I went to the Bronx this weekend for a slice of pizza. I very rarely eat pizza, so when I do, I go to Mario’s because it’s the best. This older couple, Mr. and Mrs. Migliucci, own Mario’s. They made me delicious pizza and pasta, so I invited them to the restaurant on Monday for lunch. I served them the pasta special with black truffles and egg. I also invited Bill O’Shaugnessy for lunch because he loves Mario’s. But the Migliucci’s had practically finished their meal by the time Mr. O’Shaughnessy arrived with a Dominican architect. They were not holding hands, but they were very close. They told the Migliucci’s they were stuck in traffic.
Two tables down, Anthony Weiner had a very long lunch with another gentleman. The possible mayoral candidate drank iced tea and wore a pale gray suit with a blue shirt and no tie. Mr. Weiner greeted people as they filtered out, including Bill Rudin, who stopped for a few minutes at the politician’s table.
We also had a senator from Washington State here on Monday. Her name is Maria Cantwell, and she must be a Democrat because she was here with Leo Hindery and he doesn’t give money to Republicans.
Bethenny Frankel was supposed to come on Monday morning to celebrate her one-year anniversary on camera for her show Bethenny Ever After. (Remember when she got married here and peed in my wine bucket? I do.) But at the last minute, they had to fly to the West Coast. Maybe they are making a Bethenny movie!
Last week Ralph Lauren came in. He likes meat, so he usually orders a hamburger. While he was waiting for Barry Diller to arrive last Wednesday, Joel Klein said hello to fellow diners including Donald Marron and Pete Peterson, who was eating with Phoenix House founder Mitch Rosenthal. It was quite the literary week, with Simon and Schuster magnate Michael Korda lunching with Mary Higgins Clark, and Tuesday, Lynn Nesbit brought Amartya Sen, the Nobel Prize-winning economist!
The prince has been coming every day. On Monday, he arrived in a brown coat with mink trim and was so unhappy sitting alone that he left in the middle of his meal. On Tuesday, he had learned his lesson, so he brought a friend, a Lebanese gentleman.
I’m very happy that finally everyone is back from spring break, and it’s getting to be the time of year that people start going out again. Even though it’s freezing outside, we have our cherry blossoms up and our spring menu is in full swing. Last week a group of six young women came in for lunch and squeezed in at one table. They were celebrating a birthday and drank Dom Pérignon Rosé Champagne. I served them an enormous cotton candy, and they took it to go in a giant white plastic bag. Can you imagine!? Then they invited me to join them to drink Cristal in their white limousine outside.
