QUEENS, NEW YORK, 1976 UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
PEOPLE PRESENT:
Joe Dogs Thomas DiBella (Boss, Colombo family) Allie LaMonte (Colombo capo) Dominick “Little Dom” Cataldo assorted Colombo capos, soldiers, and associates
Talk about a dangerous meal. Cooking for capos had always been nerve-racking enough. But Thomas DiBella had just been named acting head of the Colombo crime family while Carmine “Snake” Persico did a stretch in the federal pen. The Colombo famiglia were fêting the new boss with a round of dinners. When Little Dominick Cataldo’s turn rolled around, he flew me up from Florida to put on the dog. (Ooh, I love a bad joke.) Little Dom owned a club in Queens—and he gave me free run of the kitchen.
Little Dom was nervous. He wanted everything to be just right. There were more than a dozen Colombo crew members present, each of them a heavyweight. “Please make everything perfect for the new Scoutmaster,” Dom begged me. “And, Joey, please watch your mouth tonight. I know how you’re always calling us wops, and I understand it’s a joke. But please don’t let none of those old zips hear you talkin’ like that.”
I promised to behave myself, and got to work on the pork.
