Dear Readers,
A June “minestrone” of Italian Connected odds and ends. I hope the odds will be sufficiently odd to keep reaching the ends from being tedious: Art thefts from museums generate the most headlines but experts say that more than fifty percent of art “vanishes” from homes or businesses. Art crime is said to be a six billion dollar- a-year global business and Interpol says that Italy and France suffer the most.
And while in the U.S. the FBI has just a dozen agents dedicated part-time to art crime, Italy fights art crime with over 200 officers. Art thievesin Italy have had to work harder since 1991, when Gen. RobertoConforti reorganized the Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Artistico - a quasi- military branch of the country’s police force that safeguards the nation’s artistic patrimony- and investigates crimes against the country’s treasure trove of art. The Carabinieri is one of three branches of law enforcement in Italy.
In addition, there is the Guardia di Finanza, which governs money-related crimes, and the Polizia di Stato, which is the national police force. Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Artistico was formed in 1969, a full year before the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommended that all countries try to stop the illegal trafficking of stolen art. His elite force operates from head- quarters in Piazza S. Ignazio in Rome’s ancient heart. Founded with only a handful of men, they number now 300 and are considered a touchstone for similar forces throughout the world.
Visitors have included delegations from Hungary and Palestine. All came to learn Italy’s tricks of the trade for tracking stolen works of art. Roughly 2,000 art thefts are reported annually in Italy. Private collections, galleries, antiques dealers, churches and archeological sites are the hardest hit. Almost half of these works now make it back to their original owners. One of the strongest weapons at the Carabinieri’s disposal is its data- bank of stolen art.
Updated daily, this powerful tool is considered one of the best in the world. Based on countless catalogs and photographic archives, it can respond immediately to questions concerning stolen works of art. An important art recovery on Conforti’s watch was the 1994 retrieval of 20 Renaissance paintingsstolen from the small Betona Museum (Umbria) in 1979 and eventually traced to Kingston, Jamaica and returned to Italy.
Another star was the recovery of two works by Vincent Van Gogh. The paint- ings, the only examples of the artist’s work in an Italian public collection, were stolen from Rome’s Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna in 1998. Within one month this elite force had them hanging back on the walls.
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Burgers, in fact Super Duperburgers, will be Adriano Paganini’s new focus after 16 years at the helm of the Pasta Pomodororestaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. As the well- liked and well-known Adriano added more Pasta Pomodoro restaurants where busy moms and working couples could get good Italian food at good prices in a kid-friendly atmosphere, the Bay Area chain grew and some minority investors came aboard, including Wendy’s in 2002.
When Paganini decided to sell, he had hoped the new buyer would be Wendy’s, but in 2008 the Ohio chain merged with Arby’s Restaurant Group and the Wendy’s/Arby’s Group felt Pasta Pomodoro did not fit their long-term plans. The new own- ers (as of early 2010) of Pasta Pomodoro are Girish Satya, for- merly of Cisco Systems and CEO Matthew Janopaul, a ven- ture capitalist and former president of Fender Musical Instruments and Beautiful Inc. (home of healthy, organic take- out food), so Pasta Pomodoro marches on. Adriano Paganini is still busy.
He owns, together with Ruggero Gadaldi and Deborah Blum, four other restaurants in the Bay Area: Star belly, Delarosa, Beretta, and the just-opened Super Duper in San Francisco’s Castro district. Buona Fortuna a Tutti!
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Congratulations to Sr. Rosalie Di Pieri, FMA in honor of her 65th Jubilee. Jubilarians are sisters who have celebrated 60 years or more of religious life, with many of those early years spent serving as teachers in Sallsian School classrooms throughout the United States and Canada.
The Daughters of Mary Help of Christians are a Roman Catholic order of Salesian Sisters begun in Italy by St. John Bosco and by St. Mary Mazzarello. They now work in 96 countries around the world. In 1907, they first set foot in New York working with immi- grants and educating their children. Sr. Rosalie is the first nun I “adopted” because she answered the telephone at 1-871-nuns, when I called the toll free number ten years ago to learn more about the “Adopt-a-Nun” program.
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Draftee Private Mario Lanzawas “under the contract of Frank Sinatra and manager” according to Mario Lanza’s Army ‘separation’, qualification record. The date was the 29th of December, 1942, and Mario’s army serial number began with “U.S.33” - which meant that Mario was drafted and did not enlist. On this army document, there were many questions to be answered and the main question was: Main Occupation? Mario chose one word to describe his occupation - singer. His job summary states: Was under contract for concert singing.
