In my previous post, I talked about my birthday and reading an article that inspired me, on my 59th birthday, to try and rack up 60 new experiences before I turn 60.
Today was #2 – Eating at Gaetano’s in Denver.

When I moved to Colorado a little over a year ago, I noticed an old timey looking restaurant in my daughter’s neighborhood. My daughter and son-in-love live in the Highlands area in North Denver. On the corner of 38th Ave and Tejon St sits a restaurant that always has a full parking lot or a line at the door and on Sunday mornings, it smells delicious. I always tell my daughter that I want to try that place. We both agree that we will soon and so far had not.

The building itself is warms my heart a bit, it reminds me of the buildings on “The Hill” in St Louis, Missouri. My family is from that area and parts of my life were lived in “The Lou” and everyone in that town knows where the good stuff comes from. So I guess those memories truly sparked my interest in eating at Gaetano’s.

Last spring, I found a nail shop that looked promising. While waiting my turn, an elderly lady struck up a conversation with me and asked if I had fun plans for the weekend. I told her I had hoped to go to dinner at Gaetano’s and she smiled and asked if I knew the story. I just shook my head as she smiled and began to tell me, as she flipped through the books looking for the right shade, about growing up in North Denver. According to this lady, the neighborhood was a “connected” neighborhood. It was filled with Italian Americans and she said it was all family. That if you were running down the street from your mother, someone else’s mother would haul you up short and hold on to you and march you down the sidewalk to your own mother for whatever punishment was waiting. If anyone in the neighborhood needed help, help was provided. Food, jobs, bail – whatever it was, you were taken care of. She told me a story of Al Capone and parking on a sidewalk in front of the restaurant. She said he paid for bullet proof glass for the front window so no one would try and kill him while he was eating. She winked when she was finished. I’m not 100% sure if she was trying to spin a yard or tell me her version of the truth, but I decided its my fact finding mission about this place. Fact or no fact, it belonged to her and now to me. I liked it.

In an attempt to learn more about the area, I found out that Clyde and Checkers Smaldone and their family ran the neighborhood. (Forgive me, I love The Soprano’s, Goodfella’s. Casino, The Godfather, etc). Apparently they were mainly bootleggers from back in 1917, but also did some numbers running, gambling, and a few other things. There are other mobsters that were also around in Denver and there are some books and articles written about them and the Highlands area history. I have personally listened to a podcast called Mob Family Histories. Episode 15 and 16 review the Denver area. I have also found that there are tours like the Denver Mob Tour and they wind up at Gaetano’s to eat before the tour finishes. Wars were fought over territory in Denver and it’s various jobs over the years and the people came and went. It seemed they moved from the area in late 1970s.

Many people still remember the family and those days, like the lady I met at the nail salon who was a child that benefitted from the generosity of her neighbors. As always, with stories like this, there are both good and bad memories. Nowadays, the stories are like urban folklore, surrounding many neighborhoods in cities across the US. Some remembered with a smile, others with a sharp shake of the head and a prayer.

There are some cool things in the restaurant that look back to days gone by. The dark colors, the booths, the tables all very much reminding me of the the 1960s and ’70s growing up. There are bits of art that are a nod to the days of the mob like a hierarchy chart of the family or pictures of patrons in the 1940s and ’50s and a cute sign from the ladies’ room.

A few years ago, a man and his wife bought the restaurant in an effort to save this historic building and provide the area with some great Italian cuisine. He wanted to save the seventy year history of the the restaurant. With the lines and crowds I have witnessed over the past year, I really had my mouth set for some good food. I was not disappointed.

I chose the Gnocchi in Vodka Sauce with Sausage and Mushrooms. I have had a lot of pasta in my life, in various parts of the country. Italian cuisine from Rhode Island to San Francisco and many parts in between from restaurants and the kitchens of a few grandmas and this gnocchi was the BEST I have ever had! It was ask if each bite was a tiny cloud of flavor. Needless to say, we all ate out of each other’s dishes. My granddaughter got chicken and waffles, this came with bourbon butter. My son in love and I confiscated this and we were not one little bit sorry. We also got some very yummy bread that disappeared instantly, as if by magic!

During dinner, my kiddos asked what this whole thing was about, trying 60 new things before my next birthday and I was explaining my plan. My son-in-love was quick to do that math and informed me that I will need to do something new each week and some weeks, twice. (Thank you Mr. Math Man-Smarty Pants) I momentarily got nervous, but remembered this is a FUN thing! And, I will enjoy each new bite, mile, picture, & experience.

My daughter and son-in-love, the high school sweethearts.

Lots of ideas were floated about what I should try next, including tats and piercings! They were thinking of places they have found and want me to go and try the exotic foods they love. I promised I would try them, unless it involved organs, brains, snouts or feet. I just can’t get my mind to that point, but I am very excited to sample some new fare.

Now what kind of birthday dinner would it be without cake? And cake was delivered!

Incredibly fantastically wonderful Tiramisu!

And of course, if there is birthday cake, including a candle, and a child is at said table, the child is blowing out the candle. Period, end of story. As you can see, my granddaughter was already in motion to snatch the wish!

The true star of my show, my grandbaby. She had just been told to smile, which, when you are 6, means smirk. She is a little turkey.

The Highlands neighborhood is a nice area of town. Lots of young families and some folks who have been around forever. If you find yourself over this way, you should make this a stop on your agenda. You will NOT be disappointed!

I don’t know who owns this house, or its history,
but every time I pass it, it looks so cool.

Now, I know today was not as much dirty windshield adventure as the other day, but the pictures through the windshield are dirtier than usual (courtesy of the trip earlier this week). My next stop was the car wash. Oh, and if anyone asks, I did not run over the Franciscan Friar, he jumped right out of the way!

The goal is 60 new things, I have 58 to go and I can’t wait!