-I'm here at the world-famous
Rao's in East Harlem, New York. This is one of the most famous
Italian restaurants in the world. Notoriously, you cannot
get a table here. I would say, over a year wait,
if you even want to try. But I'm lucky enough
to be at this table with the one and only, the
co-owner Frank Pellegrino Jr. Frank, thank you for having me.
-No, pleasure. I'm lucky to be
at this table with you. -Oh, really?
You couldn't get a reservation? -No.
-All right. We got to talk to someone.
-[ Laughs ] -But when you're in this
restaurant, it feels so good. It's so -- It's so intimate. How many tables
are there in here? -There's only 10 tables.
-And -- and no menu, right? -No menu, no menu.
-You have to get invited here. People own the tables here.
How does that work? -It's basically
squatter's rights. My dad, when
the restaurant started, gained a lot of notoriety back in the late '70s
and early '80s. My father refused to displace anybody who
was already coming here. And that was really the
beginnings of table rights. So, if you were here before,
we never want to let you go, 'cause you're part of
the success of this. You're what makes Rao's Rao's.
Rao's is about people. It's about neighborhood.
It's about, believe it or not, embracing people even though
you can't get in here to eat. And every week,
you come here on a Monday, you'll see the same people. And people have had tables here
for over 40 years. -Wow.
-It's remarkable. -It's really
an unbelievable experience. I can't even describe
the feeling that you get. I came here the first time,
I came early and make sure
I'm here for the dinner. And I walked in, and everyone
was like, "Who are you?" I go, "I'm here to meet
my friend Tom." I was like, "Go to the bar,
have a drink." "Okay."
And down the bar, there was this guy in, like,
a sharkskin suit, silver. And he's drinking.
He has white hair. He's drinking a coffee out of
one of those glass coffee mugs that are a little bit higher.
And he's drinking coffee. And he goes, "Hey, Jimmy,
how are you doing?" Not even looking at me,
which is the first sign of, "You're gonna --
You're in trouble." So I go, "Hey, hi.
How are you, man?" I ordered, like,
a gin or something. He goes, "Yeah,
everything is good. You danced with my wife."
-[ Chuckles ] You know what I'm talking about?
-Yeah. So I go, "Dude --"
I go, "Who's around me? What is he talking about?" And he's like, "Yeah, yeah,
you danced with my wife." I go, "Oh, man."
Like, "Wow. This is how it ends."
I can't even think what to say. And I go, "Well, I got to --
I-I--" And I looked at him.
And he's such a friendly face. And he goes, "At
Drew Barrymore's wedding. How you doing?
Good to see you again." And I go -- He goes,
"I'm the owner, Frank. How you doing?"
I go, "Oh, my gosh." [ Laughs ]
I just freaked out. I saw my life
flash in front of me. Oh, no. It was the best.
And from then on, we hit it off. And thank you
for letting me come back. I know Billy Joel
comes here a lot. I've seen, I think,
presidents have been here. What memories do you have?
-One of my fondest memories, believe it or not,
that knocked my socks off, I couldn't believe
what I was seeing, happened right here
at this table with our mutual friend, Tommy. He brought in a bevy of
celebrities and singers -- Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan,
Jim Carrey was at the table, Robin Williams was at the table. There was
about eight people here. And they all got up and sang "My Girl" like do you
with my dad. -No way.
-It was unbelievable. An indelible mark in my memory.
Never go away. -I'll never forget it,
because I sang it once. I sang maybe something
with your dad -- "Under the Boardwalk"
or some doo-wop. And then, every time I came, your dad would come by
and say hi. And I know
he's gonna ask me to -- he's like, "Come on,
sing something." And every time, we'd sing,
and then standing ovation. Because it was only 10 tables.
But it's so fun. It's so intimate and fun. I can't describe this feeling
that no one can really get. I mean, you really feel that
from the food. By the way, I can't even talk
about how delicious the food is, the meatballs.
