FRANK’S FAVORITE ITALIAN BREAD

PARISI BAKERY MOTT STREET

LITTLE ITALY, NY NY

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FRANKS FAVORITE PIZZA

PATSY’S in EAST HARLEM

No Relation to PATSY’S on 56th STREET

SINATRA at JILLY’S New York with Friends and Daughters NANCY and TINA

Frank loved going to his close Pal JILLY RIZZO’S New York Restaurant JILLY’S where Frank would eat Chinese Food, tell stories, and drink JACK DANIEL’S to the Wee Hours of the morning 

Despite having served as an icon for high living for generations, Frank Sinatra was not a fan of haute cuisine. A high school drop-out from Hoboken, New Jersey, the only child of a father who was a lightweight boxer turned fireman and a political activist mother who ran an illegal abortion business that provided services for free, Sinatra even after his fame was established preferred simpler fare and cozier surroundings than were found in the five-star restaurants of the world. In New York he favored only a few establishments, none of them popular celebrity hang-outs (except for the celebrities invited by Frank). There was P.J. Clarke’s at 915 Third Ave., where Sinatra carefully scheduled his nights around those of gossip columnist Dorothy Kilgallen, whose favorite topic was anything going wrong in Sinatra’s life, especially if it concerned the disillusion of his relationship with actress Ava Gardner. Then there was PATSY’S at 236 W. 56th St., where Frank ordered the breaded veal and spaghetti with red sauce on the side. As a story goes, Sinatra found himself on the skids one Thanksgiving, without company and without plans. So he made a reservation at Patsy’s, which wasn’t open that day. But owner Pasquale Scognamillo scrambled his staff and family so that when Frank rolled in at 3pm, the place was full. Rocky Lee Chu-Cho Bianco at 987 Second Ave was where Frank would go for pizza, and if he wanted something a little more upscale, he hit the 21 CLUB over at 21 W. 52nd St., where the jacket and tie dress code was a lot less of an issue in the 1950s than it is now.

But above and beyond them all was his affection for Jilly’s Saloon. Born Ermenigildo Rizzo on May 6th, 1917, Jilly’s career in food services started early, when he worked for his father delivering Italian ice to cafés. He opened his first restaurant, JILLY’S SALOON , on West 49th Street but eventually moved it to a new location on West 52nd. It was this second incarnation of Jilly’s that attracted Sinatra’s attention. On any given night, Sinatra could be found at his regular booth surrounded by regular friends who received the call earlier in the day — having grown up an only child, Sinatra swore he would never dine alone. Jilly’s kitchen specialized not in Italian fare but in Cantonese food. Sinatra spent so much time there that Jilly Rizzo became Sinatra’s closest friend, his right-hand man, and his bodyguard.

Learn How to Make SINATRA SUNDAY SAUCE and MEATBALLS

Frank Sinatra with Jilly Rizzo and JACKIE “O”

By 1962 he and Jilly Rizzo were so close that Sinatra was securing bit parts for the saloon owner in films like The Manchurian Candidate. That same year, Sinatra and fellow Rat Packer Sammy Davis Jr. recorded the duet “Me and My Shadow,” which twice mentions ending up at Jilly’s. In Sinatra’s 1968 detective movie Lady in Cement, he pays tribute to his friend by naming a seedy Miami strip club Jilly’s. Also in 1968, Sinatra once again paid musical tribute to his favorite hang-out when, in the song “Star,” he crooned “If they’ve got a drink with her name in Jilly’s bar, the chances are the lady’s a star.”

Apart from being Sinatra’s throne room, Jilly’s was most famous as the spot where mobsters decided to murder television comedian Johnny Carson.

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SUNDAY SAUCE

alla BELLINO alla PACINO

AMAZON.com

FRANK SAMMY & DEAN

And “JACK DANIEL”  TENNESSEE WHISKEY

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Recipe for SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS alla SINATRA

Click Here ! 

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Jack Daniel’s and Frank Sinatra

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FRANK SINATRA with Cigarette & JACK DANIELS

SINATRA and Friends at JILLY’S , New York

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