Peace (and piece) in our times.

Joseph Moscatiello and I don't share political beliefs. But we're going to break bread, dammit!

Joe (right) with Chad Bianco, his potential gov. of choice. Hey, no one’s perfect. :)

So back in February, when I was feeling pissy and combative and regionally troubled, I wrote this piece about Joseph Moscatiello, owner of Joe’s Italian Restaurant and Bar in Ladera Ranch. In the immediate aftermath, Joe reached out to me with a (hostile-yet-appropriate) Facebook DM that I somehow failed to see until a few days ago. I responded with an equally hostile slap, and we went back and forth, like two old New Yorkers (as we both are) overflowing with piss, vinegar, expletives and angst. I countered with a follow-up post that I have since deleted. It was not particularly nice of me.

But then, something wild happened.

Something crazy.

Something … profoundly un-2026.

Joseph Moscatiello and I started (gasp!) chatting.

It was only via Facebook DM, so I have yet to sit face to face with the man. But I 100 percent intend to, and I suspect we’ll have a reasonably pleasant time talking politics, talking geography, talking Italian food, talking Dave Winfield and Don Mattingly and Bernard King and Doc Gooden and the myriad subjects transplanted New Yorkers tend to harp on. The man has been in the restaurant business for more than four decades. He opened his first restaurant, Peppino’s, in Lake Forest at age 21. There are topics to discuss.

And I can already hear m-a-n-y of you: Don’t you find Joe offensive? Don’t you hate that he supports Donald Trump? Don’t you think it’s crazy that his governor candidate of choice is Chad Bianco? Don’t you think his anti-mask stance was gross? Don’t you look at his socials? Don’t you … don’t you … don’t you … don’t you …

Answer: Yes.

But here’s the argument that I find increasingly inescapable these days: We cannot just keep barking at one another, when there are opportunities to chat. We cannot just keep throwing stones, when a warm meal is a direct alternative. This is not sustainable—in any way, shape or form. The other day, Stephanie Oddo, the wonderful Laguna Niguel City Council member, all but demanded I watch this recent 60 Minutes interview with Ben Sasse, the cancer-stricken former senator …

And, as I told Stephanie, it blew me away. Blew. Me. Away. Ben Sasse does not have long to live. He could be devoting his last days toward fishing, napping, traveling, dancing, sobbing. But instead, he considers it his No. 1 mission to remind people that America—our America—requires community, togetherness, bonding. It requires exchanging ideas; listening; having an open mind and giving others the opportunity to express themselves. Even when those expressions are opposite of yours. Even when the dude staring at your face calls Gavin Newsom Gavin Newscum and believes J.D. Vance would make a wonderful leader.

Without dialogue, how are minds changed? How are horizons broadened?

How do we exist as a people?

I don’t know what I’ll find when I sit with Joe. But I do know, in our back and forth, he was earnest and contrite and, on a few points, apologetic (as was I). It was an important moment for me; a nod to humanity before political leanings. I actually told Joe that, perhaps, in the near future I could have some sort of gathering of Democrats at his eatery. Hell, maybe we could have a gathering of Democrats and Republicans at his eatery. Maybe, instead of talking Trump and Biden, we can talk families and Disney excursions and the things that make SoCal life so great. Maybe we’d even (gasp!) discover some common ground.

Maybe, in the old words of Gerald Ford, we can disagree agreeably.

Over pizza and ziti.

I, for one, am willing to try.