Sunday, January 1, 2012
Farewell, 2011!!!!!
2011!!! So many folks are saying how terrible 2011 was...how disappointing, unsuccessful, distressing, infuriating, traumatic it all was......and I agreed!.....until about 15 minutes ago!!!!! I went through the most appalling year with career, home, and health problems piled up, one right after the other!!!!!....all totally unexpected!!!.....and many of you helped me go through the surgery and chemo-therapy right here on Facebook!!! Friends that I never had before, and wouldn't have had, if I hadn't lost everything else and started my page here to help pass the time and tragedy! So all of that led me to the exact place I am right now.......I believe you can't move ONE grain of sand on the wide expanse of the beach of life, without changing EVERYTHING from there on...if you left the house 30 seconds earlier last February 3rd, you might have missed seeing your friend who gave you the good news, about the job etc., etc. If you crossed the street 2 minutes later on March 11th you would have never run into the guy you started dating seriously in the Summer, etc., etc. The movie IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE is in fact THE CHRISTMAS CAROL in reverse......instead of covering the life of the WORST person in town (Scrooge) and showing how different life would be if all sorts of things changed or didn't, Capra's film shows us what life would be like if a regular person's life changed.....the effects we all have on those around us........I have swallowed all that 2011 gave me...some of it slightly bitter.....some very sweet. And I have decided to bless MY 2011!!!....and thank it for the 2012 that is coming!!! And I am thanking my angels!!!! I wish all of you....each and every one of us, A Blessed and Wonderful New Year!!!!!! xoxoxxo.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
A BRAND NEW DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!......please check out SYBILBRUNCHEON.COM!
Darlings, Mummy is just as beaten down as anyone else with all the bad news and negativity and pessimism!!! We are surrounded by people, (some of whom we actually elect!) who tell us everything we can’t do, can’t accomplish, can’t BE!!! Well, I’m taking all the time and energy I have left and spending it celebrating the things in life that I love! I am using the SCENE'N'HERD page on my new website to promote people whose talent I respect, whose ideas give me joy, whose humor makes me laugh, whose food makes me fat…well…uh…you get the idea!!!!! This is a page dedicated to GRATITUDE and APPRECIATION!!!…I’m sharing the things I love with my friends!!! Welcome! And stay tuned!!!! xoxo, S.
A BRAND NEW START!!!!......Please check out SYBILBRUNCHEON.COM.
Well, my Dears, here’s the latest evidence that Mummy CAN join the 21st Century ( a whole decade into it, unfortunately!!). Please check out all the different tabs under the scrolling film…or just click on the film frames as they go by. You’ll find links to Youtube, my Blog, Twitter, Facebook (even if you’re NOT a Facebook member, you can still see MY page!), and all sorts of other treats. A monthly recipe from my personal collection will be posted in WHAT’S COOKIN’…and all sorts of advice in MRS. BUTTINSKI…..that’ll be coming too. The calendar in NITE’N'DAY will allow you to link right through to the websites of event producers…just click on the highlighted day, and “off you go”…and you can always come right back to our site when you’re done! If it’s all easy enough for Mummy, you’ll have NO trouble….after all, Mummy’s as dumb as a post!….so to speak……xoxoxo!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
6 MONTHS AGO!!!!! .....NEW BEGINNINGS!!!!....even in the FALL!!!!!!
CATASTROPHE!!!...and TRIUMPH!!!!: Six months ago, my alter-ego, John Burke was laid off from his corporate job of thirteen years with scores of others......He didn't know anything about social networking, have a blog, twitter, or a Facebook, or even own a computer!!!... I KNOW! I KNOW!!!! (no giggling please from the front row!!!). I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my radiant boyfriend for his love and support through all of this, all my friends and co-workers who encouraged and advised me through this tremendous transition (especially at THIS point in my life!), the new friends who mentored me into the technical world of blogs, Facebook, youtube, twitter, and website design with their knowledge and beautiful taste, my new Facebook friends who make me laugh, cry, think, and connect to a whole new world, and lastly...to the folks who threw me out. I am so grateful for the choices YOU made for me....I would NOT have chosen this....but YOU CHOSE FOR ME.......and I AM SO VERY LUCKY YOU DID!!!!! With love and gratitude to a Universe that continues to amuse, amaze, vex, and delight....I stand humble and filled with wonder!!!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Sunday, July 31, 2011
FIRE ISLAND UPDATE!!!! TOP OF THE BAY BISTRO!!!!
