Notice the Leoncavallo’s catchphrase, “Leader in Chefcraft Since 1897.”įrom 1965 until 1973, gay travel guides list the bar at 254-56 S 12th St. None of Tootsie’s four children wanted to be in the restaurant business, so she closed it in the mid 1960s and retired. The photo, left, of a Leoncavallo menu from the 1940s, was generously sent to me by Valerie. Tootsie, who as a child had played the piano before Bonci and Caruso, lived into her 90s and worked hard at keeping the Leoncavallo going for another fifty years. The façade we see today dates from that 1918 renovation. In 1918, they purchased 254 S 12th next door and joined the two buildings together, see ad, below. I ended with the death of chef Francesco Basta, who had opened an Italian restaurant there called “The Leoncavallo” in 1912.Īccording to Frank Basta’s great-great granddaughter, Valerie, who lives in New Jersey, it was Frank’s daughter, Adelina Basta Caporale, known as “Tootsie,” and her husband Adalberto Caporale, along with the children’s African-American nanny, Margaret, who carried on the operation after Frank’s death in 1917. Last time, I began the story of the building site at 254-6 S 12th St., home to Icandy today.
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