'Return to Paradise' - after 18 months of being home, I'm finally back at work and making plans to return to my Paradise - France

 In 1953, Dimitri Tiomkin wrote a score and a song for a Gary Copper movie of the same name 'Return to Paradise'. Nate 'King' Cole made a hit with his recording and I remember playing it over and over again, dreaming of my travels to 'Paradise.'

Although the move and the song were about a South Seas Island adventure, the song always in my mind was about any locale that too me was Paradise. In this  case, Europe, but more importantly, France. 

I think we all harbor a dream of our Paradise and hope that the awful Covid days will be a long ago past, that you now are thinking about traveling to your paradise. 

So, as the song says:

" Come with me and find,

Your peace of mind. Return to Paradise' 

 

Glyn Houston - One of England's great character actors dies at 93 - 'Soon long, Bunter'...

Glyn Houston, a versatile actor who often played soldiers, sailors and police officers in movies and television dramas on BBC passed away today.
His best roles and my favorite was the perfect valet in the Lord Peter Wimsey mystery series on BBC.

Mr. Bunter served as Lord Peter Wimsey's Butler during  WW1 and remained in his service long after the war. 
Mr. Houston ( Bunter) had everything right. The lower class look combined with the upper class hauteur-,his character had special talents and impeccable  service in all contingencies, whether mixing the perfect cocktail, reciting railway timetables or acting as a sounding board during trips in one of the Lord's sports cars, an of course the most able assistant during murder investigations. 

I watch over and over, all the Lord Peter Wimsey television shows, it was still to this day, my favorite TV series!

Where is the life I lead, the life I ate? Green Goddess dressing

In the 1950's, one of my favorite ( still is) was the Green Goddess dressing.

The origins are a bit of a mystery - It may have been invented at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco during the 1920'as or whipped up in the court of Louis XIII in France - but it has endured ( at least in the Lewis history) as one of the most delectable concoctions to put on salads.

I think the truest story is that it was invented by chef Philip Roemer  in 1923 to honor the actor, George Arliss, who stayed at the hotel ( San Francisco) while performing in the William Archer hit play "The Green Goddess".

The secret of this fabulous dressing is of course  Anchovies...

Oh! how I miss seeing that dressing on menu's today..

The little pleasures of the Bow Tie, BUT...

To wear a bow Tie is something I have done for most of my life and has given me great pleasure.
I love bow ties in its many hues and colors and patterns. Ir has been and remains a great source of aesthetic pleasure. 
BUT, sporting a  bow tie and a pocket square in the same pattern is something that I don't (and anyone into men's fashion would agree) one does not approve!!!

Very, very non-upper!

Edwardians (and I think of myself as a 21-Century Edwardian) never stop eating

From the time they rose, to even the times they awoke in the middle of the night, food was ready and available. It ran from hors d’oeuvres, soups ( cream and clear) salads, vegetables, meats-poultry, game, beef, pork, seafood, puddings, breads, savories ( ah! White Spanish Sardines on toast I die for) and fruits and of course wine to compliment each course. If this seems too much, then a week or two at the German watering spots like Baden-Baden would take the  'cure' for  any malady you might have from over-eating.

Oh! To have lived at the turn of the 19^th Century in London and yes, even France.

That was the time of the Golden Age of Gastronomy , not the lack luster, silly, pretentious  meals we are presented today.

For god’s sake, stop dressing like a child…

Its not only in American, but worldwide, the triumph of global grunge – from the cafes of Europe to Beverly Hills and even staid Boston, everywhere in fact, the slovenly look is indeed in. It’s not only in, but it is the new chic look for those who dress for success.

From cargo shorts to tank tops to flip[-flops, people have forgotten how to dress – they turn up everywhere as though they’d just walked in from a tailgating party.

What the hell is going on in the world with men? Not only that, men no longer know how to behave; but what can I say, if you dress like a child (Do you hear me Silicon Valley and Mr. Zuckerberg), chances are you’re going to act like one.

Oh, OH! How I miss the days of high-end restaurants, when they had loaner ties and blazers for forgetful men and you could be turned away from a club for a slack outfit.  Style, low budget and comfort are not mutually exclusive, so keep that in mind if you’re older than 12. And yes, get a shave and comb your hair, it's then and only then that I’ll talk to you.

Andre Previn – He was a constant genial presence on the Podium

The loss of Andre Previn hit me today a bit more harder than usual; when a personality of my past and present passes away. More and more today it seems.

Mr. Previn with his ease and charm and his immense musical gifts, was a presence in my life for many years.

He bestrode three worlds of music- the Hollywood scoring, jazz and the classical world.