Darlings, Mummy got back from Provincetown a few weeks ago from a vacation of "Food, glorious food!" there at the end of Cape Cod! For years, travelers and locals alike knew that you couldn't get a bad meal in P-town (as the in-crowd calls it!) because the competition between the restaurants was so fierce! Fresh seafood EVERYWHERE, and brilliant chefs pouring in from Boston for the Summer to bludgeon each other with their talents, made for a veritable gourmet-get-away-by-the-sea!....and although a lot of the folks up that way are of self-denying Puritan and pilgrim stock, their 21st century descendants deny themselves nothing when it comes to lobster in rich sauces, fried clams and oysters, and scallops the size of silver-dollars with the tenderness of BUTTAH!
Well, after a week or two in P-town eating....and eating, (and gaining 20 pounds!!!), I returned to NYC to reminisce, (and JOG!)......Sated, but wistful! Sure, we have fabulous restaurants all over Manhattan, and a delectable concentration of them in the Village, but what to do when out by the seashore....particularly on Fire Island?!........ You know...Once upon a time, Cherry Grove, the gayest of the 17 towns on that 32 mile long sandbar,(and rivalled only by the Pines which is now ruled much more by money than merriment!), had a wide assortment of eateries which included the widely renowned MONSTER. Folks from all the other towns would beat a path to the MONSTER for it's terrific menu and cozy (and eccentric!) ambience. Celebrities from Broadway, television, and Hollywood would drop in with no fanfare, and the MONSTER's reputation spread like a case of poison ivy at Summer Camp!....but in a GOOD way!!
One of the MONSTER's rivals was the restaurant with the best view of the bay, so named the TOP OF THE BAY. It was much beloved by the townsfolk for its homey atmosphere, hearty food consistently good and well priced, and its Wednesday night "employee specials" for the local workers. Walking into TOP OF THE BAY, even on a weeknight, you'd always be met by a festival of bawdy jokes, raucous laughter, and show-tune and top 40 sing-alongs....and of course, the food!.........Well the world, and the MONSTER, have come and gone since those heady days of the 60's and 70's......but TOP OF THE BAY is still here!!!... (cue Sondheim's anthem from FOLLIES. You're on Miss DeCarlo!!!).
With a complete, and classy facelift by owner Ron King, the new TOP OF THE BAY BISTRO still has its original drop-dead views of the bay, especially sought after at sunsets when the crowds burst into spontaneous applause as the sun sinks below the Western waters...(eat your heart out Key west!). The weathered grey/silvery green and white interiors, soft lighting, and newly installed lounge area with comfy wrap-around banquettes add to the glamour, but its the food that is bringing the crowds. Chef Stephen Daniello has created a menu of fusion with a Cajun flair! No worry for the milder palates out there!! Nothing is going to send your tongue to the burn unit at Columbia/Cornell!!! My fave-raves include the corn chowder appetizer with chunks of buttery corn bread floating on the surface.....this is more like a dessert than an appetizer! Last night, Steve surprised all of us with Lobster Sliders...cute little "burgers" on the fluffiest buns (no giggling, please!), and a generous scoop of fabulously creamy lobster salad at just the right temperature. (Sounds like sex, doesn't it? Well, it WAS!).You get three of them, and it almost spoils your dinner it's so rich.....but don't give up! Just let your tummy settle for a minute and order the Rigatoni Bolognese, sumptuous and perfectly al dente!....I know, because my dinner companion, Fabio Gorgissimo, an al dente snob, literally RAVED!!! Just as he did when he ordered the Chicken Parmigiana on a bed of perfect linguini!!! The tomato sauce was both sweet AND tangy, the cheeses blended wonderfully, and the chicken was miraculously moist!!! (How many of us dread Chicken Parmigiana because the meat is a fossilized wallet under a bed of plastic and dead ketchup??) My Duck Breast with orange/cherry wine sauce was tender, smoky, and wonderfully complex...and the sweet potatoes and braised Endive and asparagus were an inspired counterpoint! Homemade Cherry Pie was irresistable, even though it required us to be rolled home in a wheelbarrow by local roofers! The regular menu includes the chowder, Bruschetta with lobster/shrimp scampi, and the Shrimp and Grits!...one of Steve's most brilliant creations! I've watched entire tables of diners, each with a portion of the Grits analyzing and trying to decipher just how it's done, like a forensics team on CSI.
This season has proven to be even more of a triumph for Ron and Stephen and the wonderful staff including Regis, Joe, Todd, Joseph, Charity, Chris, and manager Roque! Even with the economy on the fritz, and restaurant revenues teetering back in the city, this boite on the bay packs'em in!...so don't go thinking you can coast in on your good looks and easy manner. Most nights, reservations are necessary!!! TOP OF THE BAY BISTRO in Cherry Grove...Run! DO NOT WALK! See you there, mon cher! xoxo, Sybil.
