'Sopranos' Chef Busted for DWI, Drugs

    He plays a chef on "The Sopranos," but John Ventimiglia cooked himself a recipe for disaster when he was busted for drunken driving and cocaine possession Monday about a block away from his Brooklyn home.

    The actor, who stars as New Jersey restaurant owner Artie Bucco on the hit HBO series, admitted to cops he drank four glasses of wine at a Manhattan eatery before getting behind the wheel of his 2004 Volkswagen Jetta and driving home.

    Cops spotted him with his headlights off and weaving in and out of the oncoming traffic lane on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope at around 1 a.m., authorities said.

    When officers pulled him over, Ventimiglia was unsteady on his feet, his eyes were bloodshot and he reeked of alcohol, according to the criminal complaint.

    Prosecutors said the star had a blood-alcohol content of .12. The legal limit is .08.

    The boozed-up actor also had a zip-lock bag with cocaine residue in his back pocket, cops said.

    Ventimiglia, 42, was arraigned at Brooklyn Criminal Court yesterday on charges of DWI, reckless driving, operating outside the lane, operating without headlights and criminal possession of a controlled substance.

    Ventimiglia is the latest of a slew of the mobster serial's stars to find himself on the wrong side of the law.

    Lillo Brancato Jr., who played Matt Bevilaqua, was charged with murder after he and an accomplice gunned down a cop after he interrupted them robbing a home for drugs.

    Tony Sirico, who plays Paulie Walnuts, was arrested 28 times before becoming an actor.

    Robert Iler, who plays Anthony Soprano Jr., pleaded guilty to misdemeanor larceny in April 2002 after cops arrested him and three other teens for stealing $40 from two victims on a Manhattan street.

    Vincent Pastore, who played Sal "Big Pussy" Bompensiero in the show, pleaded guilty to punching his former girlfriend last April and was sentenced to 70 hours of community service.