797: Rita Gigante Grew Up the Godfather’s Daughter. Now She’s Sharing Classic Italian American Spots on Instagram.

21:48My dad was very infamous. He was the head of the Genovese crime family. And my mom was the best thing since life's bread. She was just a beautiful soul and a doting wife and a fantastic mother. And food was everything in our house. So if you were sad, they gave you food. If you were happy, they gave you food. If we were celebrating a wedding, if we were celebrating someone passed away. Like it didn't matter. Food was a part of everything. I think the earliest memory I have, I was five years old and I remember New Year's Eve. My grandmother would make a turkey, a roast beef and a ham. And then she would make all these sides, some Italian, some American.

22:39But I just remember the amount of food on one table for us to be able to, you know, to eat in a four-room apartment with probably about 50 people in that apartment. So that and Christmas would be my earliest memories. Of course, there was lasagna. There's always a pasta dish. And then there was meat, whatever, you know. Christmas Eve, there was all fish. We did the seven fishes. And it was fantastic.

23:10Matt Rodbard:I feel like there are so many evocative food memories there. Do you think eating at home was where most of the food was happening or would you go out to restaurants also? Oh no, home. Home was it. Sunday dinner, nobody missed. Holidays, nobody missed. But even like when I lived with my mom in New Jersey, I would come home for lunch. I wasn't one of those kids that took like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. No brown bag. You know what I mean? It was like I came home, there was a pork chop, there was like vegetables, maybe there was some rice or potatoes or whatever it is that she felt like making me that day but it was a meal this was not like a sandwich um and so that's not something you could take to school yeah i feel like if i could come home and have that whole thing for lunch why would i ever bring a pbj to school right not till high school not till i hit high school i was like ma you know i'm gonna either eat lunch in school like buy something in school or i'm gonna take something but it would usually something left over from like the night before, like whatever dinner there was.

24:09Matt Rodbard:Do you have any food memories involving your father? Oh, yeah, because dad was very particular in what he ate, at least from my experience. And don't forget, my brothers and sisters are so much older than me, right? So growing up with dad, he was really trying to be healthy because he had a heart condition. and so and he was very OCD with his food so he would eat things like you know yogurt with berries and shredded wheat for breakfast health food coffee yeah and then for lunch it was like salad with some salmon you know just olive oil maybe some lemon so things like that so he would never eat my grandmother's food at least not when I got to that point where I realized oh he eats differently than the rest of us.

25:01Either the food was brought into him, or my mother made the food, or one of his guys made his food, you know. And some of the stuff was really good, but we ate our grandmother's food, and he would eat whatever he wanted at that point. Yeah.

25:17Matt Rodbard:And you're talking about realizing that your dad would eat differently, but there was obviously a much bigger realization to happen in your life there, which was - Oh my God, yes. Who he was, what he did. Coming to know who he was at 16 was a game changer for me because, I mean, you know what the greatest part of that is? I understood at that moment why everything was the way it was. You know, all the secrets, all the telephone off the hook and the TV on in the background and the radio on in the background and the guy sitting at the table passing notes back and forth and always thinking, what is it?

25:54Like, I know he's important, but what is it that he does, you know? And he knew how to command a room. And I knew that. But, you know, when you grow up knowing not to ask, you don't ask, right? So when I finally found out, it was like pieces of the puzzle just, boom, snapped into place. And then I began to understand the kind of power he had, why people would bring him food all the time if they made it or if they brought it from a specific restaurant. and then certain meats got bought from a certain place that he wanted because he ate a lot of buffalo and chicken and all kinds of stuff that they told him was good for his heart you know it was interesting to watch and it was also interesting to realize how even I changed as I grew older from eating my grandmother's everything my grandmother made now to then And all right, maybe whole wheat bread isn't good.

26:50Maybe certain things aren't good for you that you ate as a kid because it was processed too much or there was too much gluten in it or whatever. So then even my habits started to change as I grew up.

