Honey I'm Home, Now What's for Dinner?

At the Spaghetti Dinner Thursday night, a lot of people asked About Town the same question: hey, where ya' been, I haven't seen you in a while.

Well, we've been busy attending some special events. There was John and Jannel's baby shower, the 6th annual Black Sparrow League fantasy football draft, and the 19th biannual Townhouse Keg Race.

We spent these events with old friends in Virginia, the land where About Town lived for twenty years before moving to Hoboken. If you didn't see us around, it's because we weren't.

The Spaghetti Dinner was the first event we've covered in Hoboken in several weeks, and it's good to be back.

We arrived at five and met with Cultural Affairs Director Geri Fallo, who organized the dinner, the seventh since celebrating Hoboken's 150th anniversary in 2005.

A lot of people came to eat. Every few seconds one of the women at the entrance table called Fallo over to collect money for tickets. We think Director Fallo sold all of them, nearly 400.

Everyone in the city sat at the checker-cloth covered tables downtown on Sinatra Drive. About Town saw Mayor Dawn Zimmer of course, along with her husband Stan Grossbard. We also saw Councilmembers Ravi Bhalla, Peter Cunningham, Jennifer Giattino and Tim Occhipinti.

Housing Authority Director Carmelo Garcia was there, as were Housing Authority Commissioner Jake Stuiver, Freeholder Anthony Romano, City Hall aides Dan Bryan and Juan Melli, School Board member Theresa Minutilo, Directors Ann Holtzman, Leo Pellegrini and Ian Sacs, and politicos Joe Branco, Keith Furman, Gary Holtzman, Forde Prigot, Frank Raia, and Scott Siegel.

Republicans of Hoboken chair Diana Davis filled four tables with her members. The Rotary Club also had a table, filled with Rotarians Andrew Brown, Christopher Mackin, Rich Marsh and Ryan Mitchell.

Oh, and Batman and Robin were there too. The kids enjoyed seeing them. It was nice to see all the notable people bring their families to the dinner.

Everyone enjoyed pasta and other Italian dishes. The Brownstone catered. You know them from television's Real Housewives of New Jersey, featuring owners Albert and Caroline Manzo. Their sons, handsome and dashing bachelors Albie and Chris are getting to be quite famous themselves, and live right here in Hoboken (Oh my God! OMG! Manzo Boys! Shriek! Squeal!).

About Town spoke to Brownstone chef Mike Cassapulta, who with his fellow chefs prepared all the food for four hundred diners on makeshift stoves set on Sinatra Drive. He told us the menu.

“Thanks,” we said. “One more question, any chance the Manzo Boys might come? (Ohmyagghghahgha! Manzo Boys! Banshee wailing! Hen clucking!).

“Nah, they're away filming the new season,” Cassapulta said (Come on! #%@&).

Guests bought booze at a table next to the center food serving station. Boxes of classy Franzia wine lined the table (this is Hoboken, baby). All the bottled beer sat caked in ice inside one of the two rowboats the city readied to use in the recent hurricane. Ha! Take that you hussy Irene.

At one moment About Town heard a heavy pounding on the pavement approaching behind us. We turned around and dove out of the way just in time. Director Fallo had been sprinting straight in our direction towards the table to collect more ticket money, coins clanging in her metal Betty Boop money tin. For a flash second About Town inexplicably feared Fallo would attack us with a leaping dropkick.

About Town chatted with Bill Coughlin and Helen Cunning of the St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee and asked their opinion on the better event, the Irish parade or the Italian dinner. Coughlin simply chuckled his cloverleafed answer.

Guests listened to nice jazz music from the Emily Turonis Band, who had lost their performance slot during the city's summer events series due to rain. Director Fallo gave them the spaghetti gig as a consolation.

By eight darkness fell and the dinner ended. Guests started leaving and volunteers began cleaning.

About Town thought right then: this was one of the best, most pleasant events we've ever covered for this column. We remembered what the press release said: this was the seventh shared dinner that a community held in honor of the one its ancestors held 50 years ago to honor their ancestors of 100 years ago. That's something when you think about it. Then we remembered what Director Fallo had told us three hours earlier.

 "It's like a family," she said, "everyone is getting together for an end of the summer party."

Yes. That's the way we like to see it. Our summer trips were nice, but it really is best to be back in Hoboken. Home.

Alan Skontra was a big dork who never went anywhere. Then he started writing the About Town column for Patch, and now he's everywhere. Have a hot tip on an event in Hoboken? Send an invitation, questions and comments too, to alanskontra@hotmail.com, and peep his tweets @alanskontra.