California Christmas
Kitchen Confidential, Texas Twosome, David Mallett, Dikembe Mutombo, Holy Hula Hoops
Welcome to my weekly newsletter. This issue includes my favorite male folk duos, the memoir of a late chef, lunch in Seymour and dinner in Snyder, the singer who wrote “Garden Song,” a legendary shot-blocking hoopster, and a pair of hoops. I hope you like the picks and pics.
We were very fortunate to celebrate Christmas with our daughters and two of our grandchildren in Santa Barbara. We had a wonderful time on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day at our rental home on the American Riviera in Santa Barbara. We also lit Hanukkah candles and sang the blessings at Tracy’s house.
There are nearby neighborhoods that go all out with Christmas lights. We drove through them and also parked and walked along to enjoy the scenes up close.
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Fave Five 117: California Christmas
Anthony’s Adventures (Kitchen Confidential), Texas Twosome (Copeland’s Café, Taqueria Guadalajara), Maine’s Mallett (David Mallett), Mount Mutombo (Dikembe Mutombo), and Holy Hula Hoops.
Fave Five List: Favorite Male Folk Duos
Last week I featured Brewer & Shipley. Here is a list of all of my favorite male folk duos.
Aztec Two Step
Buskin & Batteau
Lowen & Navarro
Honorable Mention: Bourne & MacLeod
Book Best Bet
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
My son Roger recommended this to me. I had seen Anthony on TV and was sad to learn of his suicide in 2018. The book is well-written and describes scenes similar to those in the TV series The Bear.
From Amazon: An updated and revised edition of Anthony Bourdain's mega-bestselling Kitchen Confidential, with new material from the original edition.
Almost two decades ago, the New Yorker published a now infamous article, “Don’t Eat before You Read This,” by then little-known chef Anthony Bourdain. Bourdain spared no one’s appetite as he revealed what happens behind the kitchen door. The article was a sensation, and the book it spawned, the now classic Kitchen Confidential, became an even bigger sensation, a megabestseller with over one million copies in print. Frankly confessional, addictively acerbic, and utterly unsparing, Bourdain pulls no punches in this memoir of his years in the restaurant business.
Fans will love to return to this deliciously funny, delectably shocking banquet of wild-but-true tales of life in the culinary trade from Chef Anthony Bourdain, laying out his more than a quarter-century of drugs, sex, and haute cuisine—this time with never-before-published material.
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The bestselling breakout chef's tell-all from Anthony Bourdain, the globally beloved Emmy award-winning host of Parts Unknown and No Reservations.
In the now-classic memoir that launched Anthony Bourdain's long career, the globally beloved chef took us through the swinging kitchen doors and turned the culinary trade on its head. The result was a deliciously funny, shocking banquet of wild tales that drew from "twenty-five years of sex, drugs, bad behavior and haute cuisine.”
Sure to delight gourmands and philistines alike, Bourdain recounts everything from his first oyster in the Gironde to his lowly position as dishwasher in a honky-tonk fish restaurant in Provincetown (where he became hooked on chef work for life); from the stovetops of the Rainbow Room atop Rockefeller Center to drug dealers in the East Village, from Tokyo to Paris and back to New York again.
Bourdain's tales of the kitchen are as passionate as they are unpredictable, and Kitchen Confidential will make your mouth water and your belly ache with laughter and leave you wanting more.
Anthony Bourdain
Anthony Michael Bourdain (born June 25, 1956 in New York; died June 8, 2018 in France) was an American celebrity chef, author, and travel documentarian. He starred in programs focusing on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and the human condition.
Bourdain was a 1978 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and a veteran of many professional kitchens during his career, which included several years spent as an executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in Manhattan. In the late 1990s Bourdain wrote an essay about the ugly secrets of a Manhattan restaurant, but he was having difficulty getting it published. According to the New York Times, his mother Gladys—then an editor and writer at the paper—handed her son's essay to friend and fellow editor Esther B. Fein, the wife of David Remnick, editor of the magazine The New Yorker. Remnick ran Bourdain's essay in the magazine, kickstarting Bourdain's career and legitimizing the point-blank tone that would become his trademark. The success of the article was followed just a year later by the publication of a New York Times best-selling book, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (2000).
Bourdain became a media darling almost overnight. His first food and world-travel television show A Cook's Tour ran for 35 episodes on the Food Network in 2002 and 2003. In 2005, he began hosting the Travel Channel's culinary and cultural adventure programs Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (2005–2012) and The Layover (2011–2013). In 2013, he began a three-season run as a judge on The Taste and consequently switched his travelogue programming to CNN to host Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. Although best known for his culinary writings and television presentations, along with several books on food and cooking and travel adventures, Bourdain also wrote both fiction and historical nonfiction. On June 8, 2018, Bourdain died while on location in France, filming for Parts Unknown, of suicide by hanging.
New Anthony Bourdain Book Traces His Life and Last, Painful Days by Kim Severson of The New York Times
Leerhsen asserts that after that trip, Mr. Bourdain saw the cost of his demanding emotional pursuit of Asia Argento. “I think at the very end, in the last days and hours, he realized what he had become,” Leerhsen said. “I don’t respect him killing himself, but he did realize and he did ultimately know he didn’t want to be that person he had become.”
Restaurant Recommendations
Texas Twosome
On the second day of our trip westward we had two meals in Texas. Lunch was in Seymour and dinner was in Snyder.
