A tribute to Rosemary Clooney

Today marks 9 years that Rosemary Clooney passed away - it's amazing to think that so much time has passed since a great friend of ours left us.

Some time ago, we had a tribute put up on Rosemary Clooney's site. Since this is the anniversary of her passing, it seems appropriate to repost it.

http://rosemaryclooney.net/remembering/tribute/#patsys

It's a great read, so you should definitely check it out, but there's one part I'd like to quote because it sums up our relationship with her particularly well. It's from Anna (my Meema);

""Rosemary started coming to Patsy's when she first got to New York. My father took such a liking to her, he told her when she was struggling to find work, that she could have a meal here anytime. He said to her, 'someday if you could pay me back when you make it, then you pay me.' She was part of our family and we've lost a dear friend. She referred to me as her sister, even when she signed my copy of her book, she signed it, 'To My Sister Anna." 

Sal with Rosemary, one of the many, many times she visited the restaurant

Sal is coming to Atlantic City!

Just wanted to give you all a quick update about our July 4th plans. As you may already know, we'll be closed July 4th and 5th - this follows a long-standing tradition where we always take off on July 4th to spend time with the family. It's a great opportunity for us all to take a family vacation together, and my parents even got married during the July 4th break!

That said, if you were looking forward to getting some Patsy's during the holiday, you still can! In fact, Sal will be going up to Atlantic City, and will be cooking in Patsy's AC on July 3rd and 4th! If you'll be visiting AC, then you should definitely stop by the restaurant while Sal's there!

In fact, that's not the only thing going on in Patsy's AC. We've actually got several exciting events going on - as soon as the information on them is finalized, I'll post them here!

~ Paul

Patsy's, Vinvino, and Antinori - it runs in the family!

Here at Patsy's, we pride ourselves on being a family business - but we're not the only ones! In fact, it's not uncommon for us to work with other businesses that have also been run by the same family over many generations. Two such families are the Giachino family, which runs Vinvino Wine, and the Antinore family, which owns an orchard in Italy. Giachino's got 5 generations of family running it (meaning they've got one more than us), but Antinore has us both beat - they've been around for 625 years, and right now are on their Twenty-Sixth Generation. That's impressive.

Gus Giachino of Vinvino (middle), Renzo Cotarella of Antinore (right), and my father, Frank DiCola, of what else - Patsy's!

Being an Italian Restaurant, it's natural that we offer Italian wines. We've done business with Vinvino for many years, as they're a distributor that directly sells us the wines. Since the Antinore wines are one of their best offerings, we've bought a lot of them over the years. So, when Vinvino organized a wine tasting in NYC that was featuring a new line of Antinore wines, we knew we had to check it out! I went there with my dad, and not only was the wine great, but it was a pretty valuable learning experience.

The different wines they offered at the tasting.

Wine is interesting - it's one of those products that most people are aware of on some level, but very few are widely knowledgeable about. When my dad first started seriously working at Patsy's, however, he noticed that the wine list was pretty sparse, so he's done a great job of bolstering it over the years (we now offer over 300 wines, and my dad's made sure that all of them are great!)

Naturally, this meant that when we went to the wine tasting, he explained a lot of terminology to me. For example, several of the new wines being offered from Antinore were being called "Super Tuscans". I had no idea what this meant, and figured it was just a fancy name, but my dad filled me in, and it's actually pretty interesting. Apparently, there's official naming conventions when it comes to wine, and if you want to call your wine by a certain name, you have to use specific kinds of grapes. A Chianti wine, for example, is a blend of mostly red grapes, but if you want to call it Chianti you need white grapes as well. Some time ago, Antinore was preparing some new Chianti wines and wanted to try making them with only red grapes. As per the rules, they were allowed to do this... but they couldn't call the resulting wine Chianti. So the term 'Super Tuscan' was formed, and it's become a blanket term that describes any Italian wine that doesn't fall under standard naming conventions for wine.

Pretty cool, huh?

Gus briefly describes the next wine we're about to taste

The theme of the event was that either Gus or Renzo would get up and run us through what they'd tried to do with the wine we were about to taste. It'd be poured, and some food would be brought out that complemented it. This was by far my favorite part of the event - the wine alone was great, but combining it with the perfect kind of food was phenomenal. For example, we had a deep, rich red wine near the end of the meal, and to complement it they brought out a delicious piece of filet mignon. Truth be told, I wasn't even aware we'd be getting food at this event, so I was loving it.

A really tasty appetizer - breadsticks wrapped in prosciutto. I'm thinking we should try this at Patsy's! 

All in all, the best thing about the event was seeing all these great family businesses come together. Vinvino's got a fascinating history, because it's been around for over 100 years, meaning that the company endured prohibition and the ever-changing landscape of wine distribution in NYC. Getting to talk to the 26th generation CEO of Antinore felt like a priveledge - I can only hope that Patsy's gets that far! It's great to see how the younger generations admire those that came before them and paved the way for their own success.

The youngest members of Vinvino and Patsy's, respectively

~ Paul

Sal and Father Jim make Panettone Pudding!

Last week, Father Jim came into the restaurant with a big group of people from Telecare. Naturally, they'd come to eat, but Father Jim and Sal had a special surprise for everyone - they prepared dessert right in front of them!

It was a fun night, and to start things off, Sal gave a great intro that really sums up his life at the restaurant. You can check it out in this video:

After that, it was time for the food! As Sal explained, Panettone Pudding is a great dessert to make if you find yourself getting one too many Panettone fruitcakes at Christmastime. Don't get me wrong, they're good - but you can only eat so much! Luckily, they almost never go bad, which means that whenever you've got some free time, you can try out a bunch of creative recipes that put those excess Panettones to good use. Panettone Pudding is one such recipe. As the video below illustrates, it's an incredibly simple way to turn a Panettone that you might never get around to eating into a dessert that you won't be able to get enough of! For instructions on how to actually make the pudding (or just to watch Sal and Father Jim making it), see this video:

And in case you're wondering, I'm the one that did the filming! It was my first time filming something like that, and I'm pretty sure I did a terrible job, haha. At least the pudding came out nicely, though!

