Italian Food Recipes Movies Godfather

 

"Shove in your Saa - Seeg & Meatballs"

It all started with Pete Clemenza and The Godfather, a movie by Italian-American director

Francis FOrd Coppola. Yes, I guess we can say it started with Francis. It was Francis Ford Coppola who wrote the Screenplay along with the author of the Best Selling Novel - The Godfather, Mr. Mario Puzo, also an Italian-American. Coppola was the co author of The Godfather Screenplay along with Puzo. And it was Coppola who was the films director and decided what would be in the film and what wasn't.

Coppola brilaintly sets the scene of Sonny Corleone meeting with his Capo's and other Corleone Crime Family associates, discussing strtegies of their next moves after Virgil Sollozzo puts out a hit on Sonny's father, Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brand). The attempted assasination of Vito Corleone fails, and Vito Corleone is still alive, as his son Santino (Sonny) becomes the acting Boss of the Corleone Crime Family. 

As Sonny and his cronies discuss what to do, sitting around eating Chinese Food, his Capo, Peter Clemenza is making a pot of Italian Sunday Sauce Gravy with Sausages & Meatballs. Sonny's younger brother Michael (Al Pacino) is in the room as well. He gets a call from his girlfriend Dianne, who ask Michael if she loves him. Michael doesn't say it, but Clemenza being the smart old guy that he is, knows what has been said, and says, "Why don't you tell that nice girl you Love her. I Love you with all of my Heart. If I don't again soon, I'ma gonna Die" Clemenza chuckles.

Clemenza continues cooking his Sauce, then says to Michael, "Come over here kid. Learn something. You never know when you're gonna to cook for 20 guys someday?  You see? You start out with a little oil. Then you fry some Garlic. Then you throw in some Tomatoes, some Tomato Paste, you fry it up. You make sure it doesn't stick. You get it to a boil. You shove in all your Sausage, and your Meatballs. Add a little bit of wine. And a little sugar, and that's my trick."

Yes, Clemenza making Sunday Sauce and Meatballs was a favorite scene which just about everyone recalls and talks about, and for good reasons. It's a great scene. But let us not forget some other scenes that included Italian food. At Connie Corleone's Wedding, we have a Corleone associate throwing a Gabagool Sandwich to Paulie (watch the video below).

Also, let's not forget Sonny tearing off a piece of Italian Bread, dipping it into the Sauce that Sonny's mother has simmering on the stove. Then Sonny eats it. There are a couple scenes when the the wole Corleone Family is eating at the table. There's the scene when Connie has cooked a meal for herself and her husband Carlo. One of Carlo's girlfriends (Goomada) calls up asking for Carlo. Connie picks up the phone, then her and Carlo start fighting.

Another memorable scene that involved Italian Food was the meeting between Michael, Virgil Sollozzo, and Captain McCluskey at Louie's Italian Restaurant in the Bronx. The three of them are sitting around the table when McCluskey asked Sollozzo, "How the Italian Food in this Restaurant?"

Sollozzo replies, "Get the Veal. It's the best in the City"

Michael Corleone goes into the bathroom, and gets the gun that is planted for him inside the bathroom, above the toilet. Michael comes back out into the dining room and shoots and kills both Sollozzo and Captain McCluskey. The calmly drops the gun, and walks out of the restaurant.

CLEMENZA Makes SUNDAY SAUCE

Recipe

BIG NIGHT

In the annals of Italian Food in movies, Stanley Tucci's Big Night is way up near the top. Some would probably put it on the top of their list. Yes when it comes to Italian Food in movies, Big Night is a heavyweight. The movie centers around two brothers from Italy, in their Italian Restaurant on the Jersey Shore, Louis Prima, and a monumental dish of Southern Italy, known as a Timpano (aka Timballo). 

The brothers restaurant is not doing that well financially. The food is very good, but this is the 1950s, and the locals don't get Chef Primo's authentic Italian Food. When a fellow (rival) restaurant owner tells brothers Scondo (Stanley Tucci) and Primo that he knows the famous Sicilian-American singer Louis Prima, and that he is going to get him to come to the brothers restaurant, this get the ball rolling on a very special dinner hosted by the brothers, featuring Chef Primo's wonderful food, and the centerpiece of the meal, The Timpano, a luxurious dish made of baked maccheroni, meats, sauce, and cheeses stuffed into a dough shell that's baked in a pan called a "Timpano" by which the dish gets his name. 

The movie stars Stanley Tucci as Secondo, Tony Shaloub as Primo, Secondo's brother, Isabella Rossellini as Gabriella, with Minnie Driver, and Marc Anthony as the busboy.