As a child of the movies in the 1950’s/60’s, I was well aware of the glorious music coming out of Hollywood. In fact, I believe that music for the movies is an important part of our musical culture as is the world of classical music.

I rate the great pioneers of Hollywood music – Steiner, Waxman, Young, Bernstein ( both Elmer and Leonard), Goldsmith, North, Gold, Newman, Tiomkin, Friedhofer and so many more, right up there with Handel, Beethoven, Mozart..( forget Mozart,)  and my all-time favorite – Ravel.

I have attended in my 70 plus years – hundreds of classical music concerts and yet there is only one that has stayed with me as so fresh and so earthshaking as the one conducted with the Los Angeles Symphony orchestra with Andre Previn on the podium, it was Ravel's ‘Daphne and Chloe.’

Musically speaking, classical music that is, for me, that was the greatest performance in my life, do in no part to Andre Previn’s conducting. Maybe because Ravel is highly romantic, and Mr. Previn came out of the Hollywood romantic era of films, that he had that gift.

I will miss him dearly….

Once there was a city here and now its gone, there are almost no traces of it anymore...Beverly Hills

...but a few of us knew it, because we lived in it and loved it..

In Beverly Hills , Carroll and Co,for over 70 years , the iconic men's clothing store that set the bar for classic menswear ( a store I shopped at since I was a teenager) as did my father and grandfather is closing its doors. It was founded in 1949 by former Warner  Brothers publicist Richard Carroll ( whom was a pal of my uncle, Elliott Gordon) whose clientele was the who's who of Hollywood. 

For years Beverly Hills has been going downhill  in so many ways and this puts the final nail in it's coffin.

I loved this city;  in the 1950's it was not a city really, but just a village, one might say. But now the classic stores, restaurants and bars are  long gone. The good life, lived so well is also gone; the city has become vulgar, if you must know. 

Beverly Hills is gone...hammered into the dust by time, progress, accident and especially greed.

Harry Warren and MGM musicals - they don't make them like this anymore

Eating ( or dining that is) and sleeping are the only activities that should be allowed to interrupt a man's enjoyment of his cigar - Mark Twain

One of the great pleasures and memories of my life is having a cigar with my grandfather. He took its upmost pleasure of it, sitting in his den and quietly smoking it  (it took about 45 minutes) smoking should be done alone or with someone you admire and in quiet and in reflective state of mind.
He always said and impressed on me, that a cigar ought not to be smoked solely with the mouth, but with the hand, the eyes and with the spirit.

As a teenager ( too young to smoke at that point) one of my highlights was to accompany my grandfather to his favorite cigar store and see a visiting member of the Ramon Allones ( his cigar of choice) factory from Cuba (before the embargo)  showing patrons how they rolled their cigars. What a craft!
One of the great memories and one of the great civilized things to do.  

"By the cigars they smoke and the composers they love, ye shall know the texture of men's souls' - John Galsworthy

Robert Burns night at my favorite restaurant in the world.

Wiltons in London is my all-time favorite restaurant in the world and later this month they will celebrate as they have done since 1801 (the restaurant has been open since 1742!,) Robert Burns night. They will as always have their six course dinner to honor the life and poetry of Scottish born Robert Burns.

Just a few dishes to be presented

Loch Ryan Oyster

Tartare of smoked salmon

Cock-a-leekie soup

Haggis with neeps and tatties

Scottish venison and more

...Wines and single malt whisky of course to accompany

"The snowdrop and primrose our woodlands adorn and violets bathe in the wet o' the morn'

I'm back after a long time away...

Actors who have given me much pleasure - we lost one this morning - Saeed Jaffrey - a Jewel of the International Cinema

I grew up; a child of the movies  having much love and respect for many foreign actors, especially ones whose voice and diction thrilled me to no end. Such actors as Philip Ahn, Phillippe Noiret, Alistair Sim, Terry-Thomas, Jean Rochefort, Sydney Greenstreet and so many others. The death this morning of the British/Indian actor, Saeed Jaffrey has sadden my life a bit more.
Mr. Jaffrey was a character actor of enormous accomplishment, urbane wit and avuncular charm.  His very unparochial career let him straddle two different kinds of cinema - Hindi and English language and to all her brought intelligence, a lifetimes' accumulation of technique and style and a seduction, resonant voice. I shall miss him,, but was happy that I was alive to experience his screen performances. 

I am off to France on Saturday............What ho!, What Joy!

And as one of my favorite childhood literary characters ( Mr. Toad of Toad Hall) put it so well, I leave you with this:
"AH! The open road, the dusty highway, the heath, the common, the hedgerows, the rolling downs! Camps, villages, towns, cities! Here to-day, up and off to somewhere else to-morrow! Travel, change, interest, excitement! The whole world before you, and a horizon that’s always changing!