~ Paul

Remembering Anna

(May 5th, 1924 - April 7th, 2004)

                                                                                                          

I’ve written a lot of blog posts for Patsy’s at this point – some of them have been personal, discussing the lives and legacies of various family members, while others have been more general, talking about celebrity appearances or food specials. This post I’m about to share with you now, however, has by far been the most difficult. It’s not because I don’t have a lot to say about Meema, because I do… but it’s difficult to write about her, because I want to make sure that I properly honor her memory.

To provide some background, Meema was a name that my brother and I affectionately called our Grandmother, whom many of you knew as Anna DiCola. (We weren’t the only ones who had a special name for her – my cousins John and Ashley called her “Grandma Roni”). Regardless of what name you knew her by, one thing is unanimous across everyone that met Meema; they all loved her.

She was born in Italy, and was the oldest of Patsy’s children. In fact, when Patsy’s opened in 1944, she was already 20 years old! If you remember Uncle Joe’s blog post, you’ll remember that he started working at Patsy’s as soon as it opened – the same was true for Meema. Even though she was 20, money was extremely tight in the early years of the restaurant, so she worked without pay. However, her parents said she could keep any money that she got from the coat-check room, which meant that in the winter she’d make a nice bit of money, and during the summer she’d pray for rain whenever she was running low on cash. : )

Meema continued to work after getting married, but stopped once she had her first daughter (Marie). At this point, the restaurant had really taken off, and she was able to focus on raising her family. Unfortunately, her marriage wasn’t perfect and eventually she divorced, but she remained a loving, faithful mother, and dedicated herself fully to her children.  

                                                         From left to right, that's Connie, Marie, and Frank, and on the bottom is Annie!

Once all of her children had gotten married, she returned to the restaurant and continued working (after raising four kids, it was probably relaxing!) Those of you who knew Anna probably met her at this point in her life. Being a phenomenal mother and grandmother, she had a very matronly aura, and everyone who came into the restaurant instantly liked her – many came to love her as if she was part of their own family, including some of our workers! One bartender who was with us for many years, Rocky, had lost both his parents when he was very young. He considered Meema a mother, and in his difficult life she was a constant source of comfort.


She had a great relationship with any customer that walked through the door, and considering how many people she interacted with on a daily basis, had a suprisingly good memory when it came to recognizing customers who'd been in before. Naturally, some were easier to remember than others - her favorite repeat visitor would have to be Rosemary Clooney! Any time they were together in the restaurant, they'd always ask how each other's children (and eventually grandchildren!) were doing, swap stories, and catch up.

                                                              Meema, Joe and Rose with Rosemary Clooney and Dante one night at Patsy's!


Meema really was the perfect grandmother; warm, cheery, constantly cooking, always smiling. She loved coming to the simplest events, like grammar school plays or sports events, just to see her grand-children flourishing. She also loved spoiling us – there was a bakery down the street from her apartment, and whenever we came over to her place or she stopped by our house, she always brought a box of cookies. When I say a box, I don’t mean a little thing with five or six cookies… this thing was PACKED! Great cookies too, including everyone’s favorite among my cousins and I: the legendary ‘rainbow’ cookie. I’m not really sure exactly what it was made of, but the top was chocolate, and then there were three layers (separated by jam) with the colors of the Italian flag in them. If you’ve ever seen these:



…then you know what I’m talking about. For whatever reason, they were unbelievably delicious, and whenever we got our patented Box O’ Cookies, the rainbow cookies were the first to go.
The cookies were just the beginning, though. Meema always had something cooking in the kitchen. She could make anything taste phenomenal. To this day, I’ve never had a meatball from any restaurant or home kitchen that tasted as good as hers, and she’d even take something mundane like string beans and make them delicious, dressing them up with sauce, potatoes, etc.

Meema’s true love really was her family, and while she enjoyed watching us grow up, I think she took sincere pleasure in seeing us spend time together. For this reason, we started a tradition where we’d go on a family vacation every year. As a little kid, this was one of the most exciting highlights of the year, right up there with Christmas and my birthday. The vacations usually lasted ~4 days, during which time I'd hang out with my cousins and brother the entire time. It was pretty great, because all of us cousins have always been really close, so even getting to do simple things with them, like eating dinner or watching movies, became so fun. While I didn't appreciate it at the time, it must've been really satisfying for Meema to be able to watch us all spend time together. She hadn't had the easiest life growing up, but all her hard work as a young woman and a single mother had paid off because she'd raised four great kids who became four incredible parents.

It's this devoted, extensive love that's so easy to take for granted, but that's the kind of love that Meema had for all of us. It really was heart-breaking when she passed away, but we were able to take solace in the fact that she had left nothing unfinished. She not only got to see her children grow up, but was also able to help them in raising their own children. She truly had a satisfying, fulfilling life, and while it was incredibly difficult for all of us to say goodbye, it's impossible for us to ever communicate how much we truly loved her, and how much she did for us. 

She always said this was her favorite picture!

 

~ Paul

Visits from Connie Francis and Ernie Anastos!

The weekends are always busier at Patsy's, but this week was particularly exciting because we had visits from two celebs! Both Connie Francis and Ernie Anastos stopped by over the weekend! We're always happy to see both of them, although Sal was on vacation so he wasn't able to hop into the photos.


                                                                                                     Frank and Joe with Connie Francis!





                                                              Frank and Joe with Ernie Anastos

We often joke about how Ernie and Frank are twins. In this picture, you can really see it - aside from the hair, they really look a lot alike! Who knows, maybe Frank should try his hand at being a news anchor and see if he's got some hidden talent we never realized!

You can actually tell that Sal wasn't here because of the photo quality. It's a little pixelated, which never happens with any of Sal's cameras. For those that don't know, Sal's actually a MASSIVE photography buff. He's always buying the latest in camera technology, and you can see the difference if you leaf through the blog and compare pictures he's taken to pictures someone else took.

It's always a fun time at Patsy's, regardless of who comes in!