The wonderful music, fine cast, and the scenes preparing the Timapno and other dishes is superb, and it's these scenes that captivated audiences, and inspired to make their very own Big Night Style Italian Dinner Parties. The rest is history, and people still talk about Big Night, the Timpano, and wonderful Italian Dinner.

The TIMPANO

Stanley Tucci, Marc Anthony, & Tony Shaloub

BIG NIGHT

recipe

Goodfellas

Johnny (Frank Pelligrino Sr,) & Vinny (Charlie Scorsese)

DINNER in PRISON

GOODFELLAS

There are several Italian Food scenes in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, a true life story of factions of the New York Mafia members and associates, based on Nick Pellegi's book Wiseguy. Of course the most famous food scene is when Henry (Ray Liotta) is in Prison with Vinny (Charlie Scorsese), Johnny Dio, and "Big Paulie" (Paul Sorvino). Viiny is making the Sunday Sauce Italian Gravy with Meatballs and Pork Neck, as Johnny Dio cooks up some Steaks. The scene is quite memorable, and people talk about it all the time, especially the way Paul Sorvino shaves the Garlic "Ravor Thin" with a ravor, and Big Paulie telling Vinny, "Vinny don't put too many Onions in the Sauce." You gotta just Love it?

The scene with Henry making Veal Scallopine and his brother stirring "The Sauce" is memorable as well. 

So if you Love Movies, Italian Food, and Italian Food in movies, there's a good chance you already know these films and the Food Scenes in them, and if you're like me, you talk about them, and watch the movies over and over again. When you've got something good, you stick with it. And that's The Godfather, Coppola and Pacino, Clemenza and his Sauce. Big Night Stanley Tucci and The Timpano, and Marty Scorsese's Goodfellas, Robert DeNiro, The Prison Sauce, and the main character Henry Hill, and the late great Ray Liotta, who turned in such a great performance, he was even better than DeNiro. "Yes he was."

Watch the movies, enjoy, make a Sunday Sauce, and listen to Sinatra. What's better than that?

GOODFELLAS

PRISON DINNER

GOODFELLAS  "PRISON SAUCE" Recipe

JOHNNY DIO'S STEAK  -  Recipe

by Daniel Bellino Zwicke

SUNDAY SAUCE alla CLEMENZA

all PACINO

From The GODFATHER

AMAZON.com

"MAKE a BIG NIGHT TIMPANO"

NONNA BELLINO'S COOKBOOK

RECIPES FROM MY SICILIAN NONNA

AMAZON.com

Note :  Timpano is also known as TIMBALLO in most parts 

of Southern Italy, and there are numerous variations, and recipes,

like the one in Grandma Bellino's Cookbook. 

iL TIMPANO

"BIG NIGHT"

CARLO & CONNIE FIGHT

Connie :  "Why don't you bring your WHORE home for dinner" ?

CLEMENZA'S

GODFATHER SUNDAY SAUCE APRON

Etsy

Paulie's Friend throws him a Gabagool Sandwich

"Hey Paulie! I got some Gabagool" !!!

At Connie Corleone's Wedding

Paulie's friend (Mobster) has a couple Gabagool (Capicola) Sandwiches

and throws one to Paulie, who says,  "Hey you Stupid Jerk" !

Watch this at Second 00.48 on the video clip.

"Don't Overcook it."

"You Overcook it, it Defeats its Own Purpose"

Robert DeNiro

RAGING BULL

PS  "And Let Us Not Forget RAGING BULL and the Steak Scene"

"It's Like a Piece of CHARCOAL"

"BRING IT OVER" !!!

"YOU WANT YOUR STEAK" !!!!

JAKE'S STEAK  Recipe

"I LOVE GABAGOOL"

T SHIRT

SATRIALE'S PORK STORE

GROCERY BAG

TOTE BAG

Lucky Luciano Tee Shirt Sicilian American

 

"LUCKY" LUCIANO

T-Shirt

LUCKY LUCIANO

Limited Edition

TEE SHIRT

CHALRES SALVATORE "LUCKY" LUCIANO

GENOVESE CRIME BOSS

NEW YORK NY

LUCKY LUCIANO Sicilian-American Mafia Tee Shirt. Charles Salvatore "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian-American Mafia Boss from New York City, by way of Lercara Friddi (Hometown) Sicily. Born Salvatore Luciania in Lercara Fiddi on November 24, 1897.

In April 1906, when Luciano was eight years old, the family emigrated from Sicily to the United States. They settled in New York City in the borough of Manhattan on its Lower East Side, a popular destination for Italian immigrants. At age 14, Luciano dropped out of school and started a job delivering hats, earning $7 per week. However, after winning $244 in a dice game, Luciano quit his job and began earning money on the street.That same year, Luciano's parents sent him to the Brooklyn Truant School.

