Frank Sinatra Favorite Italian Cookies – Sicilian Regina Cookies from Venieros

On By Daniel BellinoLeave a comment

 



VENIERO’S

ITALIAN PASTRIES

Since 1894



On September 23, 1894, one of the East Village’s longest-running businesses, Veniero’s Pasticceria, opened its doors. This venerable local institution has been serving confections, cakes, and pastries to New Yorkers and visitors ever since from its home at 342 East 11th Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues, in the heart of what was once the East Village’s own Little Italy, and remains one of the few surviving businesses from that once-thriving community. Located just down the block from our offices, we have a special love for Veniero’s — from which we have been known to indulge in a treat from time to time (or more) — and a special insight into the beloved business’ rich history, thanks to an oral history that Veniero’s current co-owner Robert Zerilli, grand nephew of Veniero’s original founder, conducted with us in 2014. 

Antonio Veniero immigrated to New York from Italy in 1885, in the period following Italian unification when poor Italians, especially southern Italians, began to leave the country en masse, seeking better lives and opportunities. At 15 years old, Antonio began working in a candy factory downtown. By 1894, he bought today’s 342 East 11th Street, a pre-old-law tenement built in 1865-66. Originally the business, then called Antonio Veniero Confections, was founded as a social club, complete with pool tables. Antonio sold homemade candy and espresso, the beans of which were roasted in the backyard. Veniero hired other Italian immigrants also skilled in confectionery. This part of the East Village was well populated with Italian immigrants, mostly Sicilian, although Antonio was from Naples. No. 342, which had residences above the ground floor, housed 13 families, all Italian immigrants or of Italian descent, according to the 1900 Federal census. 






VENIERO’S PASTICCERIA

ITALIAN PASTRIES

East 11th Street, NY NY





The same census and 1900-1901 New York City directory show Antonio living with his wife and children across the street at No. 345, a no longer extant building. In his oral history, Robert Zerilliexplains that the business evolved from Antonio’s founding to serve baked goods such as biscotti and cakes, later renaming itself Veniero’s Pasticceri. Following Antonio’s death in 1931, the business would continue to be run by members of the family. In 1970, Frank Zerilli, Robert’s father and a cousin of the Venieros, bought the business. As a teenager, Frank Zerilli had worked in the bakery and learned a great deal working under Antonio.

Zerilli shares great stories of both the family and the neighborhood connected to Veniero’s, including Antonio’s managing to avoid firebombing by the Black Hand, (Mano Nero gang — a mafia extortion racket), neighborhood quarrels with other bakers and pushcart sellers, and a legal fight over the ownership of a coffee-sipping parrot. 

Zerilli was born in 1962 and by that time his family lived in New Jersey. He would sometimes join his father for the workday in the East Village, and in his interview, Zerilli shared the sights, smells, and sounds of the East Village in his early years through the eyes of a child. One of the sounds that dominate his memories was the constant mix of English and Italian throughout the streets and small businesses in the area. As a teenager, he would work at Veniero’s, and lived in one of the apartments in the upper floors at No. 342, rent-free.

The neighborhood has changed quite a bit over the course of Zerilli’s tenure, and he talks about gentrification, as well as changing ethnicities and business and building ownership. On a side note, he mentions the East Village’s punk rock scene, and Joey Ramone coming to Veniero’s to buy a cake. Veniero’s itself has changed over the years too, adding items like red velvet cupcakes, which Zerilli discusses his reluctance to include. One of the many things that hasn’t changed, though, is that Veniero’s is still very much a family-run business, with Robert and his three sisters at the helm as co-owners.





ITALIAN PASTRIES



CANNOLI – RHUM BABA – ECLAIRS

At VENEIRO’S




FRANK SINATRA’S FAVORITE COOKIES


SICILIAN REGINA COOKIES

VENIERO’S




FRANK SINATRA & FRANK ZERILLI

At VENIERO’S

1979

NEW YORK CITY





SINATRA SAUCE

The COOKBOOK

SINATRA STORIES & RECIPES

COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK

His FAVORITE ITALIAN RECIPES
AMAZON.com







Frank & Tony – Sinatra and Curtis

On By Daniel BellinoLeave a comment

 