27:04Matt Rodbard:Yeah, we were just speaking off mic about how you're gluten-free and what that means to be eating a lot of Italian food, trying to avoid gluten. Do you feel like that's become easier to do? Absolutely. At the beginning, I was like, oh, dear God, what am I eating? Like, I don't, you know, what kind of pasta? And then I realized there's so much more out there than, you know, once I started researching. You know what happens when you research online. Shit just comes up. It's endless. Yeah. So then I started, like, doing, like, some brown rice. I started doing quinoa. I started doing all different types of pastas, maybe lentil pasta, maybe, you know, mung bean pasta.

27:42There was so many different ones I tried. And I kind of always come back to either the brown rice or because it's the most like tasty as far as the Italian pasta, right? Right. But if I can get something that's really like made from Italy, like I can bring it in and it's made from Italy, as long as I don't eat a ton of it, my body can handle it.

28:06Matt Rodbard:The European gluten is easier to digest for us. Oh, so much. I went to Italy and I was I could not believe I ate gluten the whole time I was there. The pizza, the pasta, all of it. I had no issues. Growing up eating Italian-American food here, when you went back to Italy, was it familiar to you? Did it feel different? It felt very familiar. The difference was I could just eat whatever I wanted and not have to worry about it. The gelato, the pizza. Although even some pizza here I have found to be amazing. Just as good as it is in Italy. The ingredients, and they're probably using stuff that they imported in from Italy, and that's why it's just as good.

28:49But things like lasagna, oh, my God, I had the best lasagna of my life in Italy, in Tuscany.

28:56Matt Rodbard:Did you go all over Italy? Yeah, so I've been southern and northern, and northern is very different. They cook very differently. The one thing I realized, though, is that they do a lot of potatoes, which I didn't realize. I couldn't go anywhere without potatoes being in a dish. I was like, what is happening here? I just want a little broccoli and a piece of grilled chicken. Like, you know, after eating so much of the other stuff. Right. It was hard to find chicken. What else is big? Eggplant's big over there. Yeah, so, but veal, everything that they had was just amazing and fresh. There was nothing like that you knew it didn't come from a supermarket.

29:38You knew it came from like somebody's land.

29:41Matt Rodbard:Right. had just been picked or just been slaughtered or whatever. Exactly. Well, we'll get into your restaurant recommendations here in New York and elsewhere, because obviously I'm curious to know where you think the pizza is just as good as in Italy. But I think while we're talking about food, I'm interested if you have a moment when you realize that you wanted to be kind of sharing your love of food and making these sorts of videos highlighting these, especially like old school, Italian American businesses. Yeah. So I wanted to, I was explaining like to Anthony, I said, I want to bring people together.

30:15We're in such need of that cohesiveness right now, you know, just on the earth plane. And I said, the only way I know growing up as a kid was food, right? So I said, let's just start in the neighborhood. I'll just, you know, there's still some places left, old school places that we can go and visit and they would love it I'm sure and so that's what we did that's how it started and then it just like it was like light in the match and the whole thing just went right and then people started reaching out to us come to our space right come to our space so we started out with uh pinos and uh raffettos and um lilac chocolates and all places that I grew up and had you know had the food from there so So it was just one thing after another.

31:07It felt like it just came so natural and easy. And people were just like, oh, my God, it brought back so many memories for me. And it connected them to their family. And I'm like, this is what I'm talking about. I feel like this is what we're missing.

31:20Matt Rodbard:Right. Were you surprised by that kind of immediate interest and reaction? So surprised. So surprised because I had no idea how it was going to go over. Right. And this was all very new to me. And Anthony coming into my life and doing the social media with me was very new. I didn't understand the whole world of it, you know, because I am of the generation of this is how we should talk in person. So I just said, all right, I'm just going to be myself and, you know, put it out there and see what happens. And the overwhelming response and love that came from people, I can't even tell you how grateful I am for that.