~ Paul

Easter Traditions

While we've been preparing for Easter (both at the restaurant and in our personal lives), we've been reflecting on some of our older Easter traditions. A couple days ago, my dad actually told me about something the restaurant used to do that totally took me by surprise!

As you know, we've got a special menu planned for Easter. I'd blogged about it recently, and you can find the full details on our menu page, but did you know that alongside the lamb, pizza rustica, and cheesecake, we used to have a fourth special item? Believe it or not, it was goat!

Goat's actually a very traditional easter food, but as the years have gone on, it's fallen out of style. This is due mostly to the fact that people only raise goats for very specific purposes, such as cultivating goat cheese. That said, Patsy's used to have a goat special every year on Easter. It was succulent, and people always marveled at how tender the meat was and how unique it tasted.

Since cooking goat was such a rarity, we made sure to make use of as much of the goat as possible - including the head! Yes, this is the part that shocked me... apparently, the head of a goat is considered a delicacy, and every year Concietta would be the one to eat it! (I guess she was the only one who wanted it, haha).

Serving goat may not be a part of our Easter offering anymore, but you can be sure that having a meal at Patsy's during Easter is still a treat! If you're interested on a full run-down of all the specials, check out our menu page or scroll down a bit to the blog titled "Patsy's Easter Specials!" Regardless of how you choose to celebrate Easter and who you celebrate it with, I wish you all a happy Easter!

~ Paul

Debbie Reynolds celebrates her birthday at Patsy's!

Debbie Reynolds' birthday may have been April 1st, but last night she decided to have a celebration at Patsy's!

                                                                               Sal with Debbie Reynolds - they've known each other for many years now!

The truth is, this is far from her first visit to Patsy's - in fact, she's been coming into the restaurant for over 60 years. However, last night was particularly special, for two reasons. First off, it's always an honor when someone decides to celebrate their birthday with us. On top of that, she's actually in the area because she's performing at the Tilles Center in Long Island University. Despite being busy with preparations and rehearsals, she found time to come over to Manhattan and have dinner with us. We're flattered!


One of the amazing things about our loyal clientele is that they constantly evoke memories of Patsy himself - last night, Debbie Reynolds brought him up. As she was ordering her dinner, she decided to get clams posillipo... and then began to reminisce about how Patsy had been the one to strongly recommend it to her, many years ago. Every now and then, she orders the dish as a quiet tribute to him.

                                                                                       Debbie Reynolds and her party, enjoying her birthday cake!



So Happy Birthday, Debbie, and good luck in Long Island!

~ Paul

Patsy's Easter Specials!

For easter, we'll be offering three unique specials.

First off is our Agnello di Pasqua, a rack of baby lamb garnished with potatoes, onions, and vegetables. This is a real treat - the lamb basically melts off the bone when you bite into it, so if you're a meat-lover, you can't miss this one!

For people looking for something more Italian, we'll also be making Pizza Rustica. If you're not familiar with Pizza Rustica, it's not actually pizza. It's a baked pie topped with provolone, parmesan, ricotta, salami, soppresaata and dry sausage. It's really filling and delicious, and it's hard to draw a comparison between this and anything else we serve, so you've gotta stop in and try it for yourself.
We're also doing a deser special; Pastiera, a mouth-watering cheesecake with grana. If you've never had cheesecake at Patsy's, you've gotta try it - the way it's made gives it such a rich, thick texture that your heart's going to ache when you realize it's only available for a limited time!

City Guide NY also wrote about our Easter Special offering. If you're interested in seeing their coverage, check out this link!

We hope to see you this Easter!

~ Paul 

Swinging on a Star was a HUGE Success!

                                                George and Sal with a bunch of their friends, celebrating another successful night outside of Patsy's!

As some of you may know, every now and then Patsy's has a special event starring George Pettingano that's known as "Swingin' on a Star". It's essentially a 'dinner and a show' kind of deal - anybody who signs up for the event gets to have dinner at Patsy's while George and a few other singers perform. It's a pretty lively night, filled with tributes, jokes, and plenty of Sinatra songs, and as we've been hosting the event, it's gotten more and more successful.

                                                              Our main man George on the left, with one of his friends and fellow singers, Chris


Well, on March 29th we had our best performance to date! The show sold out in record time, and the singers entertained the second floor of Patsy's all throughout the night. Everyone who attended was completely thrilled with the way things turned out, and some people even locked themselves in for next time (without even knowing what the date would be!), because they were so excited about coming back.

                                                                                                                   As you can see, it was a good time!

Previously, our plan was to do one of these shows every few months, and we anticipated having the next one take place this summer. However, because "Swingin' on a Star" was such a huge success, we've decided to have another one on May 16th!

Tickets sold quickly last time, and we've already got people reserving slots. If you're interested in coming, give the restaurant a call, and let them know that you're in!

~ Paul

Patsy's is helping to improve Atlantic City's status!

Patsy's in Atlantic City was recently mentioned in an article about how AC's restaurants have been steadily improving in quality. It's pretty flattering to be noted as one of the reasons that dining in Atlantic City is becoming more impressive! If you'd like to check out the entire article, it's right here. Here's an exerpt from the article, as it related to Patsy's;

"Last year, celebrity chef Simon Prime opened a branch of his famed Las Vegas steakhouse at Atlantic City Hilton Hotel, joining the ranks of Bobby Flay Steak and other New York restaurants like Patsy’s and Carmine’s that have made their way south."

If you're interested in checking out Patsy's AC, click here to go to the Hilton's official website. We also have a franchising site that includes more information about Patsy's in Atlantic City, which you can find here.

~Paul

Remembering Elizabeth Taylor

As I'm sure you've all heard by now, Elizabeth Taylor passed away this week. Come to think of it, the last several weeks have been pretty sad - if you look through the blog, you'll see a few notable people who've recently moved on.

Elizabeth Taylor was before my time, so I sat down with Sal and talked to him about what it was like whenever she came into Patsy's. To him, the most memorable thing was the way she captivated the entire room as soon as she walked in. Everyone's heads turned, and it almost felt as though she was giving off this radiant aura of beauty and class. He also remembered her eyes - violet, in a time well before color contacts.