FRANK & TONY



““Frank Sinatra and Tony Curtis were close, lifelong friends. They knew each other since the 1940s when Sinatra was playing the Paramount. In 1958 they were in the movie Kings Go Forth together. Curtis is often mentioned as part of The Clan/Rat Pack in the 1950s and 1960s. Tina Sinatra remembered that when her father was old and sick, she once found Tony Curtis cradling her father in his arms.
Sinatra called Curtis “Bernie” (pronounced “Boinie”), because his real name was Bernard Schwartz.
Here are some of the things that Tony Curtis said about Frank Sinatra, in interviews and in his memoir.
“When I met him, I realized he was very nice with everyone around him. He wasn’t so obnoxious. That was the rumor about Frank, that you didn’t know what he had in mind.”
“I became an honorary member of Frank’s Rat Pack; I never went on stage with Frank, Dean, Sammy, Joey Bishop, or Peter Lawford, but anytime they had a get-together, I was invited. Whenever those guys got up to any kind of mischief, I was there. They treated me like a kid brother, which brought out the best in everyone.”
“I knew a lot about Frank. We were really close. He liked me a lot, and that meant a lot to me. To be a friend of Frank’s was a great help in those early days. I didn’t abuse it or take advantage of it. I would just make myself available when he would call or want to go out to dinner.”
“When he was not angry, there was a calm humanness about him. He would always stick up for his buddies. He was always available. He would stick up for you even if the guy was a big guy.”
“Frank wasn’t a womanizer – he was womanized! What a great position to be in! You know, those were carefree, intelligent, and very stimulating days and nights!”
“Women would flock around him. Then the husbands or the boyfriends found themselves ill at ease. I couldn’t understand it, you know? Frank wasn’t gonna take ‘em anywhere. He’d just hang-out there.”
“He’s one of the biggest prudes I’ve ever met…he’s an old-fashioned man. I’ve never heard him use a vulgar word in front of a woman!”
“Frank Sinatra was like the sun, with a lot of people revolving around him.”
“Notice I don’t bring up the Mafia. He in himself was his own godfather. He ran his own family and his friends like that. Untouchable.”

“Frank exhibited the traits I admired most in a person, namely his unfailing self-confidence.”
“I would make model airplanes, the kind you make with balsa wood. I’d make it with glue and the things that would make it work. He was so pleased because he told me, ‘I was never able to get that body in the plane right’. So, he’d throw his stuff away. But, there I was making the bodies and he’d say will I add to it? Then, we’d paper it. We did the wings. We put a rubber band in it, and a propeller. We’d go out in his garage, in back, and I’d wind it up and let it go. The f***er would ram into a wall, and there it was all broken again. We did this two or three times. Sometimes we had more success than others. But, I loved him for that.”
Tony Curtis wrote about one time at the Sands when he was very drunk and Frank and Dean threw him into the swimming pool fully dressed.
Tony Curtis: “I climbed out of the pool… freshened up, and went back down to the casino. I was still a little dizzy, but at least I was keeping my eyes open. When Frank saw me he said, ‘Where have you been?’
‘Somebody threw me in the pool,’ I said. ‘I had to go upstairs and change.’ Frank said, ‘Who in the world would do that?’ I told him I thought he might have had something to do with it, but he denied it,and I couldn’t be sure I had remembered it right.”
Tony Curtis wrote that during the filming of Sweet Smell of Success, he was “the recipient of one of Frank’s legendary acts of thoughtfulness.” He was learning to play the flute for the movie and would often go over to Sinatra’s house to practice.
Tony Curtis: “I’d come over to Frank’s house and practice playing my flute for him. Frank was impressed that I was learning this new skill for my part in the movie, and he noticed that I was playing a cheap flute I’d picked up. So without telling me, he went out one day and bought me a magnificent flute, a priceless gift that I cherish to this day.”
In an interview, he talked about the flute too and called it “one of my sacred possessions from The Man.”
Frank Sinatra once said Tony Curtis was his favorite actor “because he beat the odds.”
Their mutual friend Sidney Poitier said of Tony Curtis, “When you’re with Tony Curtis, you’re with somebody very alive. He was – and is – one of the most ‘up’ people I have ever known.”










