The day after the tragic 9/11 terror hit, New York City was shut down. Fearing another attack, the last place anybody wanted to be was on Ground Zero.
The 70-seater Canal Street owned by Antonio “Niño” Vendome was no exception. Of course, no customers were coming in and operational costs were skyrocketing.
But seeing men in uniform and volunteers brave through exhaustion and hunger and comb through the rubble to find more survivors, he knew they had to do something. His mother Josephine, who then was serving as a cashier at the restaurant, voiced what everybody was thinking.
If they couldn’t help in the search and recovery operations, they could still do what they know best: Serve food.
Just 24 hours after the attack, they opened the restaurant’s door once again but money was no good there. As long as you are part of the rescue and recovery efforts, you can walk in and get free food. They originally thought that they would be serving 150 people a day, but the number ballooned to 7,000.
The restaurant was bleeding money and it mostly came from Vendome’s pockets. But his Italian stubbornness just didn’t allow him to give up. Fortunately, word spread about the endeavor and donations and volunteers started trickling in. Soon the restaurant became a 24-hour relief center that offered not just food but a refuge where rescuers could destress before going back out again.
The cash contributions they were getting were not nearly enough for the task at hand. During the peak of the rescue efforts, the restaurant was serving 20,000 eggs, 300 pounds of sausage, and 300 pounds of bacon each day. And that was just for breakfast.
But he still dipped into his pocket. Again, and again, and again.
Five months after the 9/11 attacks, the restaurant finally closed its doors but not after proving yet again the indomitable human spirit—and perhaps some Italian stubbornness sprinkled in. Before they closed, they already served more than 500,000 free meals.
Vendome also recognized the part the restaurant played in contemporary history after the attack that changed America forever. The artifacts and badges they received from thankful rescuers and volunteers were donated to the city so they could be displayed in a museum. He has also been quoted by the New York Times for his notoriety in the city.
If there was one lesson that Vendome took from that experience, it can be summarized in one bit of advice. “It’s always a good idea to listen to your mother,” he beamed.
