Every Tuesday night for the last four months I’ve attended my Triton Intermediate Italian class in the 4th floor Language Arts Room at Oak Park and River Forest High School with Prof. Maria Barbenente. Ironically, it’s the same classroom where one of my sons, Jordan, had a couple of his high school Italian classes with a colleague of Prof. Barbenente, who studied abroad with her a decade or so ago.

Though this is my fourth Triton Italian class, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time on grammar. Lately, though, my focus has been on conversation and culture. When Prof. Barbenente shared that her family owned Pescatore Palace in Franklin Park, a stunning, salmon and white banquet-facility restaurant, I shared that on my father’s side of the family was a Sicilian, Jewish great-grandmother, Guilia, who married my black great-grandfather, Jeremiah West, in Alabama. When local whites discovered she was not black, the integrated couple was given 24 hours to get out of town or be lynched. They left in 12, arriving in Chicago around lynching time which is how the West Homestead began, as I explained in both Italian and English to a spellbound class of mostly middle-aged Italian Americans. Prof. Barbenente said my pronunciation was superb and my story profound.

At our final class where we took a group picture, Prof. Barbenente discussed cultural events at her family’s restaurant. On Friday, Dec. 5, I decided to see for myself. Nearly 150 people showed up for a classical concert featuring a pianist and two opera singers at this huge, well-appointed banquet hall, 3400 River Road near Belmont. It’s 10 minutes from O’Hare and five minutes from the Kennedy, according to general manager Frank Pellegrino, whose family hails from Salerno. He sat me at the red and green poinsettia-covered Table #2, which featured chef/co-owner Vito Barbenente, the charming host who visited every table on this night to meet and greet his patrons. Also at the same table was his stoic brother, Octavio Barbenente, my professor’s dad, a co-owner. 

I explained that Jordan speaks Italian and Spanish just as his daughter does, and Octavio seemed delighted to hear that. We shared a bottle of Sicilian red wine, “Hero D’Avilia,” which went well with the scrumptious bruschetta, pasta, chicken, beef and fish dishes that followed. Chef Vito was especially proud of calamari and his fish and rice dishes since the restaurant’s name translated into “Fisherman’s Palace”— something that pays homage to their ancestral home in the Molo di Bari region of Puglia along the Adriatic Sea in southeastern Italy. 

“Today is a special night,” Chef Vito said. “It’s our 38th anniversary. To help us celebrate and to give a pre-Andrea Bocelli classical concert, we’ve invited two opera singers and a pianist to entertain our loyal patrons.” 

He was referring to tenors Paolo Clavelli and Marco Pena and pianist Jon Warfel who beautifully performed Italian opera, classical Spanish Zarzuela songs, and Neapolitan tunes. 

On Dec. 12, 13 and 14, they said, there would be a “Welcome Back Andrea Bocelli” event where the famous Italian singer, who is scheduled to perform at the nearby Rosemont Theatre, “is likely to show up as he’s done before,” Pellegrino said. 

Over dinner, wine and warm words about family, friends, culture, music, language and food, we discovered we all have more in common than in conflict. For that, especially in these trying times of “hands up/I can’t breathe,” it’s indeed a very important lesson to share. For that perhaps we all deserve a hearty “Bravo!”

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