Armando Orsini, co-owner of a once-famous, eponymous New York restaurant, died recently at age 88.The New York Times' obit on the restaurateur is a delight to read. Orsini's life would make an interesting, light biographical study. His childhood background is murky. The record of his early adult years is a jumble of half-truths, total fabrications, urban myth, and barroom recollections. What's known is that he became involved with and married Lili St. Cyr (photo), whom the Times characterized as "the most famous stage stripper of her time." The occupational category seems almost quaint today, but St. Cyr was something of a celebrity at the time. She also made a pretty good living in the flesh business, and it was rumored she provided funding for the restaurant Orsini and his brother opened under their family's name.
Orsini's in some ways was the polar opposite of today's big-time restaurant world, in which egotistical, telegenic chefs attempt to build commercial empires. One went to Orsini's for the scene. The food was secondary to the theatrical atmosphere and cafe society crowd that filled the house. Armando Orsini understood that need and provided a comfortable venue for it. He wouldn't have worried about the venal attorney-aggregators who dominate today's New York restaurant scene by cynically leveraging mass opinion for profit. Orsini had fun, and like 'Ol Blue Eyes, he did it his way. And you can be sure Orsini would have told those attorneys where to go.
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