Mafia buff thread

[Gil Bang 25865]

This is wild:

[quote]By the time he was 30, David Ruggerio helmed kitchens at the finest French restaurants of 1990s New York: La Caravelle, Maxim’s, and Le Chantilly. A Brooklyn-born boxer turned chef, Ruggerio cooked for presidents past and future (Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Donald Trump); Wall Street titans (Stephen Schwarzman, Lloyd Blankfein, and Jamie Dimon); media moguls (Michael Bloomberg and Martha Stewart); Hollywood royalty (Sophia Loren); and actual royalty (Prince Albert of Monaco). The New York Times food critic Bryan Miller twice awarded Ruggerio’s restaurants three stars. New York magazine’s Gael Greene hailed his cooking at Le Chantilly as a “miracle on 57th Street.” PBS aired his series Little Italy With David Ruggerio, and Food Network gave him a prime-time show, Ruggerio to Go. With his fuhgeddaboudit persona and wiseguy quips—“Ya know what I mean?”—Ruggerio was rocketing toward Emeril Lagasse–level stardom.

But it all blew up on the afternoon of Thursday, July 2, 1998, when police entered Le Chantilly with a search warrant. The Manhattan district attorney charged Ruggerio with defrauding a credit card company out of $190,000 by inflating diners’ tips—in one instance, by as much as $30,000. Ruggerio initially denied the allegations, but facing 15 years in prison, he pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny in exchange for five years’ probation and an agreement to pay $100,000 in restitution. Within months, Food Network canceled his show, his restaurants closed, and he filed for personal bankruptcy. Then he disappeared from the food world. “Overnight it was gone,” Ruggerio recalled one afternoon last fall as he sautéed onions in the cluttered kitchen of his modest home at the end of a Long Island cul-de-sac. Now 59, his refrigerator-size body and T-bone thick hands made him appear too big for the cramped room. He was preparing an ambitious lunch menu: goat cheese terrine, mignon of lobster, wood-fired roast chicken, and crème brûlée. An open laptop rested on a small desk next to the dining table. It’s where Ruggerio has been writing his memoirs, which recount his rise to the highest echelon of the New York restaurant world but also reveal the secret he kept along the way: He was for decades—including the entirety of his cooking career—a working member of the Gambino Mafia family.[/quote]

 

 

 

 

Edited May 22, 2022 by Gil Bang

[williemackgarza 1826]

Hes a fugasey

[Bender Bending Rodriguez 1669]

Great read. Thanks for posting. 

[billfromlaketravis 11352]

On 5/22/2022 at 10:07 AM, Gil Bang said:

This is wild:

[quote]By the time he was 30, David Ruggerio helmed kitchens at the finest French restaurants of 1990s New York: La Caravelle, Maxim’s, and Le Chantilly. A Brooklyn-born boxer turned chef, Ruggerio cooked for presidents past and future (Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Donald Trump); Wall Street titans (Stephen Schwarzman, Lloyd Blankfein, and Jamie Dimon); media moguls (Michael Bloomberg and Martha Stewart); Hollywood royalty (Sophia Loren); and actual royalty (Prince Albert of Monaco). The New York Times food critic Bryan Miller twice awarded Ruggerio’s restaurants three stars. New York magazine’s Gael Greene hailed his cooking at Le Chantilly as a “miracle on 57th Street.” PBS aired his series Little Italy With David Ruggerio, and Food Network gave him a prime-time show, Ruggerio to Go. With his fuhgeddaboudit persona and wiseguy quips—“Ya know what I mean?”—Ruggerio was rocketing toward Emeril Lagasse–level stardom.

But it all blew up on the afternoon of Thursday, July 2, 1998, when police entered Le Chantilly with a search warrant. The Manhattan district attorney charged Ruggerio with defrauding a credit card company out of $190,000 by inflating diners’ tips—in one instance, by as much as $30,000. Ruggerio initially denied the allegations, but facing 15 years in prison, he pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny in exchange for five years’ probation and an agreement to pay $100,000 in restitution. Within months, Food Network canceled his show, his restaurants closed, and he filed for personal bankruptcy. Then he disappeared from the food world. “Overnight it was gone,” Ruggerio recalled one afternoon last fall as he sautéed onions in the cluttered kitchen of his modest home at the end of a Long Island cul-de-sac. Now 59, his refrigerator-size body and T-bone thick hands made him appear too big for the cramped room. He was preparing an ambitious lunch menu: goat cheese terrine, mignon of lobster, wood-fired roast chicken, and crème brûlée. An open laptop rested on a small desk next to the dining table. It’s where Ruggerio has been writing his memoirs, which recount his rise to the highest echelon of the New York restaurant world but also reveal the secret he kept along the way: He was for decades—including the entirety of his cooking career—a working member of the Gambino Mafia family.[/quote]

