By Steve Herte
Note: When I realized that I left something out
of my last review, I felt it was time for a special edition of Dinner and a
Movie - or rather Dinner and a Short Subject (with an added treat).
La Luna (2011)
This
Oscar-nominated, seven-minute animated short preceded the movie Brave the night I saw it and it deserves
a review in itself. The story is of a young boy, “Bambino” (voiced by Krista
Sheffler) who is taken by his father, Papá (Tony Fucile), and grandfather,
Nonno (Phil Sheridan), to experience their “work” for the first time.
They
take a row boat out beyond sight of land at night and stop under the full
moon. At this point, Papá sets up a really, really long ladder in the prow
of the boat, hands the anchor to his son and indicates that he climb the
ladder. Not a word of English (or any other language) is spoken throughout
this short, but it’s easy to figure out from the gestures and the cadences of
their non-words that they’re Italian.
The
child climbs the ladder and makes ready to toss the anchor on the moon’s
surface, when the moon’s gravity pulls the anchor onto itself. The three
climb up to the moon, where thousands of five-pointed “stars” lay scattered
over the surface. After arguing over whether a rake or a push-broom is the
proper implement the men show the boy what they do. In order for the moon to
have its proper shape in the sky, the “stars” need to be arranged just so.
A
this point a giant star comes hurtling out of the black sky and rams upright on
one of its points deep into the lunar soil. Both men try to move it but
are unable to do so. The boy, remembering how one of the little stars
twinkled when he touched it on its point climbs the mammoth star, touches
the top-most point, taps it with a little hammer and it explodes into hundreds
of little stars. Now, the three can finish their work.
They
climb down into their little rowboat and admire what they have
accomplished. The camera pans back to show that they have cleared the glowing
stars to reveal the pattern of a crescent on the moon’s surface. Nonno and
Papá are very proud of Bambino’s first day on the job.
This
clever little production by Director Enrico Casarosa is so engaging the
audience is left wanting more at the end and the seven minutes seem like more
while they’re watching it.
Good Old Home Cookin’
The
morning after I saw La Luna I was out
working in my garden and my Jamaican next-door neighbor Sandra was already
grilling chicken for her son’s birthday party that evening. I mentioned
how good it smelled and she offered to bring some over later on. I told her how
delighted I would be and she smiled and continued her grilling.
After
our dinner was finished the doorbell rang and there she was with a large, aluminum
foil wrapped package, still warm. I thanked her profusely and put it in the
refrigerator for Sunday’s dinner.
Sunday’s
dinner time arrived and I had brought up a bottle of wine from my little wine
cellar to chill. I opened the aluminum foil to reveal a large leg and thigh
nicely blackened by the grill. Deciding to pop it in the microwave, I picked it
up and put it on a plate, and licked my fingers. Wow! This was Jamaican
Jerk Chicken at its best – the chicken cooked through and tender, the coating
fiery with pepper. I heated up a Portuguese roll, brought out my 1989
German Reisling (yes, German white wines do last that long, they only get
sweeter and a deeper golden color) and I enjoyed an international Sunday dinner
with the home-made Jamaican Jerk Chicken.
Cávo
42-18 31st Street, Astoria, NY
Needing
a night out, I made up my mind to go back to my roots, to Astoria, Queens, for
a dining experience. An easy walk from the 46th Street station
on the M/R line of the subway brought me to the Greek palace (a place this huge
cannot just be a restaurant) Cávo “founded” in 1999. This hulking
cavernous building wraps around the corner of 42nd Street and
invites people to enter through the garden gate.
Inside
is a bar immediately to the left and an immense, beautifully-tiled wall beyond
with two waterfalls. The wrought-iron tables and chairs are arranged in
the central court of this spacious atrium with a balcony on the far wall where
more tables and chairs perched. It was still too warm for me to dine al
fresco so the greeting girl led me upstairs and inside.
The
first room we passed through was the grand catering hall with its tripartite
chandelier dripping with crystals and glittering in the low light. Cinderella
could have had her ball here. Another high balcony graced the far wall of
this room. We made a right turn and entered the dining area/bar. This
was another impressively large room with several shaded crystal chandeliers,
the largest over the 30-seat bar in the center. The light tan banquettes,
tables and chairs lined one long wall; the other faced the street and was entirely
glass with slatted shades. The far short wall sported a raised dining area
with more tables and chairs and a wrought-iron rail either side of the single
step. The remaining wall had the waiters’ station next to the stairs down to
the restrooms. The wall itself was a shimmery gray to black brick and
lights were playing on it to create the effect of water cascading down it. I
said to myself, “This place is in Astoria?”
Everything
says that this is not your typical Greek restaurant, and it’s not. Learning
from my waiter that they didn’t have any of the gins I like, nor Stolichnaya,
or even Ouzo, I ordered a Grey Goose Vodka martini, which was passable. The
menu has several Greek specialties like Saganaki and the traditional spreads,
but it also has oysters and sliders (both lamb and beef), Risotto and Filet
Mignon – something for every taste. I started with Octopus – charcoal-grilled
with lemon and Greek extra virgin olive oil. These tender tentacles were
resting on an amazing combination of spinach, sliced cherry tomatoes, capers
and tiny bacon-grilled potato cubes of wondrous crispness and flavor.
For
the main course I chose one of the specials, Whole Branzino – de-boned and
stuffed with vegetable cous-cous, served in a deep ceramic chafing dish in a
tomato/Calamata olive sauce with mussels and garnished with bean sprouts. It
was fantastic to see the whole fish (head to tail) and then discover it was
truly de-boned (I only found a few) and inside was this great vegetable
cous-cous. The sauce added the oohs and ahhs to the meal. A 2008
Messenger Zinfandel from California added an earthy yet fruity compliment to
the fish. The wine list is very reasonably priced.
When
I learned that the chef was Rory O’Farrell and met the manager, Barry Weisberg,
I was not surprised that my waiter did not know how to pronounce the dessert,
Galactobouriko – a delicate, two-inch high custard with filo dough on top and
bottom, drizzled with honey and rose water – a traditional Greek dessert. Since
they also didn’t know what Greek coffee was I ordered the Cávo’s Original
Chocolate Martini – somehow they swirled real chocolate up the sides of the
glass before pouring the bewitching mix of Kahlua, Bailey’s, Crème de Cacao and
something else I could not detect (they keep the recipe a secret).
If
you happen to be in the neighborhood and want some Greek food with a twist,
Cávo is your place any day but Mondays – they’re closed.
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