One of my favorite local businesses is Gondola Getaway.
Owner Mike O’Toole blends tradition with new innovations in his business. He estimates his gondolas have carried more than two million passengers on at least 400,000 rides since 1983.
The gondolas in Naples have become one of Long Beach’s signature activities for tourists and locals alike, and O’Toole’s operation now boasts a fleet of 12 vessels that bring romance to the water daily.
When my husband David and I were courting back in 1983, O’Toole himself rowed the original boat in Naples Canal.
That was 43 years ago, and the Gondola business (as well as our marriage) continues to thrive and evolve.
Most recently, Gondola Café, a morning coffee and breakfast pastry eatery, has officially opened at 5437 E. Ocean Blvd.
“We have been serving our customers our ‘Caffe al Volo,’ our home-style misto, for years but we have decided to get a bigger pot of coffee, so to speak, and start selling coffee to the waterfront,” O’Toole said.
O’Toole explained that because Alamitos Bay is so busy in the morning from kayaks, paddleboards, outriggers, rowing shells, and dragon boats — not to mention all the swimmers — that he decided to open his waterside office earlier in the day.
Mike O’Toole, the owner of the iconic Gondola Getaway, has officially opened Gondola Café— offering dockside coffee service and some classic Italian eats. (Photo by Jo Murray).
Mike O’Toole, the owner of the iconic Gondola Getaway, has officially opened Gondola Café— offering dockside coffee service and some classic Italian eats. (Photo by Jo Murray).
Mike O’Toole, the owner of the iconic Gondola Getaway, has officially opened Gondola Café— offering dockside coffee service and some classic Italian eats. (Photo by Jo Murray).
Mike O’Toole, the owner of the iconic Gondola Getaway, has officially opened Gondola Café— offering dockside coffee service and some classic Italian eats. (Photo by Jo Murray).
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Mike O’Toole, the owner of the iconic Gondola Getaway, has officially opened Gondola Café— offering dockside coffee service and some classic Italian eats. (Photo by Jo Murray).
Gondola Café serves Gondola Getaway’s home-style Italian coffee with steamed milk, called misto. Their signature version is the tiramisu misto made with a bold, slow-steeped brew with velvety steamed milk infused with their craft tiramisu syrup.
“It’s creamy, cocoa-dusted comfort in a cup- almost like a liquid ladyfinger,” said O’Toole, noting that Gondola Café is “the only 100% al fresco coffee joint in the city.”
The cafe also serves traditional menu items including salami or prosciutto wrapped provolone, marinated olives, giardiniera, fresh mozzarella and their locally world-famous cannoli. Also available is the warm cannoli cream stuffed croissants and muffins, which may be the only dockside cannoli in the world, outside of Venezia, according to O’Toole.
They are currently open at 8:30 am on Saturdays and Sundays; and 10 a.m. on Tuesday through Friday through April. O’Toole says, depending on how popular the business is, that he may implement earlier hours starting in May.
Speaking of Gondola Getaway, things are starting to ramp up as usual as the business prepares to send a team of gondoliers to participate in the 50-year old Vogalonga, a 30-kilo regatta through the lagoons of Venice, Italy.
Gondola Getaway has been cruising the canals and Alamitos Bay in gondolas for more than four decades, honoring the history of Naples Island — which was built in the early 1900s as a Venetian-inspired neighborhood, replete with canals, gondolas, bridges and all Italian street names.
For 40 of those years The Gondola Getaway has been sending a racing team to Venice to participate in the Vogalonga, and for all of those years, they have been the only American Gondolier team in the regatta.
This year O’Toole will be bringing four of his top gondoliers to compete on a Gondola Falcada along with him. There are only four of these in Venice, a true classic. This year’s team will include Tom Wood, Scott Engedal, Nick Washburn, and Sam Cowan.
“This trip is a true and unique immersion into the Venetian culture. We spend a lot of time where most Americans don’t ever get to see,” said O’Toole. “The boat yards, the canottieri (rowing clubs) and the outer lagoon at restaurants never seen by a tourist. We spend time with the gondoliers, the local families that are running the true Venetian Trattoria.”
The gondoliers row, eat and live like Venetians during their week of training in Venice — after months of training here in Alamitos Bay.
The annual trek to Venezia to represent Long Beach and the United States has enabled Gondola Getaway to bring back the soul of Italy to Alamitos Bay, and all the customers come to enjoy the unique waterfront, O’Toole said.
The team, meanwhile, is seeking support to fund their trip to Venice to participate in the regatta. They are hoping to raise $4,500, according to a GoFundMe page, which will cover airfare, lodging, race registration, boat rentals, team meals, local transportation, and uniforms.
“Getting a full crew and gear from California to Italy is a massive undertaking,” the fundraiser said. “These funds will ensure the team can continue their legacy and proudly represent the USA in Venice.”
To donate, visit shorturl.at/C8kOc.