Tuesday, July 16, 2013.
New Music. Bosco's.
When I started thinking about this Thursday's twenty-fifth anniversary of the radio show, it was the usual extravaganza in my mind. Live music, a radio drama, lots of famous guests. But I have done nothing on any of those projects except the last one. And all the famous chefs who had a role in the show over the years were out of town this week. As it would turn out, all the other plans would have been superfluous anyway. Which doesn't make me stop thinking about it.
I did revise some of my theme music. "Holiday For Strings," which has opened each new hour for about fifteen years, has become a signature and won't change. But we will kick off the show with the music I used in the program's earliest months: an edit of the opening music of the movie Goodbye Columbus. The rejoin music--what leads into and out of commercial breaks--has not changed since almost the very beginning. I had about forty of them, all by the great jazz violinist Stephane Grappeli. It's about time to retire that. It will be replaced by different jazz: by the superb but little-known jazz accordionist (!) Art Van Damme.
And a new closing theme: "Li'l Darlin'," a wonderful, slow jazz piece from Count Basie. It may be the best musical ending I ever heard. I'll bet a lot of people ask me what that one is.
Mary Leigh and I went to dinner to celebrate her brother Jude's twenty-fourth birthday. He's coming to town for the show anniversary, but couldn't make it until tomorrow.
We hadn't been to Bosco's for awhile, so there we were. I started with oyster-artichoke soup, a creamy one with big oysters and a great flavor. Chef Tony has a new oyster appetizer, made with artichokes and a variation on the familiar Italian-style breadcrumb topping with garlic and olive oil. It was too much like the soup for me to have ordered both in the same meal, but that didn't stop me from loving it. ML stayed with her usual chicken Parmesan.
Bosco's (the one in Mandeville) was very busy. We had to wait a few minutes for a table. Mary Leigh and I had a wonderful evening together, with a little more emphasis on how life is going. The Boy is still on maneuvers with the Army in the Northwest somewhere. That has made her wistful. Young love is wonderful.
Bosco's. Mandeville: 2040 La Hwy 59. 985-624-5066.
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