On Wednesday night, in Little Italy, cast and crew members of “The Sopranos,” which premiered 25 years ago this week, gathered for dinner at Da Nico, an old red sauce restaurant on Mulberry Street. The celebratory feast was held alongside an anniversary nostalgia tour for the show, with fan events and special screenings.
“It’s like heaven. It’s extraordinary being with these people,” David Chase, the creator and executive producer of the series, said as guests mobbed the bar around him. He added that he hadn’t seen many of them in years.
Some 75 people packed into Da Nico, a family-owned restaurant that opened in 1993, where “Sopranos” stars Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa are cherished regulars.
Bartenders poured “Sopranos”-labeled Chianti, waiters offered baby-caprese appetizers, and figures like Steven Van Zandt, who played Silvio Dante, and Steve Buscemi, who worked as an actor and director on the series, wove through the crowd. (Some of the show’s most recognizable faces did not make it.)
“I wanted to make sure I was here because I don’t know if this is going to be the last reunion,” said Mr. Schirripa, who played Bobby Baccalieri on the series.
James Gandolfini, who starred in the series as Tony Soprano, died in 2013. But at the gathering, Mr. Gandolfini’s son, Michael, who played a younger version of Tony in “The Many Saints of Newark,” hung out by a wall stacked with wine bottles, eagerly introducing people to his girlfriend. One of his father’s old cast mates approached and asked, “How’s your Mama?”
AsMr. Gandolfini took in the scene, watching former crew members hug each other and plant cheek kisses, he grew reflective.