As a teenager, Luciano started his own gang and was a member of the old Five Points Gang. After a few years Luciano became a top aide in Joe Masseria's criminal organization. With the assination of crime boss Maranzano's by a gang from Murder, Incorporated – allegedly including Joe Adonis, Bugsy Siegel, Albert Anastasia and Vito Genovese, Luciano inherited the crime family that would eventually become known as the Genovese family. He was the Boss of The Genoves Crime Family of New York. The rest is history, including Luciano helping The United States operations of the invasion of Sicily, during World War II ...

Charles "Lucky Liuciano" was one of the 20th Century's most famous figures. This Limited Edition is sure to please those interested in Amerian Mafia History, Italian Culture, and Lucky Luciano himslef. It makes a great gift, that most would absolutely Love.

GIFT IDEAS : Christmas, Birthdays and all occasions. Sizes : Small to 5XL. Comes in 8 Colors, so "Get Yours Today" !!!!

The LERCAR FRIDDI COOKBOOK

LUCKY LUCIANO'S HOMETOWN in SICILY

GRANDMA BELLINO'S COOKBOOK

SICILIAN / ITALIAN-AMERICAN COOKBOOK

Of LERCARA FRIDDI SICILY

SINATRA FAMILY - LUCIANO HOMETOWN

FAMOSU SICILIAN AMERICANS Like :

AL PACINO - FRANK SINATRA - SLY StALLONE

And MANY MORE

THE RECIPES & FOODS FAMOUS SICILIAN-AMERICANS EAT

AMAZON.com

Everything to Know About Gabagool - But was Afraid to Ask ?

 

TONY SOPRANO

"READ EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED to KNOW ABOUT GABAGOOL"

BUT was AFRAID to ASK ?

CLICK HERE to READ ABOUT "GABAGOOL" !!!

"STUGOTS"

TONY SOPRANO

"STUGOTS" Tee SHIRT

The Definition of Stugots What it Means

TONY SOPRANO

"STUGOTS"

GABAGOOL - TEE SHIRT

The DEFINITION of "STUGOTS" !!!

Stugots is from the Sopranos series, meant to reproduce the sound of "stu cazz" from the Naples dialect when read out loud, originally from the Italian " 'sto Cazzo" (short for "questo Cazzo").

Literally "this dick", this term has no relations with other body parts such as balls or anything else "cazzo" only means "dick". Seriously I'm from Italy, born here, the other definitions are pretty dumb.

It's used in Italy mostly as a dumb joke when one asks a question that implies the other person to ask another one then he replies " 'sto cazzo" to mock the guy.
It's also used as a reply to dumb questions especially when the answer is obvious.

The SOPRANOS

SATIRALE'S PORK STORE

SAUSAGES - STEAKS

DELI SANDWICHES

GABAGOOL

COFFEE MUG

"SATRIALE'S"

SOPRANO PORK STORE

TEE SHIRT

SAUAGES - GABAGOOL - STEAKS

ITALIAN SANDWICHES

Giambone's Italian Restaurant

 

GIAMBONE'S ITALIAN RESTAURANT

42 Mulberry Street, New York NY

ALTHOUGH legal arguments have long echoed down the austere halls of the Criminal Court building on Centre Street, many spirited lawyerly discussions also occurred a few blocks east, in a dim, shoebox-sized Italian restaurant named Giambone. Now, as workers at Centre Street and other nearby courthouses dig into their fall workload, they are discovering that this neighborhood fixture is gone.

Located on a narrow stretch of Mulberry Street two blocks south of Canal, Giambone, a virtual clubhouse for lawyers, judges, cops and defendants with a history as rich as its clam sauce, closed its doors in June. It was a victim of 9/11 and the sluggish economy, which all but eliminated the evening dinner crowd.

Originally housed in a marble-floored basement, which served it well during Prohibition, the restaurant was opened in 1914 by a strapping fellow named Italo Susi, who went by the nickname Giambone. In 1935, after the upstairs tenant, a Western Union office, left, Italo moved his eatery aboveground and, along with his son Tony, built the place into a bustling, neighborhood joint.

Within a stone's throw of various courthouses, Giambone was a natural choice for people who worked at the courthouse or merely visited it from time to time, like the mobster John Gotti. Tony Susi, now 82, still remembers his introduction to the once-Teflon don.

