The news hit last Sunday like a clean wash of rain over a sewer field.
A Taste of Italy, the restaurant whose owners used Islamophobia and hurtful and bigoted rhetoric to attack a family who had just lost their autistic son in a tragic accident, is no more. The owners sold the lease on their Latham restaurant to another Italian eatery, La Familglia, who has already assumed ownership of the space and who will, in time, remove any and all Taste of Italy signage and stench.
The death of Harbe Naqi still resonates today. It was a painful and tragic accident, and the community still grieves the loss of an innocent boy. And for the owners of A Taste of Italy to bemean and torment what happened with that child, and to use that child’s religion as some sort of cudgel for their own racist taunts … was unacceptable.
And it got worse from there. The owners (whose names I will no longer glorify in this blog) used vulgarities and profanities online and in real time to attack those who protested their actions. Sometimes it was comical. Other times … it was just frustratingly vulgar and reprehensible. But the protests against the owners and their poisonous words continued. And it definitely affected business at A Taste of Italy and with the owners’ other businesses, a lash company called She’s Yar and a second restaurant, Grazie, that was scheduled to open across from Albany Memorial but never did.
So I’m looking forward to tasting the new food from the new owners of the store space at Latham Circle. From what I’ve been told, La Familiglia has some of the best pizza and wings in the Capital Region, and that’s a claim that needs personal verification.
So last Sunday, my girlfriend Suzanne and I ordered some wings (garlic parmesan, crispy) and a couple of subs from La Famiglia’s current restaurant location in Colonie. Ordering was easy, the food was ready when I picked it up, and yes that food was delicious. So if it’s already tasty as anything in one location, I can only imagine how delicious the food will be at the new Latham locale.
And what happened to the original owners of A Taste of Italy?
They packed everything they owned and left the Capital Region. Most likely they’re in Texas or Florida or some other locale. That’s fine. The farther away they are from me, the happier I am.
Long-time blog readers will know that I will NEVER willingly patronize a restaurant that dabbles in racism or bigotry or misogyny. Those companies do NOT deserve my dollars. And that includes you, Chick-fil-A and your support of anti-trans organizations. Fie on you.
So, as to paraphrase the words of Bette Davis when she heard of Joan Crawford’s passing, “You should only speak good of the dead.
“A Taste of Italy is dead.
“That is good.”
