Which Oscar-winning actor, sitting with what famous state governor, was applauded by the whole restaurant when he went to the bathroom?
What beloved TV icon heard herself prematurely pronounced dead by patrons at the other end of the bar?
Remember “blind items”? The stock-in-trade of Broadway gossip columnists — back in the day when Broadway had gossip columnists. The day when Walter Winchell and Dorothy Kilgallen, the Broadway stars they tattled on, and the star-struck theatergoers who adored them, all hung out at Sardi’s.
“Sardi’s is the unofficial Broadway hall of fame,” said Giovanni Felidi — “Johnny” or “Gianni” to his friends. And that’s pretty much everyone.
Greeter to the greats
Tom Hanks, Bruce Springsteen, Liza Minnelli, Whoopi Goldberg, Bryan Cranston, Margot Robbie, Matt Dillon and Bill Murray are among the many celebrities Felidi has seated at the storied Theater District hangout, in his capacity as maître d’. Or mixed martinis for, in his capacity as bartender.
He’s pretty much responsible for the whole ground game of the restaurant: greeting and seating the customers, opening the tables, keeping the various “stations” staffed, and — not least important — making sure that patrons are served promptly and sent off to their shows by curtain time.
Since 1927, the restaurant at 234 W. 44th St., hard by the Majestic and Broadhurst theaters, has been the traditional nerve center for the whole district. An institution.
Five days a week, Tuesday through Saturday, Felidi, 58, takes the New Jersey Transit bus from Cliffside Park, where he’s lived with his wife Lori since 2014, and makes the 40-minute commute to Port Authority Bus Terminal. Sardi’s is two blocks away.
Felidi has worked there for 26 years. He plans to be there indefinitely.
“There are people who have worked there 40 years, 60 years,” he said. “It becomes family. The great thing about it is, you get to meet different people from all over the country, and all over the world, be it theatergoers or celebrities. It’s great.”
Since 1927, Sardi’s, 234 W. 44th St., has been the traditional nerve center for Broadway.
The famous faces of Sardi’s
Sardi’s, now nearly 100, hasn’t changed much in all those years. Same burgundy upholstery. Same two bars: small one downstairs, larger one upstairs. Same celebrated caricatures of Broadway stars lining the walls.
But Broadway has changed. As has its etiquette. So we — and Felidi — will name names.
The star who was applauded on his way to the men’s room? George Clooney — who was sharing a table with, among others, former Texas Gov. Ann Richards.
“It was a packed Saturday night,” Felidi recalled. “When he got up to go to the restroom, he had to come down the middle aisle. And every guest in the restaurant knew he was there. They started clapping, he started waving and smiling.”
The lady who heard herself referred to in the past tense? That was Joyce Randolph, of “The Honeymooners.” A regular. She was having a drink at the bar — over which were caricatures of herself, Jackie Gleason, Art Carney and Audrey Meadows.
Johnny Felidi, of Cliffside Park has been working at Sardi’s for 26 years.
“There were these two gentlemen, maybe late 30s, early 40s, at the bar,” Felidi remembered. “And they’re looking at the caricatures of ‘The Honeymooners.’ And they’re going ‘What a great show. Jackie Gleason, he passed away. Audrey Meadows, she played his wife, she was so funny — she passed away.’ Same thing about Art Carney. And then they get to Joyce Randolph. ‘Oh yeah, she was great. She passed away, too.’
“When she heard that, she stood up, put her hands on her waist and said, ‘I’m still here.’ They turned red-faced, bought their round of drinks, and left.”
And away we go — for cigarettes
Randolph — who did actually die last year — was not the only “Honeymooners” veteran to call Sardi’s home. Gleason was a regular, too. He would hold court in the upstairs room, and constantly send bartender Joe Petrsoric (he retired in 2023, after 55 years of cocktail-shaking) to the first-floor bar for cigarettes. This was in the late ’60s, early ’70s. Back when people in restaurants smoked cigarettes.
“Jackie would say, ‘Joe do me a favor, run downstairs and get me a pack of cigarettes.’ And Joe would never ask for money because he was too embarrassed,” Felidi recounted. “They were 50 cents a pack. Four hours later, he would say, ‘Joe, go downstairs, I need another pack of cigarettes.’ “
This, as you can imagine, added up. Eventually, Gleason’s manager was appealed to. “He goes, ‘Joe, here’s 20 bucks, let me know when it runs low.’ “
Gleason was, however, a great tipper.
On weekdays, the curtain is typically 7 p.m., so the rush at Sardi’s starts at 5. On Saturdays, when shows start at 8, the stampede begins at 6. Matinee rush is noon, 12:30 p.m. for 2 p.m. shows on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
It was at Sardi’s — back in the age when print newspapers ruled — that the cast and creative teams of shows would gather for that hallowed first night tradition: the wait for the Times review.
“They used to run out at 11:30 to the New York Times building next door, to get the early edition of the Times to see the review,” Felidi said. “And you could see the mood in the room. Because you weren’t able to read it. But you would see if it got louder and more boisterous: good reviews. And if it kind of got quieter: uh-oh, maybe mediocre reviews.
“Now you’ll see everyone around their cell phones.”
Getting into the act
Felidi gets actors. Maybe because he once dreamt of being one himself. He did off-Broadway plays, independent films. It was only by accident that, in 1999, he found the role of a lifetime.
“It was cold, late February around 3 o’clock, and I’m walking to the subway, and I look up. ‘Oh, Sardi’s. I heard of this place.’ “
Originally from The Bronx, he’d been a busboy at Mario’s Restaurant on Arthur Avenue. He knew the business. So — why not? — he dropped off a resume. “And they called me a couple of weeks later,” he said.
