La Donna Rosa ! Al d'arco

Dont really know if anybody will be intrested in this but i will post it anyway.lol

In the 80s Lucchese soldier Little Al d'arco opened a resturant that would become the best resturant in little italy,it was a regular hangout for casso and vic amuso.

Does anybody know what happened to the resturant after Al flipped?

Last I remember it was a Mexican joint. And by the way, it was FAR from the best restaurant in Little Italy when that midget owned the place.

I like Positanos...thoughts?
that veal parm is so good

Yeah. F*** Al. The Professor's assertion that La Donna Rosa was the best Italian is a fallacy, just like all his posturing about Casso and Vic.

His height is allegedly 5"7 though, which would make him taller than Casso and Vic.

Joey Massino also says his restaurants are this and that. As if these guys give a crap about the quality of the food!

I would much rather eat at Nuovo Vesuvio.

al's book made me really not like the guy, hated the way it came off...i think two writers ruined the book...

Why does everyone hate the book so much? I'm almost done and I thought it's been great so far!

How?

I haven't read all of it yet so I can't disagree though.

Same here. Love his insight on the old school guys you don't hear much about.

Positano's has been around forever. Good food. But I think Da Nico is currently the best. Although Angelo's will always be my personal favorite because I've been going there all my life .

And La Mela gets an honorable mention for good, reliable, family style food, with portions that could choke a horse. If you have the kids with you, and you want to order a few different things to share, and not feel uncomfortable for being a little noisy, La Mela's is your best bet.

Exactly a place I need with two kids under 3

Yeah, and you'll need a place like that until they're teenagers. Trust me. Fucking trust me .

I am partial to Angelo's as well.

If I recall, in the book it mentioned Al's son (not the junkie one who was made) opened an Italian/Chinese fusion joint with a Chinese guy, pretty funny concept if you ask me, I think it had a kinda funny name too. I remember reading in another book that Al was a bit of dick, in prison he supposedly went after some really weak guys.

Firstly, that is a good idea for a restaurant.

Secondly, that does not surprise me.

From his Mafia Wiki: "Born in Brooklyn, New York, D'Arco's criminal career started at age 14, when he beat another boy with brass knuckles"

Does that sound like a tough guy to you? Sounds like a bully.

Easy to act like a tough guy and belittle Gravano, Casso and Amuso when you are hiding in witness protection and have your face blacked out and your voice altered when you are on TV.

In all fairness, Gravano and Casso are both rats, too. And they've both given interviews over the years where they made themselves out to be the smartest and most honorable wiseguys in their respective families. And why would anyone be surprised at that? These guys are career scumbags, just like all the other career scumbags.

And that need to prove himself is called a Napoleonic Complex. A lot of short street guys are like that.

True that, pizzaboy.

There is just something that really annoys me about D'Arco.

When I lived in the Southwest there were Italian restaurants run by Italian people. But they would mix in hot chilies that were used in a lot of the local cuisine and cooking into food both as menu items, or by request. I thought they tasted good but I enjoy chilies and spicy food.

But you would see some restaurants like a restaurant that served both Mexican and Greek food, or one Chinese restaurant my friends and I would go to was owned by Chinese people but they had Mexicans working as cooks and they would make the Chinese food very spicy with hot chilies if you wanted it that way. They also knew how to cook traditional Szechuan cuisine.

I remember a couple of those "fusion" restaurants from way back in the late '80s, early '90s. But they didn't work back then. They were too far ahead of their time. I guess people just weren't ready to blend cultures back then. Today you see those places all over the place. Today they'll mix Greek, Italian and Arab cuisine and just call it "Mediterranean."

And I love Chinese food. I'm a City guy. I grew up on those plain white takeout containers. But I'll never be evolved enough to order Kung Pao chicken with a side order of broccoli rabe .

Good find, I was thinking about that picture from the book, too funny.

was la donna rosa in the same spot as "the corner" is now? i think the place there is called la esquina now and does really really well, unless it was across the street on the other side of cleveland pl

No, that's not it, TT120.

The Corner was, well, right on the corner, with the entrance being on Kenmare. D'Arco's place was physically on Cleveland Place, with the entrance actually on Cleveland Place. But it's literally a 30 second walk.

Is Al embellishing here? I mean the mayor, De Niro, La Motta and JFK's son dining at Donna Rosa; I find it hard to believe.

