November 27, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Free turkey dinners, thanks to warm-hearted owner
by LEN LEAR

“I don’t have to tell you how the economy is hurting us as well as many other restaurants,” said Ralph Berarducci, owner of Portofino, 1227 Walnut St., “but there is no way in the world that I can stop our Thanksgiving tradition. People look forward to it for months, so I will find a way to get it done. We will provide free dinners for hundreds of needy and homeless people, just as we always do. I’m over 70, and it’s getting harder physically to get this done, but I have no family in the U.S., so the customers are my family.”

The odds of a center city restaurant lasting for more than 35 years are not quite as great as the odds that poodles will be seen flying over City Hall, but they’re close. Yet, Berarducci, who came to Philadelphia in 1963 in his mid-20s from Italy’s Abruzzi region, has made a career of defying the odds.

After a brief stint at Geno’s, 1613 Walnut St., Ralph began to work as a breakfast waiter at the Barclay Hotel, having to work tirelessly just to prove he was qualified to work lunches. After one year his travel visa was running out and his father pleaded with him to return home to Italy, but instead Ralph walked out on the high wire and opened his own restaurant, Pinocchio’s, at 15th and Latimer Streets.

After rave reviews in local publications, Berarducci suddenly found lines outside the door waiting to fill his 65 seats and sample his sophisticated Northern Italian cuisine. (Remember, this was before the city’s restaurant renaissance when Italian restaurants were almost all of the red gravy and checkerboard tablecloth variety.)

Tiring of turning away customers because of his limited seating, Ralph sold the six-year-old Pinocchio’s in 1971 and proceeded to open Portofino (named for a region of Italy that holds happy memories for him) at 1227 Walnut St. in a building that once housed a brothel. The larger main dining room and balcony seating enabled Ralph to accommodate twice as many customers as Pinocchio’s. Recently there was also an extensive interior makeover.

In a business where success often has the longevity of a flea’s adolescence, Portofino has consistently offered fine food and service at reasonable prices.

In addition to turning out great Italian food for more than 35 years at Portofino, Ralph also has one of the biggest hearts in the Delaware Valley. For 20 years he has been providing hundreds of free turkey dinners annually at Thanksgiving time to many of the city’s most destitute individuals. Every year Ralph contacts local shelters and churches that serve the poor and homeless, and he invites those neediest of Philadelphians to come to the restaurant on Thanksgiving Day for a free turkey dinner.

Last November Ralph set a personal record when Portofino fed 650 Thanksgiving dinners to the poor. “There is no charge,” he said. “The hardest thing for me is finding the staff to come in on Thanksgiving Day to do all of the work and provide all of the service. But this is a service I owe to God. He told us that if we have a loaf of bread, we must share it with those who have nothing. The least I can do is share what I have with those who have no family. I am blessed to be able to do it. I look forward to it all year long. You can’t imagine how good it makes me feel to see all of those people eating a great Thanksgiving dinner. I only wish I could do more.”

Portofino is open for dinner seven nights a week and lunch Monday to Friday. For more information, call 215-923-8208 or visit their Web site, www.portofino1227walnut.com.