Frank Sinatra Was Constantly Ordering This Classic Italian Appetizer

Frank Sinatra was born in America to Italian immigrants. His mother was from the northwestern, coastal region of Liguria, and his father's family came from Sicily. It's assumed, then, that the musical legend grew up eating Italian food in his hometown of Hoboken, New Jersey. Sinatra's singing and acting career skyrocketed him to fame and sent him touring around the world, but throughout his life, he continually returned to the Italian food that he loved so much. Ol' Blue Eyes was famously connected to the New York City restaurant Patsy's, which he discovered shortly after it opened in 1944. Patsy's owners, the Scognamillo family, have been open about the dishes Sinatra ordered, including the classic Italian appetizer: stuffed artichokes.

Sinatra considered Patsy's to be his favorite restaurant in all of New York City, and even had his own table which was reserved for him whenever he was in town and wanted to stop in for a meal. One of Sinatra's go-to orders was veal Milanese, but he often started his meal with the stuffed artichokes. Because he was a famous regular customer, Patsy's, of course, had no problem accommodating special requests from Sinatra. The singer was apparently sensitive to the taste of garlic, so the restaurant would decrease the amount it usually put in the artichoke appetizer, just for him.

Frank Sinatra may have grown up eating stuffed artichokes, as the dish has origins in southern Italy, specifically in and around Sicily where Sinatra's father was from. At Patsy's restaurant, the stuffed artichoke dish begins by trimming the vegetables and removing their fibrous chokes (the part of the artichoke you should never eat, even when it's cooked). The artichokes are then spread open to make a large pocket for the stuffing. The filling consists of breadcrumbs, garlic, fresh Italian parsley and basil, salt, pepper, anchovies, black olives, capers, oregano, and parmesan cheese, which are bound together with olive oil. This flavorful filling is then generously stuffed inside the artichokes, which are baked at a high heat until the vegetables are tender.

When Sinatra wanted seafood, he would often order Patsy's clams Posillipo, something the crooner liked to order instead of the restaurant's clams oreganata since the latter had a lot of garlic in it, and the Posillipo did not. And, when Sinatra was craving pasta, he asked for fusilli with fileto di pomodoro. Although he died in 1998, Patsy's still celebrates Sinatra's December 12th birthday every year by offering a special menu which features his favorite dishes, some of which are no longer regularly available on the menu. But you don't have to go to Patsy's for the crooner's most-loved dessert. You can taste Sinatra's favorite cake right now by picking up an Entenmann's crumb cake at the grocery store.