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 The Bad and the Good
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| Looking north along Central Park West. Friday, 2:30 PM. Photo: JH. |
Rainy weekend with temperatures dropping close to freezing briefly.
The Bad and the Good. On Friday night friends invited me to dinner at one of the “hot” new restaurants. This one came onto the radar with a provenance of expertise and experience behind it. It also developed the reputation of being hard to get into. In New York that means when you call you’re told that they have nothing except for 6 pm or 10:30 pm. There are a lot of well known restaurants in New York who started out with that hype. I avoid them and for the most part have never been to most of them. However, given a chance to see what all the hoopla is about, I’ll take it.
My friends have been patronizing this new place since in opened, however, (in the last few months) and so when they asked if I’d like to try it, I said yes.
Having worked in the restaurant business, especially my long ago experience helping Jimmy Molenski, the maitre d’ at Sardi’s in its prime, I know that it’s a no-no to ask for a “good table.” I understand the psychology on both sides but from the restaurant’s point of view it’s a no-no. Furthermore what is a good table. It depends on the customer. |
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| This is a shot taken by JH on Friday afternoon, of the Master, Harry Benson taking a photograph of me at my table at Michael's with (from left) Topsy Taylor, me, Emilia Saint-Amand and Joy Ingham, all of whom happen to be friends of mine, but all of whom are also leading supporters and proponents of City Harvest, one of the great food charitable organizations in New York. The Harry Benson version of this purview is destined for Harry's next book, number 17, to be published later in 2010. |
On this night the regular maitre d’ was off, and replaced by the girl at the hatcheck. Who did not know my friends. So. They had table waaaay in the back of what is a long dining room. My friends thought I might like to see a better view of the place in case I could use in the diary. They asked if they could wait.
When I arrived, fifteen minutes late, they were still waiting. There were tables vacant but evidently being held for other reservations. I suggested we take the table in the far back.
There was one farther back. Two actually, on both sides of the aisle. Set in little alcoves. One was occupied by two very pretty women who looked to be in their late 20s, early 30s. I am aware of the fact that women dining out together often get short shrift from maitre d’s in certain restaurants. Was this one of them, or did they want to be incognito?
As soon as we were seated, we were given menus. We ordered drinks. As soon as they were served a bright-faced, enthusiastic waiter asked us for our order. I told him we hadn’t looked at the menu. He went away. Less than five minutes later he was back. Had we decided?
No.
He went away. A few minutes later, a waitress came over, holding up her pad and pencil and asked if we were ready to order. I thought: we just got here/do they want the table already? We looked at the menu.
Already I’m not in the mood for the place. This is a very expensive restaurant, so what exactly is in it for us, the customers?
By then I was annoyed that those girls were hidden in the back of the room behind us. I was annoyed with the waitress who acted like she was sent to close the deal. I was even annoyed with the décor. Then came the chicken dish. That too. Good-bye and good luck. |
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| The Christmas tree standing in the motor circle of the Bloomberg Building, taken from the entrance to Le Cirque. |
The Le Cirque Christmas tree in the bar area of Le Cirque. |
Saturday night I went to dinner with friends at Le Cirque. It was camera ready, as you can see. The place was in a holiday mood. Sirio was there taking it all in, meeting and greeting. The place was sparkling and busy. At Le Cirque the service is attentive and available and thorough; but you can take your time. We had drinks and lots of talk, and there were people we knew at the next table.
Across the way Neil Sedaka was having dinner with his lovely wife Leba. Mr. Sedaka was is one of those public people who has a fact attached to him in my memory whenever his name comes up. And that is: of the top ten most played/ performed popular songs on the entire planet, he wrote three of them! |
| The main dining room -- the write square in the center is a view of the kitchen, Mario, the maitre d' heading back to the entrance way. |
I know it’s trivia but it is awesome. This kid, this graduate of Tin Pan Alley (you probably don’t even know what/where that is), who started out at the dawn of Rock and Roll.
