Basic HTML Version
The Italian Job
ACTOR CHAZZ PALMINTERI BRINGS A
TASTE OF THE BRONX TO CHARM CITY
BALTIMORE
A one-time nightclub doorman turnedHolly-
wood tough guy, Chazz Palminteri strides into
his restaurant in Baltimore’s Harbor East
neighborhood. He passes beneath a subway
sign (“Uptown&The Bronx, 4, 5, 6”) and climbs
the stairs to the main dining room, where
he stops to examine the pasta bar. Opened
earlier this year, Chazz: A Bronx Original is
intended to evoke his home borough’s culi-
nary center, Arthur Avenue, and it does a good
job of it. But as any restaurateur will tell you,
launching such a venture is no stroll down
the red carpet.
“I can’t believe how much work this is,”
Palminteri says. “On a movie set it’s crazy, it’s
stressful, but it’s three months and then it’s
over. Here, it’s nonstop.”
Palminteri first visited Baltimore a few
years ago during a revival of his one-man
show,
A Bronx Tale
(which was turned into
a film by first-time director Robert De Niro),
at the Hippodrome. “Everyone told me I had
to try Aldo’s,” he says, referring to a popular
fine-dining spot in Li le Italy. “So I did, fell
in love and went back every night.”
He also met chef and future restaurant
partner Sergio Vitale there. After endless
months of planning and with the help of a
third partner, Alessandro Vitale, Chazz: A
Bronx Original debuted, serving “Bronx-style
pizza” and homemade Italian specialties like
Calabrese-stylebible tripe andveal
spezzatino
.
Palminteri , who lives in Westchester
County, N.Y., is becoming a big fan of Balti-
more, attending Ravens games and even
throwing out the first pitch at Camden Yards.
“This place is about family,” he says. “When I’m
here, my kids come here. This is a great place
to take a weekend trip, to see the incredible
harbor. This city is the best-kept secret.”
Still, he’s proudest of his own contribution.
“If you’re in Baltimore, go to the restaurant,”
he recommends. “I even say this to some hard-
core Sicilians, who normally can’t
wait
to tell
you something bad.”
—LAURA DATTARO
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
•
JANUARY 2012
p019-023_HEM0112_Dispatches.indd 23
05/1