REMEMBERING FRANK & TONY
On TONY'S BIRTHDAY
TONY BENNETT & FRANK SINATRA
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TONY"
Bor August 3rd 1926
ASTORIA, QUEENS
NEW YORK CITY
Sunday, August 3, 2025
Sinatra Sauce is FREE
"SINATRA SAUCE is FREE" !!!
If You Have KindleUnlimited
SINATRA SAUCE
The COOKBOOK
In PAPERBACK & KINDLE EDITIONS
SINATRA SAUCE “Music Meatballs & Merriment”
Daniel Bellino Zwicke
Sinatra Sauce "Music Metaballs & Merriment" and Living The Good Life. "Like Frank" .. Yes, it's about Frank. That is one Francis Albert Sinatra, the Greatest Singer of The 20th Century, and Icon of American, especially of the Italian-American Enclave in America. Frank Sinatra was many things, first and foremost a Great Italian-American singer, Love & Adored by Millions. Mr. Sinatra was also an actor, citizen, and Entertainer Par Excellence. Yes this book is about those things, Frank Sinatra : the incomparable singer, actor, recording artist, Teen Idol of the 1940s, philanthropist, and Las Vegas & Nightclub Entertainer. He was like no other, Sinatra was one-of-a- kind, and he had a lust for life, “Hanging with Friends,” - sipping cocktails, with good food, and making good times. That's what this book is about, Frank Sinatra, eating (Italian Food), enjoying a cocktail or two, and the company of family and friends. Yes, Frank Sinatra lived life to its fullest. He wouldn't have it any other way, but "His Way."
This book “Inspires” and gives you the tools to live out your Sinatra Dreams. You can make it reality, with recipes of Frank’s Favorite Italian Foods, Pasta, Meatballs, Posillipo, Eggplant Parm and more. Eating, drinking, and having good times, all the time as Frank did. Meals with friends and family. Meals you can cook, with recipes in this book. The info and recipes are all here in Sinatra Sauce. Read it, put on some Sinatra (music), cook, eat, and create memorable times at the table, just like Frank. That’s what this book is about: Sinatra, Family, Friends, and Good Times. “The Best is Yet to Come”
Visit SINATRA SAUCE - The Website @ SinatraSauce.com
Author Daniel Bellino Zwicke is a lifelong Sinatra fan. He is a Best Selling author, who lives and writes in New York’s Greenwich Village. Daniel is currently working on several other projects. He has authored : Sunday Sauce, La Tavola, Mangia Italiano, Grandma Bellino’s Cookbook, Segreto Italiano, and Positano The Amalfi Coast - Travel Guide / Cookbook.
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The SINATRA SAUCE COOKBOOK - FREE
On KINDLE UNLIMITED
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Jilly and Frank Rizzo and Sinatra
JILLY & FRANK
"RIZZO & SINATRA"
FRANK & FRIENDS at "JILLY'S"
With Daughters NANCY & TINA SINATRA
"JILLY'S" NIGHT CLUB in NEW YORK
Get a FINE ART PRINT of This AWESOME IMMAGE
Of FRANK SINATRA & FRIENDS
From FineArtAMERICA
FRANK SINATRA & JILLY RIZZO
FRANK & JILLY
SINATRA SAUCE
The COOKBOOK
COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK
"JILLY'S WEST"
PALM SPRINGS
FRANK with JILLY & Another FRIEND
MONTE CARLO
1971
Monday, July 7, 2025
Saturday, June 14, 2025
Frank Sinatra Favorite Italian Food
.
FRANK and AVA
"MANGIA BENE"
FRANK'S FAVORITE RESTAURANT
Frank Sinatra dines with Marylyn Monroe
Frank Sinatra 's Egg Sandwiches
GINO'S on Lexington Avenue was a Sinatra favorite ..
A waiter and the famed Zebra Wallpaper of Gino's ..
PJ CLARKE'S
..
