Dear readers:
January jottings with an Italian Connection: Arrivederci, vivande, one of San Francisco’s longest running Italian “ristorante” outside of North Beach.
Aside from some of the best “risotto” and Italian food in town, Vivande had chef owner Carlo Middione, a prince of a gent, who with his articulate, intelligent and ebullient manners made Italian Americans proud whenever he attended a book signing, lectured or stepped in front of a T.V. camera to host his television show “Carlo Cooks Italian,”which premiered in 1993, on the Learning Discovery Channel, then cable’s only non-fiction entertainment network.
Hosted by San Francisco based author and noted chef Carlo Middione, the hour-long special featured easy to prepare recipes in the Southern Italian tradition, with step-by-step instructions for taking simple ingredients and turning them into delectable dishes that were perfect for entertaining or dining “al duo” throughout the year. The television show fea- tured anecdotal history, tips on cooking techniques and interesting advice on final presenta- tion of each dish. Enjoying entertaining is basic to Carlo’s philosophy: “Cooking and eat- ing are about more than survival.”
Italians approach their food not only as something to keep their bodies going but also as an opportunity to rest, revitalize, and gather together with family and friends. On Carlo Cooks Italianthe audience first glimpsed the action at VIVANDE, Carlo’s famous food emporium in San Francisco, and then visited him in his home for lively how-to cooking sessions.
The recipes, all from Carlo’s cookbook, the food of Southern Italy, were offered free to viewers sending a self-addressed stamped business envelope to VIVANDE, 2125 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA 94115. An award winning cook- book author, respected teacher and chef, Carlo Middione is “The Italian Connection” by Maria Gloria widely recognized as a fore- most authority on classical regional Italian cuisines.
A veteran of numerous television, radio, and public appearances in the U.S. and abroad, Middione is popular with audiences for his warm personality, smoothly comfortable kitchen skills, and contagious enthusiasm for good Italian food. I personally visited Vivande once or twice a month for the last 29 years, both for the superb simple honest cuisine and the chance to exchange a few “chiacchiere” with Carlo.
Therefore, it was a real “dolore” when a few days into 2010 I learned through the pages of the New Fillmore neighborhood paper that after nearly three decades, at 2125 Fillmore Street in San Francisco, Vivande had served its final meal at dinner on New Year’s Eve. Carlo’s wife, co-owner Lisa Middione, explained that the decision to close Vivande was based on several factors, but the chief cause was that Chef Carlo Middione sustained injuries to his sense of taste and smell in an auto accident in the spring of 2007.
They hoped the problem might improve with time, but it did not. Portavia opened in December of 1981 as an Italian-style gastronomia, fea- turing authentic artisanal food for take-out and catering, along with specialty products imported from Italy. Restaurant service was soon added, but only at lunch. A more formal dinner menu finally came in 1995. Vivande became known especially for its fresh pasta dishes.
The restaurant also offered special dinners featuring the food and wine of different regions of Italy, but those were curtailed in recent years after the chef was injured. “Carlo could not be replaced,” Lisa Middione said. “This has led to the fact that Vivande is no longer a viable business, and it cannot with- stand the economic impact of the current recession.” I say that Carlo Middione is a real “tesoro” and irreplaceable in any category. “Buona Fortuna” to the Middiones in all their future endeavors.
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If beginning to learn Italian is one of your New Year’s resolutions and you live in Northern California, the School of Italian language and Culture in South San francisco, now celebrating its 40th year (1970-2010) is for you. Classes are held on Saturday mornings to accommodate working adults or children attending other schools. Forty years ago when the school began, children and their parents, new arrivals in this country, came to Italian classes to learn and to preserve the language of their native country.
Today, in 2010, children and adults are motivated to come to the school for some of the same reasons. They want to learn Italian so that they can speak to their families in this country or in Italy. The ties between the two countries of Italy and United States are as strong now as they were then.
Family is the key which binds the two cultures together. When the children are asked, “Why do you come to the school to learn Italian?”, the answers are much the same as they might have been 40 years ago. Mary: My grandparents live in Italy and when we visit, I want to speak to them in Italian. Silvia: My family is Italian. Gina: My Mother is Italian. John: I have cousins in Italy and when I play with them, I like to speak Italian. The children in the two classes learn Italian through a variety of teaching methods. They read Italian books.
They write, sing and recite poems. Tombola is a favorite game as it gives the children and opportunity to learn by calling out the lotto numbers. The teachers of the two classes also like to read stories aloud so that the children can hear the proper pronunciation of the language. Saturday morning Italian Language and Culture classes are at 825 Southwood Drive, South San Francisco, CA. The School for children and adults will continue the Winter- Spring semester in January 2010. Write P.O. Box G South San Francisco, Ca. 94083. For more information, visit www.italianclasses.com or call 650-574-3089.
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The Chiodo’s, a musical husband and wife duo, delighted thousands of people with their songs and music at Italian Television Picnics organized by the late Roger Boschetti. (President of Italian Television), based in Northern California for decades.
Therefore, for those of you who have recently read about artists, and sculptor Mario Chiodo, 48, and wondered if they are related, the answer is yes, he is their son. Mario Chiodo has been in the news lately because a small part of the 90 foot long bronze sculpture he has been working on since September 11, 2001 and titled “Remember Them” will soon be unveiled in Oakland, California and Mario Chiodo hopes it will inspire visiting school children for many years to come.
Here is an excerpt on “Mario’s Monument,” that appeared on January 2, 2010 in the S.F. Chronicle written by Carolyn Jones, in case you missed it: oakland’s version of Mount Rushmore will rise this year in an Uptown park: a towering, ponderous monument to great leaders that organizers hope will inspire school chil- dren and awe tourists. The $7 million monument, “Remember Them,” features 25 famous people who fought for peace or human rights.
They’re an unlikely crew, ranging from Winston Churchill to Malcolm X to Harvey Milk to Mother Teresa, soon to be joined in eternity. The monument, to be installed in a park next to the Fox Theater, will be one of the largest bronze sculptures in the United States. It will be threestories tall, weigh about 25 tons and span 90 feet - a third the length of a football field. “People don’t usually pay attention to public artwork.
But the artwork that people get excited about – it’s big,” said Oakland artist Mario Chiodo who’s donating his time for the project. Chiodo got the idea after 9/11, he said. Until then, he had created sculptures for Las Vegas casinos, the Oakland Zoo, Fairyland and other commercial enterprises around the country. After the terrorist attacks, he said, he wanted to do something for peace.
He chose the figures to represent as many cultures as possible, in hopes that children, especially, will see leaders they can identify but also discover new role models. The first piece of “Remember Them” will be installed this month. It features Maya Angelou and Ruby Bridges, the Louisiana girl who, in 1960, was the first African American student at an all-white elementary school in New Orleans.
The rest of the monument will be installed by the end of the year, if Chiodo can raise about $4 million needed to finish the project. The project is funded mostly through private donations, including a $1 million gift from Kaiser Permanente. The city last month gave Chiodo a grant for $182,000, which some residents protested in light of the city’s budget deficit.
The council approved the grant unanimously, in part because the fabrication and installation will create jobs for Oakland artisans and the monument is likely to draw thousands of visitors to the revitalized Uptown neighborhood. The project’s potential as a tourist attraction is not lost on the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, which is handling the project fundraising.
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