Immigration has become such a hot-button issue in America that one forgets the Italian connections to it, both then and now.
By then, I mean the so-called “Great Wave” of Italian immigrants between 1880 -1920, though Italians had already been here in the 1840s (California), 1850s (New Orleans), during the Colonial Era (Filippo Mazzei) and during the Age of Exploration: Cabot, Vespucci, Verrazzano, Tonti and Malaspina.
By now, I mean literally; that is, today, in 2023. Although smaller in numbers, Italian immigrants still visit our shores and many often stay, lured, as were previous immigrants, by the powerful appeal of l’America.
One could say that one such example is Alessandro Del Piero, captain of the 2006 World Cup champions. After extending his career afterward in Italy, Australia, India and then network sports broadcasting, he opened up No. 10 Restaurant in LA in March 2018. He now spends most of his time in LA.
Not when I recently visited California, however; he was back in Italy with his family. I already knew this ahead of time so it didn’t bum me out. Though it would have been nice to meet him, my main goal when visiting No. 10 was to have a great meal — which I most certainly did.
(For the record: It was for lunch and I had trofie pasta in pesto sauce, both Ligurian delights.)
What I did not expect, though, was that I would meet another great Italian: Dario Cecchini, the manager of Del Piero’s restaurant. Like the immigrants of a century ago, Dario is reinvigorating America with his super-abundant skills, smiles, and sprezzatura (the latter meaning “the art of looking effortless.”).
“Buon giorno!” he beamed as I stepped through the door. When I responded back in Italian, he asked my background. When I told him I was a fourth-generation Italian American attempting to retrace his roots, he asked from which part of Italy my family had emigrated. When I told him Altopascio, a medieval town in Tuscany about 20 minutes from Lucca, his eyes popped open: “Anch’io sono della provincia di Lucca!” He said he was from Pietrasanta — it’s where Michelangelo found his favorite carving stone and where Giosue Carducci, its native poet and future Nobel Prize-winner, found inspiration.
I later found out that Dario had emigrated to Orlando, Florida in 1994, where he got a hospitality internship at Disney World while studying such at the University of Florence; that it inspired his eventual career in that field which took him all over America — Hawaii, California, Florida, Nevada, Arizona, New York, and North Carolina; and that he met Del Piero when No. 10 first opened, and when he was looking for someone with Dario’s work resume. Done!
Dario not only meets-and-greets customers but also serves them, shares stories, and spreads that distinctly Italian ‘good cheer’ around the room.
One of the things which most amazed him about America was “how multi-cultural it was” and that the Americans “use every occasion as an excuse to celebrate world-wide celebrations like Columbus Day, Cinco de Mayo and Christmas.”
But being confronted by cultural differences never once fazed him. Here is just a partial list of where Dario has traveled over the past three decades: Brazil, Bahamas, Jamaica, Antigua, Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Iceland, Egypt, Morocco, Iran, Dubai, Thailand, India, Maldives, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Oman, Lebanon, Jordan and “everywhere in Europe.”
Is there an ‘Ambassador of the World’ position at the United Nations available for this man?
He also admires America’s “opportunities” and the “positivity of the people” but also isn’t blind to things like poverty and the occasional lack of safety.
He owns a few AIRBNBs in Tuscany and is contemplating a “bi-coastal” life when he retires: “one in the spring/summer in Tuscany, one in the fall/winter in a warmer climate, maybe California or Florida in the USA or somewhere else.”
I hadn’t intended to eat any dessert but Dario insisted I try No. 10’s panna cotta: “We make it fresh!” he emphasized. He wasn’t kidding. It was as good as the panna cotta I once had in Rome. Even sweeter (in both senses): Dario gave it to me as “a gift — no charge. Enjoy!”
I did!
As I left, I asked to take a photo. He graciously took my phone from me and shot a selfie. When I called him a paparazzo, he joked: “I am in LA!”
He also made sure that Del Piero appeared with us by using a wall photo of his boss in the background. So I guess I met the great Del Piero, anyway.
I most definitely met the great Cecchini while spending some down time in LA.
And leave it to an Italian to turn someone’s down time into an ‘up’ time.
Bravo e grazie, Dario! -BDC
Not sure where Eataly comes in, in this scenario, but a couple of days ago I visited the store in San Jose…..the place was jumping, three floors in a shopping mall. I never thought it would have caught on as it did since San Jose has quite a few Italian delis and markets, but it was packed, and the lines for the gelato were out the door…..they have made one stop shopping for Italian foods a reality….I even picked up some wines from Calabria…not easily found…..about 40 years ago I wrote my book Flavors From a Calabrese Kitchen to try to preserve that style of cooking since I thought it would have been lost in time….unless you grew your own herbs you could never get them fresh in the markets at that time. What a difference in culinary consciousness….Eataly took the ball and ran with it….and this from someone who usually won’t step into a Mall..
Eataly also does well in NY and Chicago. Too high-priced for me, but not as kitschy or awful as I was led to expect; still, I think I’ve been there only twice the past 5 years.
I stick to my neighborhood Italian delis and grocery shops. Much more authentic.
It has been my experience that Italian immigrants now coming are not part of the Italian American community. Most don’t join our organizations. Many other ethnic groups in our area have benefited from recent immigrants bringing new life into their community. Perhaps it has been different in your area and recent Italian immigrants have joined your Italian organizations. I had hoped that the new immigrants from Italy would keep our community vibrant.
I can’t speak for Italian immigrants.
My only conjectures: a) the “Italian American community” is no longer big in numbers so why bother? and b) new Italian immigrants are generally much more well-educated and share little in common with what passes for “Italian culture” in today’s America.
To some extent, many of our Italian American Organizations try to juggle nostalgia, with current heritage….and its a challenge, since the new Italian immigrants can’t really relate to about 140 years of history and roots in the USA….likewise who identify as Italian American gets more and more diluted as the generations assimilate. One truism is that many of the non-Italian spouses and partners of Italian Americans are our biggest group of volunteers, donors, and major supporters of the organizations…The downside is they tend to also incorporate the Hollywood storyline, but so do 3rd and 4th generation Italian Americans too….so its all part of the current Italian American life…… someone immigrating from Italy today would find this all very strange…and maybe interesting, but not interesting enough to join a local org…..