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Weekend Butler: Summer in the City. Aretha Franklin. Robbie Robertson. Bradley Cooper’s controversial nose. A $180 book. A Sharon Olds poem. A crisp salad.
By
Published: Aug 17, 2023
Category:
Weekend
SUMMER IN THE CITY, AND GLAD FOR IT
You know Rao’s for its excellent sauce. I know it because I pass the restaurant every morning on my way to the rubberized running track in the park. At 7:30 AM, when I walk, dog-owners visit the restaurant and a very nice assistant brings them kibbles. It’s a ritual.
I’ve never been to Rao’s. It’s exclusive to gents and the occasional female. Giuliani used to dine here, and Bernie Kerik — names you now see in the papers in a different context. You can have dinner there…if a regular tells management you’re okay. It’s an insider’s joint, exclusive, a club with red sauce. I did lots of “exclusive” when I was a journalist. I’m not hungry for more.
For a few days in August, my East Harlem neighborhood is the original Little Italy again — there’s a feast in honor of St. Anthony of Padua. Food, of course. Games and rides. And the beating heart of the festival: an 83-foot high wooden tower built in St. Anthony’s honor. The giglio is a latticed shrine made of wood and papier-mâché, decorated with colorful flowers. The tradition dates to A.D. 409 in the village of Nola, Italy, which is not far from the town of Brusciano, where many of the society’s members trace their heritage.
The festival is brisk. It lasts a few days, and then the food stands are gone, and the carnival rides are trucked away, and it’s as if it never happened.
A few days ago, I walked my 6,000 steps — you recall from last week that you don’t need to walk 10,000 to get benefit — and began a morning of car errands for my family. Driving home past the track at noon, I thought: What happened to my morning? Was I here earlier today, or was it some other day? Was I really dehydrated and unsteady when I turned the corner onto my street? And then did I settle in, make coffee, open a file and write?
I’m thinking I’m not the only one with unsettled days like this. So much news happens now that it’s a struggle to remember what we did and who we were with. This is why the people in our lives are so important. They ground us. They keep us connected to who we are.
For me, those people start with my family and my best friends. And then I include my East Harlem community. The early morning soccer players at the park, most of them restaurant workers from Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua. The “mayor” of my block, who has planted vegetables around the trees and is hoping to harvest a few plants by September. The assistant at Rao’s. The Catholics who organize the festival. The working class families walking their kids to school.
I’ve lived all over New York. The Apthorp. A lovely Georgian building just off Fifth Avenue. Near Columbia, overlooking the cathedral. My favorite? East Harlem. After seven years, it’s lovely to live among people who don’t make headlines, who remind you that the news isn’t life, that you have a place in the world, that you belong, that you matter.
WEEKEND MUSIC #1: ARETHA FRANKLIN
Aretha Franklin died, at 76, on August 16, 2018. Her career is one milestone after another, but this performance at the Kennedy Center in 2015 stands out for me. A mink coat was never put to better use.
WEEKEND MUSIC #2: ROBBIE ROBERTSON
Why does a classic begin almost as a whisper? Because it happens in the context of a life.
WEEKEND MOVIE
Someone plays the part of someone he’s not. Happens occasionally in life. In film, it’s never been done better than in “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” [To stream it on Amazon Prime, click here.]
BRADLEY COOPER: “JEWFACE”
Bradley Cooper stars as Leonard Bernstein in “Maestro,” a bio-pic that’s being talked up as Oscar-worthy. It’s also being attacked for the fake nose Cooper wears. It’s in no way like Bernstein’s — Cooper’s own nose would have done nicely. Take a look. Given that this is a high-culture movie and Jews might make up a significant segment of the audience and that few recall what Leonard Bernstein looks like so it wouldn’t matter if nothing was done to “improve” Cooper’s nose…. who thought the oversized schnoz was a good idea?
TIMOTHY SNYDER HATES TO SAY IT, BUT IT’S TIME TO BOYCOT BEN & JERRY ICE CREAM
The Yale historian cites the recent history.
A KURT VONNEGUT MINUTE
Oh, she says, you’re not a poor man. You know, why don’t you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet? And so I pretend not to hear her. And go out to get an envelope because I’m going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying one envelope.
I meet a lot of people. And see some great looking babies. And a fire engine goes by. And I give them the thumbs up. And I’ll ask a woman what kind of dog that is. And, and I don’t know. The moral of the story is — we’re here on Earth to fart around.
And, of course, the computers will do us out of that. And what the computer people don’t realize, or they don’t care, is we’re dancing animals. You know, we love to move around. And it’s like we’re not supposed to dance at all anymore.“
THE BOOK IS $180
Of course you won’t buy it. And her Paris was eradicated decades ago. But let my review tell you all you need to know about Madame Castaing.
THE WEEKEND POEM
“I Could Not Tell,” by Sharon Olds, from Strike Sparks
I could not tell I had jumped off that bus,
that bus in motion, with my child in my arms,
because I did not know it. I believed my own story:
I had fallen, or the bus had started up
when I had one foot in the air.
I would not remember the tightening of my jaw,
the irk that I’d missed my stop, the step out
into the air, the clear child
gazing about her in the air as I plunged
to one knee on the street, scraped it, twisted it,
the bus skidding to a stop, the driver
jumping out, my daughter laughing
Do it again.
I have never done it
again, I have been very careful.
I have kept an eye on that nice young mother
who lightly leapt
off the moving vehicle
onto the stopped street, her life
in her hands, her life’s life in her hands.
THE WEEKEND RECIPE
Tuna Salad With Hot and Sweet Peppers
Inspired by the oil-and-vinegar tuna salads of the Mediterranean, this version includes new-world peppers. Letting thin slices of hot and sweet peppers sit with vinegar and salt for a few minutes gives them a pickled taste without taking away their crispness. It also makes for a sharp dressing when mixed with the olive oil from oil-packed tuna. Celery and parsley bring freshness to this blend, which is wonderful on its own and versatile enough to be spooned over toast or tossed with lettuce or pasta.
4 servings
1 red, orange or yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 hot green chile, seeded if desired, thinly sliced
1 ½tablespoons sherry or red wine vinegar
Salt and black pepper
2 celery stalks
2 (5-ounce) cans, packed in olive oil
¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
Toss the pepper and the chile with the vinegar and a big pinch of salt in a large bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the celery into ¼-inch dice. Add the celery, tuna with all of its oil and chopped parsley to the peppers.
Toss until the tuna flakes into bite-size pieces and everything is well mixed, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