31:59Matt Rodbard:I think it's about kind of that authenticity that you're talking about, the way that you are just speaking as if whoever is watching is coming along with you to this place or going to try these foods. Right. And that's how I wanted it to be. That's exactly how I wanted it to be, which really, you know, talking about these restaurants, right, Bermonti's and, you know, having a meet and greet at these places, it all came from that because people were saying, how can we have dinner with you? How can we sit and just have a meal and talk? And I'm like, oh, my God, this is fantastic. Let's try it, you know.

32:33And again, an overwhelming response from people that want to just sit and break bread and have a great time and share stories of their own past. People want to be heard. It's so important, and I love it.

32:48Matt Rodbard:What you say about wanting to hear people reminds me of maybe one of the other big pieces of who you are that we haven't talked about yet, which is your work as, would you call yourself a psychic or a spiritual medium? So I am a psychic medium, healer, and a spiritual mentor. I work in all those spaces pretty much simultaneously when I do a reading or when I do groups. And yeah, I've been able to take my own experience in my life, the trauma that I've experienced, that I've come through, and I've been able to rise above that, heal it to the best ability that I can. Because we're all still healing, right?

33:28It never ends. And now I help people do the same thing. So going back to that piece of being the psychic medium, I knew I was something. I just didn't know what to call it because in my family, nobody talked about this kind of stuff. So as a child growing up, I was an empath. I could feel everything. I could feel everyone. I knew things, but I didn't know how I knew them. Like, how did I understand these things? And nobody else, you know, did. And then I finally, in my 20s, started to understand the psychic piece. Spirit put others in my life that could teach me, right? And then it just went on and on from there.

34:13I really didn't know I was a medium until my dad passed and he came to me. That's when I knew I was a medium. But the psychic piece, probably in my mid-20s, it began. Yeah.

34:24Matt Rodbard:What's the difference between a psychic and a medium? So the psychic can actually talk to you about your life, things that might be coming up in your life, and give you certain paths that you can take, right? We can't say do this or do that because we can't break that free will. But spirit will bring to us certain aspects of the life. Oh, you know, you can go this direction, this direction, this could happen, that could happen. Now, after the reading, you can change it because you have free will, right? So you can go out into the world and you could say the hell with what she said and I'll just do what I want.

35:03So I'm giving you probabilities and possibilities in that moment, right? A medium can talk to the other side. So I can talk to angels, the masters, the teachers, all your loved ones, your animals, anybody that wants to come through. I can't make them come through. they have to come through because you know they want to and because they're ready and the other

35:26Matt Rodbard:person is ready how do you kind of go through life with all of these i don't know if their voices in your head or things that are coming to you it seems like a very kind of high intensity high stimulation way to live it was until i realized spirit taught me how to turn it off when i wasn't working and then turn it back on when i was working um and that just comes with practice in time, you know. So I teach people how to do that now because I feel for them because it's not easy, especially if you're opened up very quickly. You could feel extremely overwhelming. And so teaching people now is what I love to do because I want them to be able to get their own messages.

36:09I'm not trying to put myself out of business. I'm just saying that we all have the gift, you know? So if I teach them, then their life can be even, you know, more extraordinary because they can get their own information, trust themselves, you know?

36:23Matt Rodbard:Yeah. I understand that maybe you're turning it off so it's not kind of coming in for you, but I can't help but wonder if maybe when you're, you know, going to a restaurant even to do a video or just meeting people and talking to them, if you feel any sort of kind of impression of people or like extra insight that So, yes. Could I get that insight? Yes. Sometimes it may overwhelm me if I didn't protect myself enough. But then I will probably go into the bathroom, breathe, ground myself, and then come back out and start again. if I need to get a message from somebody it it only happened really once to me where somebody was in CVS and Spirit said you have to give her the message and I'm like no I'm not doing it they were like yes you are um but it's not it's that doesn't happen usually and unless they say to me can you can you help me with something and if it's appropriate I will but if it's I'm in a restaurant eating with my family I don't really want to have to you know be on no you want to eat your pasta.