GILLY'S
FRANK & FRIENDS
And Daughters TINA & NANCY
FRANK
Frank Sinatra, both the greatest singer and greatest entertainer of the 20th Century. No question. Sinatra was a legendary icon whose star still shines bright. He was a musical icon, celebrity, international personality, and to millions of Italian-Americans he was our own, a paisan. Frank was an Italian-American whose ancestry is from Genoa on his mother's side of the family and Sicilian on his father's side. And being Italian, Frank loved the food he grew up with, Dolly made a mean Marianara Sauce as well as Meatballs and the all-time Italian-American favorite Sunday Sauce (aka Gravy). Frank loved the food of his childhood; the Spaghetti & Meatballs, Stuffed Artichokes, Pasta Fazool, Frittata, Eggplant Parmigiana and all the usual suspects of the Italian-American table. It's a well known fact that Frank's favorite restaurant was Patsy's on 56th Street in New York ... When Frank went to Patsy's his favorite dishes were Calms Posillipo and Veal Milanese with a nice plate of Spaghetti Pomodoro in-between, and maybe a slice of Cheesecake to finish if Frank was in the mood.
FRANK and AVA
"MANGIA BENE"
FRANK'S FAVORITE RESTAURANT
Patsy's 56th Street, NEW YORK, NY
VEAL MILANESE and CLAMS POSILLIPO .. Two of FRANK'S Favorites
CLAMS POSILLIPO
"One of FRANK'S FAVORITES" !
SICILY
GRANDMA BELLINO'S COOKBOOK
With RECIPES FROM SINATRA'S HOME TOWN in SICILY
SOUPS - PASTA _ EGGPLANT - ARTICHOKES & MORE
All of FRANK SINATRA'S FAVORITE ITALIAN FOODS
Frank tosses the Spaghetti
Dean Martin with Frank as Sammy Davis Jr pours Frank a Jack Daniels
Frank Sinatra dines with Marylyn Monroe
.
.
Frank Sinatra with Lauren Bacall at 21 Club , NEW YORK
.
Gnocchi Pomodoro
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.
Frank Sinatra 's Egg Sandwiches
JILLY'S
Frank at Jilly's with friends and daughters Nancy and Tina ..
One of Frank's favorite spots when in New York was owned by one of his closest friends (and Bodyguard) Jilly Rizzo .. Jilly's served Chinese Food and Franks's favorite was their Chicken Chowmein .. Frank threw many parties there, eating, drinking, telling stories and what-not.
.
.
Frank Eats a Donut
GINO'S on Lexington Avenue was a Sinatra favorite ..
A waiter and the famed Zebra Wallpaper of Gino's ..
PJ CLARKE'S
One of Frank's favorite Bars ..
Learn How to Make SUNDAY SAUCE alla SINATRA
and SPAGHETTI MEATBALLS all SINATRA
Recipes in SUNDAY SAUCE by Daniel Bellino
.
.
Frank & Jack - Kennedy and Sinatra
FRANK & JACK
Kennedy & Sinatra
Frank Sinatra and John F. Kennedy were good friends. They both liked each other.
Frank Sinatra was a Major Force in getting JFK Elected as President of The United States.
When John Kennedy was President, he was going to California, and staying in Palm Springs. It was first planned that he would stay at Frank Sinatra's home in Palm Springs. Frank was thrilled and quite happy, and homered to be Hosting The President of The United States (JFK) at his home. Sinatra even had a Helicopter Pad built on his compound for Marine 1 Presidential Helicopter to be able to land on his estate.
John Kennedy's brother Robert Kennedy who was The Attorney General of The United States advised his brother, the President that he shouldn't stay at Frank Sinatra's House, because of his Mafia Ties, and Chicago Mob Boss - Sam Giancona, who actually helped Kennedy get elected as well. Actually Bobby told JFK not to stay at Sinatra's home.
Peter Lawford who was The Presidents brother-in-law was the person chosen by the Kennedy's to break the news to Sinatra, and he did. After Frank got the news he was livid. He got a Sledge Hammer and went out to the Helicopter Pad and smashed it with his hammer. Sinatra never spoke to Peter Lawford again.
SINATRA SAUCE
The COOKBOOK
Thursday, May 8, 2025
Sinatra Favorite Italian Cookies Regina Venieros
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
Saturday, April 26, 2025
Tony Curtis and Frank Sinatra Friendship
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.”
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