The Full English - One of Life's Simple Pleasures

Sid Caesar rembered

Today is the 1st anniversary of Sid Caesar's death.
I grew up watching in the early 1950's his ' Your Show Of Shows' and still to this day , I find him one if not one of the funnest performers I ever saw. His classic sketch ( done in April of 1954) a take of on 'This is Your Life"; still remains one of the funnest moments in television.
But looking back this morning. Sid Caesar did more than just make you laugh.

When people remember the shows, they not only remember the comedy, they remember their parents, grandparents, brothers, sister, aunts and uncles.
They remember a time when everyone was together and everyone was laughing.
...whatever was going on at home,for at least an hour and a half on Saturday night, people got to laugh and they got to see their parents laugh.
A shared laughter that we don't see anymore.

They don't make em like this anymore and they don't have stars like this anymore....SIGH!!!!!!!

That Face!- Audrey Hepburn

The world today is a bit sadder for the loss of Tom Magliozzi - Part of the Car Talk Radio out of Boston on NPR

Tom Magliozzi, one of public radio's most popular personalities, died on Monday of complications from Alzheimer's disease. He was 77 years old. Tom and his brother, Ray, became famous as "Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers" on the weekly NPR show Car Talk. They bantered, told jokes, laughed and sometimes even gave pretty good advice to listeners who called in with their car troubles. If there was one thing that defined Tom Magliozzi, it was his laugh. It was loud, it was constant, it was infectious.
In a world of madness these days, here was two gentlemen, on every Saturday morning, who made you laugh with delight and I even don't care about cars, but listened in, because they brought humor for a few hours to a world of distress and sourness. 

House of Cards, the best political thriller ever on BBC.

  Forget the USA version with Keven Spacey, it could not hold a candle to it 

"You might think that, I couldn't possibly comment"

If David Niven could sing, he'd be Matt Monro

In the later part of the 20th Century and certainly into the 21st, in music, rhythm has over taken melody and that is a sad loss.
For me, I was fortunate to have lived in a bygone age of great singers, great songwriters, great arrangers and of course, the best were  Nat Cole, Frank Sinatra and Matt Monro.
This morning I am remembering Matt ( who died far too young) and his purity of voice and no imperfection in his singing. He was, ( to put it in the language of the early 1960's) like Sinatra; the James Bond of easy listening. 

Legendary fashion designer Oscar de la Renta, whose beautifully made evening wear was beloved by the fashion world died last night

When you talk about style and grace  in today's coarse and vulgar world, certainly one of the great stars not only in fashion, but in humanity, the name Oscar de la Renta will always come up.
His death leaves the world a bit less stylish today and I am only going to say, what another great and stylish designer once remarked when asked about his designing for women. 
He said "If you look at the women who wears my dress and you only see the dress and not her, then I have failed as a designer"
Mr. de la Renta certainly made you see the women who wore his dresses.

Who’s killing the great sauces of France? The answer is simple..Today’s Chefs.

It seems to me that chefs today; even in France, don't use rouxs or a lot of the classic sauces anymore ( if at all). The question to me then becomes “Are we better off or are we worse off?”                            Worse, oh so much worse. 

Today we have a cult of (so-called) culinary stars, but I bet, if I went to them and asked them to make a classic consommé or classic velouté or hollandaise-based sauce, and God forbid to ask them to create, an Nantua, Chasseur or Espagnole sauce, could any of them do it? NO!! Most of these are culinary school graduates, whether it's Johnson & Wales or CIA or another school, but I'm sad to say that a lot of them (maybe most of them) probably couldn't without being shown how. That's kind of sad. For a great classic sauce does not conceal, ……………………but revels a dish.

 So, I always judge a chef on how he cooks a roast chicken and how he can make at least 5 classic sauces, if he can’t, no matter how famous he is, to me, it is not worth sampling his food. As a teenager, my bothers and I would cook up a large pot of Béarnaise sauce and sit in front the TV and devour it. My sauce training started early and has continued for over 60 years. Chefs that I see today are a fussy lot and their tasteless food shows it. Its all show and no taste. In this age of I can’t eat this or that, I say Phoew!

 I refuse to spend my life worrying about what I eat. There is no pleasure worth forgoing just for an extra three years in the geriatric ward. 

 Oh! Mr. Escoffier, where are you today?

Too Late Blues - A Requiem for the 1960's and the loss of elegance and glamour in our lives

When I hear the recording of Percy Faith and especially this song, I am transported back to the early 1960’s, the last era in the United States that embodied glamour and charm. And Percy Faith for me defined that era with his lush and romantic music. How lucky I was to be alive then.