-Okay. -That's the one thing that I --
I mean, there's so many things. But how do you make
the meatballs? Could you show me?
-I would love to show you how we make the meatballs.
-Let's do this. -Let's do it. -We're making meatballs
right now. I know this apron.
-Turn around. -Oh, my gosh. Look at this!
Oh, my gosh. -Tie it for you.
-Look at this! If anyone knows a good sauce --
or some people call it gravy -- it just smells so good. -I'm gonna let you
kick it all off. -Okay. -So, the first thing
I'd like you to do is take a little bit of salt,
a little bit of pepper. -Okay, here we go. Do you know what percentage
ground beef this is? -It's a pound of beef,
half a pound of pork, and a half a pound of veal.
-Wow. -Now, before you start
to massage the meat, I want you to put
a little pepper on there. Come on, you're gonna
get your hands a little dirty. Rub it in, come on, like this.
-Rub it in, okay, yeah. -And we got to turn the meat. It looks very well blended
together. Beautiful.
-Thank you. -So, now we're gonna take
these two eggs. -Okay.
-Half a cup of water. Dino showed me a little trick and a method
that really works well. We're going to make it snow
on the meatballs. We're going to put some --
-Cocaine? -Cheese. Yeah, oh, [Chuckles].
-Oh, parsley, Parmesan cheese. -Those days are long gone.
-[ Laughs ] -Has anyone ever cooked in here,
celebrities? -A couple people come in
for tips here and there. -Has anyone been thrown out
of here? -Not to my -- I can't remember.
-[ Laughs ] -Can't remember.
-Wow! Did you get that? -Take a handful like this,
right? -Yeah. -And now you roll. And roll. That's perfect.
-It's something, right? -I'm gonna have Dino show you
how to fry the meatballs. -I know Dino.
I love you, Chef. All right, Dino,
what do we got here? What do we got brewing? -Frying pan, we're gonna
heat the oil up. Put them in nice and easy. And once they're golden brown, we'll put them in the sauce
and finish them off. -Oh, my gosh! Anyone who loves meatballs,
look at this. Oh, my God, there's
meatball bloggers out there that are freaking out right now
that I'm in the kitchen of Rao's making the world-famous
meatballs. All right, so, you
got these golden brown. You put them in the sauce, and
you leave them for how long? -20 minutes, a half-hour. -Do you make your sauce
homemade? Or do you use Rao's
from the jar? -Homemade.
-That's what I do. -Homemade.
-But it's the same recipe. -hose recipe was it?
-It was my great-grandmother's, which was passed
to my grand-aunt Annie, who was the chef here
with my Uncle Vincent. Are you ready to judge
your work, pal? -Let's go. Let's see it.
-Come on, let's go eat. -Wow.
-Wow, wow, wow. -Oh!
-Wow! -Hey, fellas, how you doing?
-How are you? -How you doing, guys?
-Welcome to Rao's. -This is Jimmy's prepared pasta.
-You made this? -Yeah.
-And that's called a meatball? It's like a ball of meat?
-Do you want any Parmesan? -Are you gonna join them?
-Come on. Come on. -I have to. This is my favorite meatball
in the world. -Have you done it?
-First bite. -Mmm!
-Oh, my God. -Buon appetito, gentlemen.
Enjoy. -Thank you.
-My pleasure. -Mmm! Seriously, that is unbelievable. -My God. -Actually, I want more.
It's unbelievable. My thanks again
to Frank Pellegrino Jr., a co-owner of Rao's here
in East Harlem. This is such a treat.
Amazing, amazing. These meatballs are the best. In fact, I know someone that
would love these meatballs. Can I get some to go?
-You count on it, for sure. -Thank you, buddy.
-Thanks, pal. -I love you.
-Love you too. -Are you gonna finish that? -Yeah, I'm gonna
take them to go. -All right.
-[ Laughs ] -I'll get that. ♪♪
