Photo by Nancy A. Ruhling

Giuseppe is the owner of Ornella Trattoria Italiana.

Espresso. Giuseppe Viterale never starts or ends the day without a cup of it. He fires up a little gas burner, spoons in the ground coffee and puts the aluminum one-cup pot atop the steady blue flame.

“This is like a religious ritual for me,” he says.

As the dark-chocolate drink begins leaking out like crude oil, Giuseppe pours a little into his glass teacup and mixes it with sugar until it has the fluffy froth of mocha mousse.

“This is better than any fancy coffee machine,” he proclaims with passion.

Read all about Giuseppe in Nancy Ruhling's Huffington Post blog, "Astoria Characters: The Soup...