It's difficult to picture those performers who became icons around the middle of the last century without seeing them sitting at fancy tables at some of the swellest clubs and restaurants in New York, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.
For sure, we see them on stage, but we also can recall photos of our favorites hobnobbing with other singers over a glass of bubbly, their chairs pushed together to get everyone in the photo.
Frank Sinatra, and his pal-around pals in The Rat Pack, were at the center of this restaurant-based, performer-chic mystique, and if you adored Ol' Blue Eyes you probably knew the eateries he favored and what he liked to order.
Those dishes, and drinks, are popping up at some of the coolest of the old-school restaurants from Beverly Hills to Palm Springs in honor of Mr. Sinatra's centennial. Fans will gather in numerous spots on Saturday, Dec. 12 -- the 100th anniversary of the legend's birth -- and one of those food-filled, be-fabulous locations is La Dolce Vita.
The Golden Triangle trattoria is featuring a special three-course prix fixe menu on Dec. 12 called "Come Dine with Me." The performer was an early investor in the historic eatery, and some of Frank's favorite vittles have made the one-night-only roster.
Like? Well, look for Veal Milanese, to be the hearty middle of the three-courser, and Clams Posillipo to start the whole feast off with a briny bang. Tiramisu rounds all of Chef Alejandro Galan's rich offerings.
As for the beverage? The Gentleman's Drink is the libation of the night, "an innovative twist on an Old Fashioned made with Jack Daniel's rare Sinatra Select." Price? It's fifty bucks.
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If you're seated at 9 o'clock, complimentary tastes of the Sinatra Select will be on the pour, so keep an eye out for that.
And raise a toast to one of La Dolce Vita's first backers, a man who liked his veal and clams and a hearty cocktail. Those long-ago snapshots of Old Hollywood, the ones taken around tables, strengthened stars' ties to the restaurants they favored.
That we can return to some of the same tables, and places, that they loved, when a centennial rolls around, is just the extra nice cherry on top of the tiramisu.
