LET’S TALK ABOUT FOOD: EPISODE 9
Today we are having a chat with my good friend, Charles Draghi—universally called "Chuck". Chuck inhabits the rarified strata of top chefs in Boston, mentor to many, revered by diners at his restaurant Erbaluce, and lauded by the critics. Before all that, he was a chef in Boston's North End, one of the country's last Little Italys, where locals and tourists go for color and red-sauce flavor. It's where Chuck served up the kinds of dishes unheard of in this traditional iconic Italian neighborhood. The restaurant was called Marcuccio's. And yes, there are a few gangsters involved.
In this podcast, Chuck tells us a little about the Champagne Gang—a group of gangsters with, you guessed it—champagne tastes.
Marcuccio's went on to become wildly popular, the leading-edge restaurant that paved the way for authentic Italian cuisine rather Italian American dishes in Boston's North End. (Not that we don’t all love a good chicken parm now and then.)
Chuck was there for years—a lifetime in the restaurant business.