 

 

 

 

Made or an associate? Interesting either way 

[billfromlaketravis 11352]

On 5/23/2022 at 7:54 AM, williemackgarza said:

Hes a fugasey

Yeah, his making story sounds like bullshit.  

[Deej 76511]

On 5/23/2022 at 7:54 AM, williemackgarza said:

Hes a fugasey

Does he spell fugase wrong, too?

[Gil Bang 25865]

2 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Made or an associate? Interesting either way 

Made.

[billfromlaketravis 11352]

This looks like a good read.

[billfromlaketravis 11352]

I finished the Purple Gang book. Good book, but the author spent a chapter making an unconvincing argument that they were a were a functional gang. When you’re using sociological definitions to make your point, you’re in trouble. Basically, it was a loosely organized heroin ring that functioned as a farm team team for LCN. The Italian guys that didn’t get life sentences eventually got made. A lot of them joined the Genovese Family. The non-Italians got locked up or killed. The author only spent a chapter on the Meldish murder which was a bit disappointing. 

[billfromlaketravis 11352]

Nadu isn’t my favorite but this was a very good pod. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-62-the-current-state-of-the-mafia-in-america/id1561478045?i=1000566476986

I found it interesting that Nadu was correcting Burnstein on some of the New York names. I’d say Burnstein is an expert on Detroit, Chicago, and Philly. Nadu seems to have a better grasp on New York. 
 

Nothing ground shaking, but an engaging conversation. Burnstein believes American LCN currently has a “no kill order”. If members break the rules, they get shelved. Seems weak, but it’s effective in the modern mob. 
 

They both agreed Barney Bellomo, reputed boss of the Genovese Family, is the most powerful mafia figure in the US.

Their Merlino takes were interesting. They think he is very far removed from day to day operations in Philly. He’ll take a taste here and there, but he’s not calling the shots. It seems like he’s good times and guys want to be around him. 
 

They believe most of the mob’s money is tied to online schemes, but they didn’t go into specifics. 

[billfromlaketravis 11352]

So in: 

 

[Gil Bang 25865]

On 7/28/2022 at 7:09 AM, billfromlaketravis said:

So in: 

 

Jim Tressel and the Stoops brothers are  from there, so of course it's crooked. 

[66BUFF 2544]

1 hour ago, Gil Bang said:

Jim Tressel and the Stoops brothers are  from there, so of course it's crooked. 

Don't forget the DeBartolo family

[billfromlaketravis 11352]

NatGeo has two episodes of Inside the American Mob. As always, it's excellent. It's available on Hulu.

[billfromlaketravis 11352]

On 7/28/2022 at 9:09 AM, billfromlaketravis said:

So in: 

 

13 episodes in. Excellent. Not to the level of Crimetown, but a worthy sequel. 

Spoiler

Interesting city. The Cleveland and Pittsburgh families each had crews in Youngstown fighting over the gambling rackets. Extremely violent wars, but they avoided prosecution because they owned the local courts, cops, and politicians. I'm mildly surprised the Commission didn't tell them to tone it down. 

Not very bright guys in Youngstown. Most of the Italians moved out of town after the steel mills closed, so the Youngstown mobsters turned to African-American drug dealers as their labor force. Of course everybody cooperated. 

The government made a deal with the boss to roll on all his guys. Lenny Strollo shot his way to the top. Gets pinched, and cooperated. I hate these kind of deals. The feds should put the bosses away, not his underlings. Joey Massino is another old, fat f*** walking around South Florida. He should be rotting in a jail cell. Same for Gravano. 

I wish Smerling explained the structure better. I have no idea who was made, who was a captain, etc...

 

 

 

[billfromlaketravis 11352]

There’s yet another Bulger fox on Paramount. FBI True - Hunting Whitey Bulger. 
 

Please God let Hollywood make a 1960s Boston Irish Mob War movie before I die.