37:24Matt Rodbard:I want to eat my pasta. Okay. So I'm safe right now. You're safe. Yes. I feel safe. I feel like you have a very open presence and way of being. I don't know if it comes from that or just from who you are as a person. Yeah. Probably a combination. I think growing up, you know, I always wanted to be seen and heard, which in my family, that wasn't possible because you were a woman or a girl or a woman and you were, you know, women in the family were kind of, you know, expected to just get married, have kids and not talk. Right. Pretty much. But I always wanted to make people feel comfortable because there were so many situations where I wasn't comfortable growing up in my life.

38:08And so that became part of my empathy, you know, draw people in, make them feel safe, comfortable.

38:16Matt Rodbard:Yeah, I think that makes a lot of sense considering that circumstance. And I'm thinking about just kind of having this family history with the mob in New York. Like I think so many people, you know, you see the movies, you read the history, like you think about that version of New York in some kind of way. Do you feel like that kind of informs how you view the city or the kind of like memories even that you have? Not for me because I know what it was growing up in that life. Right. It's, you know, know it's very glamorized in in the movie industry and um you know the sopranos and all that for me you know we were a family this if that that was first and foremost we were very much kept you know back from that life right it wasn't put in our faces we were protected that way um and so for me it wasn't those movies just don't i don't really resonate with them I've seen them I've watched them but it it's it's not really my thing I want to say yeah I can imagine seeing the kind of the side that no one else gets to see and seeing how it impacted you as a family that watching the Sopranos probably doesn't hit in the same way exactly exactly but you know I've done many many interviews what they've asked about so what is it really like And when I tell them what it's really like, they're like, wow, we didn't, you know, again, they think it's glamorous.

39:48They think it's this. And I can understand why it would seem like that to people. But unless you lived it, you know, you just wouldn't know.

39:59Matt Rodbard:When you're making your videos and choosing what businesses to spotlight, if a place has that kind of mob history, does that make you more or less interested in wanting to include it? it doesn't make me more or less it makes me you know the restaurants there 100 years doesn't matter if it was mob related or not I want to be in it it's it's lasted that long I want to know why I want to taste the food I want to so um it's it's interesting because Bomonti's was the first place and and dad did frequent that place not with us but with whoever and um so that was interesting. But to go there and to actually sit, you know, like be set back in like the 1960s, 70s era, I was like, this is amazing.

40:44Yeah. Just that piece. Not so much. It was mob connected or anything, you know, there's a phone booth in there, a cigarette machine like this is this is great stuff.

40:54Matt Rodbard:Yeah. And you can only call them to make a reservation. They're not on any fancy website, anything like that. Right. But Montez is one of my favorite restaurants in New New York. I've had my birthday there a couple of times. I think it's the perfect kind of only in New York sort of place. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So I loved it. And it's first time I was able to actually be in a place like that and not even feel that energy of my dad or that life. Like I didn't, even in my, where he used to work now is a, actually it's called Sullivan Tea and Spice Shop. Oh. Right on Sullivan Street. Yeah. And they turned that, that was my dad's place they turned that into um a tea and spice shop organic and i walked in there and i'm like oh my god this is fucking amazing because it had no remnants of that life at all um no darkness no like you know heaviness none of that it and and to be able to do it's like it's like i knew it came full circle for me right not to have to walk in there and feel that yeah um so when i went to Bermontes, it was the same thing.

42:02It wasn't that that I was feeling. It was this nostalgic energy that, you know, they brought from the 70s to here.

42:08Matt Rodbard:Right. What did you order at Bermontes? Oh my God. I had escarole and beans because it's my favorite. And I had lamb. We had, the pasta they had was gluten-free. So they made the sauce, which was called a filetta di pomaro. So it's a very Italian light sauce and with plum tomatoes. And it was incredible. It was amazing. They had a pork chop parmesan. Like a chicken parm? Yeah. My friend had that. Unbelievable. I like their chicken parm a lot there, but obviously it's like a giant chicken parm. So you've got to go in with some other people. Yeah, it's like ginormous. That's how it should be though, right?

