While the rest of us are whipping up recipes to serve brunch at home to avoid what Anthony Bourdain considered a demoralizing meal, plenty of eager guests once flocked to Miami Beach’s Fontainebleau Hotel to dine alongside Frank Sinatra. In a special event known as “Cocktails and Breakfast with Frankie,” hotel residents and friends could have the opportunity to pick and choose from decadent menus while looking for sightings of the star.
When Sinatra was available, the event took place, and brunch was served with a range of hors d’oeuvres and canapés. Some of the food and drinks Sinatra loved made an appearance on the menu, and we can imagine many martinis were had over the course of the brunch. Photographs of the printed menu show that clams casino and quiche Lorraine were passed around, along with bacon-wrapped shrimp, Nova Scotia salmon, smoked trout with horseradish sauce, hearts of palm salad, roast prime ribs, and lobster fra diavolo. Dishes like Frankie’s Delight — a pizza — and Vesuvio Sinatra — a play on the Chicago classic chicken Vesuvio — paid homage to the crooner as guests filled mugs with coffee or sliced into asparagus vinaigrette prepared by Executive Chef Eugene Scanlon.
Tracing the glamorous times of yesteryear
One year after Frank Sinatra inked his deal with Capitol Records, the swanky Fontainebleau Hotel opened its doors to fabulously dressed guests looking to bask in luxury, and Sinatra was one of them. Sinatra was frequently spotted in Miami Beach along with celebs like Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, and Sammy Davis Jr. The men were regulars at the Fontainebleau lobby bar and could be seen sporting expensive suits while bodyguards surveyed the area. Ol’ Blue Eyes would serenade guests flocking to the hotel’s nightclub La Ronde and even sang alongside Elvis Presley in 1960.
In addition to singing, entertaining, and hosting brunches, Sinatra filmed several movies on the Fontainebleau grounds. His visits to the hotel became so frequent that the hotel’s owners set aside a suite room in the Versailles Tower specifically for him on the 17th floor. Though some whispers of curious business dealings between Sinatra and the hotel hinted at tax-free payments of jewelry instead of traceable paychecks, Sinatra’s legacy continues to live on at the property, and fans visit the premises to bask in his footsteps.
