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10/19/2006 Archived Entry: "Personal Appearances"

SELIANO COMES TO WESTFIELD, NEW JERSEY
I was playing with Google Earth a while back. That’s the website where you can, through a satellite camera, focus in on any place on earth, even your own house. I put “Tenuta Seliano” in the search engine and, astoundingly, I got the Classic Thyme cooking school in Westfield. That’s because I have brought Seliano to Westfield before. I suppose I should write to Google Earth and tell them that Tenuta Seliano is actually in Paestum, Italy. By the way, if you go to Paestum on Google Earth, and you know where to look, you will find Seliano, easily identified by the large pink villa on the property, in 1943 and ’44 headquarters for Allied Force officers, and the very blue, large swimming pool.

Anyway, I am again going to try to transport you to Seliano at Classic Thyme. I will be conducting a class there -- 161 East Broadstreet Ave. in Westfield -- on Saturday night, November 11, at 7 p.m. Actually, I like to think of it as “dinner and show,” not a class. I will play some Neapolitan music as you enter and pour you an aperitivo (my newly discovered “cocktail”), show some slides of Tenuta Seliano, where I conduct classes and tours in Paestum, Italy; tell some stories, and cook dinner right before your eyes. We pour wine, too. There are still a few places available. Call 908-232-5445 for reservations. The fee is $100, but everyone tells me that I give them their money’s worth.

ATTENTION PHILLY AND ENVIRONS …
I will be talking about “New York City Food: An opinionated history with legendary recipes,” my last book, at the Blank Rome Festival of Arts, Books and Culture, held at the Katz Jewish Community Center in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, on Wednesday, Nov. 8, at 10 a.m. After my mini-lecture, I will be there to meet and greet and sign copies of the book, as well as my other books, “Soup Suppers” and “Naples at Table: Cooking in Campania.” The cost is $8 in advance (not just to see me, but for the whole day-long event), $10 at the door. Call 856-424-4444, ext 292 for advance tickets. Credit cards are accepted. The Katz JCC is at 1301 Springdale Rd., Cherry Hill.

Both these events are listed on the Appearance page of this website.

NEW DATES AT KINGS SUPERMARKET
I always enjoy my groups at Kings, and working in their wonderful Cookingstudio facilities in Short Hills and Bedminster. My next sessions there will be Tuesday January 9, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., in Bedminster, then Wednesday, February 7, 11 to 2 p.m., in Short Hills. These classes are small and always fill up fast, so I am giving you plenty of advanced notice. I will be cooking dishes that I have found in my recent travels through southern Italy, doing research for my next book, which is tentatively called “The Big Book of Southern Italian Food & Wine.” I’ll be cooking a Pistachio and Seafood Risotto from Sicily, Pizza Rustica with vegetables from Tenuta Seliano, the farm-inn where I conduct my cooking school, Beef Straccetti with Rosemary and Garlic (thin, super-quickly cooked “rags” of meat), and for dessert, my new favorite, Spuma di Ricotta (Ricotta Mousse). For reservations in Short Hills, call 973-258-4009. For Bedminster, call 908-719-4966.

BENE MAGAZINE
Forgive the pun, but you get more than your $60 worth of “bene-fits” by joining Bene magazine’s Bene Club. The quarterly publication’s focus is on Italian life and style, including travel and food, of course, and the Bene Club is for anyone who is an Italophile. My old friend Geri Brin, who was my colleague at the Daily News when we were young upstarts, is the publisher, and she is seeing to it that you won’t regret joining. Among the “bene-fits” (oh, how Daily News that is) she already has lined up are discounts on Italian food products from Buon Italia, the fabulous Italian food source in the Chelsea Market, discounts when you order from Dean & Deluca online, free travel advice from an Italian expert … well, I can’t list it all here. Go to the magazine website, www.benemagazine.com, and see how it works. You’ll also get a glimpse into the editorial content of the magazine. If you join, you'll also be able to join me for an elegant Italian dinner in May.