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YouвЂ™re dealing with the federal government here. So I hire an attorney and he says, вЂњYou better pull the plug out right away.вЂќ He goes, вЂњYou donвЂ™t even know what youвЂ™re getting into right now. You write about it and youвЂ™re going to close us down.вЂќ I was like, вЂњPlease donвЂ™t write anything.вЂќ And heвЂ™s like, вЂњItвЂ™s really newsworthy itвЂ™s going to be on the cover of the Sunday Metro Section.вЂќДЇp: A week later we get a cease and desist from the FCC, a $10,000 fine, possible imprisonment, and confiscation of all equipment. IвЂ™m going to write about it.вЂќ And I was like, вЂњDude, youвЂ™re going to close me down. So he called me and said, вЂњHey, whatвЂ™s going on with this radio station?вЂќ And IвЂ™m like, вЂњWhat do you mean?вЂќ I was trying to play it down, and he was like, вЂњLook man, I know about it. Then a regular client here at LilвЂ™ FrankieвЂ™s caught wind of what I was doing, and he happened to write pieces for the NY Times. I always thought that the East Village needed its own radio station, so we started a pirated radio station up in my office on 88.1. So I felt like I wanted to give something back to the neighborhood since a lot of the music scene was moving out to Brooklyn. I had just opened up LilвЂ™ FrankieвЂ™s and Supper, and both places had a line out the door, an hour-and-a-half wait. Jc: How did you get started with East Village Radio?ДЇp: I wanted to give something back to the neighborhood. For as long as I can remember, IвЂ™ve been cooking and IвЂ™ve been around food. My grandmothers had a lot of family traditions and recipes, and since I was one of the only kids, I was always by their sides. IвЂ™ve been in this business for 35 years, and before that I was working with my grandmothers cooking all of our meals-Thanksgiving, or whatnot. I started working when I was thirteen years old at a pizzeria-that was my first job. Jc: Is that your background? Did you cook at other restaurants before you started opening restaurants?ДЇp: I can cook anything.

Then I opened up Way, which is a French Vietnamese restaurant in the West Village on Charles and Bleecker. Then I opened up Mudspot on 9th Street with the Mud Coffee guys.

#ARINA PRISINZANO FULL#

After that, I expanded and took the two stores next to here and broke through the wall and added the full kitchen and the full bar at East Village Radio over there. Then I added the backroom, then I added the bar at Supper, then I started East Village Radio. I opened up LilвЂ™ FrankieвЂ™s in January of 2002, and I opened up Supper in April of 2002. I was very scared that I was going to have a hard time paying for these two spaces, but everything worked out. I hate to say it, but my business went up. And since itвЂ™s a homey neighborhood, I guess people felt more comfortable there, because it was such a hard time for New York. Frank actually got busier after that because they closed the streets from 14th Street all the way down, so you couldnвЂ™t even drive a car. I actually signed the leases on LilвЂ™ FrankieвЂ™s and Supper right before 9/11, so it was pretty crazy. Then we took LilвЂ™ FrankieвЂ™s, what you see here, put the oven in and started making pizzas. Then I expanded Frank-I added the bar next store, which we call Vera Bar, after my grandmother. I took the lease in March and opened the restaurant in June. Jc: And when did you open your first spot?ДЇp: I opened about my first place, Frank, in 1998. Jason crombie: YouвЂ™re New York born and bred, right?

Arina prisinzano