Sag Harbor Restaurateur Jack Tagliasacchi Shares His Story at Sag Harbor Historical Museum

Achille “Jack” Tagliasacchi said that shortly after he opened Il Capuccino Ristorante in 1973, a New York food critic wrote that “when people discover it, they will line up to the end of the block.”

Like the crowd that soon overflowed his restaurant, Tagliasacchi entertained a standing-room-only audience at the Sag Harbor Historical Museum’s “Fifty Years in Sag Harbor’s Restaurants” on Sunday.

The talk, part of the museum’s “On the Porch series,” took place the museum’s Annie Cooper Boyd House.

Tagliasacchi, who retains his thick Italian accent, said that after World War II, he dreamed of moving to the United States. Trained as an accountant, Tagliasacchi, who admitted he disliked the profession, first moved to Argentina in 1952, where he found work as, of course, an accountant.

But not long afterward, he was able to buy a restaurant that was situated on the Pan American Highway and fortunate to have a large parking lot across the road. It became a regular stop for the truckers who hauled produce to Buenos Aires.

In 1958, thanks to the sponsorship of a brother-in-law in California, Tagliasacchi moved to Miami, where he quickly found work. With a new family, he also needed to buy a house and found one for $11,900. “Nowadays, that doesn’t buy a pair of shoes,” he said.

It was also in Miami that Tagliasacchi earned the nickname “Jack.” It was bestowed on him by a chef with whom he interviewed who could not pronounce his first name, Achille. He then asked, ‘“What is your last name?’” Tagliasacchi said. “He thought I had an easy last name.” Unable to pronounce that name as well, the chef asked, “Can I call you Jack?” and the name stuck.

After five years in Miami, Tagliasacchi moved to New York and soon found a job at the Canoe Place Inn in Hampton Bays, where, on opening night under new management, his kitchen staff served 800 people buffet style.

“I had a good time, I was happy, I was doing well,” he said. “I loved to mingle with people. I loved to see people smiling when the food was served.”

While at Canoe Place Inn, Tagliasacchi met Frank Barry, co-owner with his brother Bob Barry of Baron’s Cove in Sag Harbor. Barry offered Tagliasacchi the job of managing the inn’s restaurant, which was being expanded.

He pointed out familiar faces in the crowd of about 100 people who worked with them. “We had a lot of fun,” he said. “We worked very hard.”

Cocktail hour at Baron’s Cove was legendary. “If you were somebody, you were there for cocktail hour between 5 and 7,” Tagliasacchi recalled — and sometimes longer. That’s because the imposing bartender launched a tradition that if someone said he wanted to buy a drink, he would set them up for everybody at the bar. “Sometimes they would have three glasses in front of them.”

Although Sag Harbor was still a rough-and-tumble town in the mid-1960s, Tagliasacchi said Baron’s Cove had its share of celebrities. One time, Tagliasacchi recounted, a waiter approached him in the kitchen to inform him that he thought he recognized someone in the restaurant. “I think these people are in show business or something,” the waiter said. “I sort of recognize him.”

It turned out to be Frank Sinatra, who had come by boat and stopped in for dinner with his entourage.

Besides the author John Steinbeck, a seasonal regular was Paul Newman, who raced cars at the Bridge Race Circuit and stayed at Baron’s Cove with his crew. Newman, who was famously married to the actress Joanne Woodward for 50 years, would make it a point to say hello to the women who gathered outside the restaurant to see him, Tagliasacchi said.

Running a restaurant is like conducting an orchestra, Tagliasacchi said. “You have to make sure everyone is on his part at the right moment.”

Speaking of Il Capuccino, he said despite its small size, the kitchen could turn out 250 meals on a typical evening.

“You’d be amazed, really surprised,” he said, “and the question how can the people do it?” The answer, he added, is “people are crazy.”

Tagliasacchi, who went on to open Il Monastero restaurant in East Hampton, said that he always loved working in restaurants.

“I never felt like I went to work,” he said. “It felt like work when I was working as an accountant.”

Tagliasacchi, who pointed out family and friends in the audience, said he was proud to have helped so many young people pay for their college educations by working in his restaurants.

“I’m very grateful to be part of this community,” he said. “This community welcomed me, a little foreign boy from Italy, with open arms.”