Thursday, May 8, 2025

Frank Sinatra Favorite Italian Cookies

 



VENIERO'S

ITALIAN PASTRIES

Since 1894



On September 23, 1894, one of the East Village’s longest-running businesses, Veniero’s Pasticceria, opened its doors. This venerable local institution has been serving confections, cakes, and pastries to New Yorkers and visitors ever since from its home at 342 East 11th Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues, in the heart of what was once the East Village’s own Little Italy, and remains one of the few surviving businesses from that once-thriving community. Located just down the block from our offices, we have a special love for Veniero’s — from which we have been known to indulge in a treat from time to time (or more) — and a special insight into the beloved business’ rich history, thanks to an oral history that Veniero’s current co-owner Robert Zerilli, grand nephew of Veniero’s original founder, conducted with us in 2014. 

Antonio Veniero immigrated to New York from Italy in 1885, in the period following Italian unification when poor Italians, especially southern Italians, began to leave the country en masse, seeking better lives and opportunities. At 15 years old, Antonio began working in a candy factory downtown. By 1894, he bought today’s 342 East 11th Street, a pre-old-law tenement built in 1865-66. Originally the business, then called Antonio Veniero Confections, was founded as a social club, complete with pool tables. Antonio sold homemade candy and espresso, the beans of which were roasted in the backyard. Veniero hired other Italian immigrants also skilled in confectionery. This part of the East Village was well populated with Italian immigrants, mostly Sicilian, although Antonio was from Naples. No. 342, which had residences above the ground floor, housed 13 families, all Italian immigrants or of Italian descent, according to the 1900 Federal census. 






VENIERO'S PASTICCERIA

ITALIAN PASTRIES

East 11th Street, NY NY





The same census and 1900-1901 New York City directory show Antonio living with his wife and children across the street at No. 345, a no longer extant building. In his oral history, Robert Zerilliexplains that the business evolved from Antonio’s founding to serve baked goods such as biscotti and cakes, later renaming itself Veniero’s Pasticceri. Following Antonio’s death in 1931, the business would continue to be run by members of the family. In 1970, Frank Zerilli, Robert’s father and a cousin of the Venieros, bought the business. As a teenager, Frank Zerilli had worked in the bakery and learned a great deal working under Antonio.

Zerilli shares great stories of both the family and the neighborhood connected to Veniero’s, including Antonio’s managing to avoid firebombing by the Black Hand, (Mano Nero gang — a mafia extortion racket), neighborhood quarrels with other bakers and pushcart sellers, and a legal fight over the ownership of a coffee-sipping parrot. 

Zerilli was born in 1962 and by that time his family lived in New Jersey. He would sometimes join his father for the workday in the East Village, and in his interview, Zerilli shared the sights, smells, and sounds of the East Village in his early years through the eyes of a child. One of the sounds that dominate his memories was the constant mix of English and Italian throughout the streets and small businesses in the area. As a teenager, he would work at Veniero’s, and lived in one of the apartments in the upper floors at No. 342, rent-free.

The neighborhood has changed quite a bit over the course of Zerilli’s tenure, and he talks about gentrification, as well as changing ethnicities and business and building ownership. On a side note, he mentions the East Village’s punk rock scene, and Joey Ramone coming to Veniero’s to buy a cake. Veniero’s itself has changed over the years too, adding items like red velvet cupcakes, which Zerilli discusses his reluctance to include. One of the many things that hasn’t changed, though, is that Veniero’s is still very much a family-run business, with Robert and his three sisters at the helm as co-owners.





ITALIAN PASTRIES






CANNOLI - RHUM BABA - ECLAIRS

At VENEIRO'S




FRANK SINATRA'S FAVORITE COOKIES



SICILIAN REGINA COOKIES

VENIERO'S






FRANK SINATRA & FRANK ZERILLI

At VENIERO'S

1979

NEW YORK CITY







SINATRA SAUCE

The COOKBOOK

SINATRA STORIES & RECIPES

COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK

His FAVORITE ITALIAN RECIPES





















Monday, April 7, 2025

The Carlyle - Favorite Club Hotel NYC

 



The CARLYLE

"NEW YORK'S GREATEST HOTEL"

A bastion of Upper East Side sophistication known for impeccable service and privacy, The Carlyle hotel has captivated the world’s most sophisticated travelers since its debut in 1930.









