Whatever happened to the notorious 'mob hangout' Blue Gardenia restaurant?

Some places have achieved notoriety for bad things that happened there — think of Ford’s Theater or the Watergate hotel, both in Washington, D.C.

The Rochester-area version was the Blue Gardenia restaurant. The 1978 bombing of Salvatore “Sammy G” Gingello and 1981 slaying of mob figure John Fiorino, both of which occurred outside the Blue Gardenia, gave the Irondequoit restaurant a “Mafia hangout” reputation that led to the place’s demise.

There’s a lot more to the story of the Blue Gardenia. Its colorful owner, Ben Manning, played in local bands as a teenager before becoming a restaurateur. One place Manning owned hosted golfer Lee Trevino’s victory party after he won the 1968 U.S. Open at Oak Hill Country Club. Manning later organized what became one of the city’s largest golf tournaments.

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But the Blue Gardenia, where Manning hosted movie stars, politicians and lots of regular patrons, was his pride and joy. He died a year after the Blue Gardenia’s forced closing, and friends said the circumstances “did him in” and “made him a bitter, unhappy person.”

Manning, whose real name was Ben Menegazzi, adopted the stage name “Manning” when he joined the legendary Duke Spinner band as a 15-year-old saxophonist and clarinetist. He led an orchestra that played the former Golden Grill restaurant on Lake Avenue in the ‘50s and bought that restaurant in 1957 and renamed it the Mardi Gras. After that place burned down, Manning opened the Blue Gardenia on Empire Boulevard in 1961.

The name reportedly came from the title of Manning’s favorite movie, a 1953 film with Anne Baxter and Richard Conte. The Blue Gardenia quickly became known as a fine-dining restaurant with great food like steaks, lobster and “the world’s largest shrimp cocktail.”

In her book, Rochester Eats/75 Years of Classic Faves & Craves, Karen Deyle noted the Blue Gardenia’s “fine Italian food,” authentic sauces and “great” pasta. “It was a great place for a romantic rendezvous and a place for special occasions,” Deyle wrote. News accounts described the décor of marbled blue table, mirrors and handmade macramé plant hangers.

Manning bought another restaurant in 1968, the Blue Sombrero in the Stutson Street Plaza. That place served Mexican food and caught the eye of an associate of Trevino when he was on the verge of winning the 1968 U.S. Open here. After Trevino won, he and 100 guests showed up and partied the night away.

“Suddenly,” Manning recounted in a 1981 Democrat and Chronicle story, “Everyone knew about me and my restaurant…My place was (featured) in Sports Illustrated!”

Manning “relived the night constantly,” the story said, and in 1978 started the Blue Gardenia Open golf tournament. The 1980 version reportedly attracted 97 players.

The Blue Gardenia was heavily damaged by fire in 1971 but reopened a few months later. Manning later hosted a fundraising party for the Laurelton Fire Department as a thank-you gesture.

For a time, a show called “Nite Sounds” was broadcast live every Thursday from the Blue Gardenia on WVOR (100.5 FM). Musicians like Fred Costello, Bob DiNieri, and Joe Mazzeo played the Blue Gardenia regularly in the ‘70s. An expanded and remodeled Blue Gardenia was unveiled in 1977, with a terrace level and outdoor patio.

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The next year, a pipe bomb exploded in the Blue Gardenia’s parking lot. Gingello, the intended target and reported underboss of the Rochester Mob, was blown off his feet but was “only scratched.” Sammy G, as he was popularly known, was killed a month later when a bomb exploded under his car in a downtown parking lot.

'Mob Wars'

Those were the opening shots in what became known as the "Mob Wars." Manning was called to testify in a mob trial in 1980 and “made a big hit in court when he introduced himself at the witness stand and described his restaurant as ‘home of the world’s largest shrimp cocktail.’”

In late 1981, Fiorino was shot to death in front of the Blue Gardenia. A professional hit man, Joseph John “Mad Dog” Sullivan, was later convicted of the murder. Leaders of a separate Mob faction, Thomas Taylor and Thomas Torpey, were convicted of planning it.

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The dual violent acts devastated the Blue Gardenia’s business. Manning lost his lease and tried to reopen in Irondequoit Plaza, but town officials turned him down. Manning was furious and said he was being unfairly blamed.

“How am I supposed to keep people out?” he asked in a 1981 Democrat and Chronicle story. “Everybody that comes in here, I shake his hand. How am I supposed to know what people do for a living?”

The Blue Gardenia closed for good in March, 1982. Old friends and longtime customers stopped by on the final day and expressed unwavering support for Manning. He said news reports of the violence ruined his business, but that he felt no hatred toward the media. “I don’t believe in that eye-for-an-eye stuff,” Manning was quoted as saying in a news story. “All that leads to is everybody blind.”

Manning then ran a restaurant called Raffles on Stillson Street in downtown Rochester until he died of a heart attack, at age 53, in late 1983. As Laura Meade wrote in a Democrat and Chronicle news story, “Those near him said the closing…of his Blue Gardenia restaurant helped bring it about.”

Alan Morrell is a Rochester-based freelance writer.