Sardi’s is both like, and unlike, any busy restaurant in midtown. What makes it distinctive is the ebb and flow of its customers — which marches in lockstep to the theater schedule.
On weekdays, the curtain is typically 7 p.m., so the rush starts at 5. On Saturdays, when shows start at 8, the stampede begins at 6. Worst is matinee days — Wednesdays and Saturdays. Then there are two rushes.
“Matinee rush is 12, 12:30 p.m. for a 2 o’clock show,” he said. And of course, people come in after the shows — including actors, looking to unwind. “After the show usually they’ll come upstairs,” Felidi said. “They’ll relax with the other cast members from the show, and friends.”
A Broadway time-capsule
Tony Danza had the restaurant promise that his caricature would always be displayed by Sammy Davis Jr.
That Sardi’s seems to belong to another era is both a selling point and a liability.
There have been some, over the years, who have disparaged its continental cuisine (“a culinary laughing stock” sniffed Zagat in 1987), its preserved-in-amber interior, even its famous caricatures. Others love the fact that the place — which has changed hands several times since the Sardis, Vincent Sr. and Jr., wrote the checks — remains “traditional.” As does the food.
“I would say a couple of things,” Felidi volunteered. “People want to see the caricatures — the different actors and actresses they go to see on Broadway. And the food is actually good. Our salmon with the orange teriyaki glaze that flavors the salmon, and the sweet potato puree with a little caramelized ginger, that’s different. And of course, the cannelloni is the traditional staple dish that was put on the menu in 1946.”
The Cannelloni Au Gratin, three pureed meats rolled into a crepe, in a sherry-flavored cream sauce, is the Sardi equivalent of Chasen’s chili — the signature dish of Hollywood’s signature restaurant.
“You’re a meat guy? You’re gonna love it,” Felidi said.
Heavy talent, light lunch
Al Pacino was not a meat guy.
“I remember he had an arugula salad, with oil and vinegar a little bit of tomatoes,” Felidi said. On that occasion, Felidi walked him to his table in the back — while the restaurant buzzed and buzzed. Al Pacino’s here! Al Pacino’s here!
“He looks at me and says, ‘Johnny, what’s the fuss. I’m just an actor. I’m not a doctor curing cancer.’ “
When Pacino was appearing in “The Merchant of Venice” at the Broadhurst, Felidi would sometimes cross the street to deliver his order right to his dressing room.
“I was his waiter because he liked me and I didn’t mess up his order,” Felidi said.
Barbara Streisand signed her caricature, “Don’t steal this one!” after the first drawing was stolen.
Celebrities make Sardi’s Sardi’s. The portraits on the walls — there are now more than 1,800 — were a feature of the place almost from the beginning, when an émigré artist named Alex Gard agreed to draw them in exchange for meals. Now they’re so famous that people try to steal them. Someone made off with James Cagney the night of his death in 1986. People have made off with Bob Hope (it was returned) and Kirk Douglas.
“They stole the original Barbra Streisand from 1963,” Felidi said. “And it took 55 years before Barbra let us do another one. And you know what she wrote on it? ‘Don’t steal this one, Barbra Streisand.’ “
Today, the original pictures are all kept in a vault; the ones on the wall are all reproductions. Except for Streisand’s. “It’s screwed into the wall,” Felidi said.
Non-star billing
The lure of Big Names may draw tourists to the restaurant. But the reason theater people love Sardi’s is because Sardi’s loves them. And not just the famous ones.
Shortly after Vincent Sardi Sr. and his wife Jenny Pallera opened the place in 1927, the Depression hit. Actors, along with everyone else, were out of work. So Sardi’s began its Actor’s Menu. Theater folk get 25% or more off for most items (with Actor’s Equity or SAG-AFTRA card, of course). And that wasn’t all.
“He also started an IOU [program] amongst the actors,” Felidi said. “If they didn’t have work, he would give them their meal for free. He would sign the ledger, with the date, what they had, and the amount. And he said after World War II, after the economy flourished and Broadway flourished, he never lost a penny on that deal.”
The portraits on the walls — there are now more than 1,800 — were a feature of the place almost from the beginning, when an émigré artist named Alex Gard agreed to draw them in exchange for meals.
To this day, Sardi’s still offers The Actor’s Menu. “Because Mr. Sardi really loved actors, and really understood what they go through.”
One actor on the dole, a beneficiary of Sardi’s largesse, was José Ferrer. Remember him? “Lawrence of Arabia,” “The Caine Mutiny,” “Moulin Rouge” and so on. But in the 1940s, he was just another penniless player.
“He owed Mr. Sardi $1,000 for his meals,” Felidi said. “So he takes the role of Cyrano de Bergerac on Broadway in 1947, to pay off his $1,000 tab.” The role made him famous; he repeated it in a Hollywood film. And it won him the first Tony for Best Actor.
The awards were devised at Sardi’s, incidentally. “Antoinette ‘Tony’ Perry conceived the Tony awards in 1946,” Felidi said. “This is where she dreamed it up.”
Uncredited appearance
Just about every Tony-winning performer who ever walked into Sardi’s is up on the wall — along with movie stars, sports stars, celebrities of all stripes, each accompanied by their signature. Except one.
Which brings us to a last blind item: Which Oscar-winning star didn’t sign his name to his Sardi’s portrait?
This time, no clues. But we will reveal that he was the star of the 1982 film “The King of Comedy.” And he used, not his own name, but that of his movie alter ego. “He signed, ‘To Vincent, All the Best, Shorten the Menu, Rupert Pupkin.’”
“He’s the only actor who didn’t sign his real name,” Felidi said. “He signed with his character in the film.”
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Meet Sardi’s maître d’ of 26 years: Johnny Felidi from Cliffside Park
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