He told me of one particular night when Patsy's was not only packed, but brimming with a good amount of celebrities. Usually when it's like that, people become very distracted, and whoever walks in the door doesn't get much attention. However, Elizabeth Taylor came in that night, and as she walked upstairs, the dining room became almost silent - and as soon as she disappeared upstairs, the dining room revved up again.

Incidentally, it was Sinatra who first brought her into the restaurant. In fact, most of our celebrities can be tied back to Sinatra in some way or another - whether it's because he brought them in himself, or someone that he'd previously brought in decided to come again with other people. Some celebs come simply because they know it was his favorite restaurant. Elizabeth Taylor was special, though, so he made sure to bring her in himself. ; )

For more on Elizabeth Taylor's relationship with Patsy's, check out this article. Here's an excerpt;



Taylor dined for 50 years at local favorite Patsy’s Italian Restaurant on West 56th Street, where co-owner and executive chef Sal Scognamillo recounted fond memories of the screen and stage star.
“If you were in this room when she walked in, it was like time stood still,” Scognamillo told CBS 2′s Scott Rapoport. “She was so nice. People would want autographs; she would give autographs.”
Scognamillo also recalled the famous faces with whom Taylor dined.
“Frank Sinatra first brought her here,” he said. “We’d be able to close the curtain – they’d have privacy.”
The restaurant owner said the one thing he’ll always remember was her eyes.
“It just went right through you,” Scognamillo said. “The violet was deep. It was like looking into a deep river almost.”
Scognamillo said he is now left with a lifetime full of memories of Elizabeth Taylor, a larger-than-life movie star – and a friend.
“It seems like yesterday, almost,” Scognamillo said. “I can’t believe she’s gone. She was a legend.”



~ Paul

Happy Saint Joseph's Day, Uncle Joe!

Today’s the feast day of Saint Joseph! While this is an important day for a lot of people, it’s especially meaningful for us at Patsy’s – Saint Joseph is my Uncle Joe’s namesake!

For those that don’t know, a Saint Day is a big occasion in Italy. In fact, it’s actually celebrated in the same way that we celebrate birthdays over here. While this tradition has lessened (since just about every culture acknowledges the celebration of a birthday), we still like to acknowledge it in the case of Uncle Joe.

I guess I should explain, since some people might be confused who I mean when I say “Uncle Joe” – I’m talking about Joe Scognamillo. Those who know him probably affectionately know him as ‘Joey’, and if you aren’t sure who I mean, but you’ve been in the restaurant, then surely you recognize this man?




Uncle Joe’s a great guy. He’s been working since he was six years old (he started in a pastry shop in Little Italy), and he’s never retired! When he was nine, he started working for his father – although this wasn’t at Patsy’s, because Patsy hadn’t opened it yet. Instead, Patsy was involved in the joint ownership of a restaurant called the Sorrento.

Back when the restaurant was created, money was incredibly tight and any way that family members could help out was huge. For this reason, a young joey helped out however he could. He started by filling the salt and pepper shakers, a job which earned him a stick of gum every night. As he got older, he was entrusted with tougher things; he started peeling potatoes and cleaning shrimp, then straining tomatoes and chopping garlic.

At this time, the Sorrento was booming. Because of this, Patsy and his partner were having disagreements about which direction to take the restaurant. This ended up actually being one of the best things to happen to our family, though, because it motivated Patsy to open up his own restaurant (which, of course, was Patsy’s!)

The timing for Uncle Joe was great, too. He was seventeen when Patsy’s opened, and had learned a tremendous amount from his time working in the Sorrento. He became a full-time chef when Patsy’s opened, and soon became the head chef in the kitchen. This began the tradition of Patsy's sons being the head chefs (which, of course, has continued with Sal!)
 

Uncle Joe worked in the kitchen for many years, and still loves cooking. These days, though, he puts in his time at the front desk - greeting people, managing reservations, etc. Patsy’s really does mean a lot to him, and at this point he’s the only family member that was alive when the restaurant was founded. I think it's because of this that he continues to work at Patsy's... it's not because he feels an obligation to do so, but because it's such an important part of his life, and reminds him of family members that have passed on.

As I've said in other posts, it's become something of a tradition that the kids in our family all work at Patsy's, at some point or another. In this sense, Uncle Joe has really served as a mentor for us all. It's nice, because while I always saw Uncle Joe on family get-togethers and holidays and did love him, I'd never really spent time getting to know him. When I started working at Patsy's, though, he became more than just my uncle - he became my friend. There's a good amount of down-time in any restaurant, so we'd just sit around talking. Uncle Joe's also hilarious, and I swear he's got a quip for every situation and a new joke every day.

In honor of Saint Joseph's Day and Uncle Joe, we're having a special dessert - Zeppole! We don't usually make these because they're pretty time-consuming, but we'll have them going all week (in limited quantities), so if you stop by the restaurant, be sure to ask!

For the full scoop on Zeppole, check out this recipe page, and this article. To hear more about how Patsy's celebrated Saint Joseph's Day, check out this conclusive summary from Jill Colvin.

Happy Saint Joseph's Day!

~ Paul

Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara talk about Patsy's!

---

Among the many celebrities we've befriended over the years are Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. In fact, over the years they've brought in their entire family (including Ben, of course!), and they've had many great meals at Patsy's.

Still, it's always nice to see what a great impression we've made; in a recent article interviewing the couple, they were asked what their favorite meal in New York was. Their response was pretty flattering! Here's an excerpt from the article:

What's the best meal you've eaten in New York?

Stiller: We used to go to Patsy's and we still do. And egg foo yung at Shun Lee.
Meara: No, you like egg foo yung. I don’t care for it.
Stiller: Spaghetti Aglio Oliio at Patsy’s.
Meara: I like the manicotti there, and clams oreginata.
Stiller: They were there right around the corner when we came out of The Ed Sullivan Show. We used to celebrate at nine o’clock on Sundays.
Meara: That’s right, it was the first restaurant we could afford to go to that was a white tablecloth restaurant.

It always warms our hearts to see that we're the first place people think of when they're asked about their favorite food in New York. Here's to hoping that Jerry, Anne, and the entire Stiller family keep coming in for many more years!

If you're interested in checking out the full interview, you can read it right here.

~Paul

Happy Birthday, Patsy!

       Patsy in his younger years

        Today (March 6th) is Patsy’s birthday – not of the restaurant, but the actual founder! My great grandfather was born March 6^th, 1903, in Italy. He went on to become the proud owner of one of the greatest restaurants in New York City, but the story of how he got to America, raised the money to start his own restaurant, and make it such a huge success is a pretty impressive one. Since today’s Patsy’s birthday, I feel like it’s appropriate for us to go over his entire life.


                                                                               
                                                                                   
Like I said, it all started in 1903. He was born as Pasquale Scognamillo, and enjoyed a comfortable life in Italy, working as a barber. That wasn’t meant to be, though – as hair cutting became more sophisticated and a plethora of chemicals were introduced, Pasquale discovered that he had allergic reactions to just about all of them. He was fine with that, though, as he’d already been hearing about the American dream, and had decided that it was something he wanted to pursue. After making sure that his wife (Concetta) and young daughter (Anna) would be taken care of, he set sail for America!


…or so he thought. Back then, they didn’t have fancy travel itineraries or even a clear indication of what a boat’s travel route was. Young Pasquale thought his boat’s first stop was in America, so he eagerly got off and was pleased to see that New York was actually a tropical location. Unfortunately, he’d actually ended up in Cuba, and spent a small chunk of time working there to save up enough money for a trip to his actual destination, New York.

Another picture of Patsy when he was young, this time with Concetta as well!

Incidentally, this mishap taught him two things. He learned an impressive amount of Spanish, and he realized that he loved tropical weather. Later in life, when he retired, he moved down to Florida as a way to relive those younger days.
                                  

                                             

As I said, he made his way up to New York shortly after the mishap in Cuba, and when he went through Ellis Island, the name Pasquale was shortened to “Patsy”. Eager to make enough money to buy a nice apartment and have his family come over, he took a job as a busboy and quickly impressed everyone with his hard work ethic, humble attitude, and impressive intelligence. His personality and business sense earned him several promotions, until he was in a partnership with several other people, running an Italian restaurant that became known as the Italian restaurant in New York City.

Things were going well for Patsy, so he sent for his wife and children (one of whom was born shortly after he left for America). At this point, Patsy had already decided he wanted to open his own restaurant, but it was an incredibly expensive and risky operation. Concetta proved integral in helping him realize this dream – she set about maintaining the family’s income, and making sure that not a cent was wasted. After getting out of a bad partnership related to another restaurant, Patsy finally decided to open up his own.

When it came to naming the restaurant, it was a no-brainer – it had to be “Patsy’s”, because everybody in the restaurant business and the theatre business knew him as Patsy! It was also decided that the food would never strive to be ‘modern’ Italian. Instead, it’d be the exact food you’d find if you went to the town that Patsy was born in; classic, Neapolitan food that tasted homemade and made you feel comfortable. As for the staff, everybody in the family was working at the restaurant, including a young Uncle Joe! Even as a little kid, he’d help out with sweeping the floor, while Anna watched over the register. This was the beginning of a long-standing tradition in our family, whereby everyone (literally, everyone) works at Patsy's at some point in their life.

  Patsy in the Kitchen - Judging by the way he was dressed, you'd assume he was a waiter, not the owner. That's the way he wanted it.  

     

Despite the fact that he was now the owner of a restaurant, he still maintained all the qualities that people loved about him when he was a busboy. He was gracious, kind, and still incredibly humble. So humble, in fact, that instead of wearing a suit at the front door, he continued to wear his gray jacket. Beyond just this, he’d often clear off tables, fill up people’s water, or perform other duties that a busboy would usually do. When asked why, he said he felt that it was unfair of him to ask the waiters to do these things if he wouldn’t do them himself. It was pretty inspiring for the staff, seeing that the owner of the restaurant considered their role so important that he’d often help them out, and it always warmed customer’s hearts when they’d ask “So where’s Patsy?”, and someone would say “What do you mean? He just brought you your food!”

  Patsy also loved music – he played several instruments very passionately, but never felt that he wanted to dedicate himself to a musical career. That said, he had tremendous respect for any musician that came into the restaurant, especially those who were struggling. This is how he forged special relationships with Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, and many others – they’d show up to the restaurant, down on their luck and nearly broke, and say “I can’t pay for much Patsy, so just give me something light.” Instead, he’d give them an enormous meal and refuse to accept any of their money in return. When they insisted, he’d always say “You’ll pay me back when you can afford to.” He wasn’t doing this because he was banking on them becoming famous; he legitimately wanted to help them in any way he could, and the fact that some of these people happened to become huge superstars just made him even happier.

There’s a great story about how one time, a couple days before Thanksgiving, Sinatra came into Patsy’s and was feeling pretty depressed. (This was at a low point in his career, well before his meteoric rise.) Near the end of his meal, he mentioned to Patsy “You know, I think I’d actually like to come here for dinner on Thanksgiving.” Now, Patsy’s had always been closed for Thanksgiving, but my great grandfather couldn’t turn away someone who was already feeling down, so without missing a beat, he smiled and said it’d be no problem. When Sinatra left that night, Patsy asked the staff of the restaurant if they could come in with their families and have Thanksgiving at Patsy’s instead of home, so the restaurant felt like it was still open. Sinatra came, had a great meal, and left feeling much better – and for years, Patsy insisted that nobody ever tell him what happened. It wasn’t until many years later that Sinatra figured out what Patsy had done for him, but at that point he had come to know Patsy so well that yet another act of kindness was hardly surprising.