''The goons came over and said, 'Would you accept John Gotti?' I said, 'Of course.' Then they said, 'Would you wait on him personally?' So I waited on him. We got along pretty well, too. I spoke to him in Italian.'' Mr. Gotti ordered the calamari and left a $125 tip.

Over the years, other celebrities passed through, including the comedian Pat Cooper, who wanted to kiss Mr. Susi upon tasting his Linguine alla Sinatra, a house specialty, and John F. Kennedy Jr., who nursed his wounds at Giambone after failing the bar exam for the second time.

But the true lure of Giambone remained its homey ambiance. The décor -- rickety tables, taxidermied fish on the wall -- was as unfashionable as your grandfather's basement, and nearly as dusty. The menu was varied but never fancy. And Mr. Susi, by all accounts a gracious host, presided over a cast of regulars that included a fellow named Louie Beans, a struggling lounge singer named Detie Baxter, and Louis Martine, a big, garrulous prankster.

Asked about the many stunts he pulled at Giambone, Mr. Martine, a retired lawyer, fondly recalled the sweltering day he sent two colleagues on a goose chase in search of a Chinese tailor rumored to sell cheap suits. ''By the time the guys got back, they were walking swimming pools,'' he said with a laugh. ''They were mad as hell.''

There is another reason to mourn Giambone. Except for a half-Italian, half-Chinese place next door, it was the last Italian restaurant on Mulberry Street below Canal.

Next month the space will reopen as a Chinese furniture store, furthering the Asian dominance of an area that, according to Mr. Susi, once housed seven Italian restaurants.

Mr. Susi retired in 1990, selling the restaurant to a man named Joseph Elias. Bob Jenny, a spokesman for New York City Management, the owner of the building, said that Mr. Elias informed the company last spring that he was closing the struggling business. Mr. Elias could not be reached for comment.

For its many former customers, the bottom line is that the restaurant will be missed. ''It's left a hole in the neighborhood,''' said Robert M. Morgenthau, the Manhattan district attorney and a longtime regular.

 ''Now, we go to Odeon or Forlini's.''

GIAMBONES'S

John Gotti with Attorney Bruce Cutler

Outside Giambone's Italian Restaurant

NEW YORK NY

SUNDAY SAUCE

PASTA - SOUPS

ITALIAN STEAK

SUNDAY SAUCE

And More ..

SUNDAY SAUCE

Mafia Dining History Italian Restaurants NYC

.

Michael Corleone , Captain McCluskey and Sollozzo

 

At LOUIE'S in The BRONX

 

 

"Get the Veal it's the Best in the City"

 

The market is uneasy. Competition is fierce. The trust busters in blue are talking tough. Vito Genovese, chairman of the board of the oldest, richest, fattest, conglomerate of them all, is dead.         In tense times like these, the flow of corporate debate is primed by tranquilizing platters of Sicilian soul food: crusty rings of calamari, steaming bowls of zuppa di pesce, the purple splendor of a well-sauced eggplant.         The Carlo Giambino division has been eating up a storm at Villa Vivolo in Gravesend, Brooklyn...$40 a night, out of petty cash. Thomas (Tommy Ryan) Eboli, Vito’s acting underboss, and elder statesman Michele (Mike) Miranda...and sometimes titular executive pro tem Gerardo (Jerry) Catena...have been brooding about the rites of executive succession over espresso in the grubby Napoli e Notte Cafe at 165 Thompson Street. Why the Napoli e Notte? There’s nothing to eat but potato chips and pretzels. Nothing to look at but a very spiffy juke box, an unsmiling old lady in basic black, Pepe the poodle in bows of baby blue and a sign: “This is not a club. Don’t hang around.” Maybe the Genovese trustees are dieting. Tommy does have a bum heart. Mike has diabetes. And Jerry in the flesh is no Joe Namath.         

Let these gourmandizing board meetings continue. What is good for the Mafia is good for gourmet country. The Mafia is widely advanced as “the Michelin Guide for Italian restaurants, and a three-star police raid is...a tribute to the excellence of the kitchen.         But is it?         A gourmet crew of Mafia Boswells and plumpish law enforcement officers have shared their personal dining guides to Mafia-starred restaurants, raided and unraided. And I have waded through a roiling flood of tomato sauce to test the mystique of the Mafioso palate.         Characteristically, the menu is narrowly Southern—souvenir of Naples, Calabria and Sicily; the bread is crusty and irresistible; the flowers are faded plastic; murals celebrate the Bay of Naples. You dine with judges, pols, fuzz in mufti, expatriate Italians from the suburbs, beehive-headed dolls in purple leather minis and stiletto heels...and maybe, seven solemn Dons along the same side of a banquet table, their backs against the wall.

