They’re bringing the heat, the meat — and the cleanup duty.
City employees Peter Annarumma, a firefighter at Engine 284 / Ladder 149 in Dyker Heights, and Joe Fraschilla, who works for the Department of Sanitation, have prepared a side hustle: a steak upon request.
The so-called Porterhouse Party features bone marrow shots, champagne guns and charcoal grills, paying $100 a head and available in the tri-state area.
“What separates us from most chefs is that a chef will come to your house [and] cook, but for us it’s also about fun. We bring the music, the bone marrow beats — it’s an immersive experience,” Annarumma, 37, told The Post.
Guests can indulge in appetizers like shrimp cocktail, caviar dumplings and thick-cut bacon and tomato sandwiches before the main event: 45-day dry-aged steaks, sourced from a supplier in the Meatpacking District and grilled on site .
The pair, who grew up on Staten Island and still live there, came up with the idea during COVID, after taking up dry-aging steak as a way to take the edge off their stressful core jobs. That led to them throwing dinner parties for friends and family and, in 2023, throwing private parties — including one for “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Melissa Gorga and her staff and another for the NHL’s Florida Panthers .
Gramercy-based event planner Amanda Orso heard about Porterhouse Party by word of mouth and hired the crew a few months ago for a 60-person, western-themed barbecue in Sands Point, Long Island.
“They brought a little charcoal grill. I was thinking, there’s no way they’re going to cook all this steak for 60 people on that charcoal grill. But the steak was outstanding – I had guests commenting that it was one of the best steaks they’d ever had,” Orso, 45.
She added that the raucous spectacle of it all – including her 70-year-old father getting bone marrow injections – took it to another level.
“I had never done anything like this before. “My father was having the time of his life,” Orso said. “It was fun to see everyone get into it.”
The standout, however, is a carnivorous party favor—veal marrow bones that double as spoons for whiskey, tequila, or any drink the host desires.
“We scoop out the contents and you’re left with the half-shelled bone, so it looks like a spoon,” Fraschilla, 38, said of the beef marrow bones. “The pure fat content of the bone marrow brings out the smoke of the whiskey.” (Or, if you prefer, tequila.)
Customers who have hired them say Porterhouse Party steaks rival New York’s most popular steakhouses.
Doria Mina, a Staten Island-based dog groomer, said the quality chuck was “better than Peter Luger” when she threw a birthday party for her husband, Rob, at the Porterhouse after a friend complained about the experience.
“They come in with grills, pitched with umbrellas [and]music, clean from start to finish and wash the dishes. I usually like being a lady, but how are you going to beat that?” Mina, 33, told The Post, praising the playlist that ranged from Whitney Houston and Donna Summer to techno hits on the floor.
“The way they prepare it, it was better than Peter Luger, better than Old Homestead,” she said of the steak. She even booked a second party this fall.
The Porterhouse Party concept has been in such demand, Fraschilla and Annarumma have started selling their signature cured meats and bone marrow online, and they’re planning to host ticketed dinners, open to the public, at NYC spots like Slate Clinton Hall and Fornino at Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park in 2025.
They are also now up to 25 employees.
“We host a lot of parties every night. It’s been a lot of fun,” Fraschilla said — nothing like him and Annarumma to get the party started. “We’re always going to be dancing and having a good time.”
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Image Source : nypost.com