~ Malden Musings ~ Johnny Riccio’s Highland Café

By Peter Levine

Johnny Riccio, formerly of 24 Thatcher Street, generously reached back in time to remind future generations of Maldonians that these here streets have a long, rich history. Thank you so much, Johnny, for this contribution…

“My grandmother, Margaret Riccio, lived at 26 Thatcher Street and was the sister of a very dapper, well dressed, first generation Italian gentleman named Julius Miola (sometimes spelled Meola). Uncle Julius purchased the ‘Bucket of Blood,’ aka The Highland Café I estimate around 1940. Bank loans were not an option for risky business purchases by first generation Italians, so my grandfather, Vincent Riccio, bankrolled the purchase. Uncle Julie worked hard and quickly to establish the Highland Café as a family restaurant with a dining room, and a segregated men’s bar with a back entrance. My cousin Susie Blaise was the original chef, who gave the Highland Café its famous pizza recipe. Uncle Julie and his wife Mary lived behind the restaurant in a two-family house they owned adjacent to the back parking lot. This arrangement was for convenience and supervision of the business which eventually flourished. The Café was so successful that Uncle Julie was able to buy a house on the Cape and spent most of his time, at least seasonally, by the ocean. I remember, as a teenager, asking my calm, handsome, neatly dressed uncle, ‘Uncle Julie, while you’re away, how do you keep the bartenders from helping themselves at the cash register?’ He adjusted his Frank Sinatra fedora, looked me in the eye and answered ‘They gotta leave something for me or I’ll close up the place!’ My uncle was always philosophical, cool and calm.

“One true Highland Café story mixed with both tragedy and glory. It was the day before Thanksgiving in 1959. My 9-year-old older brother Vinny and I were crossing Highland Ave directly in front of the Café. We were on our way to visit our good friends Henry and Paul Gennetti. As Vinny led the way he was hit by a truck and thrown 18 feet in the air, landing face down under a parked car. All I could see were his Converse All Stars sticking out from behind the parked car, with the front door to the Highland as a backdrop. The scene, in my mind, is as indelible as if chiseled in granite. I ran home and told my mother. She buttressed our infant brother on the kitchen table with towels so he couldn’t roll off, and we ran out the door. Mom yelled out [for] my ‘Nonny’ (Italian American for grandmother) to look after the baby. When we got to the scene the police and ambulance were there, and Vinny was in the ambulance. Many questions about accident reconstruction needed to be answered. My father was on his way home from Boston but had not yet arrived. Mom and I were escorted into a high back red upholstered booth in the Highland Café and comforted by the staff, who were our friends and relatives. Other neighbors and relatives began to fill the Café along with my father. Vinny, against the odds, and by God’s grace miraculously survived. He went on to graduate college and got married. Of course I can never forget the Highland Café, our home away from home on that bittersweet day.

“Peter, thanks for your articles and memories of Edgeworth. My greetings to your brother Joe (a great guy) and Bobby Covelle (a great ball player and my accountant), Henry Gennetti (who I am sure remembers this event) and all the other bocce players at the IACC. I couldn’t have been born into a better neighborhood in 1950s/60s America than Edgeworth. God Bless America.”

