Spammy Jammy as Good as Ever

When brother-sister owners Niki Bauer and Ray Bozicnik sold the Little Bar last year after 45 years of quirkiness, outstanding food, and top-shelf live music, many feared the season-ending extravaganza known as Spammy Jammy was in peril. And for several hours Saturday afternoon, it looked like they might be right. But then something happened. The raucous cheering and laughter from the bar started getting a little louder and more frequent. Suddenly, everyone was parading around in their pajamas, posing for pictures arm in arm. And just like that, Spammy Jammy was back, jamming like it always has.

Angela LoDuca Scalici, a mainstay of Niki and Ray’s Little Bar, is the lone management team holdover on new owner Sami Rahman’s staff. She was wringing her hands around 6:00 PM Saturday night. Gifted with the ability to perform calmly under pressure, LoDuca Scalici had her finger on the pulse of the crowd the whole time. She saw a lot of pluses. The crowd was large, but it was a sleeping giant. While the Little Bar was packed, it didn’t feel like a party. Yeah, you might say the quirkiness was missing.

“We have a good crowd,” LoDuca Scalici said, surveying the restaurant. “A good turnout. We have little things we will learn. You know, it's hard. Ray and Nikki and Jamie (Bozicnik), they knew how to throw a good party with their personalities. So, I've got to try and mimic that, but I can't. So, we do different things. Like, we opened the outside bar. We’ve got some games out there. I think a lot of people don't know about it because we've never really done that before. So, the more we have events and do stuff, the more people will have a good time. We’re hoping that anyone who didn't come will hear about it and you know, we'll have the FOMO working for us - the fear of missing out. But it seems like everyone's having a good time.”

It’s approaching 7:00 PM and the crowd is still pretty tame, kind of like a typical busy night in season.

"You know, we're at 6:43,” LoDuca Scalici said. "I've still got another hour and 15 minutes before the main event with Dan Signor. Dan is amazing. He plays the keyboard, the guitar. Puts on a good show. Like Raiford Starke, he’s a showman. You can’t beat Raiford. The raffle seems to be fun for everybody. It's a free raffle. You just have to be here to win. The grand prize is a portable generator. We'll do that later on in the evening after Dan starts playing. We have little raffle items that we're doing, just a play on the whole hurricane preparation party, pajamas, and Spam. We've got a portable drill, some flex tape, a tarp, a battery tester, and fishing lures, so when your yard floods, you can go fishing for your dinner. We can still laugh about it a little bit as we go into hurricane season.”

But as the clock inches toward 7:00 PM, the party vibes still not there. The former leaders of quirkiness, Niki, Ray, and Jamie aren’t there. That probably has a lot to do with it. While LoDuca Scalici does a great job with the details, she’s not necessarily the party starter her predecessors were.

“There’s definitely a difference,” LoDuca Scalici said.

LoDuca Scalici was happy doing her own thing when Rahman approached her to help run the restaurant this winter. She ended up being his savior.

"I planned on just kind of being temporary to help out a little bit,” she said. "I've been telling people, 'I'm not one to jump off a sinking ship.' I don't think we were sinking. I think we just need to patch a couple of holes, and I think tonight is a nice, hopeful end of season. The customers are having a good time. A lot of people are wearing their pajamas. Last night was my first night of anxiety. I told my husband if it turns out good, it's a nice team effort and we did a great job. If it turns out bad, oh, Angela, what'd you do? But I'm happy. I'm breathing a little easier now. We're at 7:00. We've got most of the people in for dinner. We'll concentrate on the bar. I might need to get somebody to help in the bar a little bit after the restaurant closes because I anticipate them getting a little busier. Everyone should have a good night. Be happy. Go out with a bang. Be hopeful for the fall."

Sure enough, as the dinner crowd starts to thin out, the bar becomes packed, and three bartenders are bobbing and weaving, trying to keep up with the thirsty patrons. Suddenly, the quirkiness of Spammy Jammy has kicked in. And the evening of partying has begun in earnest. Interestingly, Jamie Bozicnik, former Little Bar manager, shows up right about the time the crowd livens up, with a beer in each hand. Coincidence? Probably not.

Rahman, though he didn’t wear his bathrobe as promised, is happy with what he is seeing at his first Spammy Jammy. And he knows full well who is making it happen.

