Hero of the Medici, or 6 Plus 21
By Steve Herte
Novelist
Thomas Wolfe coined the phrase, “You Can’t Go Home Again.” And
though that is certainly true, I found that you could go home and
visit a while.
My
old grammar school, Saints Joachim and Anne, recently celebrated its
90th Anniversary. Normally, this would not be an attraction for me,
but when I realized that it was 50 years ago that I graduated from
that school, I felt compelled to attend. Both of my sisters, my
brother and I went to SSJA and three of us were available to attend
the anniversary event. (My sister in Florida couldn't make it.)
Afterward,
a dinner was held at the New Hyde Park Inn, a catering house in the
township of the same name. I was pleasantly surprised when six of my
old classmates greeted me. I was extremely shy back then, not prone
to making friends easily. After 50 years and approximately 150 kids
in my graduating class, I admit I was impressed. All in all, it was
an experience I will not soon forget.
Both
the movie and my 2,640th restaurant (also my 369th Italian) were
great. Enjoy!
Feast (Disney,
2014) – Director: Patrick Osborne. Writers: Nicole
Mitchell, Raymond S. Persi (story); Patrick Osborne (written by).
Voices: Ben Bledsoe, Stewart Levine, Katie Lowes, Brandon Scott,
Adam Shapiro, & Tommy Snider. Color, 6 minutes.
This
adorable animated short tells the story of boy-meets-girl from the
point of view of a French bulldog. We begin with a hungry puppy lured
from the street by French fries and into a man’s house. All views
are from the dog’s level and people are only visible from the knees
down. In his wonderful life in a bachelor pad, the dog (now named
Winston) learns how great it is to eat fried eggs, bacon, and pizza,
and he eagerly scarfs up anything his master tosses at him with his
dog food.
Then
one day at a restaurant, the man meets a girl and Winston discovers
cuisine that involves vegetables and garnishes, which he decides he
doesn’t like. At home, if his master places a sprig of parsley on
his regular food, he refuses to eat it. But one day he finds a green
garnish and associates it with the girl and his master’s happiness
and leads the man on a merry chase until laying the sprig down at the
girl’s feet. The couple reconnect, marry and have a baby; all of
which the little dog exults in and gets to taste all of the resulting
new foods.
It’s
a clever tale from Nicole Mitchell and Raymond S. Persi for Disney
Studios, viewed from a novel angle that minimizes dialogue for visual
storytelling. And, as so many other Disney cartoons, this one is
light on content and heavy on cute.
Rating:
4 out of 5 Martini glasses.
Big
Hero 6 (Disney, 2014) –
Directors: Don Hall & Chris Williamson. Writers: Jordan Roberts
(s/p and story), Daniel Gerson (s/p), Robert L. Baird (s/p), Don Hall
(story), Duncan Rouleau and Steven T. Seagle (concept and
characters). Voices: Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, Jamie Chung, Daniel
Henney, Damon Wayans, Jr, Genesis Rodriguez, T.J. Miller, James
Cromwell, Alan Tudyk, Maya Rudolph, & Daniel Gerson. Animated,
color, and 3D, 108 minutes.
It’s
an unspecified time in the bustling and extremely colorful town of
San Fransokyo (an amalgam of Francisco and Tokyo). The way for a
street kid to earn big money is to build a battle-bot and win against
the reigning underworld champ. Hiro (Potter) does this with a
seemingly harmless little black robot and finds himself pursued by
the outraged thug. Fortunately, his older brother Tadashi (Henney)
rescues him on his motorcycle and he escapes.
Tadashi
would prefer that his brilliant little brother would make something
of his life and talks him into accompanying him to the “Nerd
School” he attends. Once there he meets Go Go (Chung), who is
working on a faster bicycle using near frictionless mag-lev wheels;
Wasabi (Wayans), whose project involves laser slicers; Honey Lemon
(Rodriguez) and her strange candy-like glue; and Fred (Miller), who
gave them all their nicknames and dreams of being a fire-breathing
dragon. Hiro is amazed at all their projects and their enthusiasm and
decides he would like to attend this school. Tadashi shows Hiro his
project, a medical robot named Baymax (Adsit), who balloons out of
his storage case at the sound of the word “Ouch” or “Ow.”
Tadashi advises Hiro to come up with an idea that will impress Dean
Robert Callaghan (Cromwell) and he will be accepted easily.
After
much brainstorming and encouragement from Tadashi, Hiro invents the
micro-bot – tiny robots capable of combining to form anything the
mind can conceive by responding directly to the thoughts of the
person wearing the command headband. He wows everyone at the science
fair, gets an offer to work at a big corporation from Alistair Krei
(Tudyk) and acceptance to the school.
While
reveling in Hiro’s success, the two brothers witness a huge fire at
the school and Tadashi runs to save Professor Callaghan who is still
inside. There is an enormous explosion and Hiro is now brother-less.
At
home, the boys’ mother Cass (Rudolph) tries her best to console
Hiro, but he’s lost interest in the school and wants to be alone.
That’s until he drops his battle robot on his foot and says the
magic word, “Ow!” Baymax rises up and, whether Hiro likes it or
not, he has a new friend. When Baymax discovers one of his micro-bots
not destroyed in the explosion and determines that it seems to want
to join its mates, they follow it to an abandoned warehouse. Once
there, a man in a Kabuki mask attacks them, and they later learn he
is manufacturing micro-bots and using them for his own ends.
