Inside My Table #93 | Excerpt
Editor’s Letter—My Brushes with Fame
After the movie Julie & Julia came out in August, everyone was talking about the film, cooking French food and reveling in all things Julia. One evening I mentioned to a friend that I had once had dinner with Julia Child. It was at the Ritz Carlton hotel (now the St. Regis) here in Houston, and it was one of her last publicity tours. Julia was a large, noisy, confident lady, and I was a star-struck mouse seated next to her. Up in her hotel room later, I’m sure she complained to her husband Paul about her dreary dinner partner.
But my friend was so impressed that I had once broken bread with Julia Child that, for a few moments, I re-experienced a glimmer of stardust. I began thinking about some of the other food-world celebrities I’ve known, if only for as long as it takes to eat three courses and drink a bottle of wine.
Julia was highly opinionated. During our meal, she was gracious to the waitstaff, but had a few spicy comments once they were out of earshot about some of the dishes we were served. One of her main beefs was fancy architectural food presentation. She preferred an honest plate of slightly messy comfort-style food.
Sometimes the gloss of big names has been lost on me. Once, long ago, I was invited to Tony’s to meet and lunch with Robert Parker. Now, My Table readers certainly know that Robert Parker is a big-time wine writer and the founder of The Wine Advocate. I, however, was familiar with Robert Parker as the author of the Boston-set Spenser novels. Ooops! Novelist Parker is Robert B. Parker, while the wine writer is Robert M. Parker. I never made that mistake again. But I must mention that my father, a native Bostonian and big fan of Robert B. Parker, was disappointed that I had dined with some wine guy and not with one of his favorite authors.
Sometime after I moved to Houston but before founding My Table – late 1980s, I’d judge by my hairstyle in the photos – I traveled to Napa Valley with Alex Brennan-Martin and Emeril Lagasse. This was long before Lagasse was a Food Network superstar and “Kick it up a notch” had become part of the lexicon. At that time he was the executive chef at Commander’s Palace in New Orleans, and he and our own local Brennan’s gang were headed to California to prepare a meal for a big Napa fundraiser. Lagasse worked like a dog the day of the event, even while suffering miserably from seasonal allergies. My cooking skill level was the lowest of the group, so I was sent off to purchase some sort of daytime cold remedy to stop the sneezing and sniffles.
Whatever it was that I brought back didn’t help very much, and Lagasse suffered all day. Long, hard work went into preparing that black-tie dinner for 300 people – and then Lagasse, clad in a fresh chef’s jacket after 12 sweaty hours in the kitchen, made it sound so easy-breezy in his remarks to the guests.
I’ll drop one more name: Jacques Pépin. He was in Houston in 1987 to promote the first volume of Jacques Pépin’s The Art of Cooking. I expected a snotty French guy. I met one of the warmest, nicest, most modest people. Quelle surprise! I even discovered that we had both attended Columbia University, though not at the same time.
You’re invited to have your own brush with famous foodies at the 2009 Houston Culinary Awards party on Sunday, October 4, at Reef. Tickets are $100 each, available at www.my-table.com. There will be great food, drinks, wine and a few surprises, not to mention the presentation of the much-anticipated awards, which is usually accompanied by cheers, stomping, even a few tears. (Yes, Rebecca Masson, I’m talking about you.) The attire is “casual chic” this year, but do wear your dancing shoes!
