Edible Michiana Holiday 2022

BY Jane Simon Ammeson PHOTOS BY Mayra Perkins

When Gus Romeo opened the Flamingo Restaurant and Lounge in downtown Gary, Indiana, he didn’t look any further than his mother’s kitchen for the recipes he wanted to serve his customers. The year was 1941, and just over a decade later, Flamingo was featured in Collier’s magazine as one of several eateries nationwide focusing on the newest food trend—pizza pie. No matter what you think you know about Gary now, 60 years ago it was a thriving community, the 100th largest city in the U.S., with an award-winning education system. Posh apartments in such architectural styles as Art Deco, Spanish, Gothic or Tudor Revival lined what is now known as the West Fifth Avenue Apartments Historic District. Among the many mansions in Gary were several homes designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. If you wanted swank when going out to dine, you could head to the Palm Grove, with its large palm tree bathing the street in splashes of neon light. Inside, it was all smoke (because everyone smoked back then), glamor, laughter and the tinkling of martini glasses. Men in suits and blondes in mink stoles sat in the pink banquettes, dining on that quintessential Chicagoland dish, Shrimp de Jonghe (think shrimp scampi with sherry added to the already rich butter and garlic sauce) and Chicken-in-the Rough. The former still graces menus throughout Chicagoland, but the latter is just an obscure footnote in culinary history. The Palm Grove closed its doors years ago. The apartments aren’t so chic, and the Wright homes are either endangered or gone. But Gus Romeo’s recipes are still used for the hand-stretched pizza dough for pizzas and the au jus for the Italian beef sandwiches. The Flamingo relocated

After working as manager of the Flamingo for years, Christie Simpson-Rinker bought the restaurant with co-owner Nicholas Divich about six years ago.

in the mid-1970s to Miller Beach, an eclectic enclave of bungalows, mid century modern and mega-houses on the shores of Lake Michigan. It’s close enough to the beach that you can walk there and choose between fried blue gill or lake perch to go. Inside, black-and white photos of Gary in its glory days line the walls, and you can order hand cut steaks and a salad dressed with a special dill vinaigrette—Romeo’s recipe, of course. Or go for the pizza—they still grind their own sausage daily. “people would come and watch us tossing the dough into the air and catching it. They’d never seen anything like it.”

Though Flamingo has a newish location, part of old Gary remains. “The bricks are from the Dixie Dairy and the Memorial Auditorium, the pavers from the corner of 13th and Massachusetts and the tin ceiling is from the old Sears building that was downtown,” says co-owner Christy Simpson-Rinker. Former owner William Lavack used these landmarks when he expanded the Flamingo in a former Texaco station. Emil “Nick” Barcevic recalls working at the Flamingo when Romeo, his father’s cousin, owned it. “I started working there when I was 15 years old,” says the 83-year-old Barcevic, whose father, Emil Barcevic Sr., also worked at his cousin’s restaurant. “Pizza was new back then; I think Gus had the first pizza place in the state. We would dress in chef ’s hats and make pizza in the front window and people would come and watch us tossing the dough into the air and catching it. They’d never seen anything like it.”

edible Michiana .com | 35