***

        Luna’s at 112 Mulberry Street has a fine old tradition of three-star raids. Crazy Joe Gallo got pinched here twice. And rackets magnate Anthony Strollo, likewise known as Tony Bender, was an after-midnight regular until he mysteriously disappeared. More recently Luna was raided merely for serving wine without a license. But if you’re thirsty, say the magic word Chianti and more likely than not, a bottle will appear.

        You think the staff may fly into panic at the entrance of a brass-buttoned patrolman. But no. One strolled in at dinner recently and was practically embraced by a waiter. “He’s my friend,” the waiter announced. “He won’t do nothing to me.” Friendly officer was escorted to the kitchen for supper. It’s a New York custom. Think of the policeman on the 57th Street beat who takes his lunch in the kitchen of Le Pavillon.

        Luna fans fill the garish narrow trattoria freshly painted Easter-egg blue beneath its fabled mural—Vesuvius, a light bulb tucked into its mouth, a neon moon above. The affection is two-way. “Here you are, you nut,” says the waitress serving a plate of steaming mussels.

        The menu is more adventurous than most: several homemade pastas, tripe, brains, veal knuckle (Thursday), steak in Neapolitan or Sicilian style. Portions are large, prices low, 29 entrées at $2 or less...and the service can be whimsically cavalier. At first you are amused, then humble, then fretful...then choleric. There is a full house and two waiters: across the room, a dashing professional; your waiter, a bustling bumbler. He forgets the table cloth...que sera...forgets the bread, serves one guest a watery minestrone several minutes after the other guests have finished their antipasto, and exactly 90 seconds before arriving with her entrée. No problem really. The soup is inedible anyway. The hot antipasto ($1.75) is dull and under-seasoned, clams dry, langoustine tough but the eggplant is lovely.

        The waiter is so cheerful. “Here you are, please,” he sings, delivering mussels in a red wine sauce ($1.75), though we asked for white. The red is far too robust, overpowering the delicate mussels. Calamari Arrigante* ($2.25) is squid layered with buttery, magnificently seasoned crumbs. The chicken cacciatore ($2.25) unappetizingly dismembered into tiny pieces with cracked shins and marrow exposed is sharp with the unpleasant taste of burnt garlic and rich with mushrooms.

        But the faces...I felt a chill as a burly chap in black bowler walked in. That battered face. A button (trigger) man for sure. Then, disappointment. He sat down...back wantonly to the door and proceeded to discuss Merce Cunningham with a lady companion.

*The spelling of dishes on Italian restaurants’ menus is as variable as their tomato sauces.

 

 

 

 

        Loving ghosts haunt Lombardi’s at 53rd Spring Street—shades of a little Appalachin raid in 1965 –but there was not a customer at table at 12:45 one Wednesday afternoon. Calico privacy drapes the storefront window and the dining room is freshly brocaded. There is a shrine for religious devotion, an orchid tree and a massive stern-faced woman, guardian of the cash box; I suspect she came from Naples in that very chair, straight from shouting “putana” at Sophia Loren in some Carlo Ponti production. Out of the kitchen strolls a distraught creature in a shower cap, clutching a bunch of parsley. The hot antipasto is fair ($1.75): stuffed zucchini, stuffed mushroom, stuffed red pepper, stuffed mussels...the same bland stuffing. Fettucine Alfredo, homemade ($2.75) but stingily sauced. Stuffed breast of veal ($2.75), obviously out of the fridge, was still ice cold inside, served with rubbery roast potato and oversteamed escarole. It tasted better after re-heating, hearty, filling and profusely mushroomed. The white wine was warm...the waiter adlibbed an ice cube. Asked for a homemade dessert, he appeared with the remnants of a giant ricotta cassata, creamed cheese and cake melded and moist, too cold but very good. I must have a Sicilian sweet tooth.

***

        There is a refreshing simplicity about Vincent’s Clam Bar, corner of Mott and Hester Streets, at counter, in booth: The choice is littleneck clams on the half shell ($1.50 a dozen), shrimps, scungili (conch), calamari (squid), mussels (small $1.25, large $2.40) or combinations thereof ($2.40) and hunks of Italian bread doused in a fiery red sauce: very hot or much-too-hot. Stubborn snob that I am -- nothing’s too hot for me -- I ignored the warning. After four forkfuls of squid and conch, my mouth was anesthetized. The prudent Kultur maven fared far better with his hot shrimp and mussels. Vincent’s traffic never stills. Friday it’s a must. Turnover is swift. Out informant from narcotics control almost wept as he recalled a surveillance in Vincent’s. “I wasn’t going to eat but I couldn’t resist. Just as they served the scungili, the guy I’m tailing leaves.” Talk about conflict.

