Wednesday would have been Frank Sinatra’s 92nd birthday, and at least one of the Chairman’s old haunts, the occasion won’t pass unobserved. Frank’s favorite New York restaurant, Patsy’s (no relation to the pizza chain), will be serving “Frank’s stuffed artichoke,” “Frank’s veal cutlet Milanese” (“Frank had it made easy on the garlic,” Patsy’s chef Sal Scognamillo tells us), and sfolgiatella, Frank’s favorite dessert, on Wednesday (the last course is on the house). Sal is a font of Sinatra anecdotes, too, and will be on hand to repeat a few of them. If you see him, ask about the night in 1977 when the Yankees came in after winning the World Series, and Billy Martin wanted to know why he didn’t have the best table.
Really devoted Sinatraphiles, though, may want to head over Hoboken, where the area’s foremost Sinatra shrine can be found at Leo’s Grandezvous, on Grand Street in Hoboken. Leo’s is just a few short and hideous blocks from Frank’s Monroe Street birthplace, and the place is practically a Sinatra museum, with a jukebox to match. Or if you want to have your own Sinatra meal at home, just follow the directions Frank’s first wife, Nancy, gave to George Jacobs, his valet: paper-thin steaks and pork chops; spaghetti with marinara sauce, light on the garlic; eggplant and roasted peppers. And of course, plenty of Jack Daniels for afterward.
