Brunch, Lunch & Munch
Seabiscuit, Farmington Food, Gareth Pearson, Oscar Robertson, Mail Mess
Welcome to my 168th weekly newsletter. This issue includes performer pet peeves, horse racing history, three food stops in Farmington Hills and Farmington, the Welsh Tornado, the Big O, and junk mail. I hope you like the picks and pics.
I visited a trio of tasty spots with two different groups of friends last week. On Thursday in Farmington Hills, I lunched at a Georgian restaurant and munched pastry at a Jewish bakery. On Friday, I dined at a Farmington restaurant devoted to brunch. While this doesn’t constitute a food crawl, it comes close.
Our friends Barbara and David Osher celebrated their 50th anniversary on Sunday. Their kids surprised them with a private showing of the movie Nana and Papi: 50 Years at the Birmingham Theatre. According to Barbara, the film has a chance for an Oscar.
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Fave Five 168: Brunch, Lunch & Munch
Historic Horse (Seabiscuit), Farmington Food (At Anano’s, Bake Station, Blueberry Brunch), Guitar Guru (Gareth Pearson), Indiana Icon (Oscar Robertson), and a Mail Mess.
Fave Five List: Performer Pet Peeves
I don’t like it when a musician does any of these during a show:
Asks “How’s everybody doing?”
Asks “Can I play a new song?”
Holds the mic out to the audience instead of singing
Doesn’t play any audience favorites
Plays nearly unrecognizable versions of familiar songs
Book Best Bet
Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
After seeing the movie, I decided to read the book. Barb and I have also read Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by the same author.
From Amazon: From the author of the runaway phenomenon Unbroken comes a universal underdog story about the horse who came out of nowhere to become a legend.
Fascinating. Vivid. A first-rate piece of storytelling, leaving us not only with a vivid portrait of a horse but a fascinating slice of American history as well.—The New York Times
Seabiscuit was one of the most electrifying and popular attractions in sports history and the single biggest newsmaker in the world in 1938, receiving more coverage than FDR, Hitler, or Mussolini. But his success was a surprise to the racing establishment, which had written off the crooked-legged racehorse with the sad tail. Three men changed Seabiscuit’s fortunes.
Charles Howard was a onetime bicycle repairman who introduced the automobile to the western United States and became an overnight millionaire. When he needed a trainer for his new racehorses, he hired Tom Smith, a mysterious mustang breaker from the Colorado plains. Smith urged Howard to buy Seabiscuit for a bargain-basement price, then hired as his jockey Red Pollard, a failed boxer who was blind in one eye, half-crippled, and prone to quoting passages from Ralph Waldo Emerson. Over four years, these unlikely partners survived a phenomenal run of bad fortune, conspiracy, and severe injury to transform Seabiscuit from a neurotic, pathologically indolent also-ran into an American sports icon.
From Wikipedia: Laura Hillenbrand (born May 15, 1967 in Fairfax, Virginia) is an American author. Her two bestselling nonfiction books, Seabiscuit: An American Legend (2001) and Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (2010), have sold over 13 million copies, and each was adapted for film. Her writing style is distinct from New Journalism, dropping “verbal pyrotechnics” in favor of a stronger focus on the story itself.
Hillenbrand fell ill in college and was unable to complete her degree. She shared that experience in an award-winning essay, A Sudden Illness, published in The New Yorker in 2003. Her books were written while she was disabled by myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome. In a 2014 interview, Bob Schieffer said to Laura Hillenbrand: “To me your story – battling your disease... is as compelling as his (Louis Zamperini’s) story.”
Restaurant Recommendations
Farmington Food
At Anano’s 29410 Orchard Lake Rd, Farmington Hills, MI 48334
Lunch: Mark Mitra, Chuck Bradford, and I shared three dishes at this Georgian restaurant. Despite some surprises with the three items we ordered, we nonetheless we enjoyed our lunch.
Chakapuli: Soup made with lamb slow cooked with tarragon, mint, scallions, parsley, and cilantro (This is what we got although we actually ordered Kharcho: A flavorful Georgian stew made with tender beef, rice, and tomatoes, slow-cooked with aromatic spices and herb.)
Adjarian Khachapuri: Bread stuffed with melted cheese and with egg on top (This is what we got although we actually ordered Imerelian Khachapuri: Feta & Mozzarella cheeses melted inside yogurt dough.)
Khinkali: Boiled juicy dumplings filled with seasoned meat and herbs (These were much larger than we expected. We were told to eat them like a sandwich, but this resulted in the soup filling spilling out onto our plates.)
The Bake Station 29581 Orchard Lake Rd., Farmington Hills, MI 48334
Munch: Mark, Chuck and I went across the street for dessert at this Jewish bakery. There were many tempting sweets from which to choose.
