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Requiem For A South Beach Pizzeria
Requiem For A South Beach Pizzeria
What can a wretch like me say? Whom shall I ask to intercede for me, When even the just ones are unsafe?
Med Pizza, located at 1240 Washington Avenue, suddenly closed late Sunday night, April 7, 2013, after a dozen years of serving New York Style pizza to South Beach residents and visitors. I saw the end coming, but it was premature. The pizzerias operator, Sadettin Ugucu, fondly known as Jimmy, alerted me some time ago to the fact that the lease on the narrow space was expiring at the end of May, and that the landlord, Jonathan Fryd, had demanded his departure or double the rent. Jimmy was planning on renovating the pizza joint even though he was having trouble making ends meet since the Great Recession, but there was no way he could pay $15,000 rent plus maintenance. And then he received a retroactive maintenance charge of $5,000 for what he said was negligible maintenance as far as his operation was concerned. Page 1 of 4
Now I have known Sadettin Ugucu for five years. Jimmy is an honest, hard-working, generous man. A man used to be successful for that reason alone in the good old days. Some time ago, I wrote a little review of his pizzeria, which I had frequented since I became a member of Crunch gym across the street: I know greasy pizza is popular, especially if it's baked in a pan, but I don't care much for it. I'd rather have a slice of Jimmy's thin-crust pizza. He puts fresh stuff on it and lays it down plumb naked in the oven. If you're having just a slice, ask him to put a little extra something on it before re-heating it. The price is right to begin with. Jimmy's a generous and hospitable fellow, but don't tell him I told you so. He's generous with words too, especially if you like to talk Turkeyhe's Turkish. His English is admittedly not very good as it does not go too far beyond what he learned working long hours in the concession stand and pizza business. His Spanish is worse: he is most often mistaken for a Cuban because most of us do not know what a Turk looks like, and he plays Latino music on the radio. He had a sign up the other day for his special, Med Pizza, $6.99 With Drink. I tried in vain to explain why people were demanding a medium pizza, a size that he does not sell, and a drink for that price. He curtly dismissed my plea for him to change the sign: Med is Mediterranean. Okay, I guess people should have known that. If his interlocutor is patient, he gets the message across, and does so enthusiastically. Since I knew the end was nigh, I stopped by more frequently to chat and to have a Corona or two after my afternoon workouts at Crunch. I met some fascinating customers from all walks of life. Jimmy had time to demonstrate some of the tricks of his trade, like brushing garlic butter around the edges of the crust. Making pizza is a simple business, but not everyone knows how to make it well. A pizzeria with cigarettes, sodas, beer, and ice cream can be a money machine if the rent is right. I asked Jimmy if he went to university in Turkey before he came to America. No, Mister David, I went to high school, but I am only, how is it said, half a man. What? You think you are half a man? I dont understand. I have fifty-percent education, Mister David, because left and right were fighting. My school was on left. A student was killed by the right, my school closed. I had to be careful to walk around right areas when I went to school. A teacher got pregnant, the school closed. School was closed half time. So I am half-educated man. This was before generals took over in 1980, and then there was peace. Jimmy gave me a rough idea of Turkish politics. There were the four military coups including the one in 1980. The militarys duty was to secure secularism, national sovereignty, and democracy, the principle Western ideals of Ataturk (father of the Turks, General Mustafa Kemal). In 1980 the military cracked down on unions and parties, executing some leaders, torturing extremists, and imprisoned many people to boot. So there civil rights were put on the Page 3 of 4
And I heard a voice from heaven, saying to me: Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. From henceforth now, saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow them.
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