His recordings were a distinct counterpoint to the gritty blues and edgier and uglier rock music of the mid 60's, which reflected the turbulent social shift of the era. His orchestral music was a reflection on what we wanted the world to be--beautiful, ordered, no notes out of place. Alas, it was not meant to be and romance was thrown out with other outmoded ideas like respect, civility, and action rather than protest. Sometimes, my memories embellish the memory far more than it originally was! But, its my thoughts, so who cares, except me. 

This recording has been on CD player for the last 4 hours and it is as lush and perfect as I remembered. it is music for a grand, sweeping romance. It reminds me that a woman looks ever so much more seductive in a form-fitting black dress and elbow-length white gloves than she does in a midriff shirt, jeans with a 3" rise, and be-jeweled flip-flops. It is music that never scored a divorce, break-up of family, hate or dissent. It scored looking into someone's eyes and feeling that spark of chemistry, that jolt of sexual energy, all while having the grace and style to wait until the time and mood was just right. This music might move you to tears if you're of a certain age  or it might move you to dance with your darling. It will move you nonetheless, with its deceptively lush strings and horns that belie musicianship far deeper than cotillion dresses and white dinner jackets. If you love romantic and elegant, superbly crafted orchestral music, you will love this music. Thank you, Percy Faith.

The MGM Musical Sound and its Genius - Connie Salinger

The overwhelming resurgence of interest in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie musicals, as spearheaded by young British conductor John Wilson and his Orchestra, is one of the great success stories of recent years. 
With sell-out UK tours, huge record sales, and an annual televised showcase during the BBC Proms season, Wilson’s achievements have led to an increased awareness and appreciation of the talented craftsmen that originally created this timeless music back in the 1940s and ‘50s in Hollywood musicals. 
Chief among these talents was M-G-M’s resident musical genius – master arranger and orchestrator, Conrad Salinger. 
Regarded by his esteemed colleague Sir Andre Previn as being “the greatest arranger who ever worked in the movies,” Salinger’s signature style of orchestration helped establish the classic, lush M-G-M sound, which is still wowing the crowds over 60 years later. “He made those musicals sound his way, no matter who the songwriter was,” acknowledged Sir Andre Listen to the Salinger sound at its best with the Broadway Melody performed by John Wilson and the orchestra.

(excuse the commercial insert - Jeez) 

Hail to the Cigar and Cigar Smoker - How rare we are these days

The best adventure stories used to start in the smoking-room after dinner. The hero, would throw another log on the fire, settle back in a deep arm-chair and light up his favorite cigar. There would be a long pause while he lit up and then he'd say to his companion: 'Did I ever tell you how we caught up with that German spy, Richter?' 

 There was something ritualistic and reassuring about that pause while he lit up. Whatever the thrills and spills along the way he was still alive to tell the tale – and to take a deep puff before he did so. The cigar has survived as a potent symbol. Its aroma still lingers in men’s clubs; men still draw comfort from the ritual of selecting, storing, cutting and smoking it. 

The Oldest established of all in London (and my go to place for great cigars for many many years) is Robert Lewis of 19 St James's Street, SW1, established in 1787. With a regular stock of over £500,000 worth of cigars in their basement, Robert Lewis can justifiably claim to carry one of the largest and widest ranges of cigars anywhere. 

Here you will find Cuban Havana cigars are the best-sellers, but also supply cigars made in Jamaica, the Canary Islands, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico.

Three customers who must have been particularly well-recognized were Edward VII, Sir Winston Churchill and Groucho Marx. Churchill bought most of his cigars there from 1900 to 1964, while Napoleon III presented the firm with a plaque, and Edward Vlll bequeathed them his own cigar box. 

 The most important aspect of cigar appeal is ritual. Like food, religion, marriage, death or politics, man quickly clothes most of his activities in ritual if he possibly can.

 Another crucial factor in the allure of cigar smoking must be romance: and nowhere can there be a more romantic name for a cigar than the best-known of all, Romeo y Julieta. The name is magical!!!

No doubt Freud could have expounded at length on what that precise need really is. Meanwhile, the cigar smokers will tell you that it's all quite simply a matter of taste and enjoyment. Cigar smokers really do enjoy puffing away and because their cigars clearly offer a familiar, reassuring pleasure all wrapped up in mystique, ritual, romance and filled, perhaps, with a little adventurous exploration along the way.

