RECORD-REVIEW "Talk of the Town"

By BONNI BRODNICK

When we first moved to Pound Ridge 18 years ago, the slightest zephyr caused a black-out. NOT funny on a certain July day when the refrigerator was packed with food for that evening’s dinner party. I called Albano Appliance & Service and within hours, a repairman was here to remedy the prob. Since 1952, when current owner Fred Albano‘s grandparents founded this Scotts Corners retail mainstay, it has been offering AA+ service. They are also one of the only appliance stores on the east coast to have their own resident chef, Jehan deNoue, who gives monthly cooking classes and demonstrations.

“Albano’s doesn’t just sell appliances, we show customers how to get the most from their purchases,” said Chef deNoue. “Cooking classes demonstrate how to prepare meals that diversify your cooking repertoire with recipes that are easily duplicated at home. Our goal is to inspire participants to go beyond their epicurean comfort zone and experiment with new foods and cultures.”

Upcoming on Thursday, March 5 at noon are demonstrations on Wolf convection ovens and gas ranges. The cooking class menu includes rustic pizzas (duck confit; goat cheese and spiced pumpkin; and tomato, basil & cheese); Moroccan Curry, meat and vegetable empanadas; apple tarts; chorizo and marinated figs wrapped in apple-wood smoked bacon; grilled hanger steaks with Stilton sauce; and broiled salmon with ginger lime sauce.

I’m getting hungry just writing this! Where do I sign up? Call 764-4051 and ask for Patty. Since Chef deNoue will feed you (well) after the demonstration/cooking class, be sure to bring your appetite.

We are sad to note that former Pound Ridge postmaster, Jack Follis, passed away at the age of 88 in Fort Pierce, Fla. Jack was a World War II veteran and participated in the Invasion of Normandy in June 1944. After the war, he came to Stamford, and later purchased the former Wine Connection building on Westchester Avenue, where he lived in an apartment upstairs, opened Jack’s Luncheonette on the right, and the town’s first post office on the left.

“At one time, everyone in town knew Jack,” said Bob Bobletz, who worked with him in the post office for 32 years. “Jack was the nicest man. Truly a peach of a man.”

In the past few weeks, several folks have mentioned how rudeness is rampant. Is etiquette falling by the wayside? With so many mediums in which to communicate, there are simply no excuses to forget politesse. Simple manners go a long way and it’s our responsibility to teach them to our children. Basic, basic etiquette like:

• If you are invited to a party and accept, but later can’t make it, CALL THE HOST. Don’t be a no-show. (Wow, is that rude.)
  

• Don’t let your children run around restaurants. They should be seated like everyone else.
• If you receive a gift (of any sort, including scholarships from local organizations or simply someone’s kindness), say “thank you.” Do it on a note card, via fax, phone or text message, send smoke signals, do SOMETHING!
  
  

Hiram Halle Library will host the gallery opening of “Taking the Silk Road,” by esteemed silk painter Berenice Pliskin, on Sunday, March 8, from 3-5:00 p.m. in the Schaffner Room. Ms. Pliskin’s fine art images about dreams and contemporary issues are painted on silk fabric using highly concentrated dyes. This labor-intensive technique of steaming silk after a figure or scene is painted creates beautiful shimmery imagery.

For the past few years, Pliskin has focused on portraying Latino Day Laborers. In 2007, five of her paintings from this series were displayed at the Katonah Museum in conjunction with a conference on immigration. Most recently, two paintings from this series were selected by Nan Rosenthal, curator of modern art at the Met, for the Tri-State exhibit, “Contemporary Confrontations Art 2009” at the Katonah Museum. The “Day Laborer” series was also featured in the French magazine "Peinture sur Soie,” a publication for silk artists, and in several articles in The New York Times and The Journal News.

"Taking the Silk Road” will be on view at Hiram Halle Library from March 7 to April 18.

In closing, thank you for all of your kind emails about “Talk of the Town.” (See third bullet above.)