By Bruce Klauber
Atlantic City has had its share of iconic, larger-than-life personalities over the years, ranging from Nucky Johnson to Paul “Skinny” D’Amato.
Any list of quintessential shore characters would have to include the Orsattis, specifically Arnold, Sr., and Arnold, Jr. Each was a significant part of the shore’s nightlife and political landscape for more than three decades. Years after their death, both are still remembered as colorful personalities who left their mark on the shore, albeit in entirely different ways: Arnold, Sr., as a sometimes-flamboyant restaurateur and nightclub owner, and Arnold, Jr., as a highly regarded politician and city councilman.
Fred Lavner’s book, “Izzy: A Life Inside the Old Philadelphia Jew Mob,” described Arnold, Sr. as “a dapper little man who made a big name for himself in the Philadelphia restaurant business before he was 30 in 1943.”
Lavner goes on to describe how Orsatti worked his way up from busboy to waiter to restaurant owner, opening Orsatti’s Musical Bar in 1943, and the Pump Room in 1951, both in Philadelphia.
The use of the “Pump Room” name, already the name of a famed Chicago nightspot, got Orsatti in trouble when the owners of Chicago’s Pump Room filed suit against Orsatti for unlawful use of the name. The suit dragged on until 1957 when the action was finally dismissed. It was not the last time Arnold Orsatti, Sr., would end up in court.
When Orsatti began doing business at the shore, he started in Somers Point where he was something of a visionary when it came to nightlife. In the 1940s, he saw that the Steel Pier’s George Hamid had cornered the market for big dance bands in Atlantic City, but realized there was nothing like that happening in Somers Point.
“Arnold Orsatti put Somers Point on the map,” said Vince Rennich, who tended bar at a bunch of Somers Point venues in the early 1950s. “He was the first one to bring the bands in live. He began it all. For a while, he was the only one.”
The 1946 opening of “Orsatti’s Casino” was a big deal in show business circles. A news item in a June, 1946 issue of the show business trade journal, Billboard, gave the details:
“Orsatti’s Casino, swank roadhouse near Atlantic City, lights up again with a name band policy. Formerly called the Gateway Casino, the spot has been taken over by Arnold Orsatti, who operates Orsatti’s Musical Bar in Philadelphia, and has plans to make the roadhouse mean as much in South Jersey as the Meadowbrook in North Jersey.”
Dick Stabile (who would later serve as musical director for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis) comes in for the kickoff, with other bands set for a week or less.”
Other name band attractions in the summer of 1946 were ensembles led by Gene Krupa, Bob Chester, Buddy Rich, Jack Teagarden, Louis Prima, Carmen Cavallaro, Charlie Barnet, Claude Thornhill, Shep Fields, Glen Gray and Tony Pastor.
To ensure that the grand opening on June 28 would make a big splash, Orsatti brought in two former boxers who made careers for themselves in show business: Max Baer (his son played Jethro on television’s “The Beverly Hillbillies”) and “Slapsie” Maxie Rosenbloom as extra added attractions.
There was no cover or minimum at the venue, which Billboard described as a “giant boite.” Admission was $1 on weekdays and $1.50 on Saturdays and holidays.
As the big band era wound down by the late 1940s, Orsatti set his sights on the restaurant business in Atlantic City. He opened Orsatti’s Restaurant on North Carolina Avenue, and in 1966, opened what became one of Atlantic City’s most famous restaurants, Orsatti’s Warwick.
In 1966, the Warwick, now a condominium located at Raleigh Avenue and the Boardwalk, was a 16-year-old apartment building when Orsatti came upon it. He built his restaurant within the apartment building and billed it as “Orsatti’s Warwick: Atlantic City’s Most Beautiful Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge.”
The restaurant, open all year, specialized in American, Italian and Chinese cuisine. For the first several years, the venue featured, said the ads, “orchestra music.”
Arnold Orsatti, Jr., 22 years of age when the Warwick location opened, assisted his father in running the two restaurants.
It quickly established itself as the spot for Atlantic City politicians, power brokers, celebrities and individuals alleged to have certain unsavory connections. More importantly, those who recall dining there report that it was a darn good place to eat.
The late and great Atlantic City columnist, Pinky Kravitz, reviewed it in 1968 for the long-defunct Reporter newspaper.
“Variety is the spice of dining out and not too many restaurants offer the varied menu that Arnold Orsatti does,” Kravitz wrote. “Chinese, Italian and American dishes are featured. This intimate dining room is located in the Warwick Apartments. It makes you feel that you’re aboard a ship looking out at the ocean. Lobster Cantonese is our favorite from the Chinese menu.
“Our favorite Italian dish is manicotti or veal parmigiana, which is Arnold’s specialty. It’s prepared with mushrooms, peppers and a tender piece of veal smothered with a big slice of cheese. The result is a true taste treat. Arnold’s reputation as a congenial host is not exaggerated. He makes everyone feel at home. Pianist Bill Camp displays his virtuosity each evening during dinner and for the late visitors.”
By the early 1990s, elegant, old-school Atlantic City restaurants like Orsatti’s were becoming an anachronism. The old hotel restaurants were gone, and even the Knife & Fork closed for a few years. Furthermore, Arnold, Sr. was closing in on 80 years of age, having spent almost 50 years in the restaurant and bar business.
Though he still helped run the family business, Arnold, Jr., had been, by and large, a full-time politician since 1982 when he began serving as an Atlantic City councilman at-large. And, although this can’t be confirmed, it’s likely that younger Warwick residents just didn’t have much use for a place like Orsatti’s in or out of their building.
In 1993, after 27 years of successful operation, the Warwick restaurant closed, and nothing was ever built within the Warwick to replace it.
Arnold, Sr., passed in 2003, and despite some allegations and rumors of his connections to organized crime figures through the years, the good he did as a noted philanthropist has survived him. He was decorated two times by the Italian Government in recognition of his civic and professional accomplishments, and as president of the New Jersey Chapter of Temple University Alumni, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Always the visionary, as the chairman of Atlantic City’s Finance Committee, he raised $1.5 million toward the costs of the campaign that succeeded in establishing legalized gaming.
Arnold Orsatti, Jr., who died in 2008 at the age of 64, had an impressive career as an Atlantic City politician. He was an Atlantic City councilman at-large from 1982 until 1990. He later served on the Planning Board, the Zoning Board and was chairman of the Atlantic City Municipal Utilities Authority. At the time of his passing, he was the director of the Atlantic City Mercantile Office, supervisor of bus management for the South Jersey Transportation Authority, and a member of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.
In June of 2008, the beach block of Raleigh Avenue, the street where Orsatti’s at the Warwick was located, was renamed in honor of Arnold Orsatti, Jr.
The Orsattis were quite a family. We won’t see their likes again.
