The 2nd Annual Merdjanoff Holiday Spectacular!!!

For those of you who couldn't make it last Thursday night, here's a little sample of the particular brand of fun in which we at the Merdjanoff Spectaculars like to indulge...hope you can make it next time!

SAVE THE DATE for the 2nd Annual Merdjanoff Holiday Spectacular!

Well, it's that time of year again when the days get shorter, the nights get longer and the presents start to pile up under trees and menorahs all around town! Yippeeee!!!!!!!!

Okay, okay, maybe that's slightly premature but the holiday season is JUST around the corner and I for one don't know of any better way to celebrate than coming to the Duplex on Thursday, December 9th at 7 p.m. and throwing back a few while a gang of extremely talented folks put on a SPECTACULAR right before your very eyes!!! Yes siree, that Spectacular of which I speak would be the 2nd Annual Merdjanoff Holiday Spectacular!

So come one, come all for a stellar evening of zany, wacky, pure, unadulterated holiday FUN! Special guests include Jeremy Bohen, Ellora de Carlo, Jon Delfin and many, MANY more!

See you there!

And for those of you who really plan ahead, here's a link for reservations: (How convenient!)

Get thee to the Village Gate!

I've often been accused of living in the past: to me it will always be Grauman's Chinese Theatre and the 9 train still exists. Along those lines, in my head, the Village Gate still exists! And now, thanks to Kevin Michael Murphy and Caleb Hoyer we can all experience it again...at least on Sunday nights between 10pm and 2am, that is!

So check it out - sing a song or just sit back and enjoy!

Gallery @ Le Poisson Rouge
158 Bleeker Street

See you there!

I won!

Ah, the life of a performer - often glamorous but mostly really not. Thanks to the Galinsky brothers and the Manhattan Monologue Slam last Saturday night, however, THIS performer feels like a million bucks! Yes, that's right, I won!

Well, okay, a caveat's necessary here: I didn't win the whole thing, I won my division - the 30 second monologue division. But still! Winning Audience Favorite after having been picked from a large group of performers by five industry judges STILL feels pretty kick ass awesome!

So I'd like to thank the Academy, my agent, my...oh, no, wait...that's for farther down the road....

Let me rephrase that: I'd like to thank the judges, the Brothers Galinsky, Amy Ambrosino, my darling husband and, of course, SVETLANA!

It's good to be queen - of the 30 second monologue contestants, that is!

Below is rehearsal footage of my entry - live footage of event to follow soon!

Excuse me?

On my way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art the other day, having just enjoyed a speedy M2 Limited bus ride up Madison Avenue, I decided to grab a little snack before feeding my soul with transcendent artistic treasures. I set my internal GPS towards the ultimate destination of the Dean & Deluca on 85th & Madison, knowing that I would most likely be able to squelch my craving from within their wide variety of offerings.

AH! Cole slaw! I caught sight of it sitting on the shelf in a quarter pound deli container and it called out to me with all it's crisp, mayonnaise-y sweetness. I knew it would be just the perfect thing to tide me over for the next few hours until my 8pm sushi outing. A rather unusual choice, I'm sure, but it just seemed like it would really be the perfect 5 o'clock snack. Since the weather was absolute perfection, I started across 85th street, content to eat my slaw al fresco while in transit.

As I walked, I saw a young man and young woman down the block, conversing in a jovial manner and positioned in such a way that in order to pass them, I have to walk right between them. No matter, for I'm a veteran pedestrian and prepared for any challenge that should come my way on the concrete. As I pass, however, I was certainly NOT prepared for this:

Young Man: Hey, that looks really good (he points to my cole slaw)...where'd you get that!?!

Me: Dean & Deluca, around the corner on 85th street.

Now, the cole slaw was good but did it look good enough to attract cat calls from passersby? Hmmm....

I've come up with two possible motivations for the young man's attraction to the slaw:

1. The girl's family came from a long line of cabbage farmers and he was trying to impress her with his love for all-things cabbage.

2. He, like me, had been looking for that perfect 5 o'clock snack.

I guess we'll never know.

Ms. Lillian Langseth-Christensen, Part III of IV

So the patina of vacation wore off and upon returning we dove back into rehearsals for The Merdjanoff Summer Spectacular! (which, of course, you no doubt saw and by which were no doubt blow away). During the post-show schmooze time, a dear friend handed me a deftly wrapped package that weighed roughly 75 lbs.

"No need to open it now," she informed, "but please know that it's not new."

