Pop-queen Madonna was notoriously turned away and President Bill Clinton couldn't get a reservation on his own so he had to "borrow" a table from a longtime customer! Rao's at 455 East 114th Street in East Harlem, Manhattan opened back in 1896 for home-style Italian food and friendship, but waits of up to a year and more to get one of its 11 tables became legendary. It's still that way back East, but fortunately the good guys at Caesars Palace have alleviated some of the consternation and rejection by opening a big-brother outpost here. I got the incredible Italian taste treat a few days ago when I had a reunion with Frank Pelligrino Jr. and his chef-wife Carla who run "da joint" with Cousin Ron Straci for the 'big boss" Frank Pelligrino Sr.
For decades Rao's existed as a neighborhood restaurant. Its local customers would fill the tables with such regularity that eventually they were given standing reservations -- bookings that persevere to this day. When Rao's regular and famed sportswriter Dick Schaap passed away in 2001, Billy Crystal wondered aloud in his eulogy who would inherit Schaap's table. A bequest in a will passing the "table rez" down from one generation to another was more prized than owning a New York millionaires co-op! The speakeasy vibe of the place, the gracious hosts and the incredible food made Rao's the stuff of legend and the object of envy.
At Caesars Palace, the authentic Rao's experience is now accessible to a whole new generation. Two, ten-table rooms duplicate the original Rao's saloon. Additional seating is available in the feast area, as well as on an outdoor patio, where you can sit poolside and enjoy a game of bocce in between bites. Rao's, with its turn-of-the century appearance at Caesars Palace is open seven nights a week from 5PM-11PM, with multiple seatings available.
When I was the guest narrator in the Broadway run of the 'Rocky Horror Picture Show,' I had dinner at Frank Jr.'s other restaurant, Baldoria, every night. That's where Britney Spears went three weeks ago the night she announced her separation from Kevin Federline! Over Uncle Vincent's lemon chicken and Aunt Anna's pasta I talked with Frank and Carla. Here's our intimate conversation:
RL: First of all, what do you think of Vegas as a city to bring such a remarkable restaurant to?
FP: I think that Rao's was only suited for one property here, and that isCaesar's Palace. Las Vegas is a city that is incredible; it kind of makes me feel at home as in NYC. It is a 24 hr. city, it's vibrant and wonderful. Stepping outside of that we are back on the corner again and it is just perfect.
RL: So Rao's was this unbelievable restaurant that you could not get a table at and part of the appeal was that the tables were handed down from generation to generation in wills and trust funds and estates. Here you have got more tables, but each room looks like the one room Rao's. Was that the plan?
FP: That was the plan. The idea behind this was not to make a cafeteria, this was to create a paradigm shift and take the cafeteria out of the restaurant industry here and take it back to it's roots. We wanted great food, good service, consistency, a great atmosphere, and a great deal of compassion for our guests. We executed right on the money and opened with what we are striving for. By the way, you helped the whole part of that legacy, so thank you very much Mr. Leach.
RL: Why is the success of an Italian restaurant predicated on it being a family affair? If you look at all the successful Italian restaurants there has always been a family in there somewhere.
FP: That is a terrific question. The only answer I can give you is that I have always worked with my family and I have not had the opportunity to work with anybody outside my family, so I don't know how to answer you.
RL: Is it because there is love in the kitchen? Is it because what you are really saying to a customer is come into my home and kitchen?
FP: To a degree yes. I know that my wife Carla, who is the executive chef here, puts her heart and soul into everything that comes out of that kitchen and I know that she will do nothing less than that. I know that I do the same thing, so does my father, my cousin Ron. It is from the heart, we are one and the same and the most incredible thing is my new family of employees that we have here that works inside the walls of this new restaurant who really have become my family. We have had people in the past seven days ask us 'so really you brought the whole staff out from NYC'? They can't comprehend the knowledge, the quality of the food and how we conduct our service. They are really amazed and perhaps that when you feel a part of a family and do what you love to do, that is what makes it great.
RL: Did you think that when you started as a youngster in this family business that one day you would have a bocce court and an outdoor patio overlooking one of the sexiest pools in Las Vegas. Do you pinch yourself?
