When Frank Pellegrino Sr. walked into Rao's on a Tuesday night recently, wearing a black blazer, white shirt, gray slacks, gold bracelet, and signet ring, he led with his black velvet smoking slippers.

He took a Chivas on the rocks off the bar, seated himself outside the restaurant's front door on its small cement patio, at the corner of East 114th Street and Pleasant Avenue, in Manhattan, and lit a Parliament 100, ready to greet his guests in style. As he has been doing five nights a week for the past 22 years as the co-owner of Rao's, Pellegrino was entertaining at home.

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Source: http://www.vanityfair.com/