Thursday afternoon blues..........feeling romantic and remembering.....remembeing Matt Monroe

He’s known as a “Singer’s Singer”, a man who influenced generations of performers, from Karen Carpenter and Cass Elliot to Michael Bublé. Even Frank Sinatra, to whom Matt Monro was frequently compared, acknowledged his gifts. Yet, his success in the United States was modest, never coming close to his popularity in his native England. and yet, There are a few singers I go to, to feel romantic -Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Jack Jones ( in his prime) and Matt Monroe. How lucky I was, to see them while they were alive and if they only knew what an impression they made on me and my life...incalculable... One great song and two great singers..

The Importance of Self-Indulgence

Today I learned of a client/friend losing his battle with cancer and it made me once again, sit back and reflect on my life (it’s been great! I can tell you that) and what the future holds out for me. Dealing with the sad news, I once again, embraced the value of self-indulgence. The good life is good and one should always take the time and resource to treat oneself, not every once and awhile, but regularly. My late Edwardian grandfather taught me the value of enjoyment in savoring what ever you did, even the little things. Drinking fine whiskey, smoking a great cigar, sampling smoked salmon, or having a table set properly and laden with all the things you enjoy and above all, all of this should be an experience, in and for itself; one does not hurry and expect to enjoy the same results if one is rushed – you should embrace the mediation, the introspection of the products themselves. That’s the joy…….. Oscar Hammerstein once penned the classic, “A Few of my Favorite things”……….. Well mine are in part:
 ~ Hot Dogs in lamb casing
 ~ Ice cold Martini (gin, of course) along with a American club sandwich (the chicken must be poached) 
~ A huge bowl of Bearnaise sauce to dip crusty bread in while watching the movie 'Charade"
 ~ Hearing the most important 4 words in the world “Your table is Ready” 
 ~ Sole Meuniere at Le Dome in Paris 
 ~ Glass of crusted port and a Ramon Allones Lonsdale cigar 
 ~ A 6 button double-breasted Blazer and polka dot blue bow tie from Turnbull and Asher 
~ Dinner in a Pullman booth at Wiltons’ (London) during Grouse season 
~ Paris – anytime (except summer) 
~ The music of Tom Jobim and Frank Sinatra (together and apart)
~ Soft scrambled eggs with heavy cream and scallions ( lots and lots of scallions) 
~ smoked salmon and Gravlox and buckets of marinated, creamed and smoked herring
~ Kippers - drowning in butter
 ~ Lunch at the Thermes Marins Spa café L’Hirondelle in Monaco (ensconced in nothing but your robe) overlooking the Mediterranean while drinking a vintage Graves wine and feasting on curried pheasant. You have not lived until you have done this.
 ~…………..and so much more…………………..

My thought for today.............as the world has gone mad..my thoughts turn to pleasant things.

Happiness? A good cigar, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman - or a bad woman; it depends on how much happiness you can handle.”

Gosh..........Grace Kelly..........Today's stars have nothing, are nothing compared to her....

A cup of Coffee and a cigarette enjoyed by two Martians - a return to TV Happy days in the 1960's

I was never, even to this day, a fan of science fiction in either TV, movies nor books, but on the 13th of January, 1964, My friend Frank, wanted to watch the science fiction TV program, the Outer Limits and so, I said yes and that night, I watch it and on that program, was a story ( the only comedy, I understand, in the entire series) called Controlled Experiment, starring the late Carroll O Conner and Barry Morse, it was about two Martians ( coming to earth), equipped with a device for controlling time, try to understand the human phenomena of murder. They choose a crime of passion in the lobby of a shabby hotel. But what seems like a simple assignment rapidly runs out of control.  Well I was captivated, I must say. 
My favorite scene takes place when O'Connor introduces Morse to the Earth habits of coffee and cigarettes. Morse's delighted response is like a small child sampling cake and ice cream for the first time. I still laugh about it to this day, some 50 years later. 

Closing narration( I love it!) “ Who knows? Perhaps the alteration of one small event may someday bring about the end of the world. But that someday is a long way off, and until then there is a good life to be lived in the here and now.

"To eat well in England you should have breakfast three times a day." W. Somerset Maugham ..well that was true once upon a time, but

But, today, London enjoys a food renaissance and has some of the best restaurants in the world, these days.
But to my thinking, breakfast in England is still KING and will always be ( unless the health police and you know who you are!) muck it up. But util then, I will go on and on enjoying the Ten Deadly Sins" What is that you ask?
Why, its a breakfast consisting of Cumberland sausage, scrambled eggs, streaky and back bacon, black pudding, fried mushrooms, baked tomato, kidney, fried bread,and baked beans.