SINATRA SAUCE
COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK
His FAVORITE ITALIAN RECIPES
STORIES TOO !
AMAZON.com


Stanley Tucci Big Night Timpano Recipe

On By Daniel BellinoLeave a comment

 

BIG NIGHT

“The TIMPANO”

Stanley Tucci, Tony Shalhoub & Marc Anthony

BIG NIGHT STYLE TIMPANO

From STANLEY TUCCI ‘S “BIG NIGHT”

Video Recipe









FAVORITE ITALIAN DISHES

SECRET RECIPES

PASTA – SOUPS – TIMBALLO

“GINO’S” SECRET PASTA SAUCE

And MORE …
AMAZON.com
ASSEMBLY STEPS of The TIMPANO
“DID YOU KNOW”
TIMBALLO is The Most POPULAR Name of This DISH


“La TIMPANO”

Inside The TIMPANO

MACCHERONI, CHEESE, MEATBALLS

HARD BOILED EGGS & MORE
RECIPE


The Carlyle – New Yorks Top Hotel

On By Daniel BellinoLeave a comment

 

The CARLYLE

“NEW YORK’S GREATEST HOTEL”

A bastion of Upper East Side sophistication known for impeccable service and privacy, The Carlyle hotel has captivated the world’s most sophisticated travelers since its debut in 1930.


INFO & RESERVATIONS 


The CARLYLE

NEW YORK NEW YORK
Info


The CARLYLE
Reserve a Room

The CARLYLE

A ROSEWOOD HOTEL

NYC
Info

The WORLD FAMOUS “BEHMELMAN’S BAR”

The CARLYLE HOTEL

NY NY


FIND a ROOM in NEW YORK

The CARLYE – WALDORF – PLAZA

St REGIS – 4 SEASONS

All NEW YORK HOTELS

And WORLDWIDE
BOOKING.com
The CARLYLE

NEW YORK CITY

“NEW YORK’S LEADING HOTEL”
Info


“CAFE CARLYLE”

The CARLYLE HOTEL

NEW YORK




“BOBBY SHORT”

The CAFE CARLYLE

NYC





“BEMELMANS BAR”

The CARLYLE


LOFTON on The PIANO

BEMELMANS BAR

The CARLYLE HOTEL





LEGENDARY BAR

With masterpiece murals by Ludwig Bemelmans, the creator of the classic Madeline children’s books, Bemelmans Bar draws socialites, politicians, movie stars, and moguls with its extensive drink menu and live entertainment.





SINATRA SAUCE
FRANK SINATRA
Just LIKE “BOBBY SHORT”
One of AMERICA’S GREATEST

AMAZON.com




Frank Sammy & Dean

On By Daniel BellinoLeave a comment
FRANK SAMMY & DEAN
 
“RAT PACK REUNION” 

After The Rat Pack disbanded 30 years ago, analysts have uncovered a coincidence! It is said that the reunion and formation of The Rat Pack was likened to ”going from funeral to flowers”.
To prove that the coincidence analysis is correct, let’s dig deeper into the issue: The meeting between the holy trio Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. was very coincidental, from which a spontaneous band was formed! Before that, all three of them fell into seemingly unsolvable entanglements, from personal life, career, to love. All were transformed and turned a new page.
Analysts discovered:
It was only after Ava Gardner shoved him into a black sea of ​​despair that Frank was able to transform from a washed-up bobbysox warbler into the undisputed master of the boozy saloon ballad.
Dean’s acrimonious (and most thought career-ending) break with Jerry Lewis allowed Dean to step out of the shadow of playing straight-man and into the light of master entertainer of all trades.
The traffic accident that cost Sammy an eye lent him a fresh perspective on life (literally and figuratively) that gave him his final boost into super stardom. They’d all been to bombsville and they knew there was always something in the rubble worth taking with them.
So, not every event that happens is unlucky, at the end of suffering is the beginning of a new opportunity. Our life is the same, just look at the positive side, everything will become more positive and better. Wish everyone will have their own miracles!
 
