MELTING POT OF CULTURES, STYLES AND TRADITIONS SHAPE COMMUNITY HERITAGE
The city of San Jose is an eclectic mix of houses and people that reflect a unique blending of styles and cultures. Much of this is due to the fact that our area was the chosen home for many European immigrants who came to America during the great migration of the early 20th century.
The different styles and backgrounds they brought from Europe grace our area with heritage and cultures. Subsequent generations follow the old world traditions of their families while at the same times assimilating into the American California culture. The area’s fruit orchards that for the most part, were owned and operated by European immigrants made the city prosperous.
My small community of Willow Glen, was once filled with Italian immigrant residence, and proudly boasted its own business district, churches, schools and library. Like most of the country, at the turn of the century, San Jose was the melting pot for numerous ethnic groups.
Among them, in particular, the Italian American whose children followed their parent’s dream, climbing out of poverty and searching for a better way of life. Frank Dinapoli, one of the founders of the famous Mayfair Packing Company in San Jose, was one of these young immigrants from Tricarcio.
The little town of Tricarico, Italy, gave more of its young people to our community, per capita, then any other country in the world. Willow Glen was especially blessed with many of these descendents from Tricarico.
To this day, almost 100 years later, the children and great grand children of these brave people from Tricarico, continue to honor their heritage with the Tricarico social club, a club whose members must be of Tricarico descent or married to someone who is Tricaricase. Amadeo Pietro Giannini, who revolutionized banking in California and founded the Bank of America, was born in San Jose California to a middle class family who also immigrated here from Italy.
YESTERDAY AND TODAY
Most of these immigrants went to work at average jobs, or opened their own shops and businesses and slowly assimilated into middle class America. It was to this "middle class" that I was born. It's where I've spent the past 62 years of my life. Like most Italian American residents, I have a keen awareness and reverence for things past, as well as a feeling of pride in my present community.
Like many of the neighborhoods we all grew up in, my town has undergone many changes and upheavals. There have been some losses of our Old World ways and landmark, that causes me to cherish those that still remain. Years ago, my dad, Rocci Curci, was the proprietor of our community’s first popular soda shop.
For over 30 years dad operated his unique creamery that not only served hamburgers, sodas and fries, but also spaghetti, ravioli and meatballs! If those walls could talk they would tell how many local families have passed through the shops familiar doorway, how many kids have grown up sitting at its counter, and the long leisurely afternoons family and friends spent visiting this local haven.
Today, across the street from where dad's old soda shop once stood, is the home of Vin Santo, a trendy Italian Ristorante that offers northern style Italian cuisine. Vin Santo may not be the biggest Italian restaurant in town, but it is gradually emerging as one of the best. Greg and Susan Russi have fashioned the restaurant’s menu after the type of foods native to Lucca, Italy, a town in the Tuscan region and the home of Greg’s ancestors.
The couple went there to visit and get inspiration, which even led to the name of their restaurant. "Vin Santo," or "holy wine," is a sweet after-dinner drink that is native to Tuscany but served all over Italy. Among Vin Santo’s most requested dishes is the Penne Bolognese. Regular patrons swear this three meat sauce is as good, and possibly better, than the original served in Lucca, Italy.
Vin Santo, like other local shops, is part of the newer face of the local business district. By holding on to the passions and pride of their Italian predecessors they create a bond with the past, that helps to keep our local ethnic traditions alive. Just down the street from Vin Santo is the La Villa Deli.
This enduring and popular deli is among our community’s distinguished businesses, and one that spans from the past to the present. The La villa Deli with its aromatic, Italian foods and fragrances has been in business for over 58 years at the same location. It is a part of Willow Glen’s main street scenery.
Long time residents can remember the deli’s original owners, Frank and Anna Giacomelli, who wanted to go into business for themselves after World War II, with Anna’s brother, Louis Pasquinelli, who suggested a delicatessen. Louis and his family had enjoyed many a good meal of traditionally prepared foods in the Giacomelli home.
So, it was only natural that they encouraged them to open a restaurant filled with their tasty recipes. In 1947, Frank and Anna took the big leap, picked out a vacant lot and built a shop, launching the La Villa Deli on Lincoln Ave. In 1967, the Giacomellis sold their business to Ed and Rita Palestro who ran the deli for 20 years.
Today it is owned and operated by Patty and Dave Bertucelli, who continue to operate in small town fashion, preserving its rich ethic background and original recipes. Deli customers praise the food with words like: "They have the best ravioli you’ve ever tasted. It melts in your mouth".
Older residents say, "La Villa Deli keeps Willow Glen feeling like the old Italian community it once was". And it’s one of the few delis they can remember from their youth.
MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD
There is and always has been a rich ethnic mixing in our community. As children we all played together at the corner vacant lots, we raced our bikes along the sidewalks speeding past the tall maple trees that lined the avenues, we organized games, picked out our leaders and established our own rules…; we appointed referees, and at the end of our long summer play day we laughed with our friends and cherished what we had done while looking forward to tomorrow.
So many decades later, and I still treasure the memory of my old neighborhood and the tiny moments in time shared with these old friends, the DiNapolis, Herolds, Jones, Minervas, and Furdutos.
Moments that left me with pleasant memories and an ongoing appreciation for the community I grew up in. Over the years we’ve lost some of our Italian landmarks and houses, but most of the Italian American families whose ancestors came here almost a century ago, have remained in the area.
They carry on traditions and replace those that have gone. New faces and new places will, in time, leave their own imprint on the passing generation. But I've got a feeling that my community will keep its unique balance of Italian shops and traditions, and will continue to thrive and preserve the ethnic quaintness and ambiance of this little corner of the world I call home.
10631 Vinedale Street, Sun Valley, CA 91352 - Phone (818) 767-3413 - Fax: (818) 767-1410
