“Patrons retrieve bottles, memories from Simi restaurant”

Patrons retrieve bottles, memories from Simi restaurant

Posted: 07 Nov 2010 08:34 PM PST

Photo by Joseph A. Garcia, Joseph A. Garcia / Star staff

Gerard Pelletier of Simi Valley searches for a Chianti bottle at Palermo' Pizzeria. Pelletier didn't find his bottle, which he hung in the Simi restaurant after purchasing a cabin in 1994, but vowed to continue his search another day. For decades Palermo's Pizzeria patrons hung Chianti bottles marking their personal memories and milestones.

Photo by Joseph A. Garcia, Joseph A. Garcia / Star staff

For decades Palermo's Pizzeria patrons hung Chianti bottles marking their personal memories and milestones. The restaurant's new owner is asking patrons to retrieve their bottles, which have become difficult to maintain.

Photo by Joseph A. Garcia, Joseph A. Garcia / Star staff

Jay Klug, Simi Valley, looks for the Chianti bottle he and his wife, Linda, hung from the ceiling at Palermo's decades ago. For years Palermo's Pizzeria patrons hung Chianti bottles marking their personal memories and milestones.

The Chianti bottle hung front and center in the first booth visible in Palermo's Pizzeria's dining room. On it, "Christina's 1st Outing 2 Weeks Old 9-16-83," was neatly written in black marker on the raffia covering the bottle's base. On the bottle's back was written, "Grandma's Last Day in California."

It was one of five bottles Virginia and Mario Veneroso came to find Sunday morning at the popular Simi Valley restaurant. Armed with a flashlight and memories, the couple knew that Palermo's new owner, Yoshi Namiki, had opened the restaurant for customers who wanted to reclaim their dining souvenirs from years past.

"My parents had moved to New York and I just had the baby," said Virginia Veneroso, remembering the dinner celebrating baby Christina's first day out as she cradled the bottle in her hands. "My mom came home to help me."

For almost 30 years, diners hung signed empty bottles of Chianti from the framework surrounding each of the Italian restaurant's booths. The tradition began when the former owners, Jack and Toni Parfitt, visited a restaurant called Ports O' Call in San Pedro where bottles were hung from the ceiling.

"It looked like a nice idea," said Jack Parfitt, who turned the idea into a Palermo's tradition after retrofitting the booths to support the estimated 2,000 bottles hung in the restaurant. "We had people who would come back for years and look for their bottles."

Namiki, a longtime Simi Valley resident, said that he doesn't want to change anything about the restaurant's atmosphere, but the bottles have become a hazard as some have fallen from their hangers. Most of the bottles are covered in dust and it's very hard to clean them, Namiki said.

He started telling customers that the bottles would be taken down and was flooded with callers asking if they could find their special bottles. Some of the stories, he said, were heartbreaking.

One woman, Beckie Pompel, lost her husband, Howard, in the 2008 Metrolink collision in Chatsworth. She knew Howard had hung a bottle several years before they married when he was dining with a friend at the restaurant. On Sunday, Beckie Pompel and a friend came to Palermo's to find Howard's bottle, looking for any connection she could find to her lost husband.

"I just know that Howard would want me to have his bottle," she said.

Beckie Pompel couldn't find her bottle on that first pass through the restaurant. Namiki promised to keep looking for it in the coming weeks.

He said he won't throw out any of the bottles removed from the ceiling. Instead, he's renovated a patio on the building's side. He intends to seal the bottles at the opening and rehang those not claimed on the trellis, where they can be easily washed when needed, and still seen by diners. Until then, he'll open early for the next two Sundays to allow others to come find their bottles.

"I just can't let go," he said. "There are too many memories."

Bottles celebrating births, anniversaries, sporting events and visitors were most common. One bottle noted the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which hit Simi Valley particularly hard. Written on it was "Quake Survivors D'Lynne & Matt. 6.6. 1-23-93. To our future." (And yes, the year was written incorrectly on the bottle.)

Renita Damico also found one of her bottles. "We were here with Bob this week. Lil, Renita and John. 4-28-95," was found in one of the back booths.

"My husband and I would come in here every Friday night," she said. "You've got history hanging on the walls."

One of the most heartwarming finds of the morning came to the Venerosos. While searching for the other bottles marking the births of their three children, Mario discovered a bottle with his son's writing and pictures. Done in the early 1990s, 6-year-old Nick Veneroso wrote "I have such wonderful parents!" and "I love mom and dad."

"It was a surprise!" said Virginia Veneroso.

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