Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Where's The Beef? Volunteers from the Retired Firefighters Local 230 dished up corned beef and cabbage at the Kirk Senior Program last week.

Retired firefighters, councilman take to kitchen for St. Patrick's

DiQuisto joins fellow former firemen for cook-in for seniors

By Jessica Lyons

John Diquisto has worn several hats--a fire helmet and a council member's hat among them. But last Friday, the District 9 Councilman wore a different kind--a chef's hat. Diquisto and Retired Firefighters Local 230 put their cooking skills to the test at a St. Paddy's Day meal for 150 seniors at the Kirk Senior Program in Willow Glen.

Seniors enjoyed a menu of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots--about 160 pounds of food in all.

"On a scale of one to 10, I would give them a nine," said 82-year-old Philip Aiello, rating Diquisto and crew's cooking skills. "I love that corned beef--I've had it three times already this year." Aiello, whose wife volunteers at the Senior Program, attended the lunch last year, too.

Last year the city installed a kitchenette in the senior wing of the Kirk Center. But when the kitchen wasn't completed in time for Diquisto and Local 230 to cook the St. Patrick's Day meal by conventional means, volunteers set up porta-burners and cooked the meal outside.

"After the city didn't have the kitchen ready, my way of apologizing to the seniors was to cook dinner for them," Diquisto says.

It was such a hit with the seniors that they also hosted a Columbus Day spaghetti feed, and a second annual St. Patrick's Day feast.

"We do this for John and the seniors," says Bob Cocilova, retired firefighter and head cook. "He's [Diquisto's] great. All he has to do is ask, and look how many firefighters show up," he says, referring to more than one dozen firefighters cooking and passing out plates of food.

"The food's fabulous," says Melissa Monsees, coordinator for the Senior Center. "John's pretty famous for his cooking--the whole crew is."

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