Paolo Rosetta
Paolo Rosetta (2010)
Ryan Johnson
Episodes: 5148–5169
Parent: Carla Rosetta
Siblings: Angelo Rosetta plus 2 unnamed brothers and an unnamed sister
Occupation: Restaurant manager
Paulie was first seen at the Diner, where Irene and Colleen had been primed to expect a visit from a food critic. Thinking it was him, Colleen began fawning over him but managed to spill a drink on him. Paulie then went to Angelo’s where he complained to a waitress about the food. When Angelo went to see the troublesome customer personally, he was greeted by a grinning Paulie, his brother.
Angelo introduced Paulie to Charlie but was suspicious of his brother’s sudden appearance. Some years earlier, when they were teenagers, Angelo had taken the blame for a fire Paulie had accidentally started in their parents’ restaurant, with the result that Angelo had been fired and Paulie had been made manager. After entertaining Charlie with embarrassing childhood stories, Paulie confirmed Angelo’s fears by admitting that he needed his help.
Angelo kept the situation secret from Charlie for a few days before he eventually filled her in: Paulie had borrowed money from loan sharks using their parents’ restaurant as collateral and now owed them $30,000.Angelo agreed to take a loan out against the restaurant to pay Paulie’s debt but Charlie convinced him he needed to let Paulie learn from his mistakes rather than bailing him out all the time. When Paulie mentioned his cash flow problems to Alf and Alf suggested he needed a generous benefactor, Paulie went round Charlie’s and tried to lay a guilt trip on her, saying if he didn’t get the money by the end of the week the loan sharks would go after his family, including Angelo, but when Angelo found him there he threw him out.
Charlie went to Xavier and asked for the money from the people smuggling operation to bail out Paulie. Xavier agreed and Paulie was grateful, cooking her a thank you dinner, but Angelo didn’t want Charlie breaking the law to help them and talked her out of taking the money. He told Paulie to ask the loan sharks for an extension but they gave him two weeks to get the money or they’d burn down the restaurants.
Angelo suggested selling their parents’ restaurant to earn the money but Paulie came up with the idea of winning it at the races, claiming to have a full proof system. The pair took an oblivious Charlie and Nicole to the race track with them where Paulie managed to win big with his first bet. However, he then proceeded to lose all their winnings, leaving them back to square one. He wanted to bet again with their original stake but Angelo refused and he and Charlie, who found out what they were doing, forced Paulie to stay and show Nicole the good time he’d promised her.
Paulie still refused to let their parents know the situation so Angelo contacted them himself, not only telling them about Paulie’s debts but also about him starting the fire. Even though his parents agreed to pay off the loan sharks, Paulie was angry that he’d been left looking like a failure in their eyes. He blamed Charlie and had a heated confrontation with Angelo at the surf club which Alf had to break up. Charlie managed to get Angelo and Paulie together for a meal and they sorted out their differences. Angelo gave Paulie a lift home with both brothers glad to be back on good terms.