What Exactly Is Steak Sinatra, And Does It Have Any Connection To Frank Sinatra?

If you've ever visited Palm Springs, California, and spotted a menu item called steak Sinatra, you may have wondered if it had any connection to the eponymous singer — and you'd be right. The dish isn't just named in honor of Frank Sinatra; it has a direct connection to the crooner and actor, seeing as chef Johnny Costa created it just for him. And while both Costa and Sinatra have passed away, the dish lives on at Johnny Costa's Ristorante in Palm Springs, with versions of it sometimes appearing elsewhere (often at steakhouses).

So, what exactly is in this beefy dish? The original version is pan-seared strips of New York strip steak, topped with sautéed mushrooms, bell peppers, and garlic, and a red wine-tomato sauce. It doesn't seem like a full tomato-heavy marinara sauce; some recipes for the dish call for just one tomato to be in the mix. In terms of steak, you can also make the dish with other premium cuts like tenderloin and ribeye. At Johnny Costa's, it's served with the pasta of the day and a choice of soup, house salad, or, for an extra $4, Caesar salad. Some restaurants that have adapted the dish from Johnny Costa's add their own twists, like serving the saucy beef mixed into the pasta or adding a touch of parmesan. Overall, the dish strikes a balance between a luxury steakhouse (with a primo cut of beef) and something simpler you'd get at a more rustic red sauce Italian eatery, although the price ($48) leans extravagant.

So, what's Frank Sinatra's exact connection to this steak dish? It goes back to 1960s Hollywood: Italian-born chef Johnny Costa cooked at a restaurant called Villa Capri in the ritzy Los Angeles neighborhood, which Sinatra (and other celebrities like James Dean) frequented. Something resembling the dish was on the menu — though the exact document seems to have been lost to history — and Sinatra took a liking to it and the way Costa prepared it. (This fits with Sinatra's reputation for liking simple, comforting Italian food.) The two became friends, perhaps based on their shared upbringing in New Jersey, with both having moved west. Costa even moved to work as Sinatra's private chef for a short period at Sinatra's desert estate in Palm Springs.

Costa eventually opened up his own restaurant in Desert Hot Springs (later relocated to Palm Springs), and put steak Sinatra on the menu. Perhaps ironically, Sinatra continued visiting the restaurant, but his favorite dish was actually linguini with clams, which doesn't bear his name on the menu. Yet steak Sinatra endures — while Costa passed away in 2019, the restaurant is still family-run and has kept it on the menu. So, it's fair to say that (at least at Johnny Costa's Ristorante), steak Sinatra isn't just a marketing gimmick: It has a direct link to the iconic member of the Rat Pack, a tribute of sorts to Sinatra.