Jan 19, 2021
Tony Carracci's
life revolves around water.
Tony's parents met in Seattle, where
his mom was from. His dad, who is from from New Orleans, met his
mom up north during a stint in the Merchant Marines. When they were
expecting their first child, Tony, the young couple decided to
relocate to another port town: San Francisco, away from the cold
and rain of Seattle and the heat and mugginess in New
Orleans.
Tony did most of his growing up in
the 1960s and early '70s in The City, and he shares some of his
impressions of that era. He played baseball, football, and soccer,
and excelled at sports in general. But because he had a hard time
sitting still and focussing for a long time, school wasn't Tony's
favorite.
He graduated and left home in the
mid-'70s. He worked in the now-defunct SF shipyards but hated it.
He moved up to Portland (yet another port town!) for a couple
years, started working in kitchens, and started doing hair and
make-up. Then he went farther north, to his mom's hometown of
Seattle. But a girl he met there and started dating got a job back
in The City, and Tony decided that it was his chance to come
home.
After restaurant jobs here and
there, Tony learned about a new restaurant in the Haight that
needed an opening chef. That place was Cha Cha Cha.
Tony spends the last part of this
episode talking about Haight Street and South of Market back in the
day. He ends with the story of opening the Cat Club.
Join us Thursday for Part 2, when
Tony will share the story of opening his BBQ joint in the East
Bay.
We recorded this podcast at Black Star Pirate BBQ in
Richmond, California, in December 2020.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather