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!

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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.