Lunching with The Prince

Adapted from Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com

The recent death  at 75 of Gennaro Castellano, former captain of  downtown Providence’s well known Capriccio restaurant, brought back cinematic memories of a few lunches I had there  with Vincent “Buddy” Cianci in his heyday as mayor and “Prince of Providence’’  in the ’90’s. The lunches were very long, and he wasn’t averse to drinking stuff stronger than water during them. Considering that Cianci allegedly had a good-sized city to run, he seemed in no hurry to get back to work even as we approached 3 p.m. Indeed, it was I who became increasingly anxious to get back to my job running The Providence Journal’s commentary pages, with its not very forgiving deadlines. 

Buddy would say as I kept looking at my watch: “Relax! Nice place, eh?”  

The waiters were very able, if obsequious, as if they feared the mayor, with his semi-mobster persona. They probably had good reason to. 

 Of course, being mayor of a good-sized city has always involved various degrees of show business. Consider besides Buddy, such flamboyant examples as New York Mayors Jimmy Walker and Fiorello LaGuardia (see the musical Fiorello!) and Boston Mayor James Michael Curley (read the novel The Last Hurrah).