From The Peopling of New York City
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Visiting an Albanian Restaurant
On Friday, April 16, 2010, we visited Chuck’s Pizzeria and Restaurant located at 340 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, New York 10301. This pizzeria offers insight into the Albanian culture because it offers Albanian food in addition to more traditional pizzeria fare. This pizzeria is about two years old and is owned by an Albanian family who named the place after their son who is nicknamed “Chuck.” One of the managers working at this pizzeria showed us another business owned by Chuck and his family. This was basically an Albanian convenience store and was located directly next to the pizzeria.
The Menu
One particular item that we focused on in Chuck’s was the food. Chuck's conforms to the American culture because it is a pizzeria. It has all different types of Italian foods such as pizza, heroes, pasta, chicken, red meat, chicken, and fish. However, it is an ethnic institution because it has foods like bureks (doughy crust filled with either meat and onions or feta cheese, kus(homemade yogurt), pleskavic(meat patties similiar to a cheeseburger), and qevapa (grilled meat). Also, the workers are all Albanian men and speak to each other in Albanian.
We both ordered Albanian bureks. We had a choice between meat and onion burek and feta cheese burek. We both ordered the meat and onion one. The meat and onion was stuffed inside a flaky, dough crust. We noticed that this crust is very similar to many Greek foods and pastries. The manager explained that Albanian food is very similar to Greek food because Greece is located so close to Albania. They cook in similar ways.
We dipped our bureks in homemade kus. Albanians eat the burek and kus in both Albania and in America These foods remind Albanian people of their culture. They feel close to their homeland no matter where they are located. The burek is also very similar to the American meat pie and the kus is like plain yogurt. No matter where these people are, these foods are made with the same ingredients. It is one part of their immigration experience that doesn’t change.
The Decor
From this restaurant we got a taste of popular Albanian/European architecture. The entire restaurant was marble and brick. It had European craftsmanship and style. We saw how Albanian workers speak and interact to each other and Albanian customers. We noticed that it was quite different from how they were with customers of other cultures. With non-Albanian speakers, they simply took their order but with Albanians they laughed, joked, and carried on a conversation. When we went into the Albanian convenience store, there were all different types of Albanian foods, ranging from breads, to cheeses, to cookies, to candies, and to Halal meat. There were also Albanian calling cards.
This place was decorated with symbols of Albanian culture. The manager said it was similar to how homes in Albania are decorated. In the front of the store there was a huge framed replica of the Albanian flag. This flag is red and shows the black double-headed eagle that is very important to the Albanian homeland and is very special to Albanian people. Albania is called the “Land of the Eagles”; this is their symbol. There also was a framed replica of the Koran and copper head busts of famous Albanian men. While the convenience store had many Albanian cultural aspects, there was not one trace of them in the actual pizzeria. In fact inside the restaurant, they even had words written in Italian such as Buon appetito! and there was a picture of the Roman Colosseum.
Interesting Syncretisms
The Albanian food was mixed right into the menu. There was not a separate section marked "Albanian dishes." The owners of Chuck's assimilated the Albanian food in with the Italian Pizzeria food.
The Members
The owners of Chuck's wanted to have customers of all races. They did this because they wanted to fit into the standards of an Italian pizzeria; they wanted to cater to all people, including those outside their community. This pizzeria is authentic because the staff claims themselves as an Albanian pizzeria. The manager said that this is an Albanian pizzeria because it offers Albanian food. This makes Chuck’s stand out; it is authentic and unique because it is not a typical all-Italian pizzeria. A large percentage of Chuck's customers are Albanian, however.
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