Another wonderful week- September 21- 27, 2013

One of the greatest things about being “retired” is that I have time to do things I want to do when I want to do them and never had the freedom to do to when I had my beloved restaurant, Zarela because I felt that I needed and had to be there .  Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed most minutes of its 23 year existence but now I can go to a concert mid-week at night, go to dinner with friends and not feel guilty . I also get to spend more time with my grandchildren. But this week was great  professionally as well.

It started on Sunday when I presented one dish at the Jets Green Room thanks to Drew Nieporent, who is practically the first person I met when I first came to New York to do the event at Tavern on the Green, where he was banquet manager, in 1981 that launched my career, and his staff at 23-year old Tribeca Grill.  I am an avid football fan, so much so, that there was a time when I taped games for the off-season. I know it’s crazy but I do love the beauty of the sport. It still blows my mind that the quarterback can throw a ball 30 yards down field  to a specific place where the designated receiver will have gotten to that spot  by weaving in and out of paths or routes opened by his team mates who block the players from the other team from bringing him down. I don’t think that I am explaining this correctly in football terms but I hope you understand.  I love seeing games on television but feeling the excitement, hearing the cheers of a live game is fabulous.  Because it is Hispanic heritage Month, the brought in mariachis and of course I had to sing!

The last time I was in the Intrepid, I was a judge during Ship Week when chefs from different ships prepare their best dishes.  Jamie almost killed me for dragging him there. Though they did their best, this was no gourmet food and he had very exacting standards. My grandson, Yuma, loves trucks and I knew he’d love airplanes and helicopters too so I made a play date with fabulous magician Steve Cuiffo and his son Rainier and they had a ball.  It really is an incredible place to take kids of all ages. The exhibits are sensational and there are lots of interactive things for them to do.  We went into the 4-D show and Steve and I were holding on to the fast moving seats for dear life,  almost petrified, while the kids sat there completely blasé. It was a really fun day and sweet to hear the boys trying to pronounce “shuttle” and “helicopter!”

Since we trended on twitter lots and lots of  people have been signing up for updates on my website and I’ve been cooking every day  to feed me and zarela.com. This week I  made wild mushrooms in herbed vinaigrette, chorizo, tachogobi, salade nicoise and other dishes I have yet to post.  There is such a thing as too many posts so I reposted some of the most popular articles such as “If you really want to cook like me”  for the new audience.

I’m also working on this Day of the Dead post that will feature some of the best places  to visit during this mystical time. I will celebrate in Naolinco, Veracruz, with Chef  Jan Birnbaum whom I am taking on a tour of this marvelous state that I wrote  about in Zarela’s Veracruz which was a companion to my PBS series. Zarela! LA Cocina Veracruzana.  We will be cooking the menu of the day with Anthropologist/Chef/Restaurateur Raquel Torres Cerdan, one of the stars of my book at her new pop-up establishment named Nostalgia located at 20 de noviembre #206 in downtown Xalapa.

Wednesday was very special. We shot a piece for Fusion,  a new Univision/ABC television channel with a wonderful crew. I cannot wait to see the show that also includes Barbara Walters and others of the same ilk.

But it was the evening that would make an unforgettable experience:

As a member of the board of the Mexican Cultural Institute of NY, I go to a lot of wonderful events but none have touched me and inspired me as much as the performance of the Orchestra Esperanza Azteca. The trumpet solo of the very intricate Variations on “The Beautiful Snow by Vittorio Mont. The trumpet solo of the very complex Variations on “The Beautiful Snow by Vittorio Monti showed off the brilliant skill of tiny Moises Adolfo Tlaxcaltecatl Flores. Following was another spine-tingling violin solo by Javier Alonso Medina Solis but Isaac Maldonado Cevallos brought the house down with his rendition of Besame Mucho. While it was amusing to see such a young boy sing such a romantic song, it brought tears to my friend’s eyes and all agreed that one day he will be a major opera star.

Just as pleasing to me was to see that a Mexican company has committed to this cause and many other issues that affect the Mexican people and hopes to expand the program to South America.Bravo Fundacion Azteca!
Check out their website. http://www.fundacionazteca.com , http://www.esperanzaazteca.com

Thursday. I went to visit my daughter-in-law, Victoria, and my new grandson, Wolfram Bruce Sanchez, with Annie Sigal Medina, who has been like a daughter to me for more than 20 years and Robyn Coval, a newer but dearer friend who is a partner in Bowery Kitchen supplies. I  took the Nicoise salad and Peggy Knickerbockers wonderful and wonderfully easy to make French lentil salad. And little Wolfie let us visit grunting away in his Moses just like his father used to do  when he was his age instead of crying.

I am blessed, indeed: And then this article: http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/menu/2013/chef-zarela–80428.html

I hope that I can open the PDF of the interior. It is very cool!

I could not figure out how to paste the interior but here is the link.

And to round out a beautiful week, I was invited for a chef’s tasting menu at Michael’s, a New York/Santa Monica institution, and asked Mark Jacobson , reporter/author/movie maker and the funniest yet deepest and most versatile man I know, to share the meal with me.. Good friend, great conversationalist. A real treat as was the delicious meal:  Pumpkin soup, fabulous razor clams, crab cakes, Korean tacos (why not? I’ve accepted the  fact that tacos and quesadillas are now part of the US cuisine vernacular.) That was followed by crispy arctic salmon on a bed of red cabbage with bacon. and a good sea bass.

I just updated my iphone and could not get the camera to work so no food shots sorry.

The rest of my time is spent working on this website and sundry other projects! And it’s worth it> II love sharing this with you if you are interested. in what’s going on in my life and the special places I get to go to and the experiences I live with special people whom I love and enjoy .