Studied voice under private teachers. Made debut in 1941 at Berkshire Music Festival of Grand Opera. Studied grand opera under the sponsorship of Columbia Concerts with Robert Weede, Baritone of the Metropolitan Opera Company. Stage name is Mario Lanza.
Now under contract to Frank Sinatra and manager... According to Bob Dolfi, longtime friend of the Lanza family and co-founder of the Lanza Legend Newsletter with Mario’s son Damon Lanza (Dec. 1952 - Aug. 16, 2008) Frank Sinatra and actor Walter Pidgeon, who had heard Mario sing at a private Hollywood house party, were having a little show-biz chat when Frank said, grinning from ear to ear, “Talk about people swooning when I sing, the tables were turned the other day when a young chap came on my set and started to sing. There’s no exaggeration in stating that for once in my life I really swooned. I asked him if he wanted to be on my program, but he was not able to accept any contracts right now as he hap- pens to be in the Army.”
Pidgeon asked, “Where on Earth do I find this boy?” Frank answered, “With the Winged Victory Cast. His name is Mario Lanza and he is only twenty- three years old.” Frank loved Mario’s voice and Mario loved Frank’s voice. Mario’s first son, Damon, was born on the same day as Frank Sinatra, December 12th. Frank in 1915 and Damon in 1952. Years later when Frank found out that his and Damon’s birthdays were on the very same day he sent Damon an auto- graphed picture of himself, which Damon hung next to Mario’s pictures in his home. Lanza Legend Newsletter, info available, P.O. Box 6742, San Pedro, CA 90732.
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Efrem Trettel, OFM, the Franciscan priest who in the fifties founded the A.R.C. Ministry (Apostolato Radio Cristiana) was born in Trento, Italy in 1921. He recently cele- brated his 89th birthday at Caesar’s Restaurant, surrounded by friends and well-wishers at a dinner and semi-annual La Madre de los Pobres fundraiser (more info. 415-661-7878) in San Francisco. Fr. Efrem, chap- lain emeritus to more than a dozen Italian American organi- zations, is one of the most beloved and notable Franciscan Friars in all of Northern California.
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Fashionistasin the Bay Area may be interested in learning about a couple of businesses with non-Italian sounding names that carry pricey merchandise with an Italian Connection. Marlowe (231 Grand Ave., San Francisco. 415-986-0262. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri., noon-5 p.m. Sun.) carries Italian-made suiting and cashmere for discern- ing and financially capable professional women. The 15-year- old company, owned by Rocco Melito, chose San Francisco for its first West Coast location. Refined, versatile wardrobe options are at the heart of the line. Beautifully tailored tropical-weight wool suits start at $2,200, cashmere sweaters ($600-$1,000) and embossed leather briefcases ($1,400- $1,700).
Water-resistant wool coats and sequined or laser-cut wraps dress it up for evening events. A draped-neck dress with three-quarter sleeves, in black or cream ($1,185) offers more figure-conscious options. The narrow storefront street-level space has Italian flooring, pulverized black marble walls and custom- made oak furniture. For discering and financially capable gents, Kiton jackets, shoes, suits and ties, sold in the S.F. Nieman Marcus store may be worth looking into.
Kiton’s chairman, Massimo Bizzochi, and CEO Antonio De Matteis recently came to San Francisco with a retinue of Kiton talent: a master cobbler, tiemaker and tailor for a private event. A Kiton jacket can easily take more than 25 hours to hand-sew.
The shoulders alone - a complex layering of batting, horsehair and canvas - require a three-hour cutting and assembly process. Kiton (pronounced kee-tun) is perhaps one of the most discreet Italian brands in the world. There is little to no advertising and no obvious logo. Founded in 1968 by Ciro Paone, Kiton is the quintessen- tial example of Neapolitan tailor- ing; less structured than a Brioni, more svelte and body-forming than an Armani. Suits from England’s Savile Row, which most American tailors imitate, are often more padded and stiff.
Kiton takes pride in the fact that its expert tailoring results in utterly supple garments: One can roll up the jacket and us it as a pillow on an airplane - and after a 10 1/2-hour flight, it will still hold its elegant shape. Of all Italians, Neapolitans are perhaps the most flamboyant and obsessive when it comes to tailoring and Kiton founder Ciro Paone was fine tailoring personified. Incidentally, S.F. Neiman Marcus John Capizzi confirmed that N.M. will be the site for the Red Tie Gala“ideato” in 1982 by Yvonne Giuntoli Sangiacomo to benefit the Little Sisters of the Poor– St. Anne’s Home. For more info. on the Gala call 415-646-0600.