 
 
 
 
 
FRANK SAMMY & DINO
“The RAT PACK”
The RAT PACK
SAMMY DAVIS Jr. – FRANK SINATRA
and DEAN MARTIN
.
.
.
The SINATRA COOKBOOK
SINATRA SAUCE
COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK
His FAVORITE ITALIAN RECIPES
AMAZON.com
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.
FRANK SAMMY & DEAN
1988
DINO SAMMY & FRANK

 

Sinatra Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe

On By Daniel BellinoLeave a comment
“FRANK”
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mrs. FRANK SINATRA RECIPE for SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS
WFBL FROM COOK BOOK of The STARS




 
RECIPE :
 
MEATBALLS alla SINATRA
 
 
INGREDIENTS for MEATBALLS :
 
1/2 Pound GROUND BEEF and 1/2 lb. Ground PORK
1 Clove GARLIC, peeled and Chopped Fine
1 tablespoon fresh ItalianParsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon SALT
1 Teaspoon Ground BLACK PEPPER
1/2 cup OLIVE OIL
 
Mix all these ingredients together and shape into medium sized balls. 
 
Place all the oil except 4 tablespoons in a large pan and turn heat on to high. Brown the meatballs until all are lightly golden brown on all sides. When all the meatballs are browned, remove from pan and set aside to cool.
 
INGREDIENTS For SAUCE :
 
4 Tablespoons OLIVE OIL
1 small ONION, peeled and Chopped
1 clove GARLIC, peeled and chopped Fine
1 28 ounce can Crushed San Marzano Tomatoes
1 small can Tomato Paste
1/2 teaspoon Crushed RED PEPPER Flakes
1/2 teaspoon each of SALT and BLACK PEPPER
 
Put 4 tablespoons of OLIVE OIL and Red Pepper Flakes in a large frying pan, and cook ONIONS and GARLIC in pan on low heat for 6 minutes. 
 
Add crushed Tomatoes and Tomato Paste to pan and turn heat to high. Fill the empty large can with water and place in pot with tomatoes. Add salt and Black Pepper.
 
Turn heat up to high. Add the brown Meatballs. 
 
When the tomatoes start to bubble, lower the heat to a very low flame and let the sauce simmer with the Meatballs on low heat for 1 hour.
 
1 pound SPAGHETTI
Grated PARMIGIANO REGGIANO or GRANA PADANA CHEESE
 
Boil the Spaghetti in rapidly boiling salted water according to directions on package. When done, drain Spaghetti in a Colander.
 
Add Spaghetti back to the pot it cooked in. Add a Cup and a half of Tomato Sauce and a drizzle of OLIVE OIL to the Spaghetti and Mix. Plate the Spaghetti evenly onto 4 Plates. Add some sauce over the top of the Spaghetti. Place 2 Meatballs n each Plate and cover with a little more Sauce.
 
Serve to you guest with Grated Cheese on the Side. BUON APPETITO !






A LOT MORE SINATRA RECIPE !!!

SINATRA SAUCE

COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK

His FAVORITE ITALIAN RECIPES
AMAZON.com


 
 
 
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f0a09-screen2bshot2b2017-07-202bat2b6-25-032bpm

SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS
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fad72-screen2bshot2b2016-09-032bat2b3-22-552bpm
RECIPES FROM MY SICILIAN NONNA

The SINATRA FAMILY and Author DANIEL BELLINO “Z”
both Come From The Same Town in SICILY, LERCARA FRIDDI

So Does CHARLES “LUCK” LUCIANO


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Frank & Yule – At Franks House – Palm Springs

On By Daniel BellinoLeave a comment

 

Frank & Yule

At FRANK’S HOUSE

PALM SPRINGS




“Yul Brynner and his wife Doris were close friends of Frank Sinatra. They were at the Compound so often that they had their own room, hooked onto the great hall and marked with a bronze nameplate . Sinatra taught Doris Brynner how to mix a martini.
Doris Brynner: “We were there constantly – always! Always a helicopter or Sinatra’s plane. And everything was orange: the sofas, the chairs, the carpets. It was Frank’s favorite color. It was a compound, so cozy and great. It was a super-modern house. There were bungalows for the guests,so everyone was on his own except when they didn’t want to be. So civilized. I sat by the piano-shaped pool while Yul and Frank played golf nonstop. Yul won. Or was it Frank? Fierce competition.
He loved Spaghetti & Meatballs. And Lasagna. And the booze. The boys boozed a bit, you see… They would tell stories, have a few drinks, play the piano and sing. Such fun people. Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Bill and Edie Goetz, us. Frank would sing duets with his records, Yul accompanying him on his guitar. Just another Saturday night.”