42:56Matt Rodbard:100%. What other restaurants or businesses have you gone to that you think like really kind of embody the point of view that you want to be bringing or the places you want to be sharing? Yeah. So we've been to Naked Dog, which was – they're more northern. But the lighting and it's a small place, but the lighting and the pictures and everything, it was so inviting and comfortable. That's what I want. I wanted to feel like I'm at my grandmother's house. Right? Where else have we gone? We've gone to Giovanni's in Brooklyn. Brooklyn Eats. Giovanni is amazing. He's an amazing host. The food is absolutely incredible.

43:40And, again, all, like, pictures of his family up there, old school stuff. They had music. They had a real telephone in there. And a homemade winemaker from his grandfather. Oh. And they saved it. They had it in there and it was amazing. So those are the little things that I love. The house made limoncello, one of those kind of touches. Yes, and a cheesecake to die for.

44:09Matt Rodbard:And then you went, where was that place that had the gay Italian ice cream? Oh my God, Raffetto's. like whenever I'm in the village I go to Pino's which I get my meat I go to Raffetto's which I get my um either pasta sauce and they have gluten-free stuff in there so they'll all of that um and I go to Puerto Rico which is where you get the coffee and then lilac chocolates which was in my house all the time growing up. But the gay Italian ice cream, forget it. That was like amazing. If you love, you know, the Italian cookie, like it's got the three colors, the green, the red, the rainbow cookie, right?

44:54If you love that, you're going to love this.

44:56Matt Rodbard:It's a rainbow cookie ice cream, basically. Yeah, and it's got olive oil in it. It's got like a bunch of other things in it, pistachios, all of that. I was just blown away by it, just blown away. Do they call it the gay Italian ice cream or do you call it that? No, they call it that. They call it that, which I found so funny. I really did. So I have to go back and try the rest because people are asking, well, what do the rest taste like? Right. Because they make so many of them. I just thought that one was, you know, hit home. Right, totally. What does it feel like growing up as a queer person, like in the Italian-American community to go to a place and be able to have like the gay Italian ice cream?

45:33It feels, I mean, it's so different from when I was a kid. You know, nobody spoke about it. My father knew, but we would never talk about it. Of course, I hid most of my life. Now it's like being open and out there and people loving the pictures of me and my wife and the connection we have. It's amazing. It's like family.

45:51Matt Rodbard:Yeah. You know, it feels like family. Yeah. You know, I watched all of your videos and I saw the gay Italian ice cream video and I went running over to my girlfriend and I was like, we have to go eat this gay Italian ice cream. You have to. It's fate. It's Pride Month, you know, like if not now, when? Oh my God, and get their focaccia. Oh, they make it in-house. It's absolutely amazing. I have to ask you about lilac chocolate because I think that's such an incredible institution here in New York. What do you order when you go there? Well, for me, it's coconut clusters, dark chocolate. Everything's dark chocolate.

46:22And they do have like a 72 % dark chocolate, so I'm in on all of that. They have pecan clusters with the caramel in it, so we get that. But the regular bark, like with some almonds in it, the dark chocolate. And those are my go-to. But like my kids love Oreo. Please, Oreo cookies. I can't. Yeah. But they love that kind of stuff. Oreo cookies dipped in chocolate. I don't know. It's not my thing. I just want a piece of chocolate. But yeah, I'd have to say that's my go-to.

46:56Matt Rodbard:Mm-hmm. Yeah. Growing up, would there be like the box of mixed chocolates? Yeah. Boxes of whatever, you know, people would just be bringing them for Christmas, for New Year's, for whatever holiday. And we would absolutely devour it. I think the coconut clusters, I haven't been in a while, but I love coconut. So whenever I see that, I have to have that. And it's like shredded coconut, right? That's kind of bound together and dipped in the chocolate. Yes. They do have the bar, but the cluster to me is outrageous. When you go to Pinot's and get your meat, how do you handle the butcher counter? What do you ask for?

47:31Usually I call it in. I'm coming to get brailleux, and then I go and I order the rest because it's all right there.

