Sarno’s Regulars Have Large Servings of Tears and Nostalgia

Along with the tagliatelle, pizza and fettuccine alfredo, customers at the famous Sarno’s Caffe Dell’Opera Wednesday helped themselves to large servings of tears, hugs and “I remember when” stories about owner Alberto Sarno, who was gunned down in his front yard Tuesday morning.

Old Italian men from the neighborhood, lunching businessmen and music lovers stepped into the dimly lit restaurant to give condolences and reflect on the life of one of the city’s best-known opera promoters. Some sat in the red leather booths, staring up occasionally at the autographed photos of the rich and famous who frequented the restaurant where for the last 20 years hopeful opera singers have offered arias in return for a free meal, and occasionally, a step towards stardom.

Nearby, at Sarno’s home on Los Feliz Boulevard, police detectives were trying to piece together what happened when Sarno, who himself was an opera singer, actor and premier cake baker, arrived there about 2 a.m. Tuesday after closing up shop. Sarno’s wife Silvana, who had returned three days earlier from a trip to Italy, heard a commotion outside the house. When she ran out, she found the restaurateur dead.

Los Angeles Police Detective Jerry Stephens said Sarno was shot to death. He said Sarno’s money was not taken, so robbery apparently was not the motive.

Friends and relatives expressed puzzlement over Sarno’s death. By their accounts, he was a friendly but sometimes temperamental man who rarely took vacations to enjoy his hobbies of horseback riding and yachting, because he was so wrapped up in the world of opera that unfolded in his cafe every night.

“He lived for this. He would sing here every night, but more often he was making sure people were happy, as if they were visiting his home,” said Natlaija Petkovic, a long-time employee.

Albert Sarno did not start out mixing arias with antipasto. His parents, Embarto and Frances Sarno, came to this country from Italy 66 years ago and started a bakery, first in Chicago and later in Los Angeles. The entire family worked in the kitchen or behind the counter, and the little shop on Vermont Avenue became a gathering place for Italians.

“Even when we were young, our first jobs were to place the cherries on the cookies,” recalled Alberto Sarno’s younger brother Dino Sarno, gesturing at the neat trays of cookies, strawberry tarts, chocolate eclairs, wedding cakes and crusty bread for which the shop is famous.

Everyone agreed that Alberto Sarno was the “master” at cake decorating, and as the eldest son was expected to eventually run the business. But his interests turned to music and he went to Italy to study opera for eight years. When he returned, he put on the bakery apron, and later opened a small coffee shop next door to the family’s bakery.

‘Everyone Loved It’

“One day he got up in the restaurant and sang opera. Everyone loved it. And he had discovered the vehicle to really do what he wanted to do in the world,” Dino Sarno recalled.

Over the years, Sophia Loren, Jimmy Durante, Lee Marvin, Sammy Davis Jr., Terry Moore, Gina Lollobrigida, Tony Bennett, Mario Lanza and Luciano Pavarotti were among his customers. Sarno played an opera singer in the movie “A Voice in the Night” with Aldo Ray and Jack LaRue. Actress Leeza Vinnichenko, who played a hooker in the film, said, “It was sort of a Rocky I of the opera world. It wasn’t a box office success. He wasn’t a great actor. It was his voice. That voice latched onto my sensitivities and could always make me cry.”

Vinnichenko, who had stopped by the bakery to talk to the family, placed her hands to her chest and said, “I can’t believe he is gone.”

Another longtime friend, also expressed dismay at the killing.

“This was the only place anybody, and I mean anybody including plumbers and bus drivers, could come in and realize their dream of singing opera, even if they couldn’t carry a tune. He welcomed everyone, and by doing that he created a place that was loved,” Louis Cerrotta said.

Gathering Place

Cerrotta, who lives in Malibu and is a retired manufacturer, said he began patronizing the bakery when it opened because it was one of the few places in the city that Italians could gather in a community atmosphere.

“Our wedding cake was made here. It was tier after tier after tier. I don’t remember the flavor but it was good.”

He looked around the almost-empty cafe. There was no pre-dinner bustle in the kitchen because the restaurant will be closed each day at 5 p.m. until after a memorial service is held at 10 a.m Saturday in Mother of Good Counsel Church, 2060 N. Vermont Ave.

“I can’t understand who would do it, who would kill him even for a grudge,” Cerrotta said with a look of pain on his face. “I will keep coming here. But I am afraid it will never be the same. To me, he was the singers and the songs. He was Sarno’s.