Enniskillen restaurant closes down after several decades

The lovely language of ‘amore’ rang out for the last time in a true Enniskillen institution last Saturday, February 10, as the town said a fond farewell to The Golden Arrow in a flood of nostalgia and quite a few tears.

Sitting in this hallowed spot was like being back in Little Italy – the booths, with Formica tops, looking around at hard Italian Terrazo tiles.

It was a bit like being on set of the film, ‘Once Upon A Time in America’, and the only people missing were Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.

It was an emotional day for the Lucchesi family who originally came from Luca, a town in Tuscany, before going on to conduct business in Townhall Street since 1962.

And some men and women of a certain vintage will recall pleasant encounters at The Golden Arrow over fish and chips, and endless cups of tea, when they all wore the bright armour of youth.

Looking up the terrazzo steps upstairs, you could still see the high booths – great for interesting encounters with young women, and the jukebox filling us with the food of love, or whatever.

A brief damper was put on those healthy activities when auntie Rosina Lucchesi patrolled the aisles back in the day, forcing boys to the right, and girls to the left.

However, it was a special meeting place when school was out, and food was to be nibbled at to prolong the encounters. A place where some romances began, and others ended.

It was cool to be seen in The Golden Arrow, marking a rite of passage for spotty kids, and great chats about how they were going to change the world, all the while with the lovely smell of salt and vinegar fish and chips filling the air, while the Lucchesi family shouted orders in a tongue that the young diners did not understand, but thought sounded so exotic.

This writer can still hear the banging of the chip pan as it was taken from swirling, scorching water – a bit like the mood music to all our yesterdays.

It was the beating pulse of Townhall Street.

And so, last Saturday, a large crowd said a final "Arriverderci" to a place that will always have a special place in our hearts in the heart of the town.

Spring had come with soft footsteps as a gift from the gods as scores of customers came and went to pay their respects to the special Enniskillen family.

One family had “come all the way from Belfast” for the occasion.

And then, at 3pm, Carlo – in a white shirt and white apron – began singing as the family gave gifts of red and yellow roses.

He started with “Amore” and the lovely lines, “When you dance down the street with the clouds at your feet, you are in love” got the crowd going.

He added, “It’s Now Or Never” in the crowded café, as the punters got into the swing of things, and plates and cutlery clattered as Gerry Ledwith ran the show for the last time – and the whole place lit up when Carlo broke into flawless Italian, with a fine tenor voice that filled the old café.

“Save The Last Dance For Me”, and “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” rang out as various punters came in and took some photographs on the historic day.

This was real music, priceless golden memories, flowing words – gifts to be given away – a kind of a Last Waltz in terms of rock for this special place.

Then at 3.30pm, the grand lady Luisa Lucchesi (89) – a lovely lady in a dark coat – came in and went straight to the kitchen, where she and her late husband, Silvano, served thousands of customers over the years.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter, Luisa said: “We have so many happy memories, and I must have seen about four generations of people here – engagements, weddings, and people who came in here with their babies after they got married.

“And I saw those babies growing up, and then they got engaged and married, and then they brought in their own babies to the place.

“The people of Enniskillen have been wonderful to us, and we had wonderful staff, and wonderful support from the people of the town.

“They were not just wonderful, money-wise – people would come in and ask over the counter, ‘How is your husband?’ when my husband, Silvano, who was the kindest of men, was not well.”

She added: “This was much more than a café – it was a place to meet up, and the last table just before the stairs was where I would meet up with people who might have problems, and ask my opinion about things.

“At 3.30pm, the Collegiate, Mount Lourdes, Portora and St. Michael’s students would come in to the café, and the life they brought to the place with their laughter and youth was wonderful!”

She reminisced further, adding: “There were a few marriages from here, and they came back to us over the years.

“One girl came in here and had her breakfast in her wedding dress!

“We employed people from all arts and parts – it did not matter who or what they were.

“So many of the girls and boys who worked here went on and did very well for themselves, and that made us so happy.

“I would hope that we treated them well.”

Of that, there is no doubt.

Meanwhile, her son, Carlo, said it was a “most emotional day for the family”.

He told this paper: “We have been here since 1962, and we lived above the premises.

“My sister, Tania, died when she was just four, and my grandfather, Albert Lucchesi, was here then, and he came from a town called Lucca, and that is where our name came from.

“I have two other sisters, called Liana and Vania, and we all worked in the place after school.

“My grandfather passed away here in Enniskillen.

“We grew up with the smell of chips, and my father worked very hard. We had the Regal Cinema [in town at the time], and there used to be a queue back down to where The Beez Knees is now, as there were very few chip shops around.

“We stayed open until midnight, and we did not get the place cleaned until 2am, yet my father was up at 6am to fillet the fish by hand.

“The chips were also cut by hand. The Troubles did have an impact on us, as the town was cut off a bit.”

Carlo continued: “My mother told me lately that the first man with long golden hair sat at the back of our place with a few Collegiate girls, and he was Henry McCullough, who played with the local band ‘Skyrockets’, and then ‘Wings’ with Paul McCartney.

“We’ve had Charlie Lawson, Adrian Dunbar, Tom Elliott and Michelle Gildernew have all been in here, and we’ve had weddings as well.

“My old History teacher in St. Michael’s, Joe Quinn, and his wife, Rena, used to come in here and listen to the jukebox, and a lot of romances started here.

“I remember the bomb in Townhall Street in the 1970s, and I remember my father opening the doors to the army, police, and the rescuers, and he fed them all for free right through the early hours. My father was a Christian man.

“My mother and father worked very hard, and I remember her telling me that she was down on her hands and knees, scrubbing the terrazzo tiles on the stairs, and one hour later I was born in 1964,” he added.

It’s clear that the town has made a deep and special place in the family’s heart – just as Saturday’s flow of people through the doors showed just how special the family was to the town, too.

The eaterie now rests still and silent, yet its final day saw the business sent off with much ‘amore’ from the island town, with expressions of appreciative “Arriverderci” from so many of her people for the esteemed Lucchesi family, their staff, and The Golden Arrow itself.