Underground secrets - London Silver Vaults

The London Silver Vaults opened as The Chancery Lane Safe Deposit in 1876. Originally renting out strong rooms to hold household, jewelry and documents, it transitioned to housing silver dealers in secure premises a few years later. It is located on Chancery Lane, London, WC2A 1QS. Open to the public, its worth the price of admission as they use to say to see all the silver and by the way, for fans of Downton Abbey, they bought from here all the silver you see on the TV program on the dining room tables.

Friday - As Fats Waller so rightly said - "Fish is still my favorite fish" ..so its Lobster tail with unctuous garlic mayonaise tonight

I have grown weary of young chefs ................................my rant for today...........

I grow weary of young chefs who lack the long-term commitment to their craft and expect the short road to success. This might be an unintended consequence of food television, hair mousse, tattoos and chemistry sets I suppose, not entirely sure. What I love most about what chefs do is the craftsmanship and the time they put into it. The magic of true cooking, all of it takes time and commitment to craftsmanship , overnight success ( are you listening young chefs?) is a 20-year journey. I also loath pretense, I have been around too long to suffer though it, to tolerate it and will run like a scalded dog to avoid it. True Chefs cook, they serve, they invite people into their lives to enjoy and experience their love of cooking and hospitality. Self-importance has no place in that.

                                                     (The late Keith Floyd)

A thought for this Tuesday, 02 September, 2014

"If I don't like the way the times are moving, I shall refuse to accompany them' 
                                     - H.E. Lewis

The Glorious Twelfth in England............and I ain't talking about Christmas.............

In just a few weeks, there is no other place on earth ( Sorry France, I love you but....) that I'd rather eat than in England, because?...Because its the start of the Grouse season. Roast grouse with braised  red cabbage and game chips, grouse pie, damson and cobut salad with Crozier Blue Cheese. 

Two of the best places ( where you'll always find me in the winter time is Rules or Corrigan's.

Dressing for Dinner – If you are easily insulted , please do not read any further.

The great dressing down of America has been going for the last few decades and I must say that men appear to be in the vanguard of this dress-to-regress army. I realize that as the 21st century progresses American and European society has become more causal. But that casual dress has become (especially in America) slovenly dress. Yes, you will point to Europe and say but they have skipped their ties and jackets, but ah! Still Europeans seem to be more acutely aware than most American’s that certain articles of clothing are simply not worn in certain places. In American, we have come to this, where men will not only wear a baseball cap to dinner, but wears it backwards.I find that American men ( and women) wish not to be adults but want to be children again and certainly act and dress like it..  Different times? Yes, Sartorial evolution? Try devolution. Dressing shabbily for any restaurants above the level of a fast food joint, is an affront not only to fellow dinners but to the owner. Unfortunately, many owners themselves have given up, adopting a style of dress that helps make ill-clad customers feel comfortable. Many owners pride themselves of faded jeans and open neck shirts and to me, it makes them look more like the fellow who delivers the vegetables than the man who pays for them. Of course American clients contend that their turtleneck sweater is cashmere or their golf jacket is Italian suede, but of course, they mistake good fabric for good manners. Dining out, to my mind after all, isn't just about the food, it’s also about such things as service and ambiance and that all taken together should create a pleasurable experience. That is why when I am asked, what restaurants in Los Angeles do you like, I can think of none, as most today have become playpens, not restaurants and none have created a pleasurable experience for me for a long long time. Men tell me, that donning a jacket and tie is a form of strangulation even thought they work in their white collar jobs without any apparent loss of breath. To them I say, buy a larger-size shirt and learn how to tie your tie. Ah! but especially in Southern California, those same men say they should be permitted to wear anything they please to a restaurant, maintaining that their money is as good as that of a person in a coat and a tie. Such logic suggests an arrogance about privilege that’s no more attractive today than it’s ever been. To me, dress that is appropriate the restaurant in question shows a person respects his hosts, guests and fellow dinners. It seems to me that American men ( and Women) wish to regress and become children again and not adults - it can be seen in their appearance and behavior -  And perhaps most important of all, they should serve as a model to their children – that than the other way around.

Death of the 'man hug' - its about time!!

It's time we washed our hands of the inappropriate and overly tactile man hug, says H.E. Lewis

America – The noisiest place that ever existed

Please, be quiet! I say this to myself all the time, for if I were to say it out loud, I would get looks that would kill or worst yet, the noise would continue louder and unabated. Noise can be defined as any sound you don’t want to hear and there is a plethora of that in the USA today. What the ‘heck’ is going on, I say to myself?  its my take only of course, that American’s dread silence and must fill that gap with the din of cellular phones, computer games, music so loud it shocks the body, whatever. It seems to me that the mind’s appetite for stimulation is like  the body’s need for food. Americans; their mind, their brains has gotten so used to audio stimulation, it craves noise – making it a substance that American’s abuse like other stimulates, such as coffee, sugar, alcohol and even rock n roll and hip hop ( the worse of all stimulants) 
 A French author once remarked that “All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone. So I say to my fellow Americans, “Sit down and shut up!”

