(ACT III, SCENE 1, MAY, 1990)
Spring has arrived, even in Chicago. Windows are open at the Mozer studio. The office pet is a piglet no longer. Designers and assistants have been busy. On the walls, standing in corners and posed on work tables are models or actual parts of the armor Vivere will wear. The sum of the parts, a press release eventually will announce, will be ”Vivere`s idiosyncratic Post- Industrial Baroque personality.”
Mozer: ”I feel great. Every detail is coming together wonderfully. All of us (the artists) are really proud of it.”
He virtually dances from one object or display to another, naming the persons responsible for what he terms ”Old World craftsmanship.”
The credits include Kirk Lockhart for handmade tiles, Peter Quinn and Opal Glass Studios for leaded-glass windows, handblown glass and specialty lighting fixtures, Jack Zawadzki for slumped glass, Charles Paris for aged-copper spiral lamps and columns, Michael Bondi for the wrought iron, Miltos Belarius for the marble and granite, Paige Mayberry for the draperies and handmade lace, Nina Levy of Chicago Fine Arts Foundry for the cast bronze, Jan Carmichael for specialty painting and plaster, Jerry Pascal for carpentry.
The list goes on. Mozer himself designed the chairs and bar stools, and Shelby Wiliams will market them.
But the design elements are here and in scattered studios. Some, perhaps, are still in the minds of their creators. They are not yet installed at 71 W. Monroe St. What about deadlines?
”We`re fine on all that,” he responds. ”The target is still June 15.” (SCENE 2, THE SAME DAY)
The three younger Capitaninis are in conference in the familiar cluttered office in the Village. Though nervous about Vivere`s menu and final design, they announce that an important objective has been obtained. Mike Gorogianis, a veteran restaurateur, has been hired to fill the newly created position of general manager.
Frank Jr.: ”We wanted more structure, a better business operation, but we grew up in this environment and didn`t know any other way to do it. Now there are waiters` meetings and chef meetings, there`s a manager`s log and storage is being reorganized. It`s exciting for us to come to work.”
Alfredo: ”We want to keep the family feeling, but we also realize accurate, up-to-date numbers help keep you objective and less emotional.”
They estimate that many of the old staff will return to the new room and pledge that one of the family will be on the floor at all times.
Gina: ”Very definitely. We would walk through the Florentine Room, but none of us was a presence there.”
(SCENE 3, THE SAME DAY)
In an adjoining room, Frank Sr. is in a mellow mood. He recently returned from a visit to Italy and talks about going to a restaurant where he dined with his father in 1948, during his first visit to the old country. ”The Italians are smart,” he says, ”they`ve had a standard menu since forever.” He recalls how he and Ray, who both came to work at the Village after graduating from Notre Dame, made their own statement three decades ago.
”We expressed to my father what we wanted. He knew we were working hard and had a feeling for the business, so, like us with the kids, he had no qualms. He gave me a clear mandate, except for one thing. He insisted there must be a place for people to hang their coats who didn`t want to pay to check them.
”On this job, it`s a good thing that the kids have put their own team together. I see myself as the detail man just making sure everything`s covered. They brought things for me to see and I voiced my opinion. But the style-that`s all them. Basically, it`s their baby. Our mother`s 88, and she`s enthusiastic to see what her grandchildren have done.”
(SCENE 4, LATE JUNE)
Tension grips the Village. The players are on edge and ready for action, but instead they have to mark time. Mozer talks about everything being done on time, but no one is sure exactly when that time will come. Despite progress on the kitchen, the space that was once the Florentine Room is still a dim and lifeless cavern. Ray is working with consultant Bob Rodine, pruning and restructuring the wine list. Frank Sr. rants as an unexpected new expense comes in.
Meanwhile, cost projections fill out into real numbers. Mozer`s original chairs are costing $175 each. The handcrafted hostess stand and signature wine cabinet come in with a $10,000 price tag. The bill for marble and tile will total $30,000.
Only chef Schonman is smiling. He has managed another visit to Italy, his menu is coming together and the sous chef he wanted, Rick Jones, has just come on board. ”When I start to feel lost,” he says, ”I take out the menu and look through it. When I see it`s fine, that sets my head straight, and I realize it`s only a matter of putting it into production.”
(ACT IV, SCENE 1, AUG. 28, 1990)
The curtain opens to reveal the completed Vivere. It`s vibrant, vivid, vivacious-and somewhat dizzying. There`s so much to see-so many details, so much color, so few straight lines-and so many people strutting on the stage. This, at last, is the opening party. The room wasn`t intended to host a convention, and even though the guests are old customers, family and friends, they are as loud and as greedy as partygoers everywhere. Only the injudicious would pass judgment at this moment, which doesn`t stop judgments from being passed.
Alfredo is asked how people have been reacting.
”Surprised,” he replies, ”shocked, amazed.”
”How about pleased?”
”Some are,” he says, ”but it`s going to take time.”
(SCENE 2, TWO WEEKS LATER)
Vivere is calmer if no less dramatic in appearence. It`s possible to study the finished work, to see the pieces of the puzzle-from the dramatic gazebo to the nose-cone chandelier, the cozy bar and its appointments, bold draperies, fantasy blown glass, artistic touches with copper and marble and the snail-shaped curls and curves everywhere. Today, lunch was served for the first time, and 105 persons turned up, boding well for the future.
Frank Jr. (pleased): ”It`s working. Peter is very, very good, and the back of the house jelled as a team at once. Now we have to be sure the service keeps up. It can`t just be good. We`re still rearranging tables to get the flow right.”
Alfredo (joining him): ”We`ve been getting more people each evening for dinner, and lots of them are ordering the multicourse tasting. Wine sales from the new menu are real good.”
(With appetizers in the $3 to $8 range, pastas from $5.50 to $7.75 and main courses from $10.75 to $19.95 at dinner, the check average will turn out to be about $30 a person before tax and tip. That`s well beyond the price of a casual meal, but also noticeably below the tab at other high-style restaurants in the city.)
Gina (looking around and smiling): ”It`s nice that it`s ours now, not the designer`s, but it`s been kind of lonely since the opening. We each have jobs to do, and we`re not together so often.”
Ray (who was hospitalized with hepatitis during the opening, enters and immediately tests a chair): ”Very good feel on the back, very comfortable.
(Then, looking around) I`m pleased. All these local artists. There`s no way you can copy this room.”
Frank Sr. (joining him and speaking in the best tradition of kings and family patriarchs as a piece of theater draws to a close): ”I think it`s wonderful. The kids did a beautiful job. The crew came through like seasoned pros. It`s our million-dollar baby, and it`s off and running like a winner.
And Mozer?
”I think he`s a genius in his own way. We had our differences, and it cost a lot of money, but this is a custom job and I`m very enthusiastic for what he did. I wouldn`t change anything.” (A brief pause). ”Well, I`m still not satisfied with my air-conditioning.”
Mozer appears, with a camera. The design magazines have been calling. He`s been asked to lecture about the project and the artists he assembled. Would he change anything?
”No,” he replies, ”nothing. I`ve never had a client treat me like a patron before and be so open to such a variety of ideas. I`m 100-percent happy.”
The fat lady sings, then announces she is hungry. As everyone turns back to their appointed chores, Frank Jr. brings down the curtain.
”Dad says this is a heart business. Your commitment to the work and the customers must come from the heart. We don`t know how much success we`ll have with Vivere, but we do know now how much pride and passion we have in what we do.”