Thanks
to Baymax’s summoning the other nerds, they escape after a
hilarious chase scene. After reporting this to the rather bored and
unbelieving Desk Sergeant (Gerson) at the police station and getting
no satisfaction, Hiro uses his computer and design skills to
transform himself, Baymax and the four nerds into a super-hero team
(hence the title, Big Hero 6), using their projects as their super
powers and together they go after the strange villain. But they are
in for some surprises along the way.
When
I first saw the trailers for this movie I noted the unusual way the
characters were drawn, almost as if the film was created in the anime
studios of Japan. Most of the names are Japanese and the eyes are
strangely rounded. Baymax is a lovable, funny character who
remarkably expresses a range of emotions with only two dots connected
by a line for a face. His humor is the innocent humor of the Robot
in Lost in Space or Data in Star Trek –
Next Generation. There were a great many small children in the
audience with me and they all enjoyed it. The biggest laughs were
when Baymax’s battery power was getting low and he acted as if
drunk – at one point cradling the family cat and saying, “Hairy
BABY!”
Despite
its anime look, Big Hero 6 is an excellent movie for
the whole family with lots of action, laughs and even some
philosophy. The 3-D effects were great and didn’t interfere, the
cinematography was very convincing (especially the street scenes) and
the soundtrack added to the excitement or sentiment of the moment. In
short, I loved it.
Rating:
4 out of 5 Martini glasses.
Medici
21
21
Rector Street (corner of Washington St. ), New York
The
address of this restaurant struck a note of déjà vu right away, but
I couldn’t quite place the location or the former name. With all
the construction going on at the site of the former Twin Towers and
the World Financial Center just across the West Side Highway, I had
to take a circuitous route to my dinner. Once there, the
glass-enclosed corner property heightened the sensation of having
been there before.
Inside,
the sea-foam blue light over the rectangular bar and the
galaxy-cluster ceiling lights definitely evoked memories of a past
visit. The gentleman who greeted me at the Captain’s Station asked
me if I preferred upstairs or downstairs and I answered with
“whichever has more light.” Downstairs it is. When he sat me at a
table by the window in a corner facing the stairway I was sure I had
been here, sat here, and faced this way.
My
server, Vanessa, appeared, presented the food menu, asked my water
preference and took my martini order. While reading the menu I kept
looking around to see if my memory would be refreshed by some small
detail. I noted that the lighting was as convoluted as that over the
restaurant at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on 42nd Street
and wondered if the same decorator did both, but that didn’t help.
Finally, when Vanessa returned with the perfect martini I asked her
how long Medici 21 has been in existence. “Our grand opening was
last Wednesday.” “What was the name before this one?” “Regis
Royal.” That was it! I had been there, though I could not remember
what I dined on. “Do you remember who served you?” “No.”
“You’ll remember me.”
And
so I shall. With Vanessa’s help, I choreographed a three-course,
full Italian meal (they don’t make half-orders of pasta), and when
I told her I was thinking of combining various red wines by the
glass, she suggested a wine pairing. I agreed. Another server brought
the breadbasket with fabulous slices of focaccia, as well as Italian
bread and a small dish of virgin olive oil. Between delicious bites
of olive oil-coated focaccia and sips of martini from the elegant
stemmed glass, I eagerly awaited the first course.
The
braised rabbit was served on a long, narrow plate and seemed to be
flowing like lava from a Vesuvius of browned polenta. Peas and
Parmesean cheese decorated the volcano, with the tomato and olive oil
sauce adding to the illusion. The meat was shredded but tender, and,
when combined with the other flavors on the plate, it was wonderful!
The first wine was 2010 Josh Cellars Cabernet from North Coast,
California. It had a full flavor and fruitiness that offset the
rabbit dish nicely.
Next
was a dish I would not have ordered normally but was glad I did.
Pasta dishes usually tend to be large and I was trying to keep within
my capability. Ravioli is usually a smaller dish. The house-cut
ravioli with Italian fresh truffles stuffed with ricotta cheese and
served in a brown butter sauce with sage and pistachio nuts was the
perfect size. The four circular pasta patties were beautifully al
dente, and though the cheese added a sweet taste, the sage and
truffles moderated it into a deep forest-y, earthy flavor, smoothly
blended with the butter.
The
wine pared with this dish was the 2011 Hobnob Pinot Noir from France,
another excellent combination. This red was lighter than the Cabernet
and allowed the subtle flavors of the dish to take precedence while
it crowned it like a halo. I told Vanessa I might have chosen the
Montepulciano, but was perfectly happy with the Pinot Noir.
At
my last dining experience, the restaurant was sold out of rack of
lamb and Medici 21 had the dish. The bones of the two sections of
lamb were linked together like a bridge over the roasted squash,
beets, and carrots and overlaid with two sprigs of rosemary. Once
again the meat was tender and juicy and enticingly browned, and the
vegetables were still crunchy and flavorful. The third wine was the
2012 Trivento Malbec from Argentina (of course), whose rich flavor
and great nose enhanced this dish’s strong flavors.
Feeling
very pleased with myself on my choices and in finishing every dish I
was ready for dessert. Once again I fell to the lure of Crème
Brulée, and it did not disappoint. The familiar scalloped dish with
the appetizing, glass-like scorched sugar topping was sweet, creamy
and hot: just as it should be. I was becoming more Italianissimo as
the meal progressed, and the hefty snifter of Galliano with my double
espresso was the only thing that could cap this dining experience.
Medici
21 has many other dishes I know I would like to try in the future,
such as the veal chop or the pan roasted striped bass, and it’s
close to my office. So who knows? I may be back sooner than I think;
even if it changes names again.
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