 

 

***

 

        Paolucci’s, one flight up at 149 Mulberry Street, an old Van Rensselaer pad, has been called Le Pavillon of Little Italy. Perhaps it’s the altitude. The place does have dignity. Also, acres of red brocade. It is family-run. Everything is cooked to order...à la carte...and drinks with ice cubes cost 10 cents extra. Entrees are mostly $2.25 to $2.75. The homemade hot antipasto (for two, $2.50) lost much of its individuality in a blanket of tomato sauce. The cold antipasto ($1.25) was more successful...everything fresh and of superior quality. Homemade roasted red peppers (.90) were magnificent but a stuffed artichoke ($1.25), perfectly cooked and choke removed, was a bit blandly seasoned. The bread was hot, fresh and wondrously crusty. Percitelli a filet di pomidoro ($2) turned out to be fat spaghetti in a light savory tomato sauce flavored with basil and minced prosciutto. Veal Rolatini ($2.60) was brown and crisp outside, tender and moist within, its stuffing a savory blend of cheese and prosciutto. Even the potato croquette tasted “to order.” Broiled sea bass ($2.75) was perfectly done, lightly garlicked, sprinkled with pungent flat-leafed Italian parsley.

        But the masterpiece was an order of Italian broccoli sautéed in oil, garlicky and so brilliant a green one cynic suspected a dash of illicit bicarbonate of soda has gone into the pot.

        Even Pavillon has its haute catastrophes. Paolucci’s downfall was the zuppa di pesce, ($4.75)...a mild, almost sweetly-scented fish soup of baby clams, tenderest squid, juicy shrimp and...disaster...great chunks of not-quite-cooked bass.

        We ordered cheesecake to chase the spectre of the zuppa. But it was still baking. Demi-tasse was brought to the table with a bottle of Anisette. The service was polite and professional.

***

        Little Augie Pisano was shot to death with Gian Marino’s recipe for clam sauce in his pocket. Grazie Dio. Little Augie departed still garlicky and glowing from his last supper. That was 1959. Today Gian Marin’s clam sauce is hardly worth getting shot for. It is stingily ladled over gummy linguini and under-garlicked.

        Still there is this to be said for Marino’s: The food is edible, often good, occasionally commendable and at 716 Lexington it is only a few steps from Bloomingdale’s. Perhaps it is the dim lighting or the waiters editorializing in Italian that makes Marino’s a twilight zone, free of shopping-bag tension.

        At the lunch hour peak there is waiting. The crowd is eclectic: shopping tourist couples, merchants and salesmen, an African diplomat, a bearded pop-music critic, those glamorous young men who wore Cardin suits before Cardin invented them, a sexagenarian with Lolita and at the next table a bull-necked fellow saying, “I don’t want to get myself killed.” Mother, a nervous visitor from the Middle West, wanted to leave at once. The service was polite and perfunctory. Only friends of the house were offered grindings of fresh pepper and crusty whole wheat bread.

        By two on another afternoon, the crowd had thinned. The maître d’ had time to serve a candlelit cake singing “Happy Birthday to You” with operatic bravura to a table of men with that New York face that could be Jewish or Italian.

        The menu is banal, á la carte, with most entrées in the $2.50 to $3.75 range at lunch, slightly higher at dinner. The special antipasto ($2) was not at all special. The Wednesday sausages were good but the ziti with it was not well drained, diluting the nondescript sauce ($3.25). Veal cutlet alla Milanese ($3) was crisp and tender. Tomato sauce, served on request, was thick, meaty and well-seasoned. Veal parmigiana ($3.25) was less successful. Clams Oreganate ($2) were six of the tiniest creatures, incredibly tender, juicy under a cover of well-seasoned crumbs.

        Ricotta cheesecake, though too cold, was excellent. And the espresso was the true foamy brew from one of those Rube Goldberg machines that could pass for a jukebox.

***

        The walls of Vesuvio are painted. That’s the decor. By the rules of Southern Italian soul you know a place that looks this bad has got to be good. To reach the corner of Liberty and Cleveland you cruise through the tenement wilds of burned-out Brooklyn. Do as our city fathers do. Don’t let the devastation spoil your appetite.

        The backroom is hopping...mink stoles...a guy with a suitcase who says, “I came here right from the airport”...very affluent types. There is one table in the bar room, the equivalent of the royal banquette uptown, no doubt. It’s reserved for Jimmy Breslin. We are celebrating his escape from the girdle ads in the New York Post and the movie sale of his novel, The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight.