My curiosity roused, unwrapping it was my first action upon returning home that evening and imagine my surprise when there in my very own lap lay the first edition of Gourmet's Old Vienna Cookbook, a Viennese Memoir by Ms. Lillian Langseth-Christensen! More surprising still was that my friend had no knowledge of my already months old relationship with Ms. Christensen and only knew of my trip to Vienna, nothing more.

In the category of "They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To", this book, published in 1959, not only contains more than 500 pages of recipes and suggested menus with occasional full-color photographs but also dozens of stories and historical explanations on food and the Viennese way of life, to say nothing of the charming sketches gracing every page.

Thank you, Catherine, for a gift beyond perfection. Thank you, Ms. Lillian Langseth-Christensen for sharing your knowledge. Now, with 500 pages of recipes from which to choose...what shall I make?

To be continued...someday!

Ah, Eatalia!

Want to take a trip to Italy for the afternoon to grab some lunch? Just go to 23d & 5th!

This weekend I dropped by Eataly, the new Italian food super-store from Bastianich and Batali....



Jealous? I think you are....

Don't worry, there's plenty more where that all came from and, let me tell you, it could take a lifetime to navigate through all their exceptionally delicious offerings. Pace yourself. They'll be around for a while.

We had a formaggi and salumi platter (which was served with figs, honey and candied orange rinds), along with an plate of fresh mozzarella escorted by anchovies and fresh pesto, all accompanied by two glasses of wine and a couple of great Italian beers (we were four people, thank you). The best part, though, didn't arrive until hours later when my delicious husband and his culinarily-inclined friend created two pasta dishes from the Eataly grocery and really transported our tastebuds - first to Bologna and then down to Napoli.

Here's to food, folks and fun - Italian style!

Ms. Lillian Langseth-Christensen, Part II of IV

I love to eat. And, like many New Yorkers, I love to eat good food. I am fully aware that there is a finite limit to the number of meals I will be able to consume during my lifetime and I do not want to squander any opportunity on a lousy one. Don't try to overwhelm me with fancy-schmancy bells and whistles either! I want good food that tastes good - plain and simple.

Well, I certainly got my fill of it on my recent trip to Vienna - encouraged, of course, by the writings of Ms. Langseth-Christensen - and from wine bars to wurstel stands, here are my "must-have" food experiences:

Plachutta (the "ch" is pronounced as if expunging a spit ball from one's mouth) to sample the Kaiser's favorite dish: tafelspitz (or anything else they have on the menu - it's all succulently delicious)

Wurstel stand am Hoher Markt (hang with all of Vienna from elegantly dressed patrons of the arts to students to ambulance drivers, everybody loves their wurst at any hour of the day)

Julius Meinl, the gourmet superstore, also has a wine bar with extensive offerings from the bountiful countryside around Vienna - yum.

But by far the most special evening was spent Zum Schwarzen Kameel...truly one of the best meals of my life: a Jugendstil dining room, a remarkably warm and knowledgeable staff and, five courses and eight glasses of wine later, a bill that didn't break the bank.

If you happen to be planning a trip to Vienna (and I hope you are!) here are a few helpful links:

Plachutta (watch out - there's music!)
Wurstel Stand am Hoher Markt
Julius Meinl
Zum Schwarzen Kameel

More on Ms. Langseth-Christensen to follow...

Ms. Lillian Langseth-Christensen, Part I of IV

While planning a trip to Vienna this spring, I happened to mention in a casual cocktail conversation that I had been conducting in-depth food research on all things Viennese. My cocktail companion suggested I check into the works of Lillian Langseth-Christensen who wrote for the now-defunct Gourmet magazine during the 50's and 60's and a Google search later that evening lead me to a treasure trove of her works.

It was through Ms. Chirstensen that myself and my traveling party received full explanations on the purpose and origins of the five daily meals of the Viennese (yes, there are really FIVE!). Ms. Christensen gave us full license to indulge in all five every day, in an attempt at a kind of cultural assimilation regardless of our stomachs' desire to participate. We're just living like true Viennese, we'd rationalize, just trying to keep up with social mores. Oh, sheer delight for any gourmand!

For those of you planning a trip to Vienna anytime soon, the full primer on eating like a Viennese can be found here. And for those of you not planning a trip to Vienna in the near future...well, I don't want to tell you how to live your life or anything but I will and you should!

Reasons why will follow in next post...to be continued!

Christmas in July!

Yes, it's 90 degrees outside. Yes, there are four more months before we hang the mistletoe and light up the Yule logs. But boy, oh boy, it's never the wrong time of year to hear Svetlana sing about her Christmas wishes!

Here's a clip from last year's Merdjanoff Holiday Spectacular filled with general merriment, holiday joy and plenty of Celine! May it fill your hearts with frosted snowflake sparkles!