Short piece I wrote for my Libation Lounge column. If you are ever in Denver, it's a great place to stop in for a cocktail and dinner.
Libation Lounge http://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/articles/food/item/libation-lounge2013 Fall Issue
Mob Hangout and Cocktail Lounge
Some restaurants eschew their former infamy as a mob hangout, while others just tolerate the occasional mob buff that comes around looking for faint glimmers of the sordid history. Gaetano’s is one of those rare places that celebrates its role as a former mob hangout. But Gaetano’s was more than a hangout. It was the headquarters of the Denver Mafia and their monarchy, the Smaldone family.
I had the opportunity to visit Gaetano’s this past summer. Gaetano’s has an old school feel with a decidedly modern touch. You can get gluten free pasta, while sipping a cocktail at the original bar. You sit underneath the upstairs rooms where the Smaldone and their crime family compatriots ran high stakes card games, and eat dinner above the basement where Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis played craps, around the corner from an entrance to one of the tunnels than ran under the North Denver ‘hood where Prohibition era gangsters transported barrels of booze.
Gaetano’s is also one of the top go-to places in Denver for cutting edge cocktails. Though they recently changed their cocktail menu for the fall, this past summer they had a menu full of interesting and tasty libations, all nicknames of infamous gangsters.
I started with the Breeze, nickname of Chicago Outfit hitman Frank Calabrese Sr. The Breeze is concoction of Rittenhouse rye, lemon juice, orgeat syrup (key ingredient of the previous column’s tiki drinks), and orange bitters. It was surprisingly light, a perfect start to a late July night.
Next up was a barrel-aged Gaetano’s cocktail, their take on a Negroni. It was Caprock gin (an organic distiller in North Fork Valley, Colorado), Aperol, and sweet vermouth. From there I tried a California gin, St. George, in a twist on an Old Fashioned. Both drinks showcased the botanical gins while balancing nicely with the other ingredients.
I finished it off with the Sony Red, named after Bonnano capo Alphonse “Sonny Red” Indelicato, who was whacked in 1981, dramatized in the movie Donnie Brasco. The Sonny Red was bold and dynamic and not for the faint of heart. Chianti, Plantation 5 rum, Lillet rose liqueur, St. Germain, lavender rose syrup, and bitters.
Gaetano’s is a must visit for mob buffs and cocktail enthusiasts. It’s located at 3760 Tejon St in the Highland neighborhood of Denver.
