La Capanella (Newcastle)

I bluffed: “Yes, a little.” I had after all assisted the ship’s cook last summer after he had accidentally sliced his hand.
He replied: “I need someone for the washing-up! ” I hesitated for a couple of seconds and then asked: “When can I start?”
He gave me an apron and said: “Right now if you want. There’s the sink!”
As easy as that.
At the time, Karen and I lived in Easington Village. It took me one whole hour on the X5 bus to get to work for 10am. I spent a few hours at the sink with a cheerful old Italian woman called Maria, washing up in a restaurant that fed anything between 200 and 500 customers every day. At the time, Italian, Chinese and Indian restaurants made up the Newcastle eating out scene and there weren’t many of them.
In the nine months I spent at the Capanella, I had the opportunity to watch the chefs cook genuine Italian dishes, from pizzas to pastas, fish to poultry. I was often required to help with cold starters and that is where I fell in love with avocados, a fruit I had never come across in the past. I marvelled at the way that various dishes were assembled at the last minute and served at the same time. Before service, the pizza chefs often competed to produce Margherita pizza in the shortest time possible, just like the omelette challenge on Saturday television. They all worked hard but also played hard.
The boss invited the staff out every Saturday night to Julie’s, the famous disco at the time. I never partook in the late-night entertainment as the last bus to Easington left Newcastle at 10pm. It took me on a mystery tour around the North East before dropping me off in Easington around 11.30pm.