The sad truth is, I never actually got to meet my great grandfather. By the time I was born, he had already passed away. Despite that, I can’t help but feel as though I’ve always known him. Since I was a little kid, I’ve been hearing the stories, and I’ve spent so much time in the restaurant that it just feels as though he's always been there. There's no denying that he's been an incredibly important part of my life, as well as a plethora of people who've eaten in the restaurant over the years. Patsy touched many people's lives, and his legacy lives on in a restaurant that has embraced all of the philosophilies he lived by. 

~Paul

Remembering Danny Thomas

It’s been 20 years since Danny Thomas passed away, but his legacy still lives on. Saint Jude’s Children’s Hospital (which he founded in 1962) continues to save the lives of children. It’s actually a pretty cool story, so before we get into Danny’s relationship with the restaurant, I’ll just recap.

Danny Thomas, like most incredibly successful celebrities, had a rough early career. During his lowest point, he went to a church in Detroit that happened to have a statue of Saint Jude, who incidentally is the patron saint of lost causes. He knelt before the statue and said “if you can make this work for me, I’ll build a shrine to you.” As we all know, Danny Thomas went on to become a huge comedian and actor. True to his word, he started Saint Jude’s Children’s Hospital when he had the money and fame to support it. When Danny created the hospital, he said “no child should die in the dawn of life”. To this day, Saint Jude’s has done tremendous work towards this goal, never turning down a child because of an inability to pay, and increasing the survival rates for diseases such as leukemia significantly.

We also had a great relationship with Danny. For so many years, he came into the restaurant, always bringing his family, friends, and other celebrities. One night, as he came into the front to smoke a cigarette, Uncle Joe noticed him examining our wall of photos. As always, Joe quipped “Danny, if you’re looking for your picture up there, you’ll never find it – you still need to send us one!” Danny laughed and said, “I know, I know… I keep forgetting to bring it in.” This had been a running joke between us and Danny for years, so both he and Joe laughed. Then Danny said “Wait a minute, I think I have a picture in the car, let me go grab it!” He ran out to the parking garage, and came back deflated about ten minutes later, explaining that the car didn’t have any pictures in it. As he left that night, he turned to Joe and said “I promise that I’ll send you the picture as soon as I can. Next time I come in here, I’m gonna see myself on that wall!”

A week later, he passed away. He was one of those entertainers that really touched everyone’s lives, and as a result there was a ton of media coverage about his death and his relationships with other people. One such interview took place at Patsy’s; Liz Smith knew that Danny came in a lot, so she sat down with Joe and asked him to recall some memories. One of the things Joe mentioned was their last exchange, which incidentally had been about Danny’s picture on the wall.

As time went on, this story gained popularity, and eventually Marlo Thomas (Danny’s daughter) heard about it. She was touched, and sent us the following letter:

            Dear Joey,
                        I read in Liz Smith’s column that my father promised to bring you a picture for your wall. I’m keeping his promise. Love,

                                                                                    ~ Marlo

Included was the following picture of Danny Thomas, which we proudly hoisted onto the wall.




It's a shame that he was never able to come into the restaurant and see it, but his picture will be smiling out at everybody that comes into Patsy's from here on out.

It runs in the family - Patsy's and the Sutherlands!

The other day, Kiefer Sutherland stopped by at Patsy's!


                         Kiefer and Frank, chillin' at Patsy's
It's always exciting when he visits, but the truth is he's been coming in for many years. Whenever we have celebrities who've been coming in this long, people always ask "How'd they start coming?" In the case of Kiefer, as with many of our long-time celebrities, it started with his family!

Donald Sutherland (who, of course, is another great actor) had been coming in for many years with his wife. One night, whoever took the reservation mentioned "Mr. Sutherland is coming in again, and he said he's bringing his son." At the time nobody thought anything of it, because steady customers almost always bring in family or friends. So when we saw Kiefer Sutherland walk through the door, it was a huge WOAH moment.

Since then he's come into the restaurant every so often, and his dad continues to do so. Much like us, they've got a tradition at Patsy's now that's spanning generations! ; )

~Paul

Sal goes all night with Joey Reynolds!

Joey Reynolds (who you probably know from, among other things, his long-time radio show) recently kicked off a new T.V. series, "All night with Joey Reynolds". We're proud to say that Sal was one of the first guests on the show! Yesterday, he was down at the set to film a segment, along with Danny Aiello, Sonny Grasso, and Chris Macchio.


                                             Sal and Danny laughing it up on the show


Between the food, the conversation, and the great company, everyone involved had a blast! It's definitely worth checking out - if you're interested, it'll be on the channel "NBC New York Nonstop". You might not know which channel that is, so here's a little guide to help you out, based on which provider you've got:

• Cablevision           -        Channel 109
• Time Warner         -        Channels 248 or 158
• Verizon Fios          -        Channel 460
• RCN                         -        Channel 28
• Regular Antenna  -        Channel 4.2

If you're interested in watching, it'll be on this Monday night, from 12:00 am to 2:00 am. (So, it starts at midnight). It's a great show, so if you can't watch it when it's on, make sure to TiVo it!


          The gang's all here! Sal with Danny Aiello, Chris Machhio, George Pettingano, Vinny D'Angelo and Sonny Grasso!


Here's to hoping that this is the first of many appearances Sal makes on the show!

~Paul

Harry Connick comes to Patsy's!

I know what you're thinking right now - "Which one? Sr. or Jr.?" Well, not surprisingly, it was both of them!



                                            It must run in the family!
That's right - the other night, we were visited by both Harry Connick Jr. and Sr., as well as the rest of their family! This isn't the first time, either.

Harry Connick Sr. has been coming in to the restaurant for many, many years, and naturally he's brought in his son as well. It's nice seeing Harry Connick Jr. now bringing his kids into the restaurant, and realizing that for their family, eating at Patsy's is a tradition that's being passed from generation to generation.

Whenever they stop by it's always a great time!

~Paul

Remembering Jack LaLanne

It was sad news today, hearing that an American icon had died. Just about everybody knew Jack - whether you grew up working out to his videos and heeding his diet tips, watched your parents doing that, or had just checked out a few of his incredible feats of strength on youtube, he was a man that appealed to all age groups and all walks of life. His message was simple, but honest; If you work out and eat healthy, you'll live a long, happy life.

