Naples
twelve o’clock, June 12, 2021 – 09:44 am
From tomorrow a week of celebrations
of Gimmo Cuomo
The number 13 will bring bad luck to the rest of Europe and the United States. But certainly not in Naples, where it is even considered propitious. And for this reason the Di Porzio family will start tomorrow, June 13, the week of celebrations for the hundred and fifth birthday of the historic restaurant-pizzeria Umberto, in via Alabardieri in Chiaia. The date also coincides with the feast of St. Anthony of Padua. According to Catholic tradition, thirteen are also the miracles that the saint performs every day, 13 the invocations that the faithful address to him precisely to obtain intercession towards the Lord, 13 still the pieces of bread brought as a sign of devotion to the sanctuary of Padua and other churches in Italy dedicated to the Franciscan of Portuguese origin and 13, finally, the pieces of bread broken into smaller pieces to commemorate the Gospel episode of the multiplication of loaves and fish.
The bond of bread with the saint dates back to the miracle of the resurrection of little Tommasino, a twenty-month-old child drowned in a tub full of water brought back to life following the prayers of his mother who had promised Saint Anthony to give to the poor every year. a quantity of grain corresponding to the weight of the child. And so just to renew the tradition, from tomorrow until June 20, Umberto’s guests will receive as a gift a piece of bread produced with mother yeast, kept and refreshed by the house. In exchange, a small contribution that will be donated entirely to the Pianoterra non-profit association for the “Mille giorni” project.
The Umberto restaurant was founded in 1916, in the midst of the First World War by Umberto Di Porzio, a farmer and rancher from Posillipo, together with his wife Ermelinda. In its over one hundred year history it has hosted the last king of Italy Umberto di Savoia, the mathematician Renato Caccioppoli, the playwright Eduardo De Filippo. The latter, who as a child lived not far away, in the house of his father Eduardo Scarpetta, ordered dinner from Umberto during the performances of Christmas in Casa Cupiello at the Sannazaro theater. And it seems that if the delivery were delayed even for a few minutes he would go on a rampage.
The descendants of the founder Umberto, that is the brothers Massimo, Lorella, Roberta and Linda have brought the place into the new millennium. And now a new generation, the fourth, is already pressing on the doors to carry on the tradition and to consolidate the coat of arms of one of the most loved clubs by Neapolitans.
June 12, 2021 | 09:44
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