FP: I swear to goodness that I walk into this restaurant everyday and from its design and seeing the former restaurant being demolished then built to the point where we finally opened the doors and I got a little dizzy and I thought is this really happening? Is this really true? It really has been an incredible odyssey and I still don't believe it.
RL: How do you explain the magic of when you sit there you really do feel as though you are in NYC and not in Vegas? Every corner of this restaurant is NYC.
FP: I agree and I think that is something that is really remarkable and I have been asked many times what's this about? Is it Rao's or is it something else? My answer is no, it is everything that Rao's is about. Rao's is such an iconic piece of history in NYC and I think that we have been able to translate it here very well. A lot of that is due to the executive and management team that they have here at Caesar's.
RL: How many times did you turn down offers to move to Vegas?
FP: You can ask my cousin about that one. He was in it far before I was. I tagged along on a couple of journeys and interestingly enough on my first trip to Vegas the gentlemen who hosted us came here for dinner this evening and was a very nice surprise and a familiar face. It was really interesting and it was a really good thing that my cousin and my dad decided not to go through with that venture. That is going back about ten years ago.
RL: I want to ask you about all the celebrity photographs on the walls they came from the original Rao's? And the records in the jukebox?
FP: The original records in the NY jukebox will be there very soon. I went into the Colony record store on Broadway with 100 names right off the jukebox and some of the records we have are no longer in print so as close as I could I came out with 78 out of the 100. Not all of them are exact, because some of those records are not around anymore. But, I can assure you that every CD that is in the Jukebox at Rao's will be inside the jukebox here. We had every one of the photographs scanned and replicated all 480 and we duplicated them so that both of the rooms have complimentary copies of all the photos. Some of them date back to the 40's. Ron has a picture of my dad on a ship sending the parish priest back to Italy for a visit and that is in the late 30's.That is on the wall here today. We have some pictures from the neighborhood that go back that far. We have some pictures of the Mont Caramel festival. But I know for sure that one picture has 5 men and Father Menzadesta and that is on the wall. Now you have to give us a photograph to put on the wall here!!
RL: Is it still ridiculously impossibly difficult to get a table on 114th street in E. Harlem?
FP: On 114th St. and Pleasant Ave. it is still very difficult. I actually have a list of emails that I have to send out saying no. I have been known to be Frankie yes and my dad is Frankie no, but unfortunately I am turning into Frankie no.
RL: Is that beginning to happen here already?
FP: Incredibly yes. What we as a family are, most surprised about is that we have so much repeat business. In the first 7 days, we are astounded by it. We have people dining here every single night of the week since we opened! People who are going to be back in February and March have already made week long reservations to come back again. The magic of Rao's is love! That is all it is, is caring about what you do, it is passion. The people feel it and become a part of it and they want to come back. It drives the staff, the kitchen, each one of us.
RL: And the food and the first new retail store?
FP: The food we are attempting to duplicate and so far we have been successful. My wife and partner Carla is a wonderful chef and the retail store is an attempt to have a little touch of all our products who want to take our comfort back home. People have told us in the first week there is no restaurant like this in Las Vegas. I feel like I am in NYC when I come into your restaurant. You just don't feel like you are in Las Vegas when you come in here. And we have a t-shirt for sale in our store that says " I got a table at Rao's."
RL: Carla what is the magic ingredient in all of this food?
CP: I think it is love, it really is. You really need to enjoy and like what you do and that is about passion. Because if you come in and work 15 hours a day you really need to love what you do and I think that is the magic ingredient. The meatballs and the things that we do, they are from such old recipes and there is no way they can be bad. They come from Grandma. We've been able to make some additions because it is a bigger place and we wanted to offer much more variation of Italian food, so I added a few things, but everything that is from Rao's, that you cannot get anywhere else it is here and we added some risotto and some things like that. The thing about Rao's is that they have such a small kitchen that they do everything a la minute and so that is what I added. But given the size of the audience that we have here we have a lot of the same specials that we use at Rao's and serve them at Rao's that people always ask for when they come in. We have just incorporated them into the menu. We have more options. It's more than grandma's recipes ... I think great grandma is more like it. Italian food never changed because there is no such thing as Nuevo cuisine, a real Italian restaurant would never make up their own recipes.
