Among the many opportunities of meeting and banquet for Rivalto's people, we like to dwell on that offered by the workshop of Otello Benedetti (1902-1984), activity subsequently continued by his family.
The activity took its first steps in Piazza della Compagnia (now Piazza Antonio Gramsci, at civic number 14), in a room on the ground floor of Otello's house (in the picture, the door with the three stairs of more recent origin) with a counter and a few tables at the bottom, used as food shop and small barrom for serving wine and spirits.
The central location in the village was an ideal meeting place, especially for the peasants after the intense week of work, which went there on Sunday "a fare il fiasco" (to do the flask of wine): they played cards, accompanied by a heavy drinking, and at the end the unlucky who lose the game was the one who paid the landlord. Who, telling, remembers those days, speaks of playing cards alterned by a series of bottles of wine, blasphemic insults (common in Tuscan slang and known as "moccoli"), smoking of vitalbe or peel of wine (at those time the poverty forced to not smoke cigarettes but some alternatives like sticks of dry plants) and, not infrequently, animated recalls by the women worried about the considerable losses of money of their husbands. Among the most popular games, definitely the scopa, tresette and briscola, all characterized by clever winks, signs and grimaces of the folk tradition of the cards.
Also children went with joy to the shop, accompanied by their mothers, because there was the "bascula", the libra for the flour also used to weigh themselves.
For a long time, due to bakery license restrictions -at that time already held by another oven in Rivalto and granted in proportion to the number of inhabitants of the place-, Otello was forced to sell bread that came from outside, as long as, after many insistences and bureaucratic disputes with the Administration of the time, was able to open an oven, separated from the shop, at the end of Via Garibaldi, at civic number 8, just before Piazza Beato Giordano.
The workshop of Otello then moved to Piazza Beato Giordano, at civic number 10, in the same place occupied since before the Second World War by "The Mugnaia" (the Miller's wife), another historic shopkeeper in Rivalto. Here Mirella, the Otello's daughter, carried on the business of selling groceries, bakery and tobacco, equipping the workshop with a pay phone, very useful for the times. Subsequently, the activity was taken over by Ombretta Matteoli (1948-2000) and later closed down.
Meanwhile, passed the dark times of war, Otello bought the area of Cortesi in Via Amerigo Vespucci, just where the landmines of the Germans, retreating from the Americans, "had left a hole", damaging or breaking down large part of the surrounding buildings, including the native house of Beato Giordano. After completing the reconstruction work, the premises, used as bars, tobacconists and restaurant, opened in 1969.
The bar and restaurant of Mirella and Gigi, who assisted his wife in the activity, has been for years a meeting place for locals and visitors that have always enjoyed the baked bread and the home cooking of Mirella -pasta, roasts and casseroles in quality and... quantity!-.
Every morning, mothers and grandmothers went to the bar to buy the delicious tortino (tuscan crushed bread), freshly baked, wrapped in the traditional sheet and ready for breakfast of their loved: the sweet one -with anise seeds or raisin- and the salty one -with salt and oil-.
Close to the festas of Easter and Christmas, Mirella churned out her tasty rustic pies.
The bar, especially on summer evenings, was crowded of people playing cards, commenting the events, reading the newspaper, watching the football matches or some movie on TV. Many young people tasted a fresh spuma (a very common soft drink in Tuscany, made with caramel, lemon juice, orange peel, rhubarb, vanilla and spices) or a beer in the terrace while facing each in lively matches of table football. Younger guests mingle, inside or outside the bar, in small groups busy to find some coins to buy cingomma (typical tuscan slang for chewing gum) and Chupa-Chups (famous italian brand of lollipop).
Every morning, mothers and grandmothers went to the bar to buy the delicious tortino (tuscan crushed bread), freshly baked, wrapped in the traditional sheet and ready for breakfast of their loved: the sweet one -with anise seeds or raisin- and the salty one -with salt and oil-.
Close to the festas of Easter and Christmas, Mirella churned out her tasty rustic pies.
Crossing point, stop over to talk during all walks toward the War Memorial, there is no person who has transited in Rivalto without remembering an anecdote in this place in company of Gigi (1930- 2014), the barman, an institution behind the bar counter with his kind and calm air. In the image below, present at the Photo Exhibition of the '900 during The Peasant Festival of Rivalto in 2008, Gigi, affectionately, has a hand on the head of Garibaldo.
The bar-restaurant of Mirella is still in business, though for meals it is necessary to book in advance.
The premise still conveys the charm of the past, with the old bar counter, the familiar furnitures, the bottles of liqueurs, bitters and soda that so much have marked past years - Averna, Ponche, Centerbe, Vinsanto, Spuma- .
The bar-restaurant of Mirella is still in business, though for meals it is necessary to book in advance.
The premise still conveys the charm of the past, with the old bar counter, the familiar furnitures, the bottles of liqueurs, bitters and soda that so much have marked past years - Averna, Ponche, Centerbe, Vinsanto, Spuma- .
The walls of the bar, rich of photographs from the early '900 to date and adorned with trophies of numerous soccer tournaments of local amateur teams, still tell stories of everyday. Mirella, among her anecdotes, tells with pleasure and involvement when she made the shirts for the football team of Rivalto and when, during the games at the football field of La Madonna, she reached the team by tractor to bring there a snack.
When you are in Rivalto, do not miss the opportunity of a stop at the bar for a chat or an unusual encounter: do not ask a cocktail, rather rediscover the pleasure of the calm rythmes of the village by enjoying a piece of tortino or a glass of tuscan red!
Take your time for a rich and genuine meal at the restaurant below or, in the summer, sitting comfortably at a table on the terrace or among the olive trees with a surprising panoramic view of the Valdera hills!