SINATRA SAUCE
COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK
AMAZON.com


Frank Sammy and Dean – Sinatra Davis and Dino Crocetti Martin

On By Daniel BellinoLeave a comment

 

FRANK SAMMY & DEAN

“RAT PACK REUNION” 

After The Rat Pack disbanded 30 years ago, analysts have uncovered a coincidence! It is said that the reunion and formation of The Rat Pack was likened to ”going from funeral to flowers”.
To prove that the coincidence analysis is correct, let’s dig deeper into the issue: The meeting between the holy trio Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. was very coincidental, from which a spontaneous band was formed! Before that, all three of them fell into seemingly unsolvable entanglements, from personal life, career, to love. All were transformed and turned a new page.
Analysts discovered:
It was only after Ava Gardner shoved him into a black sea of ​​despair that Frank was able to transform from a washed-up bobbysox warbler into the undisputed master of the boozy saloon ballad.
Dean’s acrimonious (and most thought career-ending) break with Jerry Lewis allowed Dean to step out of the shadow of playing straight-man and into the light of master entertainer of all trades.
The traffic accident that cost Sammy an eye lent him a fresh perspective on life (literally and figuratively) that gave him his final boost into super stardom. They’d all been to bombsville and they knew there was always something in the rubble worth taking with them.
So, not every event that happens is unlucky, at the end of suffering is the beginning of a new opportunity. Our life is the same, just look at the positive side, everything will become more positive and better. Wish everyone will have their own miracles!






FRANK SAMMY & DINO
“The RAT PACK”

The RAT PACK
SAMMY DAVIS Jr. – FRANK SINATRA
and DEAN MARTIN
The SINATRA COOKBOOK
SINATRA SAUCE
COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK
His FAVORITE ITALIAN RECIPES
AMAZON.com


Frank Sinatra – Everything Happens to Me

On By Daniel BellinoLeave a comment
 
EVERYTHING HAPPENS to ME
 
 
 
This is one of my all-time favorite of the many great albums by The Chairman of The Board, Mr. Francis Albert Sinatra. My good friend Jimmy Starace gave this to me for a Birthday present one year and I’ve loved this wonderful Sinatra Album ever since. The album comprises songs that were Frank Sinatra’s best loved songs. His daughter Tina had the idea of producing album of songs that her father Frank Sinatra recorded that were his own personal favorites. Tina asked her father to pick these songs, and the album Everything Happens to Me was born. If you’ve never listed to the album and I’m sure you’ll agree that this collection of Mr. Sinatra singing his favorite songs is a beautiful and poignant one.
This is one of the most interesting and successful Frank Sinatra collections out there. Everything Happens to Me avoids the obvious hits and collects a number of the finest ballads and torch songs that Sinatra cut while at Reprise Records during the ’60s, ’70s, and early ’80s. It’s a regal collection that concentrates on the darker side of Sinatra‘s art. Instead of celebrating a cross section of the Voice’s career the way that so many compilations do, the album sounds like an elegy and has a strange cohesiveness considering that it’s drawn up from material that stretches over a 20-year period. Sinatra had recorded the title track numerous times throughout his career, but the previously unreleased version included here (complete with new lyrics) is his darkest and most battle-scarred interpretation. Even considering its lighter moments (“The Second Time Around” and the lyrically downbeat but wondrously swinging “Summer Wind”), this is a stark collection that almost plays like an original concept album about confronting disappointment, loneliness, and ultimately, mortality. That’s a lot to ask casual fans to embrace, but Everything Happens to Me ends up giving listeners who only know of the swinging Rat Packer more than a glimpse of the complexity and depth behind Frank Sinatra‘s art.
 
 
 
 
 
 
FRANK
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

EVERYTHING HAPPENS to ME
 
 
The TITLE SONG of The Album of The Same Name
 
 
This Collections of SONGS were FRANK SINATRA’S 
 
FAVORITE SONGS THAT HE RECORDED
 
Learn How to Make
 
SUNDAYS SAUCE alla SINATRA
 
alla BELLINO
 
The RECIPE Is In SUNDAY SAUCE 
 
by DANIEL BELLINO “Z”
 
 
A FELLOW SICILIAN-AMERICAN of FRANK SINATRA ‘S
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