Excerpted from CULLOTTA – The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster and Government Witness.
One night a man came into the restaurant and asked for Frank by name. Eileen sized him up. She found Frank in a back room and told him the man didn’t look like a cop or an Outfit guy either; he looked like a businessman. Frank came out and talked to him. The man introduced himself as Allen Dorfman; he asked to see the “Little Man.” Frank knew he was talking about Tony; Tony’s nicknames included little man and “the Ant.” Frank went to the Gold Rush, picked Tony up, and brought him to the restaurant.
The three men then went next door to the My Place and sat in a private booth in the rear. A little while later Steve Bluestein came in. Bluestein was an organizer with the local Culinary Union. When the talk turned to Teamster stuff Frank left. That kind of thing wasn’t any of his business and he didn’t want to hear any of it. Tony had three or four similar meetings with Dorfman.
The Upper Crust was a great place for the gangsters until the police found out about it. After that, both the locals and feds targeted the restaurant for physical surveillance and electronic bugging.
Tags: bugsy siegel, chicago outfit, CULLOTTA, joe aiuppa, las vegas, lefty rosenthal, organized crime, tony accardo, tony spilotro, true crime
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