vip in the city

Reading and drinking in DUMBO

At the powerHouse Arena in DUMBO tonight to attend “Read & Drink Night,” a literary fundraiser to benefit the library of Brooklyn’s P.S. 107. Edible Brooklyn’s editor Gabrielle Langholtz hosted the readings and discussion by three Brooklyn-based authors of recently published books on food and drink.

It’s been years since I attended a bona-fide school bake sale; this one was organized by P.S. 107’s Parent Teacher Association. To accompany our (very good) slices of homemade banana bread, a server ladled out from a large, orange plastic paint bucket, cups of a lethal Cognac/10 Cane Rum/tea punch — mixed to 1690s Bombay government regulations by featured cocktail historian David Wondrich, who knows well of which he writes.

First up: Phoebe Damrosch, whose memoir Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter was released in September 2007. Damrosch read from portions of her book documenting her time as a server for Thomas Keller’s Per Se; her extensive months-long training involved memorizing wine pairings, receiving intricate movement instruction from an 18th-century dance specialist, and learning the provenance of menu ingredients down to “the names of the cows that produced the milk from which our butter was made.” The most entertaining bits were the gossipy snapshots of diners passing through the rarified restaurant; one priceless anecdote involved Damrosch gleefully bonding with one suburban banker over their mutual love of “pot”… before realizing that he in fact expressed a fondness for “pie.” (Uh, whoops.)

Kara Zuaro’s book I Like Food, Food Tastes Good: In the Kitchen with Your Favorite Bands is a collection of recipes gathered from touring rock musicians. Zuaro read from the book’s introduction, and from one of the stories that precede each band’s recipe. I was impressed by the breadth and high profile of her musical subjects: recipes ranged from simple sandwiches (Death Cab for Cutie’s vegan sausage and peanut butter creation) to a wild boar ragù from The Violent Femmes’ bass player Brian Ritchie. (Surprisingly, however, not a single pot brownie in the bunch.)

Finally, former Classics professor, current contributing editor Esquire Wondrich read from Imbibe!, his biography of 19th-century mixologist Jerry Thomas, author of the first known bartending guide, How to Mix Drinks or The Bon Vivant’s Companion (1862). Wondrich made an amusing argument about how the cocktail was America’s first great export, and the country’s introductory contribution to world gastronomic culture.

The audience Q&A was mercifully brief, and spawned a brief discussion over the use of the term “foodie” vs. “foodist” to describe a certain type of food-obsessed individual. Afterwards, the authors (Zuaro and Damrosch pictured below) made themselves available for book-signings:

When in DUMBO, pizza at Grimaldi’s is always a solid choice. And sometimes, you can pick up a nice couple along the way.

Tags: Books, DUMBO, fundraisers, pizza, readings

St. Pats for All Parade 2008

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Everyone knows about the city’s main St. Patrick’s Day parade that takes place along Fifth Avenue on March 17. Since 2000, though, another smaller St. Patrick’s Parade & Irish Fair — dubbed St. Pat’s for All — is held along Skillman Avenue in western Queens weeks earlier. The parade begins in the traditionally Irish community of Sunnyside and ends in Woodside.

Brendan Fay, founder of the Lavender and Green Alliance, a group serving the needs of the Irish GLBT community, organized the inclusive parade after being arrested at the city’s main St. Patrick’s Day festivities in 1999. This year’s St. Pat’s for All took place on Sunday, March 2 and featured the usual Irish heritage groups (bagpipers, the Irish Arts Center, step dancers from The Niall O’Leary School of Irish Dance, whom we saw perform last fall at CultureFest) as well as local politicians, community and labor groups, gay rights organizations, Protestant, Muslim and Jewish groups, and not-obviously (or obviously not) Irish groups like Sunset Park’s Quetzalcoatl Group with its colorfully attired Mexican folk dancers and the wonderfully charming Keltic Dreams, a clogging troupe from P.S. 59 in the Bronx, whose student body is 71 percent Hispanic and 27 percent black.

Even canines got to participate, courtesy of S.U.D.S., the Sunnyside United Dog Society:

There was constant music in the air, and I was probably most surprised (and psyched) to hear “Hit Me Baby One More Time” for marching brass band… though in retrospect, I would have saved myself some embarrassment if I’d kept that sentiment to myself. No “Danny Boy“ though.

Check out the full photo set on flickr!

Tags: bagpipes, parade, St. Patrick's Day, Sunnyside, Woodside

Celebrating citizenship

At CL’s invitation, I attended my first ever naturalization ceremony this Wednesday morning. Over 350 people from 55 countries (including one active member of the U.S. Armed Forces) were sworn in as United States citizens at Stuyvesant High School’s Murray Kahn Auditorium. The event was hosted by the Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Emilio T. González (himself a naturalized citizen); the keynote address was delivered by Taiwanese-born U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao, who with her father Dr. James S. C. Chao, was being presented with an Outstanding American by Choice Award. According to the USICS, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, the award is designed to recognize naturalized citizens who have made significant contributions to both their community and their adopted country.

Stuyvesant’s principal Stanley Teitel (at the podium) offered the welcoming remarks.

After the Honor Guard from Lt. B.R. Kimlau Chinese Memorial Post 1291 presented the colors, the Stuyvesant Concert Chorus performed a selection of patriotic songs, including “The Star Spangled Banner,” “This is My Country” and “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor,” a tune with lyrics drawn from Emma Lazarus‘ 1833 sonnet “The New Colossus,” whose famous lines appear on a plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

And then, the moment most had been waiting for: the ceremony itself. As the names of each country represented were read aloud, the range of nations stood as testimony to the richness of America’s variety and its continuing status as a country of immigrants.

The oath was administered solemnly, with the new citizens raising their right hands to repeat the words:

“I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the armed forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.“

It was all very moving. When it was done, there were smiles, tears, and cheers as the newly naturalized citizens waved miniature American flags amidst hearty applause and the flashing of cameras. Several leaped out of their chairs and hugged, and many turned to the rear auditorium where their friends and family were seated, beaming broad smiles.

Two of Stuy’s own, Chinese immigrants Minglian Pan, 17, and Yimei Hu, 15, (standing far right on stage in the photo above) were naturalized that morning, and after being presented with their certificates of citizenship, led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Secretary Chao (not always the most sympathetic of characters) delivered a heartfelt speech as she accepted her award as the first Asian-American woman to be appointed to a presidential cabinet. In it, she related part of the story — just one of hundreds in the room — of how her Taiwanese parents came to make their lives in the United States through struggle and hard work, driven by the desire to better the lot of their children.

Chao’s voice choked with emotion as she dedicated her award to her mother, Ruth Mulan Chu Chao, who passed away last August after a 7-year battle against lymphoma.

America’s newest citizens:

Tags: citizenship, Stuyvesant