The Alveare

Alveare (Italian. the Beehive) is the Martillo Family's primary restaurant and syndicate stronghold, fronted by a specialty honey shop run by Seina and located on the corner of a wide avenue bifecting Little Italy and Chinatown.

Alveare became a legitimate restaurant with Prohibition's end and has continued to operate into the early 2000s, by which time Molsa Martillo has opened several branch restaurants of the same name. The Alveare chain is such a success that it currently serves the Martillos' primary source of income.

The Honey Shop
Seina's honey shop boasts all kinds of honey crowding its shelves, as well as a stove behind the register with which Seina simmers honey for customers. A short hallway behind the register ends at a secure, peephole-fitted door to the Alveare restaurant, which like the shop is often filled with the thick smell of honey.

During Prohibition, access to the then-speakeasy was monitored and select: to let ('safe') customers in, Seina would knock on the door to signal the guard on its other side; the guard, after confirming via the peephole, would then have to release a heavy padlock on his side of the door for it to open.

The Restaurant
During its speakeasy days, Alveare's main interior is opulent and larger than what the outside honey shop would suggest—owed to the fact that the buildings adjacent to it are connected internally. Its walls are ivory white—under the light of the chandeliers, gold as honey—and support oil lamps. About ten tables with white tablecloth are available for diners, and a small, brightly-lit platform is raised at the back for live music and other performances, including a sword dance performed by the waitress Lia Lin-Shan. A large bar is also available near the kitchen doors.

Several barrels in one of the restaurant corners conceal a bullet-ridden trapdoor, one that leads to a spacious underground hall containing a large round table and electric lighting. During Prohibition, this hall was usually locked and off-limits and only used for special occasions, such as a promotion ritual. However, as the camorristi's originally meeting area is gradually overtaken following the restaurant's legitimization, the Martillos come to use the hall regularly: for promotion parties as before, but also for regular report meetings and visits from non-respectable customers.

All of Alveare's liquor—including wine and beer—is honey-based alongside a good number of its menu options, courtesy of the honey shop. The food is of excellent quality, with both Seina and waitress Lia Lin-Shan highly capable cooks. However, the unique flavor and marked sweetness of Alveare's alcohol make it an acquired taste—at least, not universally appealing—and while some customers come specifically for the distinct liquor and good home cooking, Alveare (circa 1930) attracts fewer customers than other nightclubs.

Despite their smaller clientele base at the time of Prohibition, Alveare was able to survive as a speakeasy for two main reasons: as a speakeasy run directly by Martillos, it did not have to pay protection money; and it did not bribe the local police (as Edward Noah was incorruptible) nor did it pay off Prohibition enforcers, prosecutors, or bureaus (being particularly good at evading stings). Thus, they were potentially saving around five hundred dollars' worth of expenses per month, as was the average amount establishments paid toward such feeds.

The speakeasy-restaurant is also accessible via a back door, which in the anime leads via upward stairs toward a stone courtyard and alley beyond.

Alveare's reinvention as a legitimate restaurant toward the end of Prohibition proves to be even more of a success than its time as a speakeasy, leaning heavily on its delectable honey-influenced dishes as a draw for large lunch crowds and offering non-alcoholic drinks such as coffee and tea in addition to liquor. By September 1933 they have already accomplished large-scale modeling that makes the restaurant feel more roomy, including installing a restaurant window which overlooks the street (previously unfeasible due to Prohibition).

By 1934, its increased profits have allowed it to increase the grandeur of its interior design, add more table, and hire four new waitresses—including Annie—for a total of five, with senior waitress Lia mentoring the new hires. By 1935, it is purportedly the largest restaurant in Little Italy.

The original restaurant remains the Martillos' base of operations into the early 2000s, even as Alveare itself becomes a chain name. Its interior décor remains elegant, but at the same time is outfitted with at least one television and other contemporary technology.

Martillo family members are constantly in and out of the establishment for business, lunch, and leisure, though associates and apprentices are less likely to be found there around midday than executives—who, as per their senior positions, have more flexibility in their schedules. When the volume of respectable customers is high (usually around noon), they tend to hole up in the back and wait the rush out. For syndicate business, the building contains an unknown number of offices for Martillo use away from prying eyes.

Notable Clientele
Here, clientele refers to those not officially part of the Martillo Family. Note: In 1935, Melvi Dormentaire claims that his subordinates, acting as customers, spied on Ennis at Alveare over a long period of time.


 * Ennis (regular)
 * Czeslaw Meyer (regular)
 * Isaac & Miria (regulars)
 * Nicholas Wayne and Elean Duga (customers late Dececember 1931)
 * Felix Walken and Rachel (dined together in January 1932)
 * Lester and Carl Digness (August 1932)
 * Unnamed Photographer (August 2002)

Trivia

 * Alveare's beehive sign is described in The Rolling Bootlegs as brown with "Alveare" written in white paint.
 * Elevated tracks run down the wide avenue in the anime, but not the smaller street Alveare is on.
 * Alveare's special honey liquor is also available at Firo's casino.