Oscar nominated actor, writer, playwright, and director Chazz Palminteri is taking his artistic passion in another direction, to the table. Known for his A Bronx Tale one man show on Broadway, later adapted to the movies, Palminteri, a storyteller at heart, is now expressing his memories of Bronx with his restaurant, Chazz: A Bronx Original.
Opening a restaurant has been a dream of his for a great deal of time. The actor Robert DeNiro, a very successful restaurateur and friend to Chazz, advised him to look for trustworthy associates, people who are dedicated and a quality product. In the interview he quipped, “At times I would find two out of the three prerequisites that DeNiro suggested but never all three.”
When the actor was on tour with his one man show A Bronx Tale he enjoyed the perfect plate of linguini with marinara at Aldo’s Ristorante Italiano in Baltimore’s Little Italy. It was there with the Vitales, Sergio and Alessandro, he found the associates who met all three criteria to create his dream restaurant. Palminteri, “The restaurant is not a whim, it has my name on it and I’m committed to being involved, hands on and making sure great, quality meals are enjoyed.” It has taken three years to bring Chazz: A Bronx Original to fruition and if all goes as planned; it will be a template for more Chazz: A Bronx Originals in Atlantic City, Las Vegas and northern Virginia.
The décor is scene one, from the white and green tiled arched entrance reminiscent of a New York subway station, the ultra hot, fast baking, coal fired pizza oven to the impressionistic murals capturing the neighborhood of his youth, 187th and Belmont in Bronx. The restaurant is about the story of what food meant and means to Palminteri. The memorabilia from his days in front of and behind the screen tastefully adorn sections of the restaurant walls and a flat screen showing clips of A Bronx Tale add to the atmosphere. Chazz is committed to creating a feel, a taste one might say, of what life was like growing up in Bronx.(check out the slide show)
Food memories from Bronx – the 50’s & 60’s
Both sets of grandparents emigrated from Sicily to America setting the culinary tone. Adapting to living in America formed the childhood flavors for Palminteri. As Chazz recollected his first food memory, a smile brightened his face. He relayed, “It was the festival of San Gennaro and you could hear them hammering the booths out on the street. We didn’t have air conditioning so the windows were open and the aroma of sausage, onions and peppers cooking for the festival would waft into my room.”
Palminteri reminisces,
All the aunts, uncles, and kids gathered for the Sunday meal. After we had consumed all the food my grandfather would sit and play his mandolin. The men would end up playing cards and the women would clean up from the meal. Without fail, around 10 p.m., my grandfather would say ‘put on the water’ and we would enjoy spaghetti Aglio e Olio.
This Bronx native is considering a Sunday brunch at Chazz: A Bronx Original as a homage to his family’s Sunday supper.
Chazz talked about helping his grandmother with the ravioli.
The ravioli were on her bed sheet and it was my job to use the fork tines and press on outer edges to seal the ravioli. Every time my grandmother would serve the ravioli she would ask the same questions of the family, ‘how were the ravioli?’ All would respond, ‘great.’ My grandmother would say ’go to the store and see if you can get ravioli like this. You won’t get that in a store.’
Palminteri grinned as he recalled Sunday dinners, “About every three months they would do a baked ham, no pastas but it never lasted, someone would cry out ‘put on the water.’”
“We didn’t have much money but we ate well. It was pasta on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays were potluck. Nothing was ever wasted; peas leftover from one meal would end up in an omelet.”
Linguini Marinara
Linguini Marinara seems to be core to Chazz: A Bronx Original restaurant story. When I probed the actor if any of the menu items offered would be his family recipes he said, “The Vitale’s marinara was so similar to my family’s recipe, there was no need.” As for his last meal, Chazz said unequivocally, you guessed it, “linguini marinara.”
I asked do you cook at home? “I make the marinara. A good marinara is simple food; it is knowing the timing and when to add the ingredients to make it perfect. I enjoy getting everything ready (mise en place), the Zen of cooking,” replied Chazz.
The pizza, the mozzarella and the sauce – oh my!
The actor-artist reflected on the Halfmoon in Bronx where he would get his pizzas. With the coal oven at Chazz: A Bronx Original, pizzas will cook in 90 seconds. Crisp, thin crust, with fresh whole mozzarella, sliced – never grated, which goes on the pizza first before the sauce, then put the sauce around the mozzarella so the mozzarella won’t slide off and the final touch, fresh basil snipped from the basil plants.
Chazz: A Bronx Original restaurant in Baltimore is just one chapter in the artist Chazz Palminteri’s life. His current endeavor is his new play called Human. Palminteri said, “Somewhere along the way we forgot how to be human.” He wants to write more and wrapped up our interview by saying, “You leave two things behind, your children and your art.” And if all goes as planned, a memorable dining experience.
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