I read elsewhere some guy talking about his girlfriend working at the place when Al started co-operating and he said that the place was just a front and not a legitimate business.

http://books.google.ie/books?id=IKVWTsi5...iro&f=false

I'm sure famous people ate there not because it was al darcos place but because they happened to see walk by the place. Darcos book isn't great but his story about the famous rays pizza being a big dope front is a good story. He does give good stories about lucchese old timers that you've heard of but haven't heard many stories. Like pete the killer his nickname wasn't cuz he was a big hitter but he dressed to kill. Always loved the goodfellas into w Nicky eyes(maybe marangello) pete the killer abinati and mikey franzese

But one of the best stories is he says joe beck dipalermo(valachis nemesis and galantes goombah) the dean of dope himself is doin dope deals in his 80s out of ray's pizza. I think he makes a comment like I'm gettin too old for this business. He prob should of figured that out before he spent half his life in the Feds company for being the dean of dope to galante's king of dope

What became of guys in D'Arco's crew? Shorty Di Palo, Patty Dellorusso, Pete Del Cioppo.....

Dellorusso was transferred from D'Arco's crew to Baratta's crew at one stage to D'Arco's disgruntlement.

Why did D'Arco hate Baratta so much?

Give me a break with that guy and that book. That restaurant was only there a few years to begin with, and it was never as busy as any of the better places down there (and granted, they were mostly tourist traps, even then).

I love how the New York Magazine write-up claimed that it was "the favorite restaurant of a certain plumbing supply salesman," or whatever the fuck they wrote, when by D'Arco's own admission Gotti never set foot in the place. He probably paid them to write that, which shows that he was half-a-rat even then.

No one in the other families on Mulberry Street had any use for Little Al by the late '80s. His claims that he was a confidante of Little Jimmy's for awhile, and that used to meet with him at La Mela, are so fucking laughable that they should be in a comic book rather than a Capeci/Robbins bio.

PB
I always went to Angelo's but now may refrain from doing so. Is the owner now on "real house wives of nj " ? If thats the guy ( bald guy) he is a fuckin clown and a disgrace to italians.

I still go because they also own a place called Tramonti in Delray Beach. We live there during the winters these days, and it's almost walking distance to our condo. The food's great, and not just by Florida standards. And that's the thing. I can't spite myself because good Italian food is difficult to find down there.

You're right, though. They're both assholes, husband and wife. But they're honestly never there, no matter what she claims on that ridiculous show.

If you don't want to go to Angelo's, it's understandable. But as far as Mulberry Street goes these days, La Mela is still the best for casual family style, and Da Nico is the best for something a little fancier.

I'm still down there quite a bit because one of our properties in on West 8th Street. Not walking distance, but close enough for when I'm in the mood for what Little Italy has unfortunately become today. Let me know when you're gonna be around.

^^^ Speaking of Housewives of NJ...I've seen this season a few times and the twins that are on there live by me and I've run into them at my nail salon and Dunkin Donuts. They are ANNOYING!!

I've never seen one minute of that show. But I have to watch for five minutes now just to see these twins .

They're God awful. Smoking bodies, but with faces that look like they kissed the F train and ANNOYING!!!

They are from colts neck i believe.. They grew up in brooklyn?
I hate when people over due the italian thing... So dramatic, its ridiculous and they come across as ignorant( which they are).

Don't know where they're from originally, but yeah, they're in Colts Neck now.
You're 100% correct on the rest. She even made a big HUGE deal on the show about how her name (Teresa), is supposed to be pronounced in Italian, how nobody knows how to say it correctly blah blah, and she STILL says it wrong. I wanted to say something to her when I saw her but decided to mind my own business.

You're both right. And you especially, Carm, know I HATE that phony Italian shit .

Our pal who coined the phrase "Super Italian" hit it right on the head with that one .

When you're fifth generation American, grew up in a cookie cutter suburb, and you STILL try to come across like Vinny Barbarino, you're really better off stepping in front of a tractor trailer. Because that's not Italian pride. That's an identity crisis. You're American. Get over it.

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Unless your pouring concrete up the way

they are from bklyn..the father had a restaurant brick oven pizza place on third ave years back..a few blocks from areo..they were timid then..guys came in, the father would send them home.now malandrina's

Its one of the best so far.