Steve Schirripa Is the Cannoli WhispererWe just came across this picture of Steve Schirripa, formerly of The Sopranos, and the ten-foot-tall cannoli tree that Veniero’s put up the other day in celebration of the launch of his cable show, Hungry. What struck us about the photo was not the 3,000 cannolis that the tree is made of, but Steve’s reaction to it. Look how he’s fully engaged with the cannolis, like he’s sort of leaning into them, almost as though he’s talking to them. As we observed this, we realized: This is not the first time we’ve seen Schirripa making love to the cream-filled flute. When our friends at Grub Street spoke with him recently about his show, he posed with an entire tray of them, and come to think of it, there was a glint in his eye then, too. The man is crazy for cannolis! Seriously. We mean it. He might, like, have a problem.
The Underground Gourmet
Steve Schirripa Has No Problem With Little Italy, Steaks
In his new cable cooking show, Steve Schirripa’s Hungry (Lifeskool network, debuting December 6), Uncle June’s faithful manservant Bobby Baccalieri tours his favorite New York Italian kitchens and takes some sauce-splattered pointers from pals like Rao’s Frank Pellegrino and Peasant’s Frank De Carlo. Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld asked the man Tony Soprano immortalized as a “calzone with legs” to expound on his favorite pastime — eating on and off the set.
There are a lot of cooking shows out there these days. What distinguishes yours from the competition?
This is a real guy going into a real kitchen; I think after you watch this, you’re really going to learn how to make the meatballs from Rao’s. It’s a combination of talking, comedy, and how-to.
Who does the cooking at home?
My wife; I eat, she cooks. Which is why I’m doing this new show. They’re teaching me how to cook.
In one episode, you spotlight the Mulberry Street restaurant Il Cortile. Do you think that Little Italy gets a bad rap?
I think it does. First of all, it’s a lot of fun down there. There’s a lot of tourists, but Il Cortile is as good an Italian restaurant as any in the city.
party lines
Bobby Baccalieri Has Some Advice for Britney SpearsThe Sopranos may have ended, but the cast is still partying. “The West Wing never partied like The Sopranos, trust me when I tell you,” Steve Schirripa told us at the Quill Awards at Jazz at Lincoln Center last night. “So half the cast lives downtown, we’ll call, we’ll check in. We have dinners, go out for a couple drinks,” he said. What are their favorite hangouts? “Oh, that I can’t tell you,” he said. Dare we guess Little Italy? “Il Cortile’s one of our hangouts. You can go to see a Soprano there. It’s on 125 Mulberry.” And we thought we were just being cute! So what does he think of another known partier, Britney Spears? “I think Britney Spears is absolutely insane. I think she — I know she calls the paparazzi, she tells them she’s going down to Starbucks. Why doesn’t she stay home? She’s got all of these handlers and she can just stay home — let them go to Starbucks, let them go to Dunkin’ Donuts. Why is she always going for the coffee? Stay home. Let somebody else — she’s always got her hands full. There’s cigarettes, the phone, the drink. Doesn’t she have lackeys to hold her stuff?” Yeah, really! Brit, honey, put that Jamie Lynn to work. —Amy Odell
Find out about Gay Talese’s guilty pleasures in our complete coverage of The Quills Awards.
