I recently went to a Christmas event on the hill with some girlfriends. Luckily for the venue it was a very popular, very crowded event. Unluckily for us this meant seating was at a premium, so while we were in line we wondered if we would have a place to take a seat, chat, sip our wine and enjoy an appetizer. As I paid and looked around I realized there was room right next to the bar at a long, communal style table with benches and a few chairs gathered around and told my friends I would grab us a space and wait for them there.
As I approached, so did some older gentlemen. We had a mild mannered turf war and agreed we could share this space, but I was reminded quite a few times they “always sit here” even going as far as telling me who would have been in each of the seats we had claimed as ours.
Despite the semi-rocky start we all agreed to share the space and I did not think much more of it. An older gentleman in a dapper hat was trying to be heard (loud talking) on his phone, giving someone on the other end boisterous instructions. “PARK IN RIGAZZI'S LOT” he directed. “I don't know what the hell is going on, but you're not getting near this place!”
He leaned over and clarified it was just the three of us crashing this party, and I confirmed, and he stated, “then this (plopping down a pillow on the chair) is the seat of honor!”
I nodded and smiled but he continued. “Ever watch the King of Queens?” I said that I had and he said “well, the guy getting ready to take this seat was on that show for the first three seasons! He was a fireman!” Wow I said, that is really cool! I will make sure to leave room!
Low key being nosy I googled to see if I could figure out who he was talking about or if he was full of crap, but he went on…”Big time actor! Decided to leave LA, had enough! Moved to the Hill!”
Soon enough, in walked the guy and sure enough it was the actor in question, Larry Romano. As conversation continued they started asking if I knew who the man in the dapper hat was. I did not, sorry.
“That’s GUS!” I looked befuddled, so they explained. “Gus Torregrossa, from Gus’s Fashion and Shoes! He was big time in the rap scene.”
At this point Gus leaned in and said: “I dressed all the big time rappers. NWA, hey, ya know this guy?” He showed me a pic of he and Flavor Flav arm in arm. “I brought 2 Live Crew to Washington Avenue, everyone came to meet and get dressed by me and buy my shoes!”
At this point my mind is reeling. I thought to myself, Mark would love this shit. The New York-Italian accents were thick.
Gus’s Fashions and Shoes was at 1201 Washington and sold fresh hip hop gear and other stuff.
Gus is regaling me with stories of the rappers he met, his friends are mentioned there is even a documentary about him, a Broadway production!
They were referring to Ron Klier’s Gus’s Fashion and Shoes.
We would drift in and out of conversation with our group and theirs. The gentleman next to my friend was a retired fireman from the North Side, telling stories of being shot at. Another one was a co-owner of the Pasta House.
At one point Larry the actor, told us he was releasing a movie soon, produced in St. Louis and showed us the website, gave me a few cards. Larry indicated he is disenchanted with the mindset of young people and the lack of attention span. As a result, he started an organization called Saving Cinema that takes kids to the theater and gets their noses out of the cell phone and into the big screen. What a great concept. He wants to have them focus on something longer than 2 minutes at a time. He went on to talk about his kids and we exchanged stories of private vs public schools and his experiences in Los Angeles and our kids’ experiences in public school in St. Louis.
The whole thing was so wild, we were both encroaching on “their spot” and giving them fresh ears to tell their stories to.
When I got home I hit google. Gus was everything he and they said he was and more. Not only did he have ties to the major rappers of the day, NWA (yet to be substantiated) talks about him in a song. There are local stories galore about Gus and his store, which unfortunately fell victim to the rise of Washington.
He and the “ghetto element” his store bought were no longer welcome on Washington. But the legend of Gus lives on. A long line of new residents and new ideas of what is gentrification and what is just time, styles and lives marching on.
The whole night was a bizarre experience of welcome intrusion peppered with the thickest Italian accents outside of my trip to New York. Later my friend texted…”We ate at Gian Tony’s, and they could not believe we did not know who Gus was.”
Much has been written and documented on Gus’s.
The Days of Wine and Reeboks - St. Louis Magazine - 2008
Gus - Individuals in the 21st Century - St. Louis American - 2008
World Wide Magazine - 1990 (starting at 47:40)
Who knew a night out with some friends would turn into a fever dream of local Italian celebrities straight from the Hill.