Meanwhile, Le Cirque. Four of us. Two orders of the pork dish (pronounced fantastic) and the chicken (delicious, she said), I ordered the Primavera which is not on the menu but there if you ask for it. They prepare it at the table, the noodles ready, the greens steamed, and then all mixed together in a pan over flame, mixing in the various ingredients – the cheeses, etc. – it takes several minutes and it is very impressive to watch. And then: it’s superb! |
| The fabulous Le Cirque primavera. |
| One of my guests said: did you you know Sirio and Frank Sinatra are in the closet? At first I didn't know what she was talking about. The coat check closet. Here you have it. |
My guests Saturday night at Le Cirque after a very talky evening and a delicious dinner: Charlie Scheips with Marianne and Steve Harrison. |
Sunday night Shirley Lord Rosenthal had a dinner party and the guest of honor was Tracy Kidder, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Soul of a New Machine and several other best-selling books including House, Among Schoolchildren, and his wife Frances who is a painter.
The occasion was to celebrate Mr. Kidder’s being appointed the first Writer in Residence of the newly formed AM Rosenthal Chair at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, which is part of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Abe, as Mr. Rosenthal known to his friends and colleagues was for year Executive Editor of the New York Times. After his death in 2006, it was suggested that there be a Chair in his named at the Shorenstein Center to honor his life’s work.
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| /Frances and Tracy Kidder and Shirley Lord Rosenthal |
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The seed money for the project came from The New York Public Library’s purchase of the AM Rosenthal Archive. That went straight to the AMR Fund at Harvard.
Although it was in Manhattan and with prominent Manhattanites at the tables, it felt a bit like a university evening. Mr. and Mrs. Kidder live in Western Massachusetts and summer in Maine. New Englanders, they, have the style (relaxed) of academics and artists who live rich creative lives (this may be my imagination, but that’s what it looks like).
Also attending was Alex Jones, the President of the Shorenstein. As well as Jim Greenfield, once a colleague of Abe at the Times, and his wife Ene; Nan and Gay Talese (Gay once worked as a Times reporter under Abe Rosenthal – and later wrote the definitive book on the paper, The Kingdom and the Power.
Also Saul and Gayfryd Steinberg, Gale Hayman and Dr. Richard Bockman; Stuart and Janice Shorenstein – cousins of Joan Shorenstein – and their daughter Marissa who is Press Secretary/ Deputy Communications Director for Governor Paterson.
The conversations at our table were about politicians, media, and television news preferences -- which were varied. Not being a television watcher I’m always surprised at how many people get most of their information from television. The little I see of it is very disappointing. The fact that the news readers are considered journalists because they conduct a few intervews and read a teleprompter is often laughable. Oftentimes they are very poorly if not badly ill-informed. But then being informed is not necessary in doing the job well.
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| Frances Kidder, Shirley Rosenthal, and Judy Taubman. |
Janice, Marissa, and Stuart Shorenstein. |
The Shorenstein Center, however, is there to improve the situation. It was easy to see from the little I know of Tracy Kidder and from the impression I have of the man and his wife last night, that substance was a given, and being well-informed was his natural state of curiosity. Truth. Abe Rosenthal’s name and reputation were evoked several times between the two tables, as a model to bear in mind.
It was an evening of a lot of conversation and exchanges between a number of people and also groups. This is not unique but it is uncommon. It occurs when there is a sense of distinction in the room. Distinction in terms of intelligence and/or achievement. It is a very privileged atmosphere, ironically. Writers (and I’m speaking for myself) are inclined to take these things seriously, especially when around academics and other writers. |
| The East River looking south, taken from the John Finley Walk (the promenade) at 82nd Street, at 11:20 PM. 12/13/09. Photo: DPC. |
Late night. I got home about eleven and immediately hooked the dawgs to their leashes for the last walk of the night. We went down to the Promenade right at the end of the street. The river was smooth, like a quickly sliding piece of dark glass, reflecting the city lights. I had my digital still with me. I happen to like this view, and often think of taking a picture of it when it is flowing as smoothly as it was last night.
On the right you can see the bright lights of the FDR just three blocks from where I was standing. And to the left, the apartment towers of Roosevelt Island as well as the Con Ed smoke stacks and then the 59th Street Bridge and beyond. In the distant sky, the white dots are planes entering the landing pattern for LaGuardia which is only a few miles away on the other side of the channel. This is New York in its beauty at night. |
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