47:37Matt Rodbard:But the brailleux they have to make, so you have to call that in. Amazing. The meat, everything, just amazing. So fresh. And then I get sausage. They have something called summer sausage, and there's tomatoes in it, and there's cheese in it, and there's parsley in it, and you have to try it. I don't really eat sausage, but that sausage I eat. So that says something. What do you do with it? Barbecue. Or we can put it in the sauce, you know, like a gravy on Sunday. Right. And they make amazing hamburgers. I still haven't had their steaks yet. So my next trip in is going to be their steaks. Like it's been a while.

48:16Right. We used to get it when I was a kid, roast beef, you know, a big roast beef.

48:20Matt Rodbard:I'm really curious about how you think about nostalgia with the places that you go to. When you go to get your steaks or your sausage or anything, are you trying to compare it to how it used to be? Or is it just how it is? No, I got to tell you because when I walk in, it's like I stepped right back in because the energy is the same. It's really, really amazing how they can keep that vibe going. When I step in there, it's like it transports me back. and I don't, I'm not comparing anything because I don't have to. I walk into the coffee shop, same thing. I remember my grandmother walking into these places with me, you know, and it all feels the same.

49:02Even when I go into a church, you know, like if I walked into St. Anthony's or Pompeii, it would, it feels the same.

49:11Matt Rodbard:And that's so important because I feel like New York changes so much, right? Like some of these places are so different than how they used to be. I mean, the neighborhood itself has changed. But when you walk into these certain places that are still there, you get transported immediately. If someone is listening and they haven't been to any of these old school spots and they don't have this kind of nostalgic memory of them, like how would you pitch them on going now and starting to make those memories? Well, I always tell people connect to your own memories. See where your memories take you, right?

49:44And then be willing to create new ones because that's what family is all about. That's what you have in your heart, right? When your family is gone, like my mom, my dad, all of them are gone now, but we carry all of that in our heart. And so I would say come and make new memories, you know? You're going to feel the nostalgia. Even if you were never there, you're going to feel that energy.

50:06Matt Rodbard:Yeah. I grew up in Los Angeles and I don't have an Italian-American background, so I come to it maybe from a slightly different place, but I feel like you can feel the history there. Yes. Also, there's just a certain way of doing things that you can taste, right? Like the old world way or the technique, the tradition, I think you can taste and you know that this is different than maybe one of the new response. Yeah, absolutely. It's why I go. I mean, you know, you get homemade fresh pasta, you know, that's – it's amazing, right? Where are you going to get that other than making it yourself or going to Italy where they, you know, they make it?

50:45So Raffetto's is great for the homemade pasta stuff and the sauces and the fresh cheese and all of that and the breads. They've been doing it 100 years, right? Right. And there's something to be said about that because it got passed down generation to generation. And so they know how to do it.

51:08Matt Rodbard:Right. It's perfected. Yeah. While we're talking about these old school businesses, is there a place that isn't around anymore that if you had a magic wand you would bring back? If it was a restaurant, it would be Joe's. Yeah, because that's where we used to go for every holiday when the family got too big. They made incredible food there. Simple but incredible. Where was it? Right on McDougall Street in the village. And if it was just the cheese place that, God help me, I can't remember the name of it at the moment, on Sullivan Street, across from Pino's, there was a, damn, can't remember the name.

51:46But all like homemade mozzarella, smoked mozzarella, salami, like all kinds of really good stuff.

51:59and you couldn't get, like, there was nothing better. Right. There was nothing better than that. So those would be the two. Joe's Dairy. Thank you. Thank you, God. Joe's Dairy was incredible. And so if I had to bring back two places in that area, those would be the two.

52:17Matt Rodbard:They sound like good places to bring back. And you mentioned this Bermontes dinner a little bit before. Can you tell me more about what you have planned and why you wanted to do it? Yeah. I wanted people to feel that intimacy, that feeling of family and connectedness. And so I said to Anthony, let's do it. I said, let's see if people want to really. Like they were saying that they, how can I have dinner with you? Right. You're seeing all the comments. Right. Right. So what we're going to do is, you know, everybody gets a choice for the meal of what they would like. We're giving them choices. And then they'll have, it comes with my book signed and a snapduster, which is what, you know, my grandmother used to wear.

