They say Rome wasn’t built in a day, and the same can be said for Little Italy,
one of New York City’s most quaint, romantic and historic neighborhoods where legends like Robert De Niro and Frank Sinatra spent most of their famous youth.
Founded in 1908 by the Davino family, named for the blue grotto on the isle of Capri and designed to evoke the beauty of Italy’s most famous caves, Grotta Azzurra was Little Italy’s premiere Italian restaurant for most of the 20th century. A celebrity hangout from the start when the likes of opera singer Enrico Caruso would eat here and on one memorable occasion, got up to sing and his voice shattered glass. In its later years Rat Packers like Frank Sinatra and socialites like Jackie Onassis sat at its tables.renaissance for dining in Little Italy, with multi-tallented chef Frank Castellana recreating the finest in Italian Cuisine.