Chapter 4     Thanksgiving Dinner

Towards the end of 2011, most of the renovations were done and things at Joanne were finally falling into place. For Thanksgiving we decided to have a small dinner at the restaurant for the family and a few close friends who were in town. We weren’t even open yet, but we bought linens and set up tables in the back. The girls and I decorated for the holiday. We had the fireplace going. It was really lovely.

In the end, our small dinner swelled to over thirty guests: Chef Art Smith and his husband, artist Jesus Salgueiro; our daughters and their boyfriends; some people from Stefani’s tour who were in the city for the holiday; and a number of close friends and family members. Before sitting down to dinner that night, we all gathered for a drink at the bar. As we finished our cocktails and moved to the back of the restaurant to sit down to dinner, Natali remarked that it’s a good luck tradition to break a plate. I looked over at Stefani, who was standing in the threshold of the dining area. She had picked up a plate and had it raised hands-over-head. I gasped as she slammed the plate down. It shattered and chipped one of our brand new floor tiles. Joe was not happy about that, but it became an unforgettable moment from a very special night that our family will always cherish. We were together with our daughters and loved ones and Joanne was our new home.

Unbeknownst to us, Jesus gathered up the pieces of the plate, which—as fate would have it—had broken in the shape of a heart. He crafted them into a beautiful piece of artwork and presented it to us some weeks later. Hearts are very meaningful symbols in Jesus’s work, so it all “fell” together, so to speak.

~Cynthia Germanotta