such a card. At the counter three or four men argue as to who is to pay for the expresso they gulp down without hesitation. Outside, at one of the small tables a group of men are watching as two of their comrades are locked into an esoteric game involving three large red dice. Their gold chains are glistening in the hot summer sun. At this moment in Cafe Italia, it would be so easy to mistake Waterbury, Connecticut for a city, country, or continent elsewhere.
That's no accident, Maria Guerrera knows about all things Italian, and that'd what her regular customers want. "If I would have to move any other place," Maria says, "I would never do it. It's comfortable. Right now I feel like we're a big family." When I ask her why the hours in the Cafe are so long, from 8:00 A.M. to 12 or 1 in the morning, she says," Well people need a place to get coffee in the morning before work. Some need a place after work. What are you going to do?"
There are approximately 100,000 people in Waterbury, Conn., 31,000 are Italian. While every other ethnic group has been diluted or blended into the larger city fabric, the Italians have pressed an indelible stamp on almost every neighborhood. The Italian populace is so prevalent that an immigrant could probably arrive in Waterbury today, speaking not a word of English, and get by just fine. Take Cafe Italia as an example. Maria and Lupo run the Cafe. They serve up a lot more than strong expresso. This isn't "Starbucks".
Need some news? There's an Italian newspaper. A satellite dish pulls in Italian movies, game shows, sports around the clock. Maria and Lupo offer help getting everything from a taxi to a doctor to a good loaf of bread.
And, of course, there is hospitality. Customers can feel free to linger over cards without having to gulp down beers or coffee. "They yell, they scream over the cards,: Maria says with a chuckle. "They know nobody's going to throw them out."
Most Italians came to America between 1880 and 1925. It is no accident that the height of Italian immigration to the U. S. occurred before and during W.W. I. Italians know the difference between cannon fodder and ravioli. And we have our famous Waterbury Italians: John Sirica, the chief of the U.S. District Court, who presided over the Watergate hearings. Nixon was no match for this tough, little judge. Dr. Robert Gallo, the world's foremost AIDS researcher is a local boy, as is John Fusco, a screenwriter and Semina DeLaurentis, a Broadway actress who returned home to create the Seven Angels Theatre. My favorite is Sam Richardellie, who at age 103 cites the key his longevity as "red wine and homemade pasta."
To be continued......
Last updated on: 06/03/99 12:50:57 AM