It is said in “Malden Musings”…

• News Flash! Malden Man Discovers Fountain of Youth! Move over, Ponce de León – Malden’s own Richie “Ace” Howard has cracked the code to eternal youth, and he didn’t even have to leave M-Town to do it! The former mayor strolled into the Parking Department on a blustery Monday, looking like he had just stepped out of a time machine set to 1970. With the energy of a young ace taking the mound for Bob Rosano’s Stars in the Babe Ruth League, Richie looked ready to throw heat – and maybe even take on “Broadway” Phil, Mario Pallotta, Brendan Duffy and Joe Levine on the old Y’s handball court. Dressed to impress in a classic trench coat and a stylish scarf, Richie rocked his trademark easy smile, proving that time had nothing on him. A true Malden legend, still in his prime! Great seeing you, big guy – stay forever young, Richie!
• Great to see Maldonia MVP Johnny Furlong on the mend and looking fit as a fiddle! Caught up with Johnny at the final session of the Rec Dept’s youth basketball program at Salemwood last Saturday. We talked of time fleeting, NY Knicks (and teammate of John’s at Salem State) Coach Tom Thibodeau, the state of Maldonia, and of better days ahead. Stay well, Furgie.
• Bobby McVicar doesn’t want the acclaim, he ain’t one of those “look at me” type guys, but here it is anyhow. Bobby, step right up… Bob McVicar has been quietly supplying the Malden Warming Center with quality (and quantity) foods all season long. Before the holiday season, he made sure there were Thanksgiving turkeys and Christmas hams for 20-plus families in the area. According to reliable sources (thank you, Dana Brown) this was Thursday’s delivery: lasagna, mac & cheese, chicken tenders, turkey breasts, hams, meatballs, cheese, butter, soup, four 12-15-pound pieces of beef, shaved steak and hot chocolate! For 25 guests no less! Fuhgeddaboudit! Enough for a month or more!! Shout out to Costa Foods for their support also! Bobby, thanks for always (quietly) stepping up, bigly!
• He’s Butch Russell, and we are not. He’s a Meffa guy (please don’t hold that against him), but he’s spent so much time “socializing” in Malden over the last 50 years he’s morphed into a Maldonia Townie in very good standing (actually, Butchie lives in M-Town these days so he is one of us – gabba, gabba hey!). From learning the law of the land as barkeep at the old Stadium Café/Bambino’s to having his own barstool named after him at the Italian American Citizen’s Club, Butch has endeared himself to both highbrow Maldonians and many of the more lowbrow class that call Maldonia home sweet home (insert smiley face). Next time you see Butch, thank him for his time in the service (actually, our country could really never fully repay or thank him enough for his time spent in service to his country). Thanking Butch is the least we can do for him (or buy him a beer, which might be an even better idea). Love ya, dude.
• Kasa at 637 Broadway… What the heck is that place and will it ever open?
• In case you ever forget, Superior Gas at 60 Lebanon St. in the heart of beautiful downtown Maplewood Square is, no doubt, one of the very best auto repair shops in this glorious city of ours. My main man Mohammed (Saab) and his brothers are hardworking, engaging and most of all, honest businessmen that – since goodness knows when – I am proud to call acquaintances (and just for the record, Mo is like wicked smaht!). Many was the time I entrusted my vehicles to these hardworking gentlemen and came away smiling; secure in the knowledge that once again they hooked me up, bigly. Thank you, my friends.
• Former Malden Cemetery Director, 25 ppg scorer in the old Malden Men’s Rec League, and doting husband to the Fabulous Judy, Jimmy Cahill, how can we miss you if you will not go away. I kid, of course. Stinger, your visits, although short and sporadic, are held near and dear to each and every one of us, and I always look forward to that big hug but not so much when you kiss my head. Stay well, my friend.
• Please welcome to Team Malden Grace Tumavicus, our new Outreach Specialist in OSPCD! Fun fact: Two summers ago Grace rode her bike across the country from Oregon to Maine. Hello and way to go, Grace!!

As Peter Falk’s iconic TV character Columbo would say, “Just one more thing, sir” – speaking of Jimmy Cahill and the picture that accompanies this article… Alright, let’s set the scene properly…

The Atlantic breeze rolls over the fairways of Cape Arundel Golf Club in Kennebunkport, Maine. The smell of salt lingers in the air, mixed with freshly cut grass and the distant sound of waves slapping against the rocky shore. It’s the kind of crisp morning that makes a body feel lucky to be alive.

And then, like something out of a dream, there they stand. Jimmy “Stinger” Cahill, with his easy swagger and a heart too big for his chest. Paul DiPietro, who now calls FLA home, but rest assured, Maldonia flows in his veins. Tommy “Fudd” Proctor, a man who’s seen and done enough to fill three lifetimes but still takes his drives with a twinkle in his eye (I think that’s a twinkle!). Then, the legend himself – Sandy Koufax – a name spoken in baseball circles with the kind of reverence reserved for gods and ghosts (ever see Joe Levine’s classic Sandy Koufax baseball jersey? Wicked cool!). And rounding out this unlikely fivesome? Former President George W. Bush, a man who’s sat in the most powerful seat in the world, but on this day, is just another guy gripping a club, chasing that perfect shot.

They shake hands. They share a laugh. Maybe there’s a story about a game long ago, maybe someone brings up that time Stinger nearly missed an entire round because he got caught up in a conversation with the starter. And for a moment – just a flicker in time – these five men, from different worlds but somehow cut from the same cloth, connect. Not in the way some dusty, old history books document, but in the way that really matters.

No bar stools, no press, no ceremony. Just a quiet golf course, the rhythm of the game and five souls crossing paths under the Maine sky.

—Peter is a longtime Malden resident and a regular contributor to The Malden Advocate. He can be reached at Pe*****@*ol.com for comments, compliments or criticisms.