"OF COURSE I DO"

On Lower County Road in Dennisport there used to be an Italian Restaurant called Arrico's "La Sicilia". Mrs. Arrico and her son Tony used to operate this restaurant on a seasonal basis. Tony would do the cooking and Mrs. Arrico would be in charge of the "front" of the restaurant by greeting people at the front door as they came and went as well as supervising the waitresses and cashier.

I lived very near to this restaurant as I worked for the Manning family in the mid-70's through the mid-80's and over these years I either stayed in an apartment at the Colonial Village motel or at a small cottage or a small house that the Manning family owned at that time. All of these properties were across the street from "La Sicilia".

La Sicilia wasn't a fancy place but had great homemade sauces and entrees along with Italian pizza with real tomato sauce and thin crust. I swear for a few summer seasons during that time I would have about three pizzas a week; especially anchovy pizza as I was told that eating fish is good for you. Plus, I learned from my Saudi Arabian friend at Marietta College (see Pizza Lover
story) that "Pizza is good food". Tony and his Mom lived in the upstairs living quarters above the restaurant. The Arrico family used to have a restaurant in the North end of Boston.

My friend Jim Byrne would often visit for a weekend when he was living in Brighton and various locations near Boston while he was working for some of the Boston television stations. I took Jim over to La Sicilia on one of his visits and from then on any time he would visit he would say, "Rickshaw are we going to La Sicilia?" I'd say "But of course".

Each time Jim and I would walk over to La Sicilia for a meal we would see Mrs. Arrico at the door. She was very pleasant and would ask how I was and inquire how Mr. and Mrs. Manning were doing as well as Chris and Dick Manning as they had been neighbors for over thirty years. Mrs. Arrico was probably in her late 70's or older in age. Each time I would update her on the Manning family and then say, "This is my friend Jim, from Boston. Do you remember him?" Mrs. Arrico would reply, " Of course I do!"

Do I think Jim will remember La Sicilia, Mrs. Arrico, and the fine Italian meals? "Of course I do!"