The CARLYLE

NEW YORK NEW YORK






The CARLYLE






The CARLYLE

A ROSEWOOD HOTEL

NYC







The WORLD FAMOUS "BEHMELMAN'S BAR"

The CARLYLE HOTEL

NY NY





FIND a ROOM in NEW YORK

The CARLYE - WALDORF - PLAZA

St REGIS - 4 SEASONS

All NEW YORK HOTELS

And WORLDWIDE






The CARLYLE

NEW YORK CITY

"NEW YORK'S LEADING HOTEL"






"CAFE CARLYLE"

The CARLYLE HOTEL

NEW YORK






"BOBBY SHORT"

The CAFE CARLYLE

NYC







"BEMELMANS BAR"

The CARLYLE






LOFTON on The PIANO

BEMELMANS BAR

The CARLYLE HOTEL







LEGENDARY BAR

With masterpiece murals by Ludwig Bemelmans, the creator of the classic Madeline children’s books, Bemelmans Bar draws socialites, politicians, movie stars, and moguls with its extensive drink menu and live entertainment.





SINATRA SAUCE
FRANK SINATRA
Just LIKE "BOBBY SHORT"
One of AMERICA'S GREATEST












Sunday, April 6, 2025

Author DANIEL BELLINO Z - Italy

FOUND a COUPLE PICTURES

Me in ITALY & JERSEY & NEW ORLEANS




With FREINDS in ISCHIA

A BEAUTIFUL DAY of SWIMMING

EATING & SOPPING UP The ISCHIAN SUN






At ALBERGO VALLE

PANZANO, ITALY

2001

DRINKING SOME CHIANTI

"Yumm" !!!





EATING SOME "PIZZA" !!!

NAPOLI

1986

My 2nd TRIP to ITALY

So GOOD

Hopped on a BOAT to CAPRI After This

A Few Days onCAPRI "Absolutely WONDERFUL"

Took a Boat from CAPRI to POSITANO

A Few Glorious Days in POSITANO




READ ABOUT The ABOVE TRIPS



POSITANO The AMALFI COAST

STORIES & RECIPES of NAPLES & The AMALFI COAST

Easy PIZZA DOUGH Recipe - Make at HOME PIZZA

And 100 GREAT REGIONAL RECIPES of NAPLES

And The AMALFI COAST

And of COURSE - GREAT TRAVEL INFO - The AMALFI COAST

NAPLES CAPRI POSITANO ISCHIA











VENICE 1995

In Front of My HOTEL

ALBERGO GUERRATO - VENICE, ITALY

Bought that ARMANI LEATHER JACKET in ROME

A Few YEARS Before - "LOVED IT" 








MONOPOLI

PUGLIA 2022

Doing PUGLIA with TONY & DEB

A WONDERFUL TRIP






NOT in ITALY

BUT LODI NJ




Me & MOMMY

About 1980 "I Think"








LUNCH at GALATOIRE'S

One of My FAVORITE RESTAURANTS in The WOLRD

"So GOOD"

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA












 

Sunday, March 23, 2025

Ravello Celebrity Hotels

 





VILLA CIMBRONE

RAVELLO






VILLA CIMBRONE








VILLA CIMBRONE

STAY in A BEAUTIFUL ROOM






VILLA CIMBRONE

STAY in a LUXURIOUS ROOM

One of The WORLD'S Most PRESTGIOUS HOTELS - Set a 10-minute walk from the center of Ravello, Hotel Villa Cimbrone offers elegant rooms with free internet access. This 5-star hotel offers an outdoor pool with hydromassage corner, panoramic gardens and a private helicopter pad. Elegant rooms at Villa Cimbrone all come equipped with air conditioning, satellite flat-screen TV and a mini-bar. The private bathroom includes a hairdryer, bathrobes and free toiletries.







HOTELS in RAVELLO

The AMALFI COAST - CAPRI

ITALY & WORLDWIDE













RAVELLO

From VILLA CIMBRONE






INFINITY TERRACE

VILLACIMBRONE

RAVELLO







RAVELLO

The AMALFI COAST ITALY









LOOKING to The SEA

At VILLA CIMBRONE

RAVELLO







POSITANO The AMALFI COAST

TRAVEL GUIDE - COOKBOOK

RAVELLO - AMALFI - POSITANO - MINORI

CAPRI NAPLES ISCHIA

With 100 NEAPOLITAN & AMALFI COAST RECIPES











VEIW From VILLA CIMBRONE

"SOUTH"







VILLA CIMBRONE






RAVELLO

Walking to VILLA CIMBRONE






RAVELLO

The AMALFI COAST

ITALY






RAVELLO

View Looking SOUTH

The AMALFI COAST

ITALY






RAVELLO

ITALY








VILLA CIMBRONE

RAVELLO







VILLA CIMBRONE







VILLA CIMBRONE






VILLA CIMBRONE






VILLA CIMBRONE

RAVELLO, ITALY 

The AMLFI COAST






HOTELS ITALY & WORLDWIDE