"Give me the simple life" - well kind of when it comes to food................

In 1946, Harry Ruby and Rube Bloom wrote a lovely song entitled 'Give me the simple life" and last night that song filled my head after watching ( my wife watches it, I don't as a rule) another boorish, pompous cooking contest show  this one called 'Iron chef'
Whatever happened to straight forward, great tasting cuisine, devoid of scores of ingredients, platted towers of food, silly foams (foams should be left on the beach) and over all, just boorish cooking. 
I have been on a quest over the last several years, to find restaurants and chefs who have returned to the glory days of cooking, great 'heavy' sauces, simple country dishes, the comfort food of my youth ( and I am not talking about Mac and cheese here!, god forbid) I am talking about the great dishes of British and French cooking. One that I love and return to time and time again, especially in London, especially at Wiltons (in St James) is Sole meuniere. 

If you have never had that dish, prepared correctly, you have not eaten.
At Wiltons, they prepare the sole, so that its  been perfectly sauteed to a Platonic ideal of golden brown and the butter melted to the limpid yellow of young Sauternes.
So, when all the silliness of today's chefs is long gone, the Classic way of cooking will always remain ( I will admit - sometimes hard to find these days) and be found in spots in London and Paris and the French countryside.  
So when I sing out 'Give me the simple life" I mean such things as smoked salmon, Stilton Cheese, after dinner Savories, Sole Meuniere, rabbit with mustard, duck with olives ( an after dinner cigar) and so many other classics. Now that's eating and enjoying the simple life!

London - The only place to shop for men's clothing - then and today, it has not changed

Although Paris to me is the end-all, be-all, but when it comes to men’s clothes, its London and London only, ( St James to be exact) where I have shopped for more years than I care to remember, and there is no street in London where the ghosts of the 18th century crowd so thickly as St. James's Street. Adjacent Pall Mall may be described as the heart of clubland with its great places standing cheek by jowl, their marbled halls and vast rooms vying with one another in Victorian ostentation, but turn up St. James's Street toward Piccadilly and the elegance of Regency architecture at once asserts itself. The old coffee and chocolate houses once patronized by men of fashion, now clubs like Boodle's, Brooks's and White's, still present their stylish facades to passersby. It was at White's that Beau Brummel once remarked how he liked to sit in the window with his cronies ''watching the damned people getting wet outside.'' Today they are still the most exclusive of all London's clubs. It is not surprising that it is in St. James's Street that you will find businesses that have served the ''quality'' for 200 years and still quietly carry on their trade unchanged by time. Berry Brothers and Rudd at No. 3 is London's oldest wine merchant, and nearby stands John Lobb where, in the comfortable atmosphere of A good club, one can be fitted for the world’s finest footwear at around $500. 

And one of my favorites is Lock and Co. Older than either, at 6 St. James's Street, is Lock and Company, the hatters who trace their origins back to 1676. In an earlier age everyone wore a hat. To be seen outdoors - and on occasion indoors - without one was as unthinkable as taking a stroll along Piccadilly without trousers. By and large anyone who was anyone beat a path to the door of Mr. Lock. My favorite hat, a Trilby was bought here many years ago and to this day (I wear it only in London) is a great source of style and pride with me.

Cordings - A men's store in London saved by a Rock & Roll legend.................Eric Clapton

I have always, since I was very young and was able to begin to understand the difference between 'off the rack' and bespoke clothing and the quality of such, have been attracted to London clothing and tailoring. Still to this day, I buy most of my clothing from London haberdashers. One store that I love is Cordings in Piccadilly. 
Cordings (established in 1839) is a men and women's clothing shop specializing in posh English country items like tweed jackets and Tattersall shirts and shooting wear.
A few years ago, I was sadden to learn that this over 100 years in business store  might close due to financial problems and that the young people were not buying their clothes at these types of stores. But then, at the last moment, an Rock and Roll legend ( since I don't follow this kind of music) I was not familiar with the name, he decided to buy an interest in the store and has saved it. For that, I salute him!. The following is a video about his interest in my favorite men stores ( OK - one of them) in London.

Cinnamon rolls with bacon - dear Mother of God - It can't get any better than this!

'Here's Adventure...Here's Romance".....Here's................. the Cisco Kid!

