Thursday, May 14, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

‘Alla familia’: Ben Cirella’s family’s restaurants spread the love

Two weeks ago, Ben Cirella
pulled his silver Volvo up to the
entrance of Elmhurst Hospital in
Queens, N.Y.
Elmhurst has been at the
epicenter of New York City’s
disastrous COVID-19 outbreak.
Queens has 56,719 confirmed
cases of coronavirus, the most
of any city borough, and has
recorded nearly 6,000 deaths.
After
being
overrun
by
a
ballooning
number
of
cases
and facing ill-timed equipment
shortages, the hospital was forced
to expand its Intensive Care Unit
capacity by 500 percent back in
April.
Alongside his brother, Brad,
and
sister,
Alex,
the
junior
defenseman stepped out of the
car, put on proper personal
protective equipment and made
his way over to the hospital’s
doors. In their hands, the Cirella
children held trays containing
a smorgasbord of fine Italian
cooking
from
their
family
restaurants’ kitchens — a gift of
gratitude to the essential medical
personnel
who
have
worked
tirelessly to care for COVID-19
patients.
The Cirella family owns three
restaurants in the Long Island
area, and like many restaurant
owners,
the
Cirella
family
have been offering takeout and
delivery for customers ever since
the pandemic forced them to
close their restaurants’ doors to
in-person dining.
But Dean Cirella, Ben’s father,
has decided to take things a step
further, enlisting his children
and workers to cook and deliver
catering platters to hospitals
that have been overwhelmed by
COVID-19. So far, Ben and his
siblings have delivered food to
seven hospitals in the New York-
Long Island area. Dean even
offers a joint-venture initiative
to his regular customers; if they
want to donate food to a local
hospital, the Cirella’s will cover
half of the bill and deliver it for
free.
For Ben, his family’s effort
is simply them doing their part
— the only way they know how,
with food and kindness — to
help mitigate the stress of the
pandemic.
“I don’t do enough,” Ben said.
“I’m an essential worker and

‘hero’ because I’m delivering
food but that’s nothing. It’s not
hard compared to what these
nurses and doctors are doing, so
that’s why I love giving back to
them and seeing their smiles. It
makes my day and hopefully it
makes their day.”
Community service has never
been a chore for Ben. In fact, he
has always thoroughly enjoyed it.
This past year, the Michigan
men’s lacrosse team logged the
most community service hours of
any varsity sport. Every Monday
night, the team went up to the VA
Hospital in Ann Arbor and played
bingo
with
veterans.
Every
Tuesday night, the team visited
Mott’s Children’s Hospital and
spent time with patients and
their families.
And every time, Ben was there.
Like other Michigan student
athletes, Ben spent the past
month-and-a-half wrapping up
his classes online, completing
at-home workouts and searching
for an internship. But when Ben
returned home in March, despite
an already hectic schedule, he
made sure to find time to help
out at the restaurants. Even if it
meant listening to team Zoom
meetings while simultaneously
delivering orders, Ben knew he
owed it to his dad to lend a hand.
Running
and
building
a
successful,
multi-generational
and multi-restaurant business
did not come without long days
and nights filled with hard work
and sacrifice.
Summers were the busiest time
of the year for the restaurants,
particularly
Surf’s
Out,
a
restaurant in Fire Island, and
Dean almost always had to be at
one of the restaurants. Yet with
Ben as a highly-touted recruit,
his summers were jam-packed
with lacrosse tournaments, so
it was nearly impossible for
Dean to find time to drive him
to tournaments and watch his
games. Ben’s mother, Caryn, also
worked at the restaurants, but
navigated her busy schedule to
make sure her son could attend
all of his games.
“It means a lot (to me to give
back),” Ben said. “My dad is the
hardest worker I know. There’s
a lot of businesses struggling
right now and my dad is doing
everything he can to keep our
restaurants afloat. To give back to
him, it just means everything. He
would do anything for anybody

without asking for anything in
return. … I’m willing to jump on
it as quickly as I can and help out
any way I can.
“I think it’s like an extra
workout — (something like)
working on Fire Island as a
barback and carrying all that
ice.”
Ever since Ben was six years
old, he has helped out in some
form at the Cirella’s restaurants.
It was where we grew up. When
he was little, Ben went from
table to table and took pictures
of customers on holidays like
Valentine’s Day and Mother’s
Day. On Christmas Eve, Dean
dressed himself up as Santa Claus
and the kids as Santa’s elves.
When Ben was older, he spent his
summers at Surf’s Out working as
a barback or busboy.
“We didn’t have a beach house
growing up and that was fine
because (Surf’s Out) was our
beach house,” Ben said. “We
would go out there, hang out
at the beach all day and then
go work at night. (My friends)
always beg me to this day to come
to Fire Island and hang out at the
restaurant and beach.”
And after a childhood of
experiences in restaurants, Ben
wants to enter the restaurant
business, just like his father and
grandfather.
“I just kept the restaurant in my
blood,” Ben said. “(The business)
has been around for 30-plus years
and we still continue to make
customers
happy
with
every
order...That’s what I want. I want
to continue to spread and grow
the family and happiness.”
“As has been the case for
nearly 60 years,” reads Cirella’s
website, “we’re sure that once
you experience the authentic
Italian flavor of Cirella’s — for
lunch or dinner — you’ll become
‘alla familia’…one of the family.”
In a period of such fear and
uncertainty, the Cirella’s have
made a deliberate effort to take
care of one another.
“It’s cool being with my family
through this all,” Ben said. “Since
we’re all together, it definitely
takes a load off the shoulders a
little bit. It’s nice when I’m doing
these long deliveries that I can
look over and see my brother in
the car next to me helping out.”
But more importantly, to the
Cirella’s, to be ‘alla familia’
extends beyond the immediate
family. Frontline workers and

loyal customers are also ‘one of
the family’ and equally deserving
of care in their eyes. And just as
the Cirella’s have made the effort
to help others, their customers
have
returned
the
favor
by
consistently ordering food.
“During this time, it proves
what family we really have,”
Ben said. “Just like we’re trying
to support hospitals and our
neighborhood, they’re supporting
us by ordering dinner and giving
us business. And they’re really

helping us out by doing that.
Some families order two or three
times in a week. They’re really
supportive.”
The
COVID-19
pandemic
has shown the importance of
family and community in the
face of dire circumstances. As a
country, we are all ‘alla familia’
to one another. And the Cirella’s
represent a marquis example of
what it looks like to both offer
and welcome kindness in a time
when it is desperately needed.

DREW COX
Daily Sports Writer

PHOTO COURTESY OF BEN CIRELLA
Junior defenseman Ben Cirella (right) and brother Brad (left) dropping off food

PHOTO COURTESY OF BEN CIRELLA
Junior defenseman Ben Cirella handing off food to a health care worker.

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