"It was the
best of times, it was the worst of times." It was the 'good old days' and I was
lucky enough to realize that as I was living through them.

From 1956 to about 1963 I
alternated living in New York City and Miami Beach. There was no rhyme or reason
for me moving to either one at any particular time.  I was drinking heavily and
was very promiscuous. I was living for the day, the hour, the minute, not
worrying where I would put my head down or what I would eat or where I would get
my next drink. I would spend my nights going from the Pixie to Frenchie's to The Alley, The Charles Hotel Bar to the Mayflower and then to Wolfie's on 23rd Street followed by a
swim in the ocean only to sleep, go to work at Piccolo's and start all over
again

There was uncertainty in
my life. I had no plans, no direction and no ambitions. I went from number to
number, from drink to drink and from job to job. The only consistency in my life
was that I knew whenever I moved to Miami Beach I had a job at Piccolo's. I made
good money there, the hours were as long, or as short, as I wanted to work 
which left me plenty of time for boozing, cruising and the beach.

The training I received at Piccolo's regarding being
a server, what Italian food was, various wines and liqueurs and, most important,
how to sell myself saw me through life up to this day.

I don't know when
Piccolo's closed but I remember the sadness I felt when it was no longer there.
I assume that Dorothy and Sam Piccolo have died by now but I wonder what their
sons, Don and Vincent, are doing today, if they are still alive. I do know
Vincent had opened a restaurant (called Piccolo's?) somewhere in the Keys but
that it had eventually closed.

I was a waiter from 1956-1969 and 1979-2002 working
in many restaurants from the Ham 'n Eggs coffee shop to the 5 star Gas Pavilion
at the World's Fair in Flushing, New York where we cooked, and served, your
complete dinner at your table but the only restaurant I worked at in Miami Beach
was at Piccolo's.

Of the many restaurant jobs I had Piccolo's will
always rate as number one--yes, I made money there and I came and went as I
wanted to and it was pretty easy but most of all it is the training I got there
that allowed me to make a living, a good one, as a professional server.