News of his passing was especially sad for us, because we'd known Jack very well for many years. He loved my great grandfather, and for 67 years he'd been coming into the restaurant! In fact, he had his 92nd birthday with us, and many other great dinners over the years.


                                

                      LaLanne with his family (and Sal!) at Patsy's.                      

There are some celebrities that come into a restaurant quietly, eat their meals quickly, and leave. Not Jack! Whenever he walked into Patsy's, he immediately infused the restaurant with his personality and endless enthusiasm. He was always happy to talk to fans of his, and would even go over to other tables and chat with them! It really is a testament to his fitness message that he was always so full of vigor and energy.

Regarding that message, you might be wondering what it was that he'd eat when he was at Patsy's! Well, his favorite meal consisted of the following:

- Chopped Salad for starters. He always liked anchovies in his - gotta have that protein!

- Grilled Salmon with mustard sauce as a main course. If you're trying to watch your weight, this is actually a great dish. It's very lean, but the mustard sauce makes it incredibly flavorful and juicy.

- Grilled asparagus on the side. He'd have oil and vinegar on his, for flavor.

If you are trying to watch your weight (after all it's still January, so those New Years resolutions are in full swing now!), then next time you come into Patsy's, you should give this a shot! After all, it clearly worked for Jack.

So God bless, Jack, and here's to hoping they have a gym big enough for you in Heaven!

                              "To my friends at Patsy's - Your Food is Great. It fills me up, not out!" ~ Jack LaLanne

~Paul

Getting ready for the Jets game? Sal sure is!

Hey all,

Not sure where you all stand on football. Personally, I'm a huge Giants fan, but I definitely respect the Jets and I love any team that knocks out the Pats, so I'm in love with them right now. Whether you love the Jets, the Pats, or some other team, though, we can all agree that having some great food on game day is huge! That's why Sal decided to set aside some time and whip up some Jets-themed food.



What makes them Jet themed, you ask? Well, aside from the fact that they're awesome, they're (mostly) white and green! On the left is some juicy fried calimari - it's great finger food, and is a constant dish at Patsy's, so it was an obvious choice.

In the middle is something pretty unique - Sausage sliders! They've got onions and green peppers in them, and while we don't currently serve these at Patsy's, it's an idea we're toying with. Regardless of whether or not they're on the menu, they are AWESOME.

On the right we've got meatballtinis. If you've never had a meatballtini, it's not a drink! It's actually little meatballs that are usually drenched in vodka sauce, served in a martini glass. To stick with the theme, however, Sal made these babies with pesto sauce instead.

Of this selection, the sausage sliders are definitely my favorite, but if you're enjoying any of these foods come game day, you'll be sure to enjoy them!

Also, just a head's up - at 6:00 PM Eastern Time, Sal's gonna be on NBC news (channel 4 up here, could be something else depending on where you live or what provider you have) cooking all three of these foods alongside Roseanne Coletti! I'll try to get the clips up on the site after it airs, but that's always a little tricky, so if you get a chance definitely watch the segment at 6!

I guess this goes without saying, but GO JETS! (Sorry Steelers fans. ; D)

~ Paul

Massive update to our Photo Gallery

Hey all,

Just wanted to let you know that there have been several big changes to our photo gallery. First off, we've finally identified and cleaned up the issue that some people were having where the website would freeze whenever they tried to look at the gallery. As it turns out, it was an issue Internet Explorer has that no other browser had, which is why it took us so long to diagnose. That said, it's all been cleaned up now, so feel free to peruse the gallery to your heart's content, whether you're using Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, or whatever other browser you like. ; )

As a result of finally fixing this nasty bug, I'm now able to upload all of our pictures! It's still a work in process (we've got hundreds of them), but right now I think we're up to something like 160? So that's pretty sweet, and I'll continue to upload more pics throughout the day.

When that's done, I'm thinking of setting up a few other galleries, such as a gallery for events that took place outside of Patsy's. When I do, I'll be sure to throw up a blog post about it, so keep checking back!

~ Paul

Sal Cooking Penne Bolognese on the Today Show!

Hey all,

Yesterday was pretty crazy if you were in any state besides Florida or Hawaii. According to weather reports, every other state in the U.S. got pounded by snow.

I was actually chillin' down in Florida, but from what I understand New York almost got two feet. That's pretty crazy, and I'm honestly a little bummed that I missed it - I've always loved crazy snowstorms. That said, I didn't completely miss out on the going-ons of New York yesterday, because I tuned into the Today Show and was able to catch this:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41018927/ns/today-foodwine/
I'd love to get the actual video up for you, but the embedding code on the Today Show's video page is a little confusing. If I can get it up, I'll let you know - until then, feel free to click the link and check out the video!

- Paul

Chef Peter bakes Raspberry Maddalena cookies on Ciao Italia!

If you're not sure who Chef Peter is, then I'm proud to introduce you to the next generation chef of Patsy's! While still a little too young to be leading things in the kitchen just yet, Peter is Sal's son, which means that he's a fourth generation member of Patsy's, and is helping to continue the tradition of chefs at Patsy's being direct descendants of Patsy's himself.

Here's a clip of Peter baking some "Raspberry Maddalena" cookies. If you're not familiar with the name, they're basically cookies with raspberry jam in the middle. They're really good, and every so often Patsy's will have them for a special occasion. If you don't feel like waiting, though, you can follow Peter's recipe!




As you can see, he's got the professionalism and intuitive cooking-sense of a pro chef.... and he's not even in high school yet!

~Paul

Patsy's AC gets some nice coverage!

Our Patsy's in Atlantic City was recently featured as part of an "In Jersey Magazine" piece about great AC restaurants, and the specials they're preparing for the holidays. Here's an excerpt from the article!



It's great to see Patsy's making its mark on Atlantic City!

Sinatra's Birthday Celebration

Here at Patsy's, we've been known to throw a party or two over the years. Heck, I'd venture so far as to say we're getting pretty good at it. ; ) So whenever Sinatra's birthday rolls around, we have to celebrate in style... and naturally, this year was no exception.

