![]() ![]() It would stir memories it was good for him and people in the neighbourhood would say, ‘Hi’. “I’ll (bring) George through the Junction and we would stop in for sure. He’s 82 now and in declining health, but a glimpse of his favourite pizza spot can still bring a smile. Canadian boxing legend George Chuvalo took his family to Vesuvio Pizza and Spaghetti House weeks after he faced Muhammad Ali in a 15-round bout at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1966. His parents lived in the neighbourhood long after their famous son moved on, and George would visit Vesuvio’s regularly. George loved it,” says Mitch Chuvalo, George’s son.Ī veteran of 93 professional fights over 22 years, George Chuvalo retired in 1978 as a five-time Canadian champion, having fought for the world title three times. “Vesuvio’s was the prominent business in the Junction for so long. “He told me: ‘It doesn’t matter how many times he hit me, I would go back’ - those are nice things to remember.” “George and his wife and the family came in a couple of days later, after the Ali fight and his face was like an eggplant,” says Ettore. Chuvalo never hit the canvas in his career, even in two fights against the legendary heavyweight. One of the most memorable evenings from nearly 23,000 nights at the office for Ettore came in the early days of April 1966, when Canadian heavyweight champion George Chuvalo came for dinner with his young family for their first night out after Chuvalo went 15 rounds with Muhammed Ali at Maple Leaf Gardens in a bid for the world heavyweight title. We would eat Vesuvio’s three times a week.”ĭomi wasn’t the most prominent Junction tough guy to enjoy a meal at Vesuvio’s, though. My cousins - Jack and Errol – were telling me about the time I ate a whole pizza by myself, I was nine years old. “I used to play shinny with my cousins and then order pizza. “We had birthdays, anniversaries, engagements there, it was part of our family tradition,” says Domi, whose father would stop there when he wasn’t having coffee and playing cards at the Albanian social club down the street. Tie Domi lived on Ryding Avenue growing up – the railway tracks in his backyard, George Bell Arena across the street and Vesuvio’s around the corner and forever in his heart. “The Bruins had Phil Esposito and then Bobby Orr came along and it was beautiful,” says Ettore.īut that didn’t stop some well-known Leafs from pledging allegiance to Vesuvio’s. ![]() (Winslow Townson/AP)Īnd while the Leafs might drive business, Pugliese says his hockey heart was always with the Boston Bruins, a divorce from local tradition that stemmed from former Leafs boss Punch Imlach showing preferences by not drafting players of Italian heritage in the 1960s and early 1970s. Everybody would work, you would just watch the game sparingly.”įormer Toronto Maple Leafs tough guy Tie Domi says he ate pizza from Vesuvio’s three times a week. “For the Super Bowl it was always all hands on deck. ![]() Super Bowl Sunday is one of the biggest days of the year and even with the Steelers making eight appearances in the spectacle since Vesuvio’s opened, the priorities were always clear. Logically Ettore became a Pittsburgh Steelers fan – “ah, the Steel Curtain,” he says – and until recently took an annual trip to Pittsburgh to take in a game.īut the pizza business always came first. Just down the highway was Beaver Falls, home to Joe Namath, and not much further was East Brady, home to Buffalo Bills Hall-of-Famer Jim Kelly. The brothers knew only soccer at the time, but as Aliquippa shut down on Friday nights every fall, they came to fall in love with the American version of football, following the fortunes of local NFL legends Mike Ditka and later Tony Dorsett. outside of Pittsburgh that was a magnet for immigrants in the boom following World War II. When they first emigrated from their home near Naples, Italy - Vesuvio’s was a tribute to Mount Vesuvius, which loomed over their hometown - it wasn’t to Toronto but to Aliquippa, PA., a steel town about 50 k.m. The Pugliese’s sporting allegiances ran a little counter to local tradition. Leafs playoff games were always a boon, even if the intensity was short-lived. The Raptors’ playoff run last season gave Vesuvio’s two months of steady business. ![]()
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