Chef Joe DiMaggio, Jr. created Cafe BarBosso in honor of his old friend Frank “Frankie Bumps” BarBosso. Their story is a movie worthy one, rich in culture & character, about a man & a boy.
Growing up poor in the 1930’s Little Italy wasn’t easy, yet an ambitious Frankie knew, that one day through hard work, he’d take his family out of poverty. When Frankie was 8 years old, he caught the eye of Crazy Tony Blue Eye (a notorious Union Organizer from Mott Street) when he chased a kid down the street who had stole his grandmother’s milk bottles off her stoop. Crazy Tony was impressed by the way Frankie used one milk bottle to get the rest of them back and soon thereafter Frankie proudly became a full-time knock-around guy for Mr. Tony.
The young BarBosso thrived as he was now a respected guy in the neighborhood. Frankie loved food so much that in 1955, at the age of twenty-six; he opened “Little Charlie’s” an intimate Italian restaurant named after his father. The joint was an immediate success, not only because the food was the best, but because people were forced to eat there. They served the best veal in NYC, the best eggplant, the best meatballs, the… BEST everything, Capisce?!
As a young 7 year old boy in the 60’s, Chef Joe DiMaggio Jr. used to play stickball with his pals in front of Little Charlie’s and Frankie used to bet on all the games. For his first restaurant job, Chef Joe started out washing pots and pans at Little Charlie’s. This “opportunity” came about every time Frankie lost money betting on Joe’s stickball games; Joe and his pals then had to wash dishes and windows, sweep up, and most importantly, tell Frankie when the police were casing the joint.
So to honor his old friend for giving him his start in the kitchen all those years ago, Chef Joe has created Café BarBosso, a true peasant Italian restaurant here in Sarasota.
In 1988 Frank “Frankie Bumps” BarBosso was incarcerated for life and to this day he still proclaims his innocence. Mr. BarBosso is extremely proud to know that his name and intense love for excellent, authentic Italian food will live on and become immortalized through the incarnation of Chef Joe DiMaggio’s ‘Café BarBosso’.
