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Star Ledger & NJ Online - July 28, 2000
www.nj.com/sopranos/

Mystery Muncher Federico Castelluccio Hops Onboard for a Taste of Italy

Federico Castelluccio, who plays the baseball bat-wielding enforcer Furio on the HBO series "The Sopranos," sat in the passenger seat of the Munchmobile, his tiny cell phone getting more calls than a pizzeria on a Friday night.

The following day, a casting call for roles on "The Sopranos" would be held in Harrison, and Castelluccio was all of sudden a popular guy. The Italian-born actor, who grew up in Paterson, was besieged with calls from friends seeking advice on how to land a part on the mob show.

Friends like Richie Guido.

"What should I do?" Richie asked Castelluccio.

"Bring a picture, Richie," the actor said.

"A picture of who?" Richie asked.

"A picture of your mother, what do you mean a picture of who?" Castelluccio said, laughing. "A picture of you."

Castelluccio flipped down his cell phone as the Munchmobile cruised down Route 10 on the way to Stretch's Italian Restaurant in Livingston.

"I always knew I wanted to get into acting," recalled Castelluccio, who studied art in college. "But art was more accessible to me. Growing up in Paterson, who becomes an actor, except for Lou Costello?"

And who gets to ride on the Munchmobile, except the lucky few? Castelluccio, the Mystery Muncher in a Star-Ledger contest that drew some 700 entries, accompanied the Munch team to two Italian restaurants, part of a seven-stop restaurant and deli tour that included encounters with one of the original members of the Four Seasons, two guys named Sal Passalacqua, two guys named Francesco Paul Vitamia, and the biggest portions in the Italian restaurant food universe.

But more on all that later.

The journey began at Fatima's market on Bloomfield Avenue in Newark, where the sign on the front door had the Munchers wondering what exactly was going to be on their menu today:  We carry quails, rabbits and suckling pigs on order.

On Garside Street in Newark and Stretch's Cellar in the basement of the family house - -before opening the Belmont Tavern in Belleville.

The restaurant is known for its Chicken Savoy, and for good reason. The chicken is broiled, then "hit" with red wine vinegar, and that is all Peter Verdicchio will tell you. No one outside the family knows the recipe, and Verdicchio intends to keep it that way.

Castelluccio rarely eats pasta and bread -- he says they slow him down -- favoring chicken and fish. He raved about Stretch's Salad, a mixture of mozzarella, roasted peppers, black olives, red onions, tomatoes, onions and balsamic vinegar.

"This is really good, just the right combination of everything," said the actor, who worked in regional theater and appeared in such daytime soaps as "Guiding Light" and "As the World Turns" before landing the role as Furio on "The Sopranos."

Castelluccio, who lives in North Jersey, is not only an artist -- the February 1999 issue of American Artist featured his work -- but a collector of art and vintage frames.

"When I read for Furio I said, 'This is me,' " the ponytailed actor said. "The character has to be from Italy, from Naples. I was born in Naples. I came here in 1968, when I was 4."

Tommie DeVito, one of the original Four Seasons and a personal assistant to actor Joe Pesci, stopped by the table. DeVito told the story behind the Four Seasons' hit song "Rag Doll." He and group member Bob Gaudio were in their car in New York City when a young girl in tattered clothes walked up to the car and offered to clean the windshield. Neither had any change. "Give her $5," DeVito said. "She's just a rag doll." Gaudio went home, according to DeVito, and wrote the song.

There was plenty of singing inside Attilio's Kitchen in Denville, our next stop. Pamela Stein DiGesu was singing Italian songs to the accompaniment of accordionist Sal Torino. The Italian restaurant, housed inside the old E.C. Peer Sons General Store, is wonderfully atmospheric. Items from the general store -- Prince Albert tins, cookie jars, homemade remedies -- line the shelves. Gino Pesci, co-owner with his wife, Lisa, is Joe Pesci's cousin.

"I'll give you the specials, and then get out of your hair," said waiter Dimitri Malki.

"I see we're already out of yours," Castelluccio told the bald waiter.

The braciola -- rolled beef and pork stuffed with bread crumbs, raisins and pignoli nuts and served over penne pasta -- was as big as a pound cake, and excellent. Pesci makes his own mozzarella.

"As soon as he gets carpal tunnel, I'm out of here," Lisa Pesci joked. "I'm only in it for the cheese."

Castelluccio finished his tilapia, then eagerly sampled the tiramisu, pear torte and cheesecake for dessert.

"I can't believe I'm off my diet," he moaned good-naturedly.

We couldn't believe our evening with him was over.

One stop remained for the Mangia-Mobile: Vitamia Sons Ravioli Co. in Lodi, an old-style Italian deli/market if there ever was one.

"We've been associated with cheese making since the 1800s," Francesco Paul Vitamia, the shop's fast-talking owner, said of his family, which hails from Mondello, Sicily. The store's Web site? Pastaboy.com.

Vitamia, which has 100 or so different pastas (including three-color gnocchi and heart-shaped ravioli) at any one time, supplies 200 restaurants throughout the state. "Vietato Fumaro" (no smoking) reads a sign on the wall. The store is known for its sausage bread, mozzarella and other pastas, not to mention the owner's sense of humor.

"You know what they say," he says. "I met you once, I met you twice, and then I foccacia."

Among the regular customers is Lucy Tarabocchia, who is of Croatian ancestry.

"I come here all the time, for the ravioli," the Lodi resident said. "They're fresh and the cheese is really good."

"What else are we going to write about?' Vitamia said. "We make cookies. We make what we call palate teasers. You like that word? Eggplant parmigiana, seafood salad, mostaccioli cake, risotto balls . . . You should come here early in the morning, when the smell -- let's call it wafting -- the smell of fresh bread is wafting from the oven."

The Munchmobile's driver loaded up his shopping bag with several homemade sauces, plus fresh ravioli, linguine, gnocchi and cavatelli. There were only two words for the pezzetti pomodoro sauce (tomatoes, onions, basil, olive oil and spices) and jumbo ravioli he prepared later for dinner.

Molto bene.