On top of our luncheon, which we make a point of hosting every year, we had WoR radio come by the restaurant with a host of special guests. They conducted their first interview with Sal and Joe, then proceeded to talk to several other people, including a member of Sinatra's band, several Sinatra impersonators, and even Danny Aiello! It was a great party, and many of the interviews were fascinating.

For that reason, I've begun to upload the footage from the event onto the site. It'll take some time to get everything up, but for now there's a great clip from Danny Aiello's interview that I'm sure you'll love. In it, among other things, he talks about the death of his son and how it changed him. It's a very personal interview, and one that we're glad he felt comfortable sharing at Patsy's.



I'll be updating the site with more videos from this event constantly, and I'm also planning on doing a little "behind-the-scenes" post about what went into setting up the radio broadcast at the restaurant. As a tech geek, I found that stuff fascinating - hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I did, haha.

~ Paul

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone!

It's officially 2011, which is an exciting time for everyone. This isn't just the beginning of another year, but it's a chance to re-evaluate parts of your life. Some people have probably made vows that they'll improve their health - working out more, quitting smoking, etc. Others may have decided to make more personal changes.

Well, Patsys.com is no exception to the trend of resolutions during a new year! Heading into 2011, we've got a big resolution of our own that we're very excited about - more content!

Up until this point, we've unfortunately had our hands tied with the site. As much as we've wanted to keep you guys updated on everything that's going on with Patsy's, we've had to clean up bugs, refine our store's functionality, and take care of other general house-keeping that the site needed.

That's not going to end - we're paying attention to all the feedback you give us, and we're working hard to make patsys.com as perfect as possible, for every user. However, we've polished the site so thoroughly, and dealt with so many bugs, that we're getting to a point where there's simply less and less for us to do (on that front) every day.

This is great news for all of you, because it not only means that you've got a better site to check out, but it means we can begin to dedicate ourselves fully to updating the site with blog posts, pictures, videos, recipes, events, and whatever else is going on with Patsy's.

So whether you're trying to lose a few pounds or just trying to get rid of a bad habit, know that Patsys.com is in the same boat as you, doing our best to make your experience with our site as great as possible, every time you visit!

~ Paul

Welcome to the new Patsys.com!

Patsy's has been around for a long time. 

It started in 1944. My great grandfather, Pasquale, had worked in a few other restaurants, saving up money and paying close attention to everything that worked, and even closer attention to everything that didn't. When he finally had enough money, he opened up Patsy's with a few simple goals in mind - he wanted to be able to provide for his family, he wanted to be able to share authentic Italian cuisine with Manhattan, and he wanted people to leave the restaurant feeling both satisfied with their meal and happy about their experience.


From 1944 to today, those fundamental goals haven't changed. The experience you get when you come into Patsy's, whether you're a famous celebrity who's visited dozens of times or a curious visitor who's never heard of us before, is the same experience that people have been getting since the restaurant opened its doors. My great grandfather's desire to be friendly and welcoming to people, and his belief that they should all be regarded with the same respect as any member of the family, is what set Patsy's apart from other restaurants in those early days, and what made it a New York City landmark when so many other restaurants couldn't stand the test of time.


However, we haven't kept things exactly the same since 1944. My dad, Frank DiCola, and my uncle (technically a cousin, but I've always called him uncle), Sal Scognamillo, have somehow found time in-between managing the restaurant to push out a line of products, including sauces, pastas, and a cookbook. Beyond just that, there's a new Patsy's we've recently opened in Atlantic City, and more are on the way. So, while the Patsy's experience has remained unchanged, we're constantly trying to offer more to the people who love us, and reach out to the people who might not yet know about us.



That's where I come in. I'm Paul DiCola, and I represent the 4th generation of Patsy's employees stemming from the original Scognamillo family. It was a little intimidating, trying to decide how best I could help out Patsy's. I'm really not great at cooking (seriously, I once burnt stew, which I didn't even know was possible), so I knew I shouldn't offer my hand in the kitchen. I'm also pretty bad at math, so if I tried to man the front desk, I'd be overwhelmed pretty quickly. Seriously, it takes some impressive skills to do that - my dad's got the entire wine list memorized and catalogued in his head. I can't even remember where "Table 11" is!


Moreso than just that, I wanted to do right by the restaurant. I have family members like my Uncle Joe and my Aunt Rose who've been faithfully running Patsy's with the same love and dedication that Patsy himself ran the place with. My grandmother (who I've called 'Meema' since I was a baby) worked in Patsy's from the time she was a young girl through to the last years of her life.


It's not just a restaurant to us - it's a veritable family member. The restaurant's helped support us when times were tough,  been a place of comfort and solace when we were down, and it's helped almost everyone in the family grow and mature. (Seriously, working at Patsy's is a rite of passage in our family - after a summer of working in the restaurant business, you can take on any job.... and after three summers? Forget about it!)


So when I thought about what I could do for Patsy's, I looked online. Sure, we had a website up already, but it wasn't infused with the personality or familiarity that the restaurant itself has. Our restaurant's got such a rich, exciting story to tell, and so many people we want to share it with - and the old website just wasn't getting that message across.

I didn't think that was appropriate... not for Patsy's. So, with the support of my family (and a ton of hard work from a guy named Tom!), I overhauled Patsys.com. All the functionality from the first site will be here - you can order our sauces, our pastas, gift certificates, and when I figure out how to upload pdf files, you'll even be able to look at the menu! (You guys will be the first to know when that's up, trust me.)


Beyond just that, though, my goal is to get you all involved in the story, the history, and the life of Patsy's. We'll be uploading recipes and videos constantly, sure, but this isn't just a one-way street: You're a part of this now, too, so head on over to our forums, or talk to us on facebook, twitter, via e-mail, etc, and don't be shy! If you're reading this right now, it means you're also a part of the Patsy's family, so enjoy all the perks that come with that, and make yourself comfortable.


As I said at the beginning of this post, Patsy's has been around for a long time - and this old restaurant has no intention of leaving anytime soon. : )


~Paul DiCola