Arancina

My old flat mate Peter held the distinction of being the only person to wear out his Collector Edition's DVD boxset of the failed US sitcom Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place (later referred to simply as Two Guys and a Girl, probably renamed with the intention of deceiving people into thinking it was a different series). I can't admit that I ever watched a whole episode but based off the overly verbose title, I gather that Two Guys.. is a highly mundane, fictional portrayal of the everyday, real happenings at Arancina, the Sicilian restaurant directly across the street from my Bayswater window.

Arancina employs a cadre of young, presumably recently immigrated, Italians who serve pizzas, pastas, and arancinas--fried balls of risotto and other stuffings such as mushroom and ham. To these Italians, Arancina serves not just as their place of employment but also as their social sphere. At any time off-duty employees represent a solid percentage of the restaurant's customers. These employees mill around all day, taking frequent smoke breaks and occasional trips to the corner pub, the Redan, waiting for their friends to finish work for the evening.

I have tried to become friendly with these young Italians, but despite having completed multiple loyalty stamp cards, I have yet to be invited into their circle. I predict that my inability to speak Italian impairs my chances but probably not nearly as much as my ability to speak Midwestern American English. For example, the other night I requested three arancinas of any variety ("Surprise me.") for "take-away". After much confusion and clarification, I left with two, very cold arancinas of the same flavour.

Each night, shortly after closing time, a mini, comical looking car parks in front of the restaurant. I assume this is the boss coming to pick up the receipts for the day. Normally he parks right on the sidewalk, and after he leaves, a party ensues on the street with the workforce celebrating the end of their working day (or waiting day), occasionally handing out leftover food and always smoking a healthy portion of cigarettes. I have met people who were able to infiltrate the Arancina crowd and, after this post-work smoke, be invited into the restaurant for an after hours party, an enviable invitation for any true community member.

I imagine Arancina will make a number of appearances in this blog so I will not comment any more at this time.