PEORIA MAGAZINE August 2022

Ray “Ray Mac” McAllister pauses after a shift in the kitchen at Mona’s Italian Restaurant in Toluca. McAllister, 86, has worked there 54 years. He credits his pasta-making job – he still does four shifts per week – with keeping him healthy and nimble. (PHIL LUCIANO)

later there, he is still going strong. Four mornings a week, the widower gets up at 4 a.m., feeds and walks his dog, then rides his bicycle three blocks to Mona’s. At 5 a.m., he starts cooking almost 100 pounds of pasta per shift: 50 pounds of tortellini, 20 pounds of spaghetti, 15 pounds of mostaccioli and 10 pounds of fettuccini. Over the years, thatsa lotsa pasta: “I figure between 120 tons and 150 tons of pasta since I’ve been here.” Plus, he makes lasagna with his own flair. “I put brick cheese in mine,” he said with a smile. “It makes it better. It makes it the best.” Years back, when still working full time at night, McAllister interacted with a countless number of local teens working at Mona’s. He not only taught them how to make pasta, but also shared life lessons, such as the need to treat others with respect. “I got along with all them kids,” he said. “They were great. I still see a lot of them. They come see me.” Many of those “kids” are now parents

and grandparents in Toluca. Mona’s owner Bernardi said McAllister led by example in teaching them teamwork, consistency and other valuable skills. “I would say number 1 would be re sponsibility,” Bernardi said. “That brings a lot to the table as far as the job goes.” Meantime, McAllister always has emphasized having fun at work, often through pranks. One of his best: telling a newbie to run down the street to Capponi’s to borrow a “sausage stretcher” – you know, because the sausages weren’t long enough. At Capponi’s, the cook – long accustomed to the joke – would hand the teen some sort of doohickey, which when brought back toMona’s would spark belly laughs throughout the kitchen. “Just having fun,” McAllister said with a grin. He never takes himself too seriously. He laughs when asked if he has any cooking secrets to share. “Make sure the water’s boiling,” he said. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist.” But McAllister does have one special secret to his long and active life. For

that, he gives thanks to Mona’s, where hauling pasta around the kitchen takes a lot of huffing and puffing. For McAllister, the kitchen has doubled as sort of workout room that he credits with keeping him healthy and nimble. STARTING AT 5 A.M., HE STARTS COOKING ALMOST 100 POUNDS OF PASTA PER SHIFT The kitchen workouts were even harder back in the day when the cooler was downstairs. A step here, a step there, and a heart gets strong. “These … steps kept me alive,” he said. McAllister says he has no intentions of slowing down. He plans to keep up his schedule, 5 a.m., three hours a workday, four days a week, making pasta at Mona’s. “As long as I can keep going,” he said, “I’ll keep going.” Phil Luciano is a senior writer/ columnist for Peoria Magazine and content contributor to public television station WTVP

AUGUST 2022 PEORIA MAGAZINE 95