SECRET SAUCE
with Salsa Segreto. Secret Sauce? Shhhh!!! We lost our beloved Old-School
Italian Red-Sauce Joint Gino’s of Lexington Avenue a couple years back. Gino’s
opened in 1945 by Neapolitan Immigrant Gino Circicello, was a Gem of a
Restaurant loved by its many loyal customers who kept the place packed and
vibrant night-after-night, year-after-year. The place was perfect; Great Food
and good wine at reasonable prices coupled with excellent service by friendly
attentive waiters inside a homey comfy dining-room that everyone loved, from
its cozy little Bar at the front of the restaurant, its Phone Booth (one of the
last surviving in New York), and the famed Scalamandre Zebra Wallpaper that is
as much a part of Gino’s as the tenured old waiters, the Phone Booth, and the
popular Chicken Parmigiano.
all the tasty pasta dishes, the Pasta with Salsa Segreta, (Segreto) “The Secret
Sauce,” was a perennial favorite at Gino’s. All of Gino’s legendary clientele
loved it. Some of the clients just happened to be, people like; Frank Sinatra,
Tony Bennett, and Joe DiMaggio, to name a few of a large string of luminaries
to grace Gino’s over the years. Gino’s had many wonderful dishes that were soul
satisfy, unpretentious, and tasty as heck. They were all the usual suspects of
Italian Red-Sauce Joints everywhere; from Baked Clams Oreganata, to Shrimp
Cocktail, to Spaghetti With Clam Sauce, Lasagna, the famed Veal Pamigiano, “the
entire menu.” I used to go to Gino’s
with my cousin Joe quite a bit. My sister Barbara came a couple times, as did my
brother Michael. But it was usually me and Cousin Joe, and if anyone else was
tagging along as well. Now I love my pasta as all good Italian-Americans do,
but my cousin Joe? He had me beat. The guy loves his pasta, and wanted it
practically every day. I believe we tried the Salsa Segreta (Secret Sauce) on
our first trip there. I think with Tagliolini, but you can have it with
Spaghetti, Rigatoni or whichever pasta you like. Well we loved it from the very
first, and would get it every time we went. Often we’d get Baked Clams and
Shrimp Cocktail to start, followed by a Half Portion each of Tagliolini with
Salsa Segreto, and as our main we might split a Veal Milanese with a “Nice
Bottle of Chianti.” We’d finish the meal with Espresso and a couple of
Desserts, maybe a Tiramisu and a Chocolate Tartufo.
So the Secret Sauce, what’s in it, you want to know? Yes I identified the Secret ingredients one day, I made it, and it tastes exactly the same, and that’s as tasty as can possibly be, a 10 out of 10, you can’t get any better. It’s quite simple and you’d be amazed, but that’s the
essence of all Italian Cooking, simply tasty. The Secret of The Secret Sauce
is, “I shouldn’t tell you but I will.” I should be charging you $100 just for
this one recipe but I won’t. “I hope you know what a bargain you people are all
getting; my Sunday Sauce, Clemenza’s Sunday Sauce, my Lentil Soup recipe, Marinara
Sauce, my famed Bolognese and more.
I’m getting robbed here!” But here you go, The Secret-Ingredients in the Secret
Sauce from the former Gino’s Restaurant on Lexington Avenue across from
Bloomingdales are _ _ _ _ _ _ _ and _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ added to a
simple tomato sauce. That’s it! Basta ! The Cat is out of the Bag. Enjoy! Are you Happy? “You better be!”
Cooking Italian 