        There are no menus. What do you want? If they’ve got it in the kitchen, ecco la! You order generic: shrimp, veal, calamari. And then by color. Linguini with clam sauce...red or white? The house wine arrives in an unlabeled bottle. And the food, family style, on big oval platters. Sixty baked clams...we are only six. The clams are juicy, garlicky and good. Stuffed mushrooms are less interesting and slightly singed. The linguine, a little overcooked, is beautifully sauced, again, a feast of garlic. The Shrimp, Veal Marsala and Veal Francese are robust country food. The squid is drowning in an oily tomato sauce but tender and good. The leftovers would feed another four. We should have brought Fat Thomas*. The service is pleasant and businesslike, a tribute to the patrone, Tony the Sheik, veteran of Little Appalachin raids at Lombardi’s and La Stella. Well, I knew it wasn’t Tony the Chic. Dinner with demi-tasse and tip is $40.

        Vesuvio is moving soon. “To one of those cinderblock joints,” Jimmy glooms. “They’ll probably ruin the place.”

 

*Fat Thomas was a frequent character in Breslin’s columns edited by my then husband, the Kultur Maven.

***

 

 

        La Stella won its three-star rating from the Black Hand gourmet inspection team September 30, 1966, when a swarm of police invade the privacy of a family reunion. La Stella is still worth a side trip to Queens, wherever that is. 102-11 Queens Blvd., Forest Hills, to be precise.

        La Stella is busiest at dinner. Service seems slow because everything is cooked to order. At lunch though, you get some very serious eaters. Even so, the lone waiter, an unusually cheerful and friendly chap, reeled at the depth and breadth of our order. “My friend is celebrating her divorce,” I adlibbed in an attempt to explain. He provided dimes for our 30-minutes parking meter...and prompt reminders at half-hour intervals.

        The hot antipasto ($1.25) failed to survive its blanketing sauce though the shrimp were tender and the eggplant nicely seasoned. Cold antipasto ($1.25) was, again, more refreshing, nothing homemade but everything fresh and of excellent quality. Crisp slivers of zucchini, batter-dipped and deep fried (.90) were marvelous. Properly al dente spaghetti ($1.90) was heady with an abundance of garlic...perfect for me, too much for my friend. The striped bass marechiare ($2.75) was excellent, tender, with the subtlest of herbed tomato bits. Veal Rolatini ($3.25) was tough and dry.

        The cheesecake tasted homemade (.50) and the cannoli --  that pastry cylinder of creamed cheese with candied fruit and bits of chocolate -- prompted such ecstatic groans that the waiter urged us to sit awhile. “It’s only an hour or so till dinner,” he said.

FAVORITE MOBSTER EATS

MACCHERONI PASTA

GABAGOOL - BRACIOLE

SAUSAGES  -  SUNDAY SAUCE

CANNOLIS and MORE ...

AMAZON.com

 

 

 

RAO'S

 

East Harlem

This eponymous eatery, named for founder Charles Rao, opened its doors off Pleasant Avenue in 1896. It evolved into a social and gustatory phenomenon, a place where dinner reservations are about as hard to come by as a cheap one-bedroom with Central Park views. 

 

 

Hecklers are the worst. Most people just tell them to shut up, but mobster Louis Barone is not most people. When Albert Circelli wouldn't stop mocking Broadway vet Rena Strober's performance of "Don't Rain on My Parade" at Rao's, Barone silenced him by shooting him in the back with his .38. Barone went to jail, but a suitcase full of limbs turned up outside Rao's seven years later. The place's mob ties are so famous, Scorsese featured a regular (Johnny Roastbeef) in Goodfellas and used the spot as inspiration.

 

 

 

 

The NEW YORK "DAILY NEWS" FRONT PAGE

 

The Morning After Big Paul Castellano Got Whacked

 

Outside SPARK'S STEAK HOUSE

 

on West 46th Street Midtown Manhattan

 

Gambino Family Crime Boss Paul Castellano's Body

 

on the sidewalk in front of SPARK'S STEAK HOUSE

 

New York , NY

 

December 17 ,  1985

 

 

Paul (Big Paul) Castellano, the aging and beleaguered kingpin of American organized crime, was shot to death yesterday in front of a midtown steak house in a brazen rubout that investigators said “could determine the future” of the Mafia in this country.

Also killed with Castellano, 70, was Thomas Bilotti, 47, a reputed captain in the Gambino crime family, which Castellano had controlled since 1976. The two victims were both shot in the face by an execution team of three unidentified men who pulled semi-automatic handguns from their trenchcoats, according to investigators.