Copeland’s Café 400 S Main St, Seymour, TX 76380
Chicken Fried Steak Sandwich
Taqueria Guadalajara #1 102 E Coliseum Dr, Snyder, TX 79549
#22 Mix Jalisco Plate: beef fajita, shrimp, rice, charro beans, salad, cheese, and guacamole. Barb liked this a lot for dinner, and we split the leftovers for lunch the next day.
We were intrigued to see two of these elaborate drinks delivered to the table behind us:
Marvelous Musician
David passed away on December 17, 2024, the same day on which Michael Brewer died. Sadly, two of my favorites were gone on the same day.
I heard "Garden Song" and bought the compilation Inches & Miles: 1977-1980 and many of his later albums. I saw him perform at The Ark in Ann Arbor several times. I loved his songs, voice, guitar playing, and easygoing manner.
David Mallett obituary: Maine folk singer dies at 73 by Eric San Juan
If Mallett had only ever written one song in his life, “Garden Song,” he’d still have left a lasting legacy in music. The composition has become a modern children’s folk classic, covered by the likes of John Denver (who made the charts with it in 1979), Noel Paul Stookey (of Peter, Paul and Mary), Pete Seeger (1919–2014), Arlo Guthrie, and even the Muppets. There is also a picture book inspired by the song, “Inch by Inch: The Garden Song.”
But Mallett’s musical legacy spans beyond just one song. Over his decades in music, he released 17 albums of melodic folk and Americana, early accolades for his lyricism and sense of melody.
He began writing music while attending the University of Maine in the early 1970s. Playing gigs at local bars in Maine, Mallett cold-called Stookey and took him a demo tape. Impressed, Stookey invited the young artist to record his first tracks in his studio. For a time in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Mallett relocated to Nashville, a common destination for songwriters. He eventually returned to his home state of Maine, however, a setting that helped inspire LPs like “The Fable True – Stories from Thoreau’s the Maine Woods,” one of his 17 albums.
Mallett’s 2003 “Artist in Me” was named one of the best records of the year by the Associated Press, and 2009’s “Alright Now” was called a masterpiece by the Boston Globe. His sons, singers-guitarists Will and Luke Mallett, have continued their father’s musical legacy with The Mallett Brothers Band.
In praise of David Mallett, a folk singer like no other
And so “inch by inch and row by row,” note by note and word by word, David Mallett created a veritable “Garden of Song” which each year has continued to provide a harvest that has only grown in quantity and quality.
From Wikipedia: David Mallett (born April 21, 1951 in Sebec, Maine; died December 17, 2024) was an American singer-songwriter best known for his authorship of the "folk standard" composition "Garden Song". He recorded for independent record labels for most of his career.
A resident of Maine for most of his life, in the 1980s Mallett relocated to Nashville, and released two albums with the folk and blues label Vanguard. He later moved back to Maine and established his own label, North Road Records.
Mallett's songs have been recorded by more than 150 artists, including Pete Seeger; Alison Krauss; John Denver; Arlo Guthrie; Emmylou Harris, Peter, Paul & Mary; Bok; Trickett, Muir; and Makem and Clancy. "Garden Song" was recorded by the Muppets.
David Mallett, legendary singer-songwriter and folk artist, has died
Garden Song
The Road Goes On Forever
This Town
I Knew This Place
My Old Man
My Playlist
Sports Star
Dikembe passed away on September 30, 2024. I liked his exuberant personality.
Dikembe was known for his finger wag, which originated in a 1997 game between the Atlanta Hawks and the Philadelphia 76ers. He blocked Clarence Weatherspoon three times in a row, taunting him with the finger wag each time. Mutombo explained that he started the gesture after the NBA changed the rules to prohibit taunting opponents in their face. Instead, he would turn to the crowd and wiggle his finger back and forth.
Dikembe Mutombo, a Towering N.B.A. Presence, Dies at 58 by Harvey Araton of The New York Times
The highlight of Mutombo’s five years in Denver came when he anchored the Nuggets’ upset of the Seattle SuperSonics in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs in 1994. In the decisive fifth game, after grabbing the final rebound in overtime, he was memorably photographed lying on the court holding the ball aloft, celebrating the first-ever defeat of a first-seeded team by one seeded eighth.
From Wikipedia: Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo (born June 25, 1966 in Léopoldville, Democratic Republic of the Congo; died September 30, 2024 in Atlanta) was a Congolese-American professional basketball player. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Mount Mutombo" for his defensive prowess, he is commonly regarded as one of the best shot-blockers and defensive players of all time. Outside of basketball, he was known for his humanitarian work.
A 7-foot-2-inch center, Mutombo moved to the United States from the Democratic Republic of the Congo at age 21 to attend Georgetown University with the hope of eventually earning a medical degree and returning to the DRC to practice medicine. Those plans changed when John Thompson, coach of the Georgetown Hoyas, recruited him to play college basketball. Mutombo played three seasons for Georgetown, establishing a reputation as a tenacious defender.
In 1991 the Denver Nuggets chose him with the fourth overall pick of the NBA draft. During his NBA career, he played for six teams, in the NBA Finals for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2001 and for the New Jersey Nets in 2003. He received the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times, tied with Ben Wallace and Rudy Gobert for the most awards. He led the NBA in blocked shots three times, led the league in rebounds twice, and was named to eight All-Star teams. As of the 2023-2024 NBA season, he ranks second among NBA career leaders in blocked shots.
At the conclusion of the 2009 NBA playoffs, Mutombo retired and his number 55 jersey was retired by the Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.
Nuggets celebrate after becoming the first #8 seed in NBA history to upset
Career Highlights
Top 10 Blocks of His Career
Picture Pun
Even after reading math and science textbooks, could not get these to work.
