STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Routines keep us on track. They keep life moving along, grounding us in familiarity, something of great comfort to us in times when there is so much uncertainty. Food plays a big role in this picture.
That’s why Taco Tuesday is an important ritual in our home as are the Sunday Sauce scents from meatballs and sausage simmering in “gravy” on the stove. In my former career as a food contractor for several elementary schools around the Island, Fridays were reserved for pizza. Nuggets and tenders were a must on Mondays.
Chicken tenders at The Veranda in Silver Lake. (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri) Staff-Shot
If not for the perfect predictability of it for the little ones in school, food routines made sense from a production angle. That structure commands efficient ordering to make good on promised menu mainstays. Those Monday deep-fried chicken items, for instance, do not require rolls. That’s an important assurance on the first day of the work week when starting fresh in the kitchen -- a risky day for a large bread order back then, in my experience.
Hence the glorious benchmark food days in the school setting where the bread order ultimately dictated our menu. Tuesday were for hot dogs (the buns could be delivered on Monday) and Thursdays were for grilled cheese (the pullman loaves would be in-house by Wednesday.) And so went the food week until Pizza Day which goes hand-in-hand with the words “hallelujah” and “TGIF.”
Pizza at Rustic Pizza and Pasteria in Grant City (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)Pamela Silvestri
Now there’s a difference between a monotonous menu and a phenomenon that we’ll call “bankable” daily specials.
Monotony means serving macaroni and cheese to a kid each day for lunch because it’s the only thing he or she will eat. Speaking from experience as a mother of two boys, this could go either way on the long-term psychological effects for both parent and child.
Baby James
There might be happy memories of Mommy or Daddy lovingly serving the meal or a deeply entrenched loathing of the perennially cooked dish. That’s why we now have an 11-year old who happily savors it once in a while and a 12-year old with a sensitive gag reflex prompted by the slightest mac ‘n’ cheese suggestion.
But it is with glee that we’ll speak of those so-called bankable daily specials: Customers can count on certain eats on specific days and the kitchen people create the dishes with remarkable consistency. It’s like money in the bank. Like I don’t need a calendar to tell what day it is in Great Kills because I can go to Andrew’s Diner and find out it’s Monday when a good Yankee Bean Soup is on the menu. When the waitress utters the words “Manhattan Clam Chowder" I know it’s Friday. And as sure as it’s Saturday there’s a toothsome Chicken Noodle a-swimming at Andrew’s.
Soups at Andrew’s Diner include Split Pea, Chicken Noodle and Cream of Broccoli. Each day is a different selection. But Thursday is definitively Split Pea Day. (Pamela Silvestri/Staten Island Advance) Staff-ShotStaff-Shot
Sunday is the high point of foreseeable foodstuffs on Staten Island: there’s a 100% chance of meatballs in a “Sunday Sauce.”
“Gravy! Gravy! Gravy!" corrects Janet Ruggiero of Giuliana’s Restaurant, home of saucy dish with a die-hard following.
“It’s got pig skin, meatballs, sweet sausage cooked all day so you get that real Sunday feel,” said Giuliana’s chef Robert Felice.
Predictable delicious-ness.
This September I can safely say there are no more “bankable” routines compared to last year but we’re making the best of it. Baseball has consumed our days nicely and Little League fall ball starts this weekend. Outside of that and praying that public school gets back into business, that indoor dining starts sooner than later, I’ll carry on with the meatballs on Sunday.
Keep in touch.
Pamela Silvestri is Advance Food Editor. She can be reached at Silvestri@siadvance.com.
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September 20, 2020 at 10:00PM
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