s a young Italian immigrant
arriving in America, James Sarni had to beg for fish just so
that he and his parents could eat. Though his father died
shortly after coming to the U.S., James was a hard working man
who never gave up, especially when he saw an opportunity. While
working as a route driver for a dye house, James convinced a
wealthy client to help him invest in Sarni’s Cleaners. In
1926, he opened his first store in Boston, MA.
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In fact, Ron Sarni had no intention
of being a drycleaner like his grandfather James and his father
Jack before him — at least not initially. Not long after
graduating from high school, Ron moved out to Miami, FL, where
he cultivated his love of cooking by working alongside a
talented chef named Walter Tittiero. “I learned classical
cuisine — European and especially northern Italian,”
recalled Ron.
Three years later, opportunity
knocked on the door when two of the restaurant’s patrons
walked into the kitchen and asked who had cooked the meals they
had eaten. The women owned a company called Home At Last and
they offered Ron a job. He accepted without hesitation.
“They gave me an address to
show up at the following Monday and who answered the door but
Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees,” Ron said. “To make a
long story short, the next couple of years I was the resident
cook for rock stars as they came down to Miami to record.”
In the late 1970s, there was no
better place to be if you loved rock-n-roll. Not only did Ron
prepare tasty Italian dishes for the Allman brothers and the
Bee Gees, but he also cooked for the Eagles while they recorded
their album The Long Run and John Mellencamp when he recorded
his debut release.
or
the next couple of years, Ron deeply enjoyed being the resident
chef for Home At Last. “It was interesting because when
they came to record, they rented these beautiful mansions,”
Ron said. “So, I got to meet all the rock stars that came
in and they would be in for anywhere between six and twelve
weeks. They could screw around all they wanted to when they
were not recording. Everybody would always hang out in the
kitchen and they would come in and tell me of all their woes
and all of their problems.”
After making plenty of good contacts
in the industry, not to mention, some friendships that still
last today, Ron decided that he wanted to be more active in the
music industry. He wanted to manage a rock band.
Though members of the Eagles had
tried to talk him out of it because they thought he was too
nice for such a ruthless business, Ron did manage to convince
them to take him on tour so he could absorb more experience.
While waiting for the tour to begin, he headed back to Boston
and tried to find a job in the meantime.
Though Ron didn’t have a
college degree, he did have one advantage: good advice. “While
I was talking to the Eagles about touring with them, I was
cooking for this brand new act called John Mellencamp... he was
actually called John Cougar back then. His advice to me was
that the new thing in music was going to be music videos.”
Ron decided to pool his resources
and create one. It was a nice addition to his resume. In fact,
he firmly believes that his video gave him an extra edge when
he was hired as an assistant director at WQTV in Boston over
several more qualified applicants.
Deciding he preferred to work on TV,
he planned to tell the Eagles he would not tour with them when
he met them backstage at their opening concert in Boston. He
brought along his future wife, Patricia, who was unaware that
her escort knew the band personally. He even brought some home
baked bread along making for a very memorable first date.
n
Ron’s first day on the job in Boston, he was supposed to
assist the director in the taping of a live news show. After a
heated argument with the station manager, the director was
fired right before air time. Suddenly, Ron was named as his
replacement. With no experience, he had to rely on quick
thinking and the advice of those around him, but everything
worked out well.
For the next few years he directed
many projects, including Boston Live and a half hour rock video
show known as Video Disc. The show was a little before its time
because they did not have enough original videos to play. “We
used to have to play the same video over and over because we
couldn’t fill a half hour,” he recalled.
As if his hectic career wasn’t
enough to keep him occupied, Ron also managed local rock bands
in Boston and freelanced as a producer for rock videos.
However, he began to become jaded with the industry. “The
bands were too difficult to deal with,” he said.
In 1982, Ron’s father injured
his back and took the summer off so he asked Ron to fill in for
him. Ron had already spent several summers during his stint at
Home At Last to go home to Boston and work at Sarni’s,
but he always welcomed the challenge.
Ron spent that summer juggling jobs
with both the drycleaning and music industries, but he soon
realized it was time to make a choice. He enjoyed working at
Sarni’s because it gave him a chance to be close to his
family and he also wanted to start a family of his own. So,
when Jack Sarni returned from his hiatus, Ron surprised him. “I
told him two things. I was going to get married and I was going
into the drycleaning business.”
on’s
father only planned to stay for one year to help his son
transition into his new role, but that year turned into 11
more. During those years, Ron recalls how the entire family
would gather every week to be together. His son Anthony was
born in 1983, followed by his daughter, Julia, four years
later.
“Commitment to my family
became very important,” he noted. “We literally had
four generations of Sarnis all around living at the same time
and so there were nice family gatherings. One of the most
important things to my grandfather was that the family stayed
together and gathered around the table.”
Ron inherited his hard work ethic
from his father’s side of the family, but he developed an
appreciation for art and culture from his mother, Phyllis. The
two backgrounds have merged together to give him a well-rounded
recipe for success in life, both at work and beyond.
“The stores are doing very
well. We pride ourselves on beautiful work,” he said. In
fact, Sarni’s slogans underneath the company’s name
reflect that. One reads: “Every garment a masterpiece”
and the other says “The fine art of drycleaning.”
One of the reasons that Sarni’s
has been able to distinguish itself as a high end drycleaners
is that Ron sees drycleaning as a craft. “You need to
give the whole industry its due. It is a craft,” he
explained. “These garments are different and it takes
some expertise in processing them and pressing them. We need to
make sure that we keep these high standards of craftsmanship.”
hile
operating Sarni’s might be enough to keep his palette
full, Ron is a man of many passions, and he finds time to
pursue each and every one of them. He has contributed his time
to help the North East Fabricare Association by chairing a
public relations committee and serving on a strategic planning
committee.
Though he isn’t active in the
music industry anymore, he still expresses his love of
creativity by playing bass with a band that consists of many
longtime friends. To explore his more artistic side, he studied
pottery for six years and even imported Italian ceramics for a
unique gift store he owned called “The White Fig.”
Of course, Ron still retains his
great love of food and has never stopped cooking. He built a
wood-burning oven in his backyard so that he can hold family
gatherings there. He still recalls how his grandfather taught
him the importance of the dinner table.
“Everybody has a voice at the
table. Everybody is equal. They have the same amount of space.
Everybody has the same utensils. Everybody has the same right
to the food,” he explained. “It’s a place
where we all gather and learn about each other. We learn about
life.”
Ron believes so strongly in his
family’s philosophy that he has tried to expand it to
others. He originally joined the American Institute of Wine and
Food for fun, but, in the years since, he has served on the
association’s board of directors both nationally and in
Boston. He has even influenced the AIWF to change its mission
statement to incorporate the idea of promoting family and
friends gathering around the dinner table. Ron considers
himself very fortunate and hopes that the group can instill in
children the importance of human interaction.
After all, Ron has always believed
that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination. “If
I had to sum up my experiences with the people that I’ve
met — these great giving and artistic people whom I’ve
bonded with — they have really enriched my life. There is
nothing richer in life.”
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