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Scott Eranio Victoria Kingsley English 101 20 November 2009 Scenes from an Italian Restaurant It’s a Saturday evening during the month of November in the little town of Easton, Massachusetts. Located on Washington Street on route 138 is a trattoria, a small Italian restaurant, called Mario’s. The sound of conversations, banging of ovens, disgruntled customers, phones ringing are just a few senses which can be noted while walking in the door. This small take out restaurant has been around Easton since the mid 1990s and is appreciated by much of the people of the town. It serves Italian cuisine for take out and dine-in, the menu includes pizza, pastas, salads, and more. Many of its customers use the restaurant for a variety of purposes. Many of them are frequent customers who belong to different age groups but all come for one common purpose, food and a place to meet with friends. The business started in Dorchester in the late 1980s. The three Sanfillipo brothers, Mario, Sal and Richie had a successful sub shop and were rich in Italian cooking because their family came from Italy after the Second World War. From there they moved to a more suburban community, Easton, where they have opened two restaurants. The reason for this move was a little bit experimental, to leave a successful location, but more their judgment of a growing community and great options. Easton was a growing suburban community and was home to many older people. In 2009, Easton was ranked 37 out of 100 on Money Magazine’s Top 100 Best Places to Live One of the restaurants is named Porticello’s which offers high-end Italian cuisine and authentic dining. The other restaurant is of course Mario’s which is a more affordable, smaller restaurant is. These two places exist at two opposite ends of town, on the same route. Mario’s has a tiny dine in place with about 6 tables that sits about 24 people. Various types of people come through the doors and most of the business is take out. The restaurant does serve alcohol ranging from beer to six different kinds of wines at reasonable prices. When you walk into the restaurant you go through two doors, the first brings you to a cold, dirty corridor with cobwebs in the corners (not so inviting) but shown on the windows are posters advertising or supporting local causes like a blood drive happening in Easton. As you walk through the second door your eyes draw you to the walls because they are a light green color. There is an island with menus to look over, tables to your left, and registers straight ahead and immediately to your right. There are pictures of Italian themed items on the wall. For example, one is a large picture of an Italian man with a very big fork and spaghetti rolled around it, underneath the fork is a meatball. Some of the pictures are of Rome and one is a metal carving of the words “Mario’s” with a table underneath. The seating area is carpeted while the take out part has black and white tiles. From anywhere you order you can see the kitchen and the employees making the food. You see a man tossing pizza dough in the air and cooks running around trying to get out all the orders. You place your order at the register, sit, and wait for an employee to bring you your food. As I waited I observed the people sitting at the tables and drew conclusions as to how this business runs, the people running it, and what kind of people support it and for what reasons. I was brought some good French bread with a side of butter or oil to enjoy while I waited. As I expected my food to becoming shortly, I drew inferences on the people that surrounded me. There were many older people that ate in. They came in couples, about two or three of them. The elder couples, who all seemed to perform in the same way, the women sat down as the man ordered their meal and came back with the drinks from the register, there is no bar at Mario’s it is just a simple walk-in and order process. Each couple had at least one glass of wine. They talked quietly and often made small talk with the employees who were very compromising. I also noticed a woman who had been there for the whole time, I was informed she had been there for over four hours; she had a glass of Merlot and was reading a book. She provided the example that Mario’s can be a third place for people, even if she just ordered a bowl of soup. Other people that were dining in were either families with their children or middle age couples who were going out on a date. Some are just friends; some are working on a relationship, either way there all bind by good food and good conversation. The people looked like average middle class Americans, all dressed in normal clothes and a jacket because it was a chilly night. Some wore suits as if they were just coming home from work and stopping in to get dinner for their family, at Mario’s that seems like an often occurring theme. As I sat there in my chair my food was brought to me. I ordered a bowl of minestrone, chicken marsala, and considered getting desert but wasn’t sure how filled I would be. The minestrone was served with crackers and was a little nontraditional because it no pasta, a variety of beans, and potatoes as well. Overall though it was very tasty even thought it was not your normal bow of minestrone, it had a bit of a spice in it as well. The marsala was about average, the chicken breast was small but there was a lot of pasta and ham to go with it. The sauce though was good; I asked about it and was told it’s the same marsala they use down the street at the higher-quality Porticello. The price for it was very reasonable, $12, considering when I order marsala at somewhere like Bertuccis' it is often $16 or more. I looked around to the other tables and everyone seemed to be enjoying there food. The pizzas looked delicious, there are a thin crust hand made pizza and the menu noted it was homemade dough. Overall the food was very good; the smell from the kitchen was inviting and was similar to any restaurant. The work area looks cleans as well as the bathroom which was spotless. I tried to focus on the work crew a little more a get a sense for what matters most to them and how they handle the balance of take-out and dine-in. The phone rings constantly and they have to serve all the customers. There seems to be a bit of chaos with everyone running around tending to customers and trying to answer the phone. The devotion seems to be to getting the orders correctly and then serving the food comes second. Also, having a good dialogue with the customer is important for at least one staff member is crucial for them. The back is full of sound, they have a radio playing, dishes slamming, ovens shutting, and talk about what has been completed and what is yet to be started, this is all seeable from the dining area. There is a little bit disorder in the kitchen but you can sense the devotion from the staff and the efforts they put forth to do their job. My experience at Mario’s Trattoria was one of a kind. It shows the localness of the store and its place in the community. It has a strong connection with its customers and gets a lot of support through regulars that come in and order take out food on their way home. The restaurant is rich in Italian history and good valued dishes the bring people together. It serves as a third place to be if they wish it to be because of its option for food and drinks, seating, and comforting atmosphere. The food was practical and tasty; it fills your stomach and provides its purpose. I would recommend this to other people especially if they just want to sit and read a book.