Well, after a week or two in P-town eating....and eating, (and gaining 20 pounds!!!), I returned to NYC to reminisce, (and JOG!)......Sated, but wistful! Sure, we have fabulous restaurants all over Manhattan, and a delectable concentration of them in the Village, but what to do when out by the seashore....particularly on Fire Island?!........ You know...Once upon a time, Cherry Grove, the gayest of the 17 towns on that 32 mile long sandbar,(and rivalled only by the Pines which is now ruled much more by money than merriment!), had a wide assortment of eateries which included the widely renowned MONSTER. Folks from all the other towns would beat a path to the MONSTER for it's terrific menu and cozy (and eccentric!) ambience. Celebrities from Broadway, television, and Hollywood would drop in with no fanfare, and the MONSTER's reputation spread like a case of poison ivy at Summer Camp!....but in a GOOD way!!
One of the MONSTER's rivals was the restaurant with the best view of the bay, so named the TOP OF THE BAY. It was much beloved by the townsfolk for its homey atmosphere, hearty food consistently good and well priced, and its Wednesday night "employee specials" for the local workers. Walking into TOP OF THE BAY, even on a weeknight, you'd always be met by a festival of bawdy jokes, raucous laughter, and show-tune and top 40 sing-alongs....and of course, the food!.........Well the world, and the MONSTER, have come and gone since those heady days of the 60's and 70's......but TOP OF THE BAY is still here!!!... (cue Sondheim's anthem from FOLLIES. You're on Miss DeCarlo!!!).
With a complete, and classy facelift by owner Ron King, the new TOP OF THE BAY BISTRO still has its original drop-dead views of the bay, especially sought after at sunsets when the crowds burst into spontaneous applause as the sun sinks below the Western waters...(eat your heart out Key west!). The weathered grey/silvery green and white interiors, soft lighting, and newly installed lounge area with comfy wrap-around banquettes add to the glamour, but its the food that is bringing the crowds. Chef Stephen Daniello has created a menu of fusion with a Cajun flair! No worry for the milder palates out there!! Nothing is going to send your tongue to the burn unit at Columbia/Cornell!!! My fave-raves include the corn chowder appetizer with chunks of buttery corn bread floating on the surface.....this is more like a dessert than an appetizer! Last night, Steve surprised all of us with Lobster Sliders...cute little "burgers" on the fluffiest buns (no giggling, please!), and a generous scoop of fabulously creamy lobster salad at just the right temperature. (Sounds like sex, doesn't it? Well, it WAS!).You get three of them, and it almost spoils your dinner it's so rich.....but don't give up! Just let your tummy settle for a minute and order the Rigatoni Bolognese, sumptuous and perfectly al dente!....I know, because my dinner companion, Fabio Gorgissimo, an al dente snob, literally RAVED!!! Just as he did when he ordered the Chicken Parmigiana on a bed of perfect linguini!!! The tomato sauce was both sweet AND tangy, the cheeses blended wonderfully, and the chicken was miraculously moist!!! (How many of us dread Chicken Parmigiana because the meat is a fossilized wallet under a bed of plastic and dead ketchup??) My Duck Breast with orange/cherry wine sauce was tender, smoky, and wonderfully complex...and the sweet potatoes and braised Endive and asparagus were an inspired counterpoint! Homemade Cherry Pie was irresistable, even though it required us to be rolled home in a wheelbarrow by local roofers! The regular menu includes the chowder, Bruschetta with lobster/shrimp scampi, and the Shrimp and Grits!...one of Steve's most brilliant creations! I've watched entire tables of diners, each with a portion of the Grits analyzing and trying to decipher just how it's done, like a forensics team on CSI.
This season has proven to be even more of a triumph for Ron and Stephen and the wonderful staff including Regis, Joe, Todd, Joseph, Charity, Chris, and manager Roque! Even with the economy on the fritz, and restaurant revenues teetering back in the city, this boite on the bay packs'em in!...so don't go thinking you can coast in on your good looks and easy manner. Most nights, reservations are necessary!!! TOP OF THE BAY BISTRO in Cherry Grove...Run! DO NOT WALK! See you there, mon cher! xoxo, Sybil.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Mummy!! Where have you been?!?!
My apologies, Everyone!!!! I have been very naughty for NOT writing in my blog regularly...and what can I give as an excuse???...the "down" feeling of getting back from an enchanting time on Fire Island and Provincetown with gorgeous weather, fabulous food, and delightful adventures with fascinating friends???..well, yes!...And coming back to a grueling heat wave and endless pontificating from extremists about why millionaires and oil companies shouldn't be taxed!!!!! Just yesterday, it poured in NYC, and it was such a relief to everyone, that I saw Madison-Avenue-boys in their $5000 suits just strolling through the rain chatting as if nothing was happening!! People standing on corners, looking at Blackberries, window shopping, playing basketball, pushing strollers...ALL THROUGH THE DRIVING RAIN!! Fascinating!!...and oddly reaffirming in these extraordinarily self-serving times!!!
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