"I think this is awesome,” Rahman said of the energized crowd. “It's a great event. A lot of people came and enjoyed it. We'll build it from here on. Keeping it simple. We've got a lot of prizes. We're giving generators away. Anything to do with hurricanes. A lot of people came. They enjoyed it. We had the bar outside open, we had the bar inside, and a lot of games and stuff like that. People get to enjoy it, and I think it's a great event. We'll keep it going. I think the main thing is the staff. They had a great time. They had fun. As long as they enjoy it, I'm there. I'm in. It was a great season. I've been very fortunate that the staff have done a great job. I'm very proud of them. As the season comes rolling back in October, I’m anxiously waiting to see the minor changes that we will make to make it better. And build it from there on. I think we got very lucky. I see the amount of people that have supported me. I can't even tell them how much I appreciate it. And, you know I’ve been on the island for 25 years building it."

Rahman reflects on replacing the ownership that had been here for 45 years.

"You know what? I didn't have any challenges,” he said. "People who wanted to stay, they stayed. The people who really wanted to see the minor changes that we made to make it better, make it more efficient. You know, we had a system that kind of clogged the bar a little bit. Now we have an open system. The drinks come out much faster. So, we have done a little tweaking, which has done very well. Before the servers had to go back and get the food out. We brought in food runners. We added extra staff to make sure they clean the tables, clean the floors, whatever it is, making sure they get it done. We can turn the table faster. I was here every single day of the prime time this season. The staff has done tremendous. I have some great staff that made this possible. And I give them thanks from the bottom of my heart. Coming back to Angela, the restaurant business is very tough. We had a couple of managers that came in. The resume always looks good. But when you put them on the floor, they buckle. But thanks to Angela, she has come in, she has jumped in and she has now become the main core of the business, running it. And I'm very proud of her. And I don't know how she does it. If it was me, I would probably jump off the bridge, having a little four-year-old and at the same time running this big operation. I know that she will set up the staff for the next year. She is the core of the business right now. She's going to build the right team who will come in and be part of her.”

Rahman tried to recruit LoDuca Scalici long before he had any idea he’d own the Little Bar.

"I've known her,” he said. "I'm ashamed to say this, but I wanted to steal her, maybe about ten years ago. But she said no. Her loyalty was with the previous owners. They have helped her in her life, and she wanted to keep it that way. So, she didn't want to move. When I was buying into it, she's like, 'you know, I don't know what I'm going to do. I've not decided yet.' But as she saw that coming in I kept everything the same, she's like, 'you know what? Okay, let me see if I can jump in and help you out a little bit.' Now she is the face of the Little Bar.

"I've been on Marco for years. The restaurant business is a challenge. It's a revolving door for a lot of restaurant owners. But for me, I am very lucky. I treat my staff like they're family. Of course you have to understand, I'm running a business. For those who want to stay and grow, the door is open. But again, if you don't want to grow, I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do to help you. It has to be up to you to make it happen.”

Rahman said that LoDuca Scalici learned the business from her father, Giuseppe, who she named her son after. Giuseppe was perhaps the most popular Italian chef in the area for decades.

"Man, she has done tremendously,” Rahman said. "And it's great that she has learned so much from her dad. This girl has so much food knowledge that it's just hard sometimes to think that she can’t do this. She's telling her chefs what to do, and they're like, 'Oh, really? You can do that?' She's like, 'yeah, do it.' They're like, 'Oh my God. Yeah, this is good.' And these guys are in the business for 25, 30, 40 years.”

And she’s also good with the front of the house, too.

"She's both,” Rahman said, "which is hard to find when you have a manager coming in. Maybe he only knows about being a bar manager coming in. He knows about the floor. But for her to know from the bar to the floor to the kitchen. Wow. Unbelievable. That's just unbelievable. I feel privileged that she's given the opportunity to me to be part of her role with her. She has complete freedom and she's done very well so far. And I hope that she continues all the way through.”

For LoDuca Scalici’s part, she’s happy to be part of the Little Bar—and Spammy Jammy.

“The energy was most definitely something else,” she said, “A great way to end a season of change with hope for the coming seasons. I’m very proud of the entire staff and amazing community we get to call home.”

2025 Spammy Jammy Winners

Art:

First Place: Spamland. Shyana LoDuca, Cheyenne Maines, Jordan Schultz.

Second Place: Merrill sculpture. Wade Mundinger.

Third Place: Spam Mail. Suzanne Sawyer.

Honorable Mention: Spamby. Jodi Janides and Maria Castro.

Food:

First Place: Spoke Loaf. Martha Dworak

Second Place: Spam Biscuits. Barbara Jensen.

Third Place: Spam Quiche Lorraine. Bridgette Podzunas.

Honorable Mention: Hog Logs. Laurie Fredrick.