“Life is a combination of magic and pasta.”
-Federico Fellini
Along with his brother David, Jack Lencioni owns Lencioni Catering in Lynwood. His restaurant-bar is located about a mile across the state line on the south side of U.S. 30. The establishment includes a 40-seat banquet hall and a 200-seat banquet hall.
Lencioni, 60, lives in St. John.
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“I grew up on the East Side (of Chicago) at 110th and Avenue A,” Lencioni began. “That was Eddie Vrdolyak’s domain. I went to St. Francis de Sales High School. During those years, I worked for a company called Condes’ out of Whiting on Indianapolis Boulevard. They were the biggest caterer in Northwest Indiana back then. I started out as a bus boy. As a junior in high school, they told me I had to work less hours. I was putting in 45-hour weeks while going to school.
“At Condes’, we used to do the Bard’s Room at old Sox Park. That’s where the press all went. We did the Bears’ training camps when Abe Gibron was the coach. We’d do parties at Abe’s house in Michigan City. I was in a different town or venue every day. That’s why I loved catering so much. The guy who hired me at Condes’ now closes for me three nights a week.”
How long were you with Condes’?
“Almost 10 years. I was like 22 years old when they asked me to become general manager. The last jobs we had was the strikes.”
Strikes?
“Remember the NIPSCO strike in the early ’80s?”
Yeah, I remember.
“I was locked in their Michigan City facility for 285 days during that one. Right before that, I was at Amoco Oil in Whiting during the oil strike. I think that one started in 1980.”
Your job was to feed management while the bargaining unit employees were striking?
“Yeah. You worked 12 (hours) on and 12 (hours) off. At BP, it was 550 guys that we fed four times a day. At NIPSCO, it was 275 guys, four times a day.”
“I made a lot of money. That’s what got me started in business. When you’re locked in, you don’t spend any money. At the tender age of like 23 or 24, I was makin’ six figures. Yuh know? It was phenomenal. I opened my catering business in 1983.”
Where at?
“There was this VFW in Lansing (, Ill.) that was gonna close because they were back on their taxes by about $20,000. They had already voted saying they were gonna close. I says, ‘ I’ll tell you what, I’ll pay your taxes, that will be my prepaid rent for the next year or so.'”
How did that turn out?
“We were there from 1983 to 2013. It had a 200-seat banquet hall upstairs and a 50-seater downstairs. My brother came on board about 1989. He had been working at Pompalano’s at the time. Now it’s Bohemian Joe’s. David ran the place for me while I opened Villa Cesare in Schererville. We were contracted through the Cesare Battisti Lodge. It was a 1,000 seat banquet hall. We were there for 23 years.”
“We still do venues like Centennial Park in Munster, Our Lady of Consolation in Merrillville and St. John Township in Dyer, but all the food is prepared here. We do a lot of weddings. We did the biggest job in this area last July when we fed 18,900 people at BP in Whiting. It was nuts.”
What did you serve?
“A steak sandwich with oven-brown potatoes, baked beans and two cans of pop per person. The pop was delivered in a semi filled from front to back. I mean, to the roof.”
Are you first or second generation Italian?
“Second. My grandfather, Atillio Lencioni was born in the old country.”
Have you been to Italy?
“No, but I’m going within the next 12 months. In the restaurant business, you don’t get to go anywhere for more than five days or so. But my brother will take care of business while I’m gone so I can stay away longer.”
Jack, my brother once told me the toughest job he ever had was that of a bus boy in a busy restaurant.
“After all these years, I still find myself out there bussin’ tables. I think to myself, ‘(Expletive), I was doin’ this (expletive) 40 years ago.’ With that said, we’ve been very fortunate here.”
Are you married?
“Divorced. My ex-wife was my secretary and still is. I didn’t see any reason to get somebody new. We were married 25 years. I have two wonderful daughters with that woman. My Gina is a lawyer and my Jamie works in this business.”
How long have you been open for business at this location?
“It was two years May 19th. Our menu is not gigantic, but everything on there is fabulous. I guarantee you. If you bring in one of those 10-page menus like the Greeks do, you can’t do everything perfect.”
How many employees?
“About 80.”
Heavy hitters?
“Our Italian beefs. We do a rigatoni and meatballs that is fabulous. We’re known for our fried chicken and lake perch. We do prime rib on the weekends for the restaurant. We do a lot of custom catering. We do a lot of Mexican events – fajitas, poblanos… . We just did a quinceanara for 200 people at Centennial Park.
“I was the first gentile to cater at Temple B’nai Yehuda in Homewood. I also was the first non-Greek to cater at St. Demetrios in Hammond. I speak better Greek than I do Italian because back in the day I had a lot of Greeks workin’ for me. They were always talkin’ about me. I says, yuh know what? I wanna know what the hell they’re sayin’. Yuh know?”
When you cater an event are the meals always served family style?
“Most of the time, but occasionally they have the buffet at these venues. And yuh know what? To tell you the truth, everything evens out. There’s the big eater that’s gonna eat six pieces of chicken and there’s gonna be the little old lady that don’t eat much. Yuh know what I mean? Same with drinkers.”
Anything I didn’t ask you that you wish I would have?
“When we came here, we got our casino license. There’s five slot machines over there. Just like on the boat. As you can see by our motif – Rat Pack photos, Marilyn, etc., we cater to the 50 and over crowd. It’s not that we don’t want 21-year-olds, but there’s really nothin’ here for ’em. I can’t bob and weave no more.”
You refer to breaking up barroom brawls.
“We have very little troubles here. Yuh know what I mean? We kinda police the place ourselves.”
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With our interview complete, I ordered a tundish of Jack’s fabulous rigatoni and meatballs. It was to die for and the sauce was out of this world.
Yuh know what I mean?
Jeff Manes is a freelance columnist for the Post-Tribune.
