Station 69 Firefighters enjoyed the wide selection of food at the luncheon, sponsored by the Palisades BID and held at Il Piccolo Ritrovo restaurant.
Piccolo Ritrovo and BID Host
Annual Appreciation Lunch
The Pacific Palisades Business Improvement District board held its third annual holiday appreciation luncheon at Il Piccolo Ritrovo Pizzeria and Trattoria on December 14.
Firefighters from Station 69, police officers, Chrysalis workers and members of the Palisades homeless task force were treated to three kinds of pizza (della casa, pollo pesto and vegetable), three types of pasta (penne Bolognese, fusilli Ritrovo, and ravioli casa recci) and three salads (chopped–finely chopped romaine lettuce with garbanzo beans, tomatoes, avocado, fresh mozzarella and olives tossed in the restaurant’s vinaigrette dressing; mista–mixed-green salad, fresh sliced tomatoes and vinaigrette dressing; and matteo–mixed greens, sliced pears, caramelized walnuts, roma tomatoes, blue cheese crumbles and grilled chicken breast in balsamic dressing).
The restaurant, owned by Deva and Ivan Kodeh, which is typically open for dinners, was specifically opened for this luncheon event. In 2017 Deva told this writer, “This is a great cause and a perfect time to honor the firefighters. My twin sister is with the Santa Monica Police Department, so I understand what they go through. We’re just so appreciative.”
Piccolo Ritrovo owners Ivan (left) and Deva Kodeh prepared the lunch, which was sponsored by Business Improvement District members including Dr. Shaun Malek.
“Thank you so much for doing this year after year,” said Glanda Sherman, a People’s Concern social worker who works with the homeless in Pacific Palisades. She was joined by social worker Jessi Cortez, who recently replaced Maureen Williams.
Sherman explained a major difficulty about getting the homeless into housing is the lack of identification. Many have not had an ID card or driver’s license for more than 20 years. (Look for an upcoming story about the issue.)
Also invited to the luncheon were Chrysalis workers, who are paid by the BID (and through 2018 by the Chamber of Commerce) to clean the streets and sidewalks in the Village business area, the library, the Village Green and the Marquez Knolls business area and empty trash cans.
Chrysalis workers help keep Palisades streets clean.
In a December 2016 article, Laurel Busby wrote: “Each year across the metro area, about 600 clients are employed by Chrysalis doing either street maintenance or staffing work, which can include clerical and janitorial services. These clients generally work for 6 to 12 months with the nonprofit before finding outside employment. Since it was founded more than 30 years ago, the organization has helped more than 55,000 people in their effort to leave homelessness behind.”
Il Piccolo Ritrovo is located at 15415 (next to the Shell station). Call:(310) 454-2243 or Visit: palisadesbid.org.
For dessert, there were individual cups of tiramisu.