GUTTER GAZZETTE

A velvet rope glints beneath neon light outside the newly opened Little Italy Club on Gotti Street. The music thrums through the pavement, but inside the smoke-glass windows, the real heat isn’t the dancers or the drinks—it’s the ambition of its owner.

Black Dragon is back.

“I’m here,” he said, shaking my hand with a gaze that smoldered like coal. “You want a scoop? A real scoop? Write this: Black Dragon is back—and he wants his old pub on the corner in front of the mayor’s house. And he can do all. ALL.”

He’s talking, of course, about the now-rebranded Von Valentino’s—a sleek, high-traffic bar that stands on ground Black Dragon claims to have built with his own hands. “That pub is my heart,” he said, eyes flaring with memory. “I have a lot of memories there. A big real love story. The atmosphere… it was intense. It was different. It was mine.”

From Erotica to Empire

Dragon isn’t new to nightlife, especially not in Gutter Trash Alley. Once the owner of the infamous “Hedon House” —a local hotspot known for its escorts and immersive adult entertainment—he claims it was one of the most successful operations the Alley had ever seen. Now, he’s staging a comeback with a different tone—or so he says.

“I asked the current owner how much he wants for it,” he tells me, referring to Valentino. “But he doesn’t want to sell. So I opened this club right next to him. Do you understand?”

His eyes say he isn’t bluffing.

When asked what he meant by “all is all,” he grinned. “I prefer the legal way. But I want my pub. I’m the real founder. I will do all… even kill?” He paused. “That is the scoop.”

A Vision of Legacy, Not War
Despite the bold claims, Black Dragon insists his motives aren’t about vengeance. “It is not vendetta. It is my desire. And that is better than vendetta.” For him, the pub represents more than real estate—it’s identity, it’s history, it’s a piece of Gutter Trash Alley itself.

He claims to be backed by a “big community” and hints at muscle, security, and a loyal following of former employees and “a lot of girls and friends.” He makes no apologies for his past, and when I asked if his new staff know what he intends, he simply smiled.

What he does offer is a vision. “I love this place,” he said, waving his hand toward the city skyline. “I want only to do again the old place with the same intense atmosphere. I worked a lot in the past for GTA. Ask the owner—my pub was the best place in GTA.”

The Valentino Question
Would he consider working with Valentino?

“Yes,” Dragon says, “but he wanted to use me like a bouncer. I am a boss. Not a bouncer.”

When asked if he was pursuing legal channels, Dragon’s answer was less precise. “Now it is just another bar,” he says with visible disgust. “But I want peace. I just want my pub too.”

What Comes Next
There’s no telling how this will end: with a handshake, a hostile takeover, or something in between. But one thing is clear—Black Dragon has returned with fire in his gut and old ghosts on his mind. Whether the city welcomes his legacy or braces for impact depends on the next moves—his, and Valentino’s.

As our interview wrapped up, I handed him my card. “You can reach me here,” I said. “I’m in Little Tokyo. You’ll hear from me soon.”

He nodded once, silently.

Then, in typical Dragon fashion, he left me with this: “Now you have a good story for your Gazette.”

He wasn’t wrong.