RI’s Next Generation: Angelo’s Jamie Antignano on Taking Over Federal Hill Institution
Tuesday, November 02, 2021
Jamie Antignano says she didn’t always know she’d take over her family’s business — Angelo’s — on Federal Hill.
Now, however, she is at the helm of the fourth-generation family restaurant and is preparing for its 100th-year celebration in 2024.
“I do not do this alone by any means. My mother does the baking and bookkeeping, my dad helps with everything else, and we have a truly incredible staff that is basically family, we see each other more than our real family sometimes,” said Antignano.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“I know how special this piece will be for my family, especially my dad. I owe everything I am to my parents, and would not be half the business owner and young woman without them,” she added. “We look forward to continuing to adapt and move forward to celebrate 100 and beyond.”
Growing Up — On Top of the Restaurant
In 1924, Angelo's Civita Farnese Restaurant opened its doors on Atwells Avenue. Farnese is a tiny town located 60 miles northwest of Rome in central Italy, and the name reflected the style of Italian cooking the new settlers to Federal Hill could expect inside, writes the restaurant on the website.
Angelo’s was the "workingman's restaurant, a restaurant without frills serving simple, delicious food made from village recipes. Each dish was hearty and substantial, never expensive, and the restaurant possessed an ambiance that was and still is, unique."
When the founder Angelo Mastrodicasa retired in 1954, his daughters took over and, in 1965, moved the restaurant for its third, and final, time to its current location at 141 Atwells Avenue. In 1988, the family business was handed over to nephew, Bob Antignano, his wife Lee, and their two daughters, Cindy and Jamie.
“We used to live on top of the restaurant,” said Antignano of growing up on the Hill. “My earliest memories were living here — making pancakes for the staff and bringing them downstairs. My godparents lived below us. I know it was probably tough for my dad, never leaving.”
“My parents have been wonderful merging our lives between having a small business and being family. It doesn’t stop when the restaurant closes,” said Antignano. “I started helping out when I was around 8, and then when I got older, started working as a hostess, and then as a manager.”
“I remember meeting Buddy [Cianci] as a girl, and meeting all sort of politicians,” said Antignano, of the popular destination for elected officials, many of whose photos still adorn the walls of the restaurant.
Antignano, a La Salle Academy grad, had a decision to make when it came to college — follow in her father’s footsteps, who was a baseball standout, to Bryant, or strike out on her own.
“I went to Bentley,” said Antignano. “I wanted to get a job on my own after college. I started working for TJX Companies in buying and allocation.”
Antigagno, however, didn’t have a choice.
“Everyone used to joke about me taking [the restaurant] over when I was younger,” said Antignano “But we had a rule — I had to work somewhere else post-college to see what else was out there.”
Making Decision to “Come Back”
“When I was 24, my dad approached me about what I was thinking,” said Antignano. “We met halfway in Foxboro at an Italian restaurant. I was living in Somerville at the time”
“I said I want to talk about this as if I wasn’t your daughter,” she continued. “I was in a corporate job with great pay and benefits. I made my dad draw up a contract."
For Antignano though, the lure to “come back” — and see both the business, and Providence, succeed, was stronger.
“I gave my two weeks to TJX,” said Antignano, who, for a period of time, did the “reverse” commute, living in Boston, and working in Providence.
“I’d leave Boston at 5 a.m., drive down, work all day, leave the restaurant at 10 p.m., then come back to Boston and meet friends out at 11,” said Antignano.
“That didn’t last long,” she added, laughing.
“It was rocky at first. Saying you’re going to work with your parents is one thing, working with them is something else,” said Antignano. “You have all these bushy-tailed, bright-eyed ideas. I almost came in too aggressive. My dad told me to slow my roll.”
“So I started on dishes,” said Antignano. “When I took it over, I didn’t want anyone to know more than I did, so I started there. Then I was in the kitchen at night, and on the floor during the day. Then it was learning the finances, bookkeeping. licenses. food codes, taking the exams to be food safety manager.”
“The first year was a testament to all that my father and I have built,” said Antignano. “We’ve always been best friends, but it was a combination that he saw maybe he needed to step back, and me, I was type A — it was a tough year. My mom did not know what to do.”
“It was certainly interesting at family dinners, after we’d say not to bring it home,” she added. “We had trials and tribulations in the beginning. Now, he says I have full reign.”
100-Hour Pandemic Weeks — and Looking Ahead
“The first couple of years were definitely a challenge. And then COVID hit,” said Antignano, noting that she and her father were often working 100 hours a week — just the two of them — to keep the restaurant open.
Last Christmas, her father officially tranferred the business over to Antignano.
“We signed the papers for the ownership. I wanted to buy it. I don’t take anything from my family. I approached him to get the company valued so I can appropriately pay for it,” said Antignano.
Now, like most businesses, Angelo’s is facing staffing issues — and with November and the holidays around the corner, a new challenge — supply chain issues.
“It’s so wild right now. I just spoke with another restaurant owner, who said he can’t afford clams. We’ve always sold tripe, and now it's gone from $3 a pound to $9 a pound. We’re at a decision point. Even if we can get some things, are people going to be willing to spend the price?” said Antignano.
Antignano said that people have asked about the “new ownership,” after seeing the restaurant was sold as a matter of public record, but she lets people know it’s now hers — and plans to keep it that way.
“Do we have plans for our 100th anniversary? We’re looking at having ’1924’ nights with how it used to be — from how waitstaff called in orders, to 1924 prices,” she said. “But right now, I can’t even predict too much. Are we going to be able to have big gatherings?”
Antignano said that the upside of the pandemic, however, was that it helped the restaurant innovate. Last month, Angelo's debuted its new "indoor-outdoor" windows -- which were planned pre-pandemic, but turned out to be of benefit for increased airflow in warmer months.
As for Antignano, she said she is happy with her decision to “come back.”
“People want to see the state succeed, and I want to see the city succeed,” said Antignano. “And we need people to put the effort in. Because either you leave and never come back — or you never leave.”
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