Old Business, New Business BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
Celebrate the old and taste the new with businesses
representing the very best Kings County has to offer
REGINA OPERA COMPANY
It’s not over until the fat lady sings!
The beloved Brooklyn-based Regina
Opera Company launched its
50th season of arias last month, marking
a milestone for the opera company,
founded by Dyker Heights residents
Marie Cantoni and Nick Tierno
in 1970, after Cantoni heard Tierno’s
brother singing gorgeous arias on Tabor
Court every morning. The small
project has since evolved into a training
ground for opera’s up-and-coming
stars, becoming one of the few places
where young soloists can get their
singing sea legs, said the group’s principal
stage director.
“It’s where people learn their craft,”
said Linda Lehr. “It’s how we grow the
next generation.”
Other opera institutions have
struggled with waning audiences, but
Regina Opera continues to thrive because
of its outreach efforts, according
to it chairwoman.
“We reach out to young people,”
said Francine Garber, noting that
teenagers pay $5 for tickets, and children
12 and younger enter free. “A lot
of young people studying music come
to New York City.”
ONE BROOKLYN | W 30 INTER 2019–2020
Here are some notable moments
from the company’s rich history.
1970: The start
Dyker Heights neighbors Marie
Cantoni and Nick Tierno founded the
Regina Opera company so that Tierno’s
brother, a tenor opera singer,
could have a place to perform. The
group got its start in — and its name
from — the Regina Pacis Youth Center,
where up-and-coming singers sang excerpts
from famous operas.
1975: First full opera
Five years after its founding, neighborhood
support allowed the opera to
begin putting on full opera productions
with costumes, sound, and scenery,
kicking off with Giuseppe Verdi’s
three-act “Rigoletto” with piano accompaniment.
1976: Moving on up
Regina Opera ditched the youth
center for the auditorium of the
nearby Regina Pacis School, where
the audience sat on folding chairs,
and often spilled onto lunch tables
and the fl oor nearby to view the popular
performances.
1980: Diva of Regina
The company’s 1980 production
of “Cavalleria Rusticana” starred
mezzo soprano Dolora Zajick, who
went on to become a renownedstaple
at the Metropolitan Opera, where the
general manager called her “one of
the greatest voices in the history of
opera.”
1982: Full ensemble
Regina upgraded its music from
simple piano accompaniment to a full,
35-piece orchestra.
2008: Found in translation
The company began using “supertitles”
— unoffi cial English translations
of the lyrics, projected above the stage
— provided by the daughter of the company’s
founder, Linda Cantoni.
2012: Theater upgrade
Regina moved to Our Lady of Perpetual
Help Catholic Academy, trading
in its former low-key auditorium for a
500-seat theater with an orchestra pit.
2018: Ambitious “Aida”
Regina upped its game in 2018 with
“Aida,” a lavishly produced Italian opera
set in Egypt, featuring a 35-person
chorus, scenery that evoked ancient
Egypt, and soloists with dramatic, versatile
voices that could ace the opera’s
tricky arias.
Brooklyn’s unique mainstay businesses
and its blossoming new ventures
are confi rmation that the
County of Kings is a breeding ground
for inspiration when it comes to commercial
opportunity.
The borough’s diverse mom-andpop
shops are a nod to the melting pot
of residents that inhabit its vast, urban
terrain.
Nurturing those operations are of
signifi cant importance to Borough
President Adams, who opened a smallbusiness
mentoring center at Brooklyn
Borough Hall two years ago that
he said has helped local entrepreneurs
achieve their dreams ever since.
“Brooklyn Borough Hall has become
a true hub for small business
development in my administration,”
Borough President Adams said. “I
will continue to leverage my offi ce’s
resources, including capital dollars
targeted at improving workforce development
and neighborhood infrastructure,
to ensure the mom-and-pop
business always have a bright future
to look forward to in our borough.”
Read on to learn about two such
businesses, one recently opened and
the other serving Brooklyn for decades:
WHOLE BOWL
Here’s some food for no thought!
An upcoming Williamsburg diner
opened on Nov. 11 with only one dish
for sale, making it the perfect choice
for diners who don’t like making decisions,
according to the founder.
“A lot of times people get overwhelmed
by choices, so I just make one
good product that appeals to people’s
dietary restrictions across the board,”
said Tali Ovadia, owner of The Whole
Bowl.
The vegetarian food venderonly
sells bowls fi lled with brown rice, avocado,
black and red beans, Tillamook
cheddar, black olives, sour cream, cilantro,
salsa, and the eatery’s signature
lemon-garlic Tali sauce, which
is based on a secret recipe that took
years to perfect, Ovadia said.
“The whole bowl is just a vehicle
for the sauce. It’s what differentiates it
from any old rice and bean bowl,” she
said.
Employees for the chain, dubbed
“bowlistas,” can also use all-vegan ingredients
and add extras, such as tortilla
chips, cookies, or drinks.
Ovadia came up with the minimalist
menu out of necessity, when
she started selling the bowls from a
5-by-2-foot food cart on the streets of
northwestern hipster enclave Portland,
Oregon in 2001, and she hasn’t
altered a single ingredient in the 18
years since.
“Nothing has changed,” she said.
“It’s that thing, ‘If it ain’t broke…,’ and
it wasn’t.”
There are four bowl sizes: the 12
ounce “Bambino Bowl” for $8.95, the
16 ounce “Big Bowl” for $9.95, the 24
ounce “Insatiabowl” at $11.95 and the
largest “Hyperbowl” that can feed between
eight to 10 people for $69.95.
The north Brooklyn bowlery — located
next to the renowned local dive
bar Rocka Rolla at the corner of Rodney
Street — has seating for 17 customers
across 850 square feet of space.
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