May 2020 – Bassano Cheesecake

The Man Walking in front of the Bride and Groom is Pasquale Bassano. This man walks like a king because he worked hard and found the American Dream. It was just a seed when he found it but through hard work he turned it into a field.

I wish I could sit and talk with my great grandfather for a few hours, he is a man that landed on Ellis Island with nothing more then a dream and in return we all were born in this great country in a large part due to his hard work our lives have been spared a huge struggle!

From Newspaper articles and stories Pasquale did not lead a quite life. He had to start as a construction worker when first arriving in Ellis Island. I was told that the foreman hit him over the back with a 2×4 while he was digging a hole, he grabbed the foreman and bit off a piece of his ear then threw him in the hole and became the foreman that day. This story has been verified through many people who have also mentioned that a lot of people who betrayed him were missing a piece of their ears. Another story that was told to me as a young kid was that he had trouble with English for a few years so while he was working as a construction foreman he would eat at the same diner every day. All he could order was a cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie because that is all he could order in English. A friend of his, after hearing him complain of how sick and tired of apple pie he was suggested he orders a Ham and Cheese sandwich and a cup of Ice Tea. My Great grandfather practiced ordering all day “won Ham-ena-cheese a sangwich and a cupa ice ah Tea ah” when he finally went into the diner the waitress said cup of coffee apple pie? My Grandfather said no! “won Ham-ena-cheese a sangwich and a cupa ice ah Tea ah” the waitress looked surprised and promptly asked him whole wheat, white or rye?, my great grandfather promptly answered “won cup of coffee and appleahpie” I do not know if this is a joke or a true story but I hope it is true. All other stories are backed up through newspaper articles. For instance, my great grandfather decided to help out the laborers standing in line looking for work during the great depression, so he drove a truck full of apples down to the city and handed them out to the poor looking for work. A man stole an apple from the truck that he was giving away apple from and my great grandfather made the news, not for his kindness but instead for beating a man with a shovel for stealing the apples he was giving away. Pasquale was a man of principles he would give the shirt off his back but he would not tolerate a thief!

I hope you have enjoyed so far I have much more to tell about Pasquale.

To be continued…

Feel free to add, comment or ask questions!

Pasquale Bassano Built this house in the early 1900’s this picture was taken April 23 1933, our logo picture is from 1910.

Bassano Cheesecake House 2019, now a dentist office, 501 S. Broadway in Yonkers

June 10 2019 I stopped by to visit this house (now a dentist office) that my great Grandfather built, that is me in the picture. In the first picture that is my Great Grandfather taking my Great Aunt Clara to the church to be married. She is the greatest cook in the family and all recipes and food has and remains to be compared to hers. I assume much of her cooking was learned from My Great Grandmother Alvira Bassano. In those days families were much larger, worked longer hours so the kids had chores and jobs. Clara was the cook and she was fast and incredible, her cooking has become legendary and all the Bassanos and DePasqualis rate food from Chef Boyardi to Aunt Clara. We hope that Aunt Clara would approve of our resurgence of the Bassano Cheesecake. The word on the street is that it is the best but we contest that, our Cheesecake is the 2nd best Cheesecake cause don’t disrespect your Mother Capisce.

A side note, in the picture from our logo taken in 1910, Clara is on the far right

Yonkers 1910 45 Park Hill Ave. Yonkers New York

In the bottom picture behind the boy kneeling is my grandfather. He has his hands on his vest and is wearing knickers and some crazy socks. Behind him looking to the left and laughing is Clara, to my Grandfathers left with the grey hair is Alvira, my Great Grandmother and above she is the one holding the baby. Sadly only 2 of the children in our logo lived to be adults, out of what I believe was 13 children only 5 survived pass there teenage years. Times were very tough then, something we take for granted as children have a much better chance of surviving now.

501 S. Broadway Yonkers New York

I hope you enjoyed, I have some great stories to come….My Great Grandfather was bitting ears off long before Mike Tysons’ Dad was Born! Stay tuned for those stories and more.

Gratzi, Bassano Cheescake