Today’s the feast day of Saint Joseph! While this is an important day for a lot of people, it’s especially meaningful for us at Patsy’s – Saint Joseph is my Uncle Joe’s namesake!
For those that don’t know, a Saint Day is a big occasion in Italy. In fact, it’s actually celebrated in the same way that we celebrate birthdays over here. While this tradition has lessened (since just about every culture acknowledges the celebration of a birthday), we still like to acknowledge it in the case of Uncle Joe.
I guess I should explain, since some people might be confused who I mean when I say “Uncle Joe” – I’m talking about Joe Scognamillo. Those who know him probably affectionately know him as ‘Joey’, and if you aren’t sure who I mean, but you’ve been in the restaurant, then surely you recognize this man?
Uncle Joe’s a great guy. He’s been working since he was six years old (he started in a pastry shop in Little Italy), and he’s never retired! When he was nine, he started working for his father – although this wasn’t at Patsy’s, because Patsy hadn’t opened it yet. Instead, Patsy was involved in the joint ownership of a restaurant called the Sorrento.
Back when the restaurant was created, money was incredibly tight and any way that family members could help out was huge. For this reason, a young joey helped out however he could. He started by filling the salt and pepper shakers, a job which earned him a stick of gum every night. As he got older, he was entrusted with tougher things; he started peeling potatoes and cleaning shrimp, then straining tomatoes and chopping garlic.
At this time, the Sorrento was booming. Because of this, Patsy and his partner were having disagreements about which direction to take the restaurant. This ended up actually being one of the best things to happen to our family, though, because it motivated Patsy to open up his own restaurant (which, of course, was Patsy’s!)
The timing for Uncle Joe was great, too. He was seventeen when Patsy’s opened, and had learned a tremendous amount from his time working in the Sorrento. He became a full-time chef when Patsy’s opened, and soon became the head chef in the kitchen. This began the tradition of Patsy's sons being the head chefs (which, of course, has continued with Sal!)
Uncle Joe worked in the kitchen for many years, and still loves cooking. These days, though, he puts in his time at the front desk - greeting people, managing reservations, etc. Patsy’s really does mean a lot to him, and at this point he’s the only family member that was alive when the restaurant was founded. I think it's because of this that he continues to work at Patsy's... it's not because he feels an obligation to do so, but because it's such an important part of his life, and reminds him of family members that have passed on.
As I've said in other posts, it's become something of a tradition that the kids in our family all work at Patsy's, at some point or another. In this sense, Uncle Joe has really served as a mentor for us all. It's nice, because while I always saw Uncle Joe on family get-togethers and holidays and did love him, I'd never really spent time getting to know him. When I started working at Patsy's, though, he became more than just my uncle - he became my friend. There's a good amount of down-time in any restaurant, so we'd just sit around talking. Uncle Joe's also hilarious, and I swear he's got a quip for every situation and a new joke every day.
In honor of Saint Joseph's Day and Uncle Joe, we're having a special dessert - Zeppole! We don't usually make these because they're pretty time-consuming, but we'll have them going all week (in limited quantities), so if you stop by the restaurant, be sure to ask!
For the full scoop on Zeppole, check out this recipe page, and this article. To hear more about how Patsy's celebrated Saint Joseph's Day, check out this conclusive summary from Jill Colvin.
Happy Saint Joseph's Day!
~ Paul
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