Tuesday, September 7. Too Late For Dinner. I have a dinner meeting scheduled soon with Diane Newman, the programming honcho at the radio station. I want to persuade her to move my show earlier, from its present 4-7 p.m. schedule to 3-6 p.m. I've been asking for it for years, and once I even got it--then it slid back again.
Main motivation: after dark, FCC rules force most AM stations to direct their signals away from all the other stations on the same frequency at night. That, or drop power. In our case, after dark the signal goes south (literally). We lose coverage of--among other places--the entire North Shore. This isn't a problem during the warm, bright two-thirds of the year, when my whole show gets on before dusk. But it's a disaster from November through February. I'm on the hobbled signal for two of my three hours then.
Another reason I'd like to move earlier is to avoid what happened tonight. My sister Lynn invited me to join her and mutual friend John Frehlinger for dinner at Clancy's. That sounded great, and I planned to go. But when I arrived at the station I found a pile of spots to write and record. Those kept me there until well after eight--which is too late for me to head out to a major dinner anywhere. I can't go to Clancy's and not have a major dinner. John, who is in the wine business, always brings something good. If I indulged properly, I wouldn't get home until nearly midnight.
But if the radio show ended at six, I could make an engagement like this, instead of going home dinnerless, as I wound up doing. On the other hand, if things like this are the worst problems I have, I am indeed a fortunate individual.
Alon Shaya, the chef of Domenica, came by to talk about a unique special menu he's starting tomorrow. At sundown, the Jewish New Year 5771 will begin. During the ensuing High Holy Days he will have a special menu celebrating the traditions of the season, as he did earlier this year during Passover. The dishes are in the style of the long-standing Jewish community in Rome. Domenica is an Italian restaurant. And although Alon was born in Israel, he spent most of his career cooking Italian food.
It's not a kosher dinner, of course. What with all the pigs Domenica raises across the lake and all the salumi they make in house with the meat, Domenica's kitchen could not easily pass a rabbinical inspection. But Alon says his Jewish customers think it's marvelous. And, speaking as a goy, I say it's a great idea to partake of one another's cultures, and I hope I can free up an evening to try this. He did bring me a taste of it. "It's like a Jewish bread pudding, with apples and matzoh, but no dairy," he explained. It was more than good, and I ate the whole thing.
Domenica. CBD: 123 Baronne (Roosevelt Hotel). 504-648-6020. Italian. Pizza.