The menu is an extraordinary masterpiece of manga! You can pick any night and you'll find a member of the Rao's family right there at the front door or behind the kitchen stoves. Welcome to Vegas as we revel in our city's newest dining winner!
HIGH COST OF CHRISTMAS
I have always loved Strip entertainer of the Year, Danny Gans' version of the 12-Days of Christmas with his many different voices -- including mine occasionally! But if you go shopping in our superb Vegas stores the total tab to fulfill the incredible individual items ranging from a partridge in a pear tree to one drummer, will run you $20,000! But it soars up over the $75,000 mark for all 364 items that your True Love repeats in the various verses: gold rings, 2 turtledoves, 3 French hens, 6 geese, 7 swans, 9 dancing ladies, 10 leaping lords, and the multitude of milkmaids. It might be safer smarter for that special person in your life just spend the exact same amount on a fully-loaded Hummer 2 SUV or a 5 carat-diamond ring from the big-name jewelers at the Bellagio. After all the best comes in the smallest of baby blue boxes and there's definitely no cleanup! TONIGHT'S TIP
It's the long-awaited and much anticipated opening of the new Beatles r EVOL ution ultra-lounge at the Mirage. Click here for Wednesday's advance Luxe Life photo tour. You can expect a crowd of Cirque artists and MGM moguls on hand for the glittering psychedelic pleasures. The grand gala opening will be set for next month and Valentines Day, but meantime the Abbey Road bar and the Yellow Submarine portholes are open as of tonight. Now although our town goes fairly quiet this weekend tis a special season for our Asian friends and in total contrasts we've found everything from chilly ice-skating to a warm Surfing Safari at the beach in what we affectionately around here call ROBIN'S ROYAL RUNDOWN:
Friday, Dec 22
* The Shaolin Kung Fu Spectacular is the ultimate proof that you fight to win at the Hilton
* Its Christmas done Hawaiian Style up at the Suncoast
Saturday, Dec. 23
* Asia's top musical stars Rain keep it warm and sunny at the Colosseum in Caesars Palace while Celine Dion spends holiday time with her family.
*It's a Christmas celebration with the Coyote charmers as FHM and Maxim model Mia Ferreri hosts at Coyote Ugly in the New York-New York resort.
Sunday, Dec. 24
Christmas Eve
* Back in New York City it's a Yuletide tradition to go skating at Rockefeller Center so no surprise the new Morgans Hotel Group owners from Manhattan have turned the parking lot into the Hard Rockafella Center with an ice-skating rink from 11am to 10pm tonight and tomorrow to celebrate the holidays. Take an unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots and skate for free!!! Otherwise $12 for adults and $8 for kids! It's a beautiful sight in the desert!!
Monday, Dec. 25
Merry Christmas Everybody!
* Winter is banished as The Beach Boys scream "Surf's Up" at the Luxor where Mike Love and his boys, including John Stamos on the drums, will make everybody long for warm sunny surfing and swimming thru New Years Eve
Tuesday, Dec 26
Happy Boxing Day to my British friends!
* The comic's comic, Jerry Seinfeld is back for 2-days in Celine's Colosseum Theater at Caesars Palace with his hilarious takes on life's absurdities.
TUESDAY'S TEASE
We'll have one whopping weeklong Luxe Life Journal here with the full rundown of the wild insanity set for New Year's weekend. From Britney Spears -- with or without panties -- at PURE to Pamela Anderson at TAO and her 3 former loves Kid Rock at Jet, Tommy Lee at Hard Rock and Dave Navarro at Tangerine, the town is set for fireworks of every kind! If that tug of love isn't enough for you it's the Ultimate Fighting showdown between Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz with porn-queen Jenna Jameson at ringside -- to possibly distract both men? Plus the amazing story of the 60-year history of the pink palace we know and love as The Flamingo, as it celebrates the anniversary on Tuesday.
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