Annual Italian parade to return after year off
have the crowd spread out and distance.”
Bimbo’s 365 Club owner Graziano Cerchiai has been selected as the parade’s grand marshal. The legendary North Beach nightclub and venue, known for its Art Deco interiors by architect Timothy Pflueger and “Girl in the Fishbowl” performer over the bar, is celebrating its 90th anniversary after being closed for more than a year due to the pandemic.
“We really want to support the businesses in North Beach this year; Graziano felt like an opportunity to celebrate that legacy,” Mastrangelo said. “Obviously, 90 years is monumental to survive that long, especially after this last year. The club itself reminds me of the elders of my family, my grandparents and great-grandparents. It reminds me of a time no longer here but a part of us.”
Indeed, Bimbo’s 365 Club, now managed by Cerchiai’s sons Michael and Gino, has been like a second home for Cerchiai.
Cerchiai was born in in Pescia, Italy, and met his future wife, Diana Isola Giuntoli, while studying economics at the University of Florence. Giuntoli, who died in 2017, was the daughter of Tuscan-born Agostino “Bimbo” Giuntoli, the owner of the eponymous club. The couple became engaged a month after meeting, and Cerchiai moved to San Francisco in 1953 and began working at the club.
They ran into trouble when Chronicle columnist Herb Caen reported on Cerchiai’s new job — he was in the country on a tourist visa, which made it illegal for him to work. But he and Diana eloped to Reno, and when they returned, Cerchiai began apprenticing at the club under his father-in-law.
Cerchiai worked as a chef, maitre d’ and finally general manager. Over the years, he became well-known in the front of the house, greeting VIPs like Liberace, Luciano Pavarotti and Joe DiMaggio in his customary tuxedo. With his dapper appearance and European charm, Cerchiai became a North Beach personality.
Performers he presented at the club while general manager include musicians Glen Campbell, Smokey Robinson, Louis Prima, the Fifth Dimension, Marvin Gaye, Al Martino and Duke Ellington, as well as popular comedians like Totie Fields and Jo Anne Worley.
When asked about some of his favorite stars, Cerchiai joked that with celebrities “it’s just like if you go to a priest to confess — he can’t tell you anything” and demurred on offering any backstage tales.
Mastrangelo said that the parade already has dozens of businesses and Italian American community organizations committed to marching. He is also hoping to bring back the traditional high school marching bands from around the Bay Area.
Mastrangelo said they probably won’t know the final number of participants in the parade and festival until mid-September. A float honoring Bimbo’s is also being discussed as well as a parade viewing area outside the club.
Additional honorees will be announced at a later date.
Although the parade’s name was changed to the Italian Heritage Parade in 1994 after more than a century as the Columbus Day Parade, the figure of Christopher Columbus will again be included in the parade along with the Court of Queen Isabella, a reference to the Spanish monarch who funded Columbus’ voyage.
In San Francisco, Indigenous People’s Day and Italian Heritage Day are observed instead of Columbus Day due to re-evaluations of the Italian explorer’s treatment of native peoples during his voyage. Last year, the Columbus statue in Pioneer Park at Coit Tower was removed by the San Francisco Arts Commission.