From Movie Crook to Mega-Cook
When Gianni Russo portrayed treacherous thug Carlo Rizzi in The Godfather (1972), his character's foul play may have left a bad taste in your mouth. Years later, with his own line of wines, olive oils, vinegars and sauces, the former onscreen tough guy reveals his soft spot for fine Italian food; he comes to make peace with your palate.
Russo walked into the Billy Crystal Room of the legendary Friars Club on East 55th looking just as I'd imagined—fresh out of a mobster movie with a permanent tan, wearing a pressed Brioni suit with a popped collar, a perfectly pleated handkerchief peeking from his shirt pocket and of course, the diamond on his left pinky scintillating in even the dimmest bar light.
He greeted me with a peck on the cheek and said, "Most Italian men think they can do three things: cook, sing and make love." After mastering 60 sauce recipes, recording two music albums and fathering 11 children, it's easy to dub him king of all three.
Russo has had his share of what he calls "many great love affairs with many great women," most of them, ephemeral. However, one of his most enduring relationships has been with food.
I wanted to learn the recipe for Gianni Russo's success—not just onscreen—but in the kitchen. So, I asked him a few questions.
The Brooklyn native, who in his Italian heritage is half Sicilian and half Neapolitan, always remained close to the kitchen. Raised partly in Manhattan's Little Italy, he lived one floor above Luna Restaurant, where it was impossible not to pick up cooking tricks from the ubiquitous chefs.
Yet, one particular circumstance fostered his love of food. He explained, "I had a situation that drove me into cooking at a young age." In 1949, at age seven, he contracted polio. "I was a cripple," he said. "I wasn't out playing ball. I was in the kitchen because I couldn't walk."
He added, "One of my therapies when I was a teen was making bread. The kneading of the dough and the dry heat from the wood ovens helped make me mobile. It saved me."
You might call it the "bread of life."
While some might believe that Italian women cook better than Italian men, Russo claims, "My mother was a terrible cook," and adds, "the men in my family were always [preparing the meals]. My father would make enough sauce to last the whole week."
In fact, Russo says he knew what day it was by the meal his father served him: "Sunday was pasta, Monday was leftovers, Tuesday you had the stew, Wednesday was veal cutlets, and so on."
His father taught him everything he knew about cooking, to the extent where Russo felt confident enough to train all the chefs in his restaurants, including Gianni Russo's State Street, a Las Vegas supper club that became the popular purlieu of Rat Packers Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin upon its opening in 1981.
When State Street closed in 1989, Russo moved to Italy, where he remained for five years. He continued to cook and, as he puts it, "recapture [his] roots." Since then, Russo has combined his father's sauce recipes with techniques he has learned in Italy, and has done cooking demos on the Today Show and other television programs. One of his favorite recipes is penne pasta cloaked in a spicy arrabiata sauce with pepperoni, Maui sweet onions and red pepper flakes. His one rule: "I only cook in Brioni suits and use my own pans."
When asked if he gleaned any cooking tips from Sinatra, Russo chuckled and said, "Frank's marinara sauce was terrible. But then again, after many arguments in people's kitchens and never being invited back, I've learned that eating at another person's house is like listening to someone sing. You have to give them respect. You sit, eat, enjoy and be courteous."
That's exactly what I did when the bartender poured me a glass of Russo's Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. However, I wasn't lying when I said it had a gorgeous raspberry-plum color and wonderfully lush flavor. The kitschy bottles, stamped with Russo's name and silhouette, are among the array of his first-rate Italian imports, available to the public at eye-poppingly affordable prices. That's one offer I knew I couldn't refuse.
*Stay tuned for a Gianni Russo pasta sauce and wine promotion!
— Written by Danielle Travali
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