Farewell Don Costanzo
RETIRING to his beloved Capri, after a final night last night in his restaurant Don Costanzo, is the one-time ponytailed Costanzo Cacace, who fed footballers, businessmen, and inebriated journalists at the now demolished Caprese Restaurant in Buchanan Street. Great times. You would go to Caprese for lunch and wake up the next day wondering what happened.
As one regular recalls: “I was talking to Costanzo abut the old days and he would say, ‘You know, beef stroganoff’ or ‘remember, penne arrabiatta’. He said he remembered most customers not by their name but by their favourite dish.
“More recently, he started chatting with a guy eating on his own. He asked him what he did and the fella said he was a guitarist.
“Obviously feeling he needed a bit of encouragement, Costanzo tells him he should go to Buchanan Street where the buskers are making a fortune.
“He didn’t take the advice too well. Turned out he was a guitarist in Paolo Nutini’s band.”