Did you happen to catch on The River yesterday the interview with Rico Daniele, owner of the South End’s Mom & Rico’s—and, as the River’s Monte put it, “bocce enthusiast, fanatic, evangelist”?

The interview took place on Daniele’s turf: the bocce courts in Forest Park. The two played a bit while they chatted, with the novice Monte sorta winning, and gentlemanly Daniele handling it quite graciously.

Daniele took the opportunity to make the case for the wonders of bocce and to pitch the free “bocce school” he’ll host at the park on Father’s Day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.—leaving plenty of time, he noted, for participants to get home for a family dinner.