Caramel-covered yellow cake confection
Blueberry Brunch 23336 Farmington Rd, Farmington, MI 48336
Brunch: I joined three knowledge management colleagues (Lee Romero, Susan Genden, and Anna Cangialosi) for our monthly meetup. There were breakfast and lunch items from which to choose, and I chose the most unusual one.
Incredible Delight: Two Slices of French Toast Stuffed with a Two Egg Omelette made with Bacon, Sausage, and Cheddar Cheese. All Topped with Powdered Sugar
Marvelous Musician
On November 15, Barb and Caroline Cotter (our house concert performer from the previous night) went to Trinity House Theatre in Livonia. I had driven to Columbus and had suggested they see Gareth Pearson after I viewed his dazzling performance of “Tiger Rag” on YouTube. Here is what Barb texted me during the show:
Gareth is unbelievable! Played “Billie Jean” and danced just like Michael Jackson. Very talented!
That made want to try to book him for a house concert next year, and his agent replied:
Thanks for writing! Gareth will head back to the northeast later in 2026. When we do, we'll definitely let you know and request a house concert with you.
When I relayed this to Barb, she replied:
OMG! I’m having a When Harry Met Sally moment!!
From his site: Gareth Pearson is referred to as “The Welsh Tornado” which is particularly appropriate, seeing as this special talent combines fingerstyle pyrotechnics, with explosive lead runs making Pearson one of the most exciting acoustic musicians gigging today.
Gareth has a distinctive style that can be heard through his creative and innovative arrangements which cover a wide spectrum of genres, including country/folk/classical/pop/rock/jazz/swing and bluegrass music, along with his own beautiful and often intricate original compositions.
Drawing his playing style initially from influences such as Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, Jerry Reed and Tommy Emmanuel, he has developed a style that is both inspiring and entertaining.
Within a year of taking up the guitar, Gareth was opening for Tommy Emmanuel on his 2005 UK tour. It was in Cardiff where Tommy invited Gareth to play at the CAAS convention (Chet Atkins Appreciation Society) in Nashville Tennessee.
Later that year, Gareth was performing and touring alongside Ray Davies (The Kinks), John Renbourn, and Southside Johnny and the Ashbury Jukes. During the Southside Johnny tour, Gareth was invited by Southside to be flown over to the USA to open for his annual New Years Eve concert at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey. The following year Gareth was invited by Tommy Emmanuel to be the support act for his UK tour.
My Playlist
Tiger Rag
Billie Jean
Blue Smoke
Sports Star
After featuring the Big E, it’s time for the original big guy — the Big O. Oscar turned 87 on November 24. My dad was a big fan of the Big O, and so I became one as well. Years later I marveled at the fact that Oscar averaged a triple double in 1962. Roger and I saw him play in the Ultimate Pickup Game at the 1997 Final Four Fan Jam in Indianapolis, along with Jamaal Wilkes, Larry Bird, and Isiah Thomas, with Bill Walton as the ref. At the 2003 Final Four in New Orleans, while Barb and I were talking to Washington University basketball coach Mark Edwards in the French Quarter, Oscar walked by. Mark briefly interjected, “Big O!” before resuming our conversation.
The Big O was not a part of the University of Cincinnati’s two NCAA championships in 1961 and 1962, but he did help the Milwaukee Bucks win the NBA championship in 1971, along with Lew Alcindor. He is one of the all-time basketball greats.
From Wikipedia: Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938 in Charlotte, Tennessee), nicknamed “the Big O”, is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a 12-time All-Star, 11-time member of the All-NBA Team, and winner of the 1964 MVP, Robertson is considered to be one of the greatest point guards of all time. In 1962, he became the first player in NBA history to average a triple-double for a season (the only player in history besides Russell Westbrook and Nikola Jokić). In the 1970–71 NBA season, he was a key player on the team that brought the Bucks their first NBA title. His playing career, especially during high school and college, was plagued by racism.
Robertson is a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, having been inducted in 1980 for his individual career, and in 2010 as a member of the 1960 United States men’s Olympic basketball team and president of the National Basketball Players Association. Also in 1980, Robertson was named to the NBA 35th Anniversary Team. He was again voted as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996. The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) renamed their College Player of the Year Award the Oscar Robertson Trophy in his honor in 1998, and he was one of five people chosen to represent the inaugural National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame class in 2006. He was ranked as the 36th best American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN. In October 2021, Robertson was honored as one of the league’s greatest players of all time by being named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.
Robertson was also an integral part of Robertson v. National Basketball Ass’n of 1970. The landmark NBA antitrust suit, which was filed when Robertson was the president of the NBA Players’ Association, led to an extensive reform of the league’s strict free agency and draft rules and, subsequently, to higher salaries for all players. He was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2009.
Celebrating NBA legend Oscar Robertson on his 87th birthday
The Slept On GOAT Point Guard Candidate: Oscar Robertson
Picture Pun
Junk mail.