53:04And also we'll have something special for them at the end, which I don't want to reveal, but we'll have something special for them at the end. So I think it's going to be amazing.

53:14Matt Rodbard:It's almost like a supper club or a dinner party kind of thing. Exactly. If it goes well, do you think it's something you want to do more of? Oh, my God. Absolutely. I have other restaurants that are actually asking me, and we wanted to see how this one went. And so, yeah, we're ready to roll that out of, you know, as well. I think it's a smart idea because a lot of people, you know, say they want to go on a food tour or do something like that. But you don't really want to be maybe walking around with a big group of people going to all these different places. If you can sit down and have a conversation, maybe that's more meaningful.

53:47Matt Rodbard:A hundred percent. A hundred percent. And they get to ask whatever questions they want. I don't have any secrets or, you know, my book came out, so that's it. Yeah. Does it feel weird to be interacting with people who feel like they know so much about you and you maybe don't know as much about them? No, I think they think they know that much, but I still don't know the intimacy and the intricacies of me as a person. And, like, nobody knows that I love to sing and dance. And, you know, they look at me as, like, a psychic medium and now a comedian and, you know, some kind of food person. The godfather's daughter.

54:26Yeah. So I'm wearing a ton of hats. And as it should be for everybody. Like, everybody's got different sides to them, right? Right. And I'm just wanting to get to know people and their sides, you know, and that they feel comfortable enough to share.

54:40Matt Rodbard:Right. So important. And it's not a one-way conversation, right? You're at dinner. Everyone's kind of talking and sharing and being together. Of course. Of course. Yeah. And who doesn't feel comfortable, I respect. You don't feel comfortable sharing, that's okay too. Right. But maybe that situation will help them become comfortable somehow, you know, and in the future they may be able to do that. Yeah. I think good conversation can do that and good food can do that too, right? You feel taken care of. You're in the back room at Bavante's. You're in the booth, hopefully. How can you not want to say something about yourself?

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57:28Matt Rodbard:Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack. I want to play a rapid fire game to close, but first I just want to check if there's any other upcoming things you wanted to share. What's coming up is creating a cookbook. And I'm trying to get that out by Christmas. By Christmas? Yeah. Wow. What kind of recipes will it be? All family. Okay. All family recipes and stories to go with the recipes because I got some great stories to go with the recipes. So that's something that's in the works. And also we were talking, I mean, the ultimate goal was always to open up some type of healing center where people came and they felt, you know, seen and heard.

58:13And we use different modalities to heal the trauma in their lives because that's what I had to do to get to where I am. And then, you know, feed them really good food and teach them how to eat well and all kinds of things. So that's the ultimate goal. We're working towards that. But, yeah, I'm just taking it a step at a time because I'm really enjoying it. So I'm trying not to push too far too fast.

58:40Matt Rodbard:Right. I think build the things as they come. I love the idea of going to a healing center and getting a really good Italian meal afterwards. I would feel healed in every sense of the way. I'm telling you. And just the camaraderie and the people that, you know, you can connect to. I think it'll be awesome. I love that. And I want to play this rapid fire game to close. So I'm going to make you play some favorites. You can tell me the first thing that comes to mind. Okay. Okay. Your favorite cookbook, if you have one. So Stanley Tucci, I watched his whole show and everything. So him and Giada, I kind of follow, but not necessarily that I bought a cookbook.

59:18But I'll look up their recipes. So I don't necessarily – my mother's cookbook was my favorite.

59:23Matt Rodbard:Right. Because it had all my family's recipes in it. So that to me was my favorite. I think that counts. And then Giada and Stanley Tucci, they're two of the most fun people to follow. I love that. Oh, my God. He's fantastic. Have you met him before? I haven't and I want to. We're manifesting this right now. Yes, absolutely. Stanley Tucci. He's got to invite me to his table or I'll invite him to mine. I'm putting it out there. If he comes to yours, you got to send me an invite too, please. Yes, 100%. Your favorite neighborhood in New York? The West Village. Your favorite grocery store in New York?

