The Hill and Sinatra in St. Louis
The Hill is one of the largest and most well known Italian American neighborhoods in the United States. As Italian immigrants relocated to St. Louis during the latter half of the 19th century, a discrete Italian American neighborhood took shape near the highest point in St. Louis, thus giving it its name.
The Hill is known for its durable middle class homes, great Italian restaurants, St. Ambrose Parish and baseball, bocce and soccer. Some of Yogi Berra’s family still lives near Berra Park. Yogi may have had his hometown in mind when he once observed “it ain’t the heat, it’s the humility”.
Perhaps I had some of these attributes in mind when I suggested Charlie Gitto’s on the Hill for dinner several years ago. Charlie established his restaurant in 1981. As it happens, Charlie’s father was the Maitre D’ at Angelo’s restaurant which was the predecessor to Gitto’s on the Hill.
Founded in 1947, Angelo’s enjoyed an outstanding reputation as one of the finer Italian restaurants in the country. Legend has it that Gitto, Sr. was present when a chef in the Angelo’s kitchen accidentally dropped a ravioli into a pan of boiling olive oil rather than the intended pan of boiling water.
Voila, the birth of the famed dish:Toasted Ravioli, which has become one of the most celebrated Italian menu items in St. Louis. So, I knew we would be in good hands for dinner on the Hill.
As we sat down that evening, a confident older waiter approached us and I knew instinctively that we were in for a treat. He had worked at Angelo’s/Charlie Gitto’s since the late 1950’s, having started as a valet attendant working evenings.
One night, he told us, Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack rolled up for dinner. They were in town for a major benefit concert for Dismas House, which was the first Halfway House in the United States. Fr. Charles “Dismas” Clark, a Jesuit, and the famous defense lawyer Morris Shenker, founded Dismas House as a means to help reintroduce former prisoners into society.
Almost certainly, it was Morris Shenker who persuaded Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis and emcee Johnny Carson to back the benefit at the height of their careers in 1965. Las Vegas was taking off at the time and Mr. Shenker was one of its most influential figures as the Rat Pack played the Sands and the Dunes.
In any event, after the completion of dinner, Mr. Sinatra walked out and asked for his car. Our waiter delivered it as Sinatra asked: “what is the biggest tip you have ever received”? $100 dollars came the answer; to which Sinatra replied: “what a cheapskate” and gave him $200 dollars.
A few nights later, here comes Sinatra again to sample the Italian cuisine at Angelos’s. Our waiter took the car as before and then retrieved it when Sinatra reappeared several hours later. Once again, upon getting into the car, Sinatra asked our intrepid valet: “what is your biggest tip ever”? He replied $200 dollars. Shocked, Sinatra replied “what a cheapskate”!
Without hesitation, our waiter, in honest St. Louis style, exclaimed “you were the one who gave it to me the other night”! Not missing a beat and perhaps smiling, Sinatra peeled off 4 $100 dollar bills and sped into the night.