| ||||||||||||||
BOOK REVIEW:SIRIO: The Story of My Life and Le Cirque
Sirio: The Story of My Life and Le Cirqueby Sirio Maccioni and Peter Elliott John Wiley and Sons, 2004 Six decades of stuffing food into me leads me to conclude there are really two types of eating places. The first, accessible to 95% of the public, are places you go to eat; the other 5% are places you go to be seen. The latter are famous for their food, their chef, or their owner-host. Getting into the joint is the main challenge to dining in these places. After one is admitted, then you are studied briefly and if you are important to the host for any number of criteria, you will be given a table and will be expected to order and act as the wait staff expects.
This autobiographical book has a lot of recipes that attest to the Maccioni mastery of ingredients and presentation. These take up a good part of the book's 386 pages. Peter Elliott has tried to distill the essence of the volatile Tuscan personality of Sirio and forgives him his excesses. Between the lines you can appreciate Maccioni’s commitment to his trade, his honesty and candor. He is the epitome of what a host should be, which is part of the Italian tradition of service and respect. A few celebrity tidbits: Frank Sinatra differed on Le Cirque's food preparation and semi-boycotted the place; and, while at the first Reagan inaugural, Maccioni, when asked, admitted to being less than an ardent supporter of the results of that election. Note that Serio never volunteered that bit of information, but when asked he was honest. From my time peddling wine, I know how competitive restaurants can be, how factors beyond an owner’s control can affect a business, and how burned-out an owner can be. Most owners have to deal with staff, unions, providers, landlords and partners silent and otherwise. The Maccionis have succumbed to the latest trend of multiple locations, with the typical problems that come from loss of total quality control. Still, because Serio's family are not the chefs, they can be expected to manage multiple locations better than chef-run establishments that try to expand. I must confess, having dined at some of the best places in Italy, I have no desire to eat at Le Cirque for the food. If I’m in New York, it’s a good Jewish deli or a steak house like the Palm or Peter Lugar’s for me, but I’ve always wondered how it would be at “21” or Le Cirque. I’ve daydreamed about selling them some wine or going there with my publisher. All who’d like "the Le Cirque treatment" would appreciate reading this book. Enjoy. Joe Rosenberg is a noted Baltimore oeniphile and bon vivant.
Copyright © 2004 The Baltimore Chronicle.
All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Baltimore Chronicle content is expressly prohibited without their prior written consent. This story was published on December 28, 2004. |
Local News & Opinion
Ref. : Local Newsbriefs Travel
Films, Arts & Education
Letters
Ref. : Letters to the editor Open Letters:
06.24 Mr. Holder, You Must Hold Torturers Accountable Health & Environment
06.29 Thinking about Climate 06.26 False Health-Scare Ad on CNN 06.25 Louella Learns the Limits of Medicare 06.23 The Simple Answer to America’s Health Care Crisis: Medicare for All 06.23 Tell ABC: Include Single-Payer in Healthcare Debate 06.23 Serving the Medical-Industrial Complex 06.22 Thinking about Recoveries 06.20 Obama's Health Care Waterloo 06.15 Obama, Like Clinton Before Him, is Blowing the Chance for Real Health Care Reform 06.11 Two Key Health-Care Numbers 06.10 Big Breakthroughs for Single Payer Health Care 06.10 Readying Americans for Dangerous, Mandatory Vaccinations Media Watching
06.29 WP's Connolly Back, on Health Reform 06.17 Hypocrisy and Hope: Western Coverage, Iranian Courage 06.15 Excusing Outrages of the Right 06.11 Tying Obama to Bush's Budget Mess US Politics, Policy & Culture
06.30 Obama's Torture Hypocrisy 06.30 Court Circular: Annals of Imperial Continuity 06.29 Obama, They Want You to Fail 06.26 Who to Trust on a Truth Commission? 06.26 Tarnished Shields: The Morally Bankrupt 'Family Values' Republican Leadership 06.25 America's "Bases of Empire" 06.24 Twelve Angry White People: Jury Nullification in a Pennsylvania Coal Town 06.24 Touring Empire's Ruins 06.23 Employers are Undermining the Economic Stimulus Program 06.19 Criminalizing Dissent: Obama Pot Calls Iranian Kettle Black 06.17 Afghanistan's Operation Phoenix 06.16 Are You Ready for War with a Demonized Iran? 06.13 Where's the Anger as the Wheels Come Off Obama's and the Democrats' Recovery Program? 06.10 Waiving the Rules for Old Glory 06.10 Obama's Era of Openness Is Closed High Crimes?
07.03 Reviewing Marjorie Cohn and Kathleen Gilberd's "Rules of Disengagement" 07.01 Iraq: A Bitter Strategic Failure 06.25 It's All Good, Again: 'Uptick' in the American-Made Tides of Violence in Iraq 06.22 Obama Opposes Plame-gate Release 06.21 Dexter's Legions: The "Good" Killers of the "Good" War 06.18 Extending the Tradition: Proudly Taking American Torture Into the Future 06.15 New UN Report Denounces America's Human Rights Record 06.14 Fear Rules Economics & Business Non/Mis/Malfeasance
07.01 Michael Hudson's "Super Imperialism:" The Economic Strategy of Imperial America 06.23 Obama's Financial Reform Proposal - A Stealth Scheme for Global Monetary Control 06.10 Cyberscares About Cyberwars Equal Cybermoney International
07.01 Pirates of the Mediterranean 06.29 Color Revolutions, Old and New 06.25 Iran Divided & the 'October Suprise' 06.23 Astringent Corrective: AbuKhalil on Iran's Turmoil 06.20 Are the Iranian Protests Another US Orchestrated “Color Revolution?” 06.20 Through a Glass Darkly: Sifting Myth and Fact on Iran 06.19 Iran's Election and US - Iranian Elections 06.16 The Ir-Af-Pak War: Obama Looses the Manhunters 06.12 Israeli War Crimes Against Children During Operation Cast Lead We are a non-profit Internet-only newspaper publication founded in 1973. Your donation is essential to our survival.
|
| ||||||||||||