Tiki Central / California Events / sf dinner at original joe's tuesday 12-27-2005 !
Post #204736 by martiki on Wed, Dec 28, 2005 9:31 AM
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Wed, Dec 28, 2005 9:31 AM
SAN FRANCISCO
A San Francisco institution is leaving a San Francisco institution at the turn of the year. The first institution is Angelo Viducic, a waiter at Original Joe's restaurant, which is in itself a San Francisco original. Viducic is retiring from Original Joe's, where he worked five days a week for 45 years. There are older old-timers at Original Joe's, but they work only part time. Viducic -- everyone calls him simply Angelo -- is the king of waiters of old school San Francisco restaurants. "He's the mainstay of the place," said Marie Duggan, who runs the restaurant. "He's the best," said Charo Tupac, the night cashier. Original Joe's is a survivor -- it has survived tastes that veered away from hearty food toward trendy California cuisine, and it has survived the decline of its home base in the Tenderloin. The location, on Taylor Street near Market Street, is famed for its drugs, petty crime and lowlife. But inside, it's different. Original Joe's and the Golden Gate Bridge both opened in 1937. The restaurant is a timeless place where neither the menu nor the customers seem to change. It's a meat-and-pasta kind of place, fish grilled over charcoal, thick soup, steaks, spaghetti, broiled chicken. The signature dish is Joe's Special, ground chuck, chopped spinach, three eggs, cheese, spices, cooked in olive oil in a skillet with the heat turned high. A robust All-American Italian dish, 545 calories and 336 milligrams of cholesterol. Joe's Special, copied at many places, was invented at Original Joe's. Original Joe's is a place where the waiters dress better than the customers, in tuxedos with black tie. They serve the food with a flourish, and know hundreds of customers by name. Angelo himself is the signature waiter, a handsome man of 65, with gray hair and the looks and European accent of one of those chocolate-voiced old-time movie stars who might have melted your grandmother's heart. Charles Boyer, say. Paul Henreid. Angelo, in fact, does have a part in a new movie about the Zodiac killer, filmed in San Francisco this fall. He plays a maitre d', but Angelo is the quintessential waiter. "Always pleasant, very upbeat always, a lovely human being," said Neil Chaitin, a San Francisco businessman who has been going to Original Joe's for 50 years. Regulars, like Mohammed Moharan, and Dorice Murphy, look for Angelo when they come in. Moharan, who came to San Francisco from Yemen, has been a regular for 40 years. Murphy, who brought her son, her son's lady friend and her grandson the other night, has been coming in for 53 years. When Murphy and her late husband first came to San Francisco from Rhode Island, he asked locals for a good restaurant. "You like Italian?" they asked him. "Sure," he said. They sent him to Original Joe's. He tried it for lunch and called his wife. "Honey, I found a restaurant," he said. Her grandson, Spencer, is one of the newer regulars. He's been coming for 12 years, all his life. Chaitin swears by the minestrone and takes some home to keep in the freezer for emergencies. Dorice Murphy claims the minestrone and garlic bread is a miracle cure for disease. "All your pains go away," she said. "The garlic and minestrone kills the bugs." The food is one thing, but the feel of a restaurant is more than just food. It has to have something else, and the staff is key. Angelo says the trick of being a waiter is simple: You must greet the customer when he or she comes in, you must have patience with all kinds of customers -- "patience is the trick," he says -- and the presentation must be good. Food served with a flourish. "The service has to be good, so you develop relationships with the customers so they come back," Angelo said. "I always say, 'Thank you very much and don't forget to come back.' I have hundreds, maybe thousands of regulars. "Some of them say, 'I remember you, my father came here, my grandfather came here.' " In a city that is often described as rootless, the staff of Original Joe's is deeply rooted in San Francisco. Windsor "Windy" Eli, who is 82, has been a waiter there for 57 years. Dawson "Dave" Davis has been there 51 years. Both work part time. Even the busboys are seasoned: Nick Nerdita and Manuel Loiasa have been at Original Joe's for 32 years. Duggan, who runs the place, is the daughter of Ante "Tony" Rodin, the original owner of Original Joe's. Rodin, who is 92 now, came to work seven days a week until three years ago. But it is Angelo who is taking his final bow. "He's the main star," Duggan said. His last formal shift is on New Year's Eve. He works dinners, 5 p.m. to closing. He will be back for two weeks in January, off and on, a bit like an encore performance by a musician playing one last tune. "To say goodbye to old friends" he says. Angelo was a young man when he came to San Francisco from Croatia, then part of Yugoslavia. He knew no English. His older brother gave him good advice: "Go in the restaurant business and you'll be fine," he said. Other San Francisco restaurants were run by Croatians, including the Tadich Grill, which is older than the state of California, the old mainstay Sam's, Maye's Oyster House, and others. He felt comfortable in the city. He started as a busboy, moved up to waiter, and the years flew by. "When I come in the door to work," he said, "it is like coming into my own home." Sometimes, Angelo worked three jobs at the same time -- lunch at one place, dinner at another, a shift in a third place on his day off. "You go full speed ahead," he said. He prospered in his new country. He put four children through college. He has five grandchildren. Of his family he says simply: "It cannot get any better. I tell you this from my heart." It is an immigrant's story, said Duggan, whose father also came from Croatia. "It shows that small business provides the opportunity," she said. Angelo says he plans to keep busy. He likes sports, he says. His health is good. Perhaps a little fishing. "It is like working, but in a different way," he said. "Come by when I am done working. I will buy you a drink." E-mail Carl Nolte at [email protected]. Page B - 1 ©2005 San Francisco Chronicle |