Hampden's Mike Cammino is at the top of his game
By Rick Rubin, Correspondent

To me the sign of a good restaurant is when the owner comes to your table and asks how things are? And that's exactly what happens as part of your dining experience at La Cucina di Hampden House in the center of Hampden.

On most nights you will find owner Michael Cammino busy working around the restaurant, you might find him greeting customers at the door or helping out in the dining room or kitchen. "You have to be on top of your game in this business," says Cammino"You can't take anything for granted."

Fifteen years ago Cammino converted an old bank into the Hampden House restaurant. Under the guidance of manager Dana Gahres the restaurant quickly gained a reputation as having good food and service. Although Cammino owned the restaurant he left the day-to-day operations to Gahres. Two years ago Cammino and Gahres joined forces once again to take over the catering at the Hampden Country Club. Gahres left as manager of the Hampden House to run the country club, which left Cammino in charge of the restaurant.

No Stranger to the Business

Cammino who is no stranger to the restaurant business (he owned and operated a restaurant in Hilton Head, South Carolina) quickly decided that a change was necessary. "It's not that I was unhappy with the Hampden House as it was, we had a nice run, but I knew that to succeed in this business you have to be ever-evolving or you take the chance of becoming stale." Cammino quickly enlisted the help of his wife Geri to redecorate the restaurant.

"She has a great eye for decorating, I knew whatever she did would be great," he remembers. Next Cammino hired the best chef he could find in Chef Miguel Figueroa. Figueroa had worked in such restaurants as La Cucina di Pinnochio's in Amherst, School Street Bistro in Westfield and The Olde Hadleigh Grill in Hadley.

Family Celebrations

To make his new restaurant a success Cammino knew the menu would have to be tempting; and one thing was for certain in his mind, the recipes would have to be authentic and made with only the freshest of ingredients. For that Cammino looked back to his years growing up in an Italian family outside of Boston.

"In those days my family made all their dishes with the freshest of ingredients, my grandmother would buy only the best." Cammino took some of those old family recipes and converted them to menu items in the restaurant. His personal favorite and one he still prepares at the restaurant are his grandmother's stuffed meatballs. Cammino takes great pride in serving these baseball-size creations served as an appetizer.

He makes them like his grandmother did with only the freshest of ingredients including ground pork and imported provolone. On a busy Friday or Saturday night the restaurant can easily serve over 200 meatballs, which shows the ever-increasing popularity of the restaurant.

You don't have to convince Hampden residents Dave and Cathy Marini who have been coming to the restaurant every Friday night since they opened. "We love it here," said Cathy, "it gets better and better every year." And Dave commented, "It's so nice to have a great restaurant in our town that I can bring family and friends too. We have celebrated many family celebrations here including every Easter for the last 15 years."

New changes are still evolving. The bar area has added entertainment on weekends including local singing sensation Sam Plotkin and this summer the restaurant will introduce "alfresco dining" by putting up a permanent tent on their patio complete with a new outdoor BBQ menu to include such grill items as Shish-ka-bob and ribs.

La Cucina di Hampden House and The Hampden House Catering at the Hampden Country Club are more then great places to eat or have a banquet; they also serve as ambassadors for Hampden through Cammino and Gahres.

The two are involved and donate to many chartable organizations including Toys for Tots, the Hampden Senior Center, the Hampden Library, autism charities, golf tournaments that sponsor high school scholarships and fundraisers for the troops stationed in Iraq.

According to Gahres "The town goes out of their way to support us and we reciprocate by supporting local charities and groups." The two recently worked to help raise $40,000 for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute by sponsoring a fundraiser at the country club. The event was mostly personal for both men since Gahres sister-in-law and Cimino's wife are both breast cancer survivors.

So while most restaurants in the area rely on old reputations for business, Michael Cimino keeps working on ways improve.

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