Frank Pellegrino - Owner of Rao's
Frank Pellegrino is owner of Rao's, the East Harlem Italian eatery that is virtually impossible to get into. He's something of an actor, too. Rao's was founded in 1896 on the corner of East 114th Street and Pleasant Avenue by Charles Rao. It's been there every since, although these days the man in charge is Rao's great-nephew, Frank Pellegrino. Despite its age and its not-so-savory location in East Harlem, a reservation at Rao's remains one of the toughest gets in town. The ten small tables are "owned" by regular patrons such as Woody Allen, Tony Bennett, Al D'Amato, Michael Douglas, Rob Reiner, Ron Perelman, Donny Deutsch, and Bo Dietl: show up with an insider and you can expect Frankie to be friendly and chatty (and possibly offer up a bottle of anisette on the house). Appear sansreservation and you'll face a decidedly colder reception. If you can't snag a table at the original, though, you can always head to Las Vegas, where a Rao's now resides within Caesar's Palace. Or you could just stay home, too: Rao's now produces a line rather tasty marinara sauces.
Pellegrino had a recurring role on The Sopranos as FBI agent Frank Cubitoso. He's also had parts in a number of movies and TV shows, including jailbird Johnny Dio in the Martin Scorsese/Nick Pileggi film Goodfellas, and as a detective on the Fox show New York Undercover. [Image via Getty]