“This could be the beginning of a war,” said Thomas Sheer, deputy assistant director in charge of the New York office of the FBI. “If it is, this is the first battle.”

One of the gangland assassins reportedly fired a coup de grace shot into Castellano’s head before the three men fled on foot toward Second Ave. A police source said a witness saw one of the gunmen speaking into a walkie-talkie as he ran. The trio then jumped into a black rented Lincoln Town Car, with a New Jersey license plate - ABM 43Z - and made their getaway.

 

 

The Body of Thomas Bilotti

 

Paul Castellanos's Bodyguard / Driver

 

Lies in the Middle of East 46th Street

 

between 2nd and 3rd Avenues

 

as Bilotti and his Boss Big Paul Castellano

 

were Gunned Down in front of SPARK'S STEAK HOUSE

 

 

 

BIG PAULIE 1959

 

 

Spark's was a Favorite of Big Paul

 

 

That's Before his was Assassinated Outside

 

on ast 46th Street

JOHN GOTTI

It was later revealed to the public that John Gotti orchestrated The Gangland Hit

on Gambino Crime Boss Paul "Big Paulie" Catellano in front of Spark's Steakhouse

on East 46th Street , and that Gotti and his Underboss Sammy "The Bull" Gravano

sat in a parked car on 46th Street a half a block away as two of Gotti's Button-Men

gunned down Castellano and his Bodyguard Thommy Bilotti in Midtown Manhattan

on the night of December 17 , 1985  ... By doing so, Gotti suceeded in one of the most

notorious Mafia Takeovers in American Mafia History ..

 

 

 

 

The SIRLOIN is de RIGUEUR

 

 

  

Creamed Spinach is the side dish of Choice

 

at Sparks and any Steak House at All.

.

.

.

"Don't Forget The CANNOLIS"

That's what Corleone Capo Peter Clemenza's wife told him as he was leaving the house one day. The day they Whacked Paulie Stuffoza in retribution by Sonny Corleone ( James Caan ) for Paulie's involement in the attempted murder of Don Vito Corleone, played by Marlon Brando .

CLEMENZA GETS The CANNOLIS

CLEMENZA'S GOT CANNOLIS

TEE SHIRT

 

.

,

 

 

 

.

UMBERTO'S CLAM HOUSE

MULBERRY STREET / LITTLE ITALY NEW YORK

Umberto's was a favorite Mafia hangout / eatery where Joe Gallo , his associates friends and family liked to eat Shrimp , Mussels , Clams , Scungili , and Calamari in all there popular ITALIAN Preparations     were prepared just the way Joe liked them. BAKED CLAMS FriedCalamari SPAGHETTI with CLAM SAUCE , Mussels Marinara , Lobster Fra Diavolo and all the favorite ITALIAN  Seafood Dishes could be had at Umberto's Clam House which was usally packed at night , especially late night when many were finished drinking for the night and needed some good eats before heading home.

.

.

CRAZY JOE GALLO

.

.

.

THE FEAST of THE 7 FISH

ITALIAN CHRISTMAS

Favorite "CRAZY JOE" RECIPES Inside

,

 

 

Is Peter Luger Doing Better Than the Mafia?

 

 

 

PETER LUGER

 

The WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS STEAK HOUSE

 

Williamsburg Brooklyn

 

A Favorite Wiseguy Haunt 

 

        An influential New York Stock Exchange market maker and long-time habitué of the top-rated Brooklyn steak house complains to a Peter Luger manager about the long wait for a table.  He slips the man forty bucks.  And waits. “I thought there was a recession,” the customer complains.

        “What recession?” says the manager. “No signs of it here.” Business is up 15% so far this year, he claims.

        “Yes,” says the waiter to the specialist, finally claiming his table.  “We could be doing better now than the Mafia.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

The PETER LUGER PORTERHOUSE STEAK

 

 

 

 

Gail Greene's Mafia Dining Out Guide

 

 

The RAGU BOLOGNESE COOKBOOK

SECRET RECIPE

by DANNY BOLOGNESE

 

 

 AMAZON.com 

TONY SOPRANO

"STUGOTS"

GABAGOOL - TEE SHIRT

The SOPRANOS

SATIRALE'S PORK STORE

SAUSAGES - STEAKS

DELI SANDWICHES

GABAGOOL

COFFEE MUG

"SATRIALE'S"

SOPRANO PORK STORE

TEE SHIRT

SAUAGES - GABAGOOL - STEAKS

ITALIAN SANDWICHES

SUNDAY SAUCE

alla PACINO alla BELLINO

AMAZON.com

 

 

Read about Growing Up in the Massapequa Mafia