8 Italian pop culture perfect recipes that you can’t refuse

A Bronx Tale

Recipe: Garlic butter steak

A Bronx Tale is the real-life story of actor/producer/ screenwriter Chazz Palminteri, now on Broadway. Its origin was a one-man show that later turned into a feature film, then a Broadway show and musical. After Robert De Niro saw the production in 1991, he bought the rights from Palmenteri and wanted to make it his directorial debut. Quite a debut it was because the pairing also starred as the lead characters (Lorenzo Anello and Sonny LoSpecchio) in the film. Of course, don’t worry, Joe Pesci is also in the film.

The movie focuses on the story of Lorenzo Anello trying to do the right thing for his family in the mob filled neighborhood of the Bronx. Sonny, the mob boss, influences all aspects of life in that neighborhood including his son’s, Calogero. Sonny shows Calogero the path to living a life with the royalties of the mob. Lorenzo sticks to his moral path of providing for his family and working hard. Calogero is confronted with his own ethics by having to choose what to do. In this scene, Lorenzo and Calogero are having dinner. The dinner conversation covers how many times his pop had to drive the bus each day in order for his family to eat steak, to which Calogero replies “Eight.”

Next time you’re in the mood for steak, I hope you don’t have to drive a bus eight times a day to get it.