59:57So it's not so much. Well, Eataly is one of my favorites. And then there's any kind of market that's outside where they bring in people that have farms and they bring their stuff in. It's fresh. That's what I like. Union Square has an amazing one.

1:00:12Matt Rodbard:Yeah. The Union Square farmer's market is bursting this time of year especially. Yeah. So I love that kind of stuff. And that's usually what I do. Your favorite bakery? Okay. This is a hard one for me. When I was a kid, Veneros was my favorite bakery. Now I have someone actually make my stuff gluten-free. So it's really a baker, not a bakery. And then I have certain people bringing me stuff that's gluten-free. But I have to tell you, anybody that can bring me a flourless chocolate cake and a cheesecake like Giovanni's Brooklyn Eats made, I can't even. And they made the most incredible cheesecake I've ever tasted.

1:00:59No bakery could have outdone it. And I think it was Bella Mama Rose in Staten Island. They did a flourless gluten-free chocolate cake that I was so stuffed. I didn't think I'd be able to put another thing in me. I ate the whole thing. That's how good it was.

1:01:18Matt Rodbard:That's what a really good flourless chocolate cake can do. Oh, my God. I think Vinero's cheesecake is pretty good also. Vinero's? Yeah, their lobster tails were big when I was young. We used to get the shruya del, the lobster tails, things like that. And I'm not necessarily a pastry person, but I do like my gelato and my ice cream. Your favorite restaurant for a celebration? We go to this place out by me called Giulio's. It's very old, old world. Like it's a house, you know, and they converted it. And we're very historical there, so it's very historical. And the guy is, you know, Italian, and he just does a great, great – he'll do whatever you want, you know.

1:02:08And they have music, and they got beautiful decorations and things like that. So we do a lot of our stuff there.

1:02:15Matt Rodbard:Sounds perfect. Yeah. Your go-to deli order, like if you're getting a sandwich. Yeah. Definitely grilled chicken, broccoli rabe, fresh mozzarella, a little bit of vinegar. Yeah, that's my go-to. Your go-to ice cream or gelato flavor. Coffee and chocolate chipmint. Yeah, those are my two favorite. Will you do like in a cup or a cone? Usually a cup because most of the cones aren't gluten-free. Right. That's so true. Yeah. So usually in a cup. And people are now, though, catering to a lot gluten-free, you know. So I'm going to find places that have the cones that are gluten-free and I'm going to do it.

1:02:56But yeah, that's usually in a cup for me. Yeah.

1:03:01Matt Rodbard:Okay. Final question. Is a fictional food scene like from a book or a movie or something made up that you wish you could eat in real life? So I love the movie Under the Tuscan Sun. Great movie. And at the end, she makes dinner for everybody and they all sit at her table. Like at the end of fixing her house and everything like that, that's what I would want. That's my dream. Is it the food or is it kind of the overall? It's the overall feel. It's the fact that it's homemade. It's in her house. It's gathering the family together who's not blood but family. Right. Because I have so many people that are family to me.

1:03:37They are not blood related, but they're still considered family.

1:03:40Matt Rodbard:Well, I think that's a perfect way to end this episode. Rita, it's been so fun speaking with you. Thank you for coming on the show. Oh my God, this was great. Thank you so much for having me.

1:03:52Matt Rodbard:This is Taste is hosted and produced by Matt Rodbard and me, Eliza Abarbanel. The show is edited by lead producer Clayton Gumbert and supervised by Pat Stango, director of media production and development at Penguin Random House. Thanks to Shalia Harris and the production team at Penguin Random House. Theme music by Steve Rydell Episode portraits by Louise Zergang Pomeroy Logo design by Ellie Skurzat and Ian Dingham Visit Taste online at tastecooking.com And make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to keep updated on all cool things in the world of taste.

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