In the early days of television, there were many cowboy-30 minute shows...among them was Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rodgers, Gabby Hayes, the Long Ranger and many others, but what I patiently waited for, week after week, was the 'Cisco Kid'.  The show started with an exciting, romantic theme song and narration, then Duncan Renaldo and Leo Carrillo appeared, made small talk, laughed and then rode off into the western landscape. 
The Cisco Kid and his English-mangling sidekick Pancho traveled the old west in the grand tradition of the Lone Ranger, righting wrongs and fighting injustice wherever they find it.
These two gentlemen had style that the others did not. I was a big fan from 1950 to 1956, when their series ended.
My biggest thrill, was when my grandfather took me to the local bank (where I had a savings account) to deposit my weekly allowance and there was Duncan Renaldo! I got a chance to introduce myself and talk to him for a bit and got his autograph.. It was a thrill I still cherish. 
How I miss that show and the both of them,................
All I can say is
"                         OH CISCO...OH... PANCHO"

What can be better than a sandwich from Langer's in Los Angeles? I ask you?

The Invention of the ball is the greatest single disaster to befall man................

Americans,no, Europeans no, it seems man in general worldwide insists on playing games with small or large spheres and To me its a terrible waste of time and energy. The civilized nations of the world should not encourage it.  But alas, I am spreading the word to an uncaring world.
My having played ( or forced to play) baseball for many,many, many years, I can tell you, I never enjoyed on minute of it nor have I enjoyed watching sports of any kind. 
Sport as I have discovered, fosters international hostility and leads fans, no doubt from boredom, to assault and does grievous bodily harm while watching it. The fact that audiences at the Disney hall rarely break bottles over one another's heads, and that Opera fans  seldom knee one another in the groin during long intervals 
( especially at Richard Wagner Opera's) at the Dorothy Chandler convinces me that theatre is safer than sport.

For He' is An Englishman" - One of the great TV dramas to come out of England and one of my all time favorites!!

An Englishman Abroad is a 1983 BBC television drama film, based on the true story of a chance meeting of an actress, Coral Browne, with Guy Burgess (Alan Bates), a member of the Cambridge spy ring who spied for the Soviet Union while an officer at MI6. The production was written by Alan Bennett and directed by John Schlesinger; Browne stars as herself.

Jack Buchanan - An Englishman I adore............

Hollywood had Fred Astaire, and England had Jack Buchanan. They both made their name in the musical theatre of the 20s, and between them they cornered the market in the top-hat-and-tails style of film musical. Buchanan couldn't dance as well as Astaire (who could?) and his style was more brittle; but if his films are revived less often than those of Astaire, it's certainly not Buchanan's fault. 
I grew up listening on Sunday afternoons at my grandparents home to a number of his recordings, my favorite was and is always, Jerome Kerns ‘who”
As a teenager, I always wanted to be Fred Astaire, Cary Grant, Herbert Marshall, Ronald Coleman , Clifton Webb and Jack Buchanan.

My “Cosmo” test, not how good you are in the bedroom, but how good you are in the dining room.

OK, maybe I have a bit harsh on today’s “Foodies”, so I have devised a test to really see if you are one or a fake. So...................................., 
Question: 
1) Foam is best left on an ocean wave, not on my food – Yes or No 
2) If you have a well aged steak – how do you like it cooked? Medium rare, medium rare or medium rare? 
3) Given the choice between a piece of pork or piece of chicken, which would you choose? 
 4) If you order a Cobb or Chicken salad – how should the chicken be cooked?.. 
5) Do you agree with the following statements? 
6) To put it bluntly, Peanut butter is one of the greatest foods ever created, invented, devised or developed by man and one of America’s most important contributions to civilization. Yes or No. 
7) Canned tuna is one of the worlds great delicacies Yes or No 
8) The quintessential American dish – the one that combines old-fashioned Yankee ingenuity and a striking economy of means is the classic, handsome, delectable, nutritious, forever-comforting creation called the Club sandwich. Yes or No. Would you have an ice-cold martini along with the sandwich? Yes or no 
9) Today’s unruly chefs have been gradually transforming classic items like Caesar Salad and Salad Nicoise into one calamity after another. Bastardizing it, and making it contemporary, eminently healthy and utterly tasteless and absurd. 
10) When you dine (especially in Southern California restaurants) these days, do you feel like you have to have your dinner selections cleared with your HMO? Do you agree with chef Paul Bocuse, when he yelled at a dinner who asked why his cooking was not more healthy. The chef replied “I’m running a restaurant, not a hospital’. Yes or no. 
11) Finally and if you are a ‘said’ Foodie and can’t answer this question, you are not! What Scandinavian dish (I am giving you too much of a hint, I think) when preparing this dish, it should only be prepared’      'in silence, in coolness and in shadow”? 
                                       Check back for your answers……………..