So sad that we’ve lost Claudia Cardinale, who was a much better actress than she was given credit for and (like most European beauties) was deeply misused in American films. Check out her appearances in The Leopard, 8 1/2, and (especially) Once Upon a Time in the West. #ClaudiaCardinale

And if you are a VERY good boy, you get Ed’s tender, spicy polpette over Italian spaghetti. (Yes, we know that large meatballs with pasta is strictly an American thing, but it’s SO good.)

St. Louis peeps: If you feel that, as an adult, you have the capability to decide whether to watch Jimmy Kimmel, watch another channel, or just go to bed, call the ABC30 general manager at 414-259-5727, (Note the lack of a 314 or even a 573 area code.)

At last I’ve made my re-entry into the world (see last post) so of COURSE it had to be at Crown Candy Kitchen and of COURSE I had to order the BLT. (Note that there’s just enough L and T to qualify.) Thanks to our dear friends Andy and Sherri Karandzieff for making us so welcome. #eatlocalstl

STL peeps: Tough 7 weeks (surgery, infection, recovery, worse infection, ER, hospital, longer recovery) BUT ready for prime time. Here’s where YOU come in: Ed will be in Italy for October and I would love to meet you for lunch/dinner in STL. Dutch treat. DM to set up a meet (don’t reply here)

@ksdknews.bsky.social SHAME on you for kowtowing and using phrases like “The Deartment of War”. I expected better from you. Apparently not.

@miafarrow.bsky.social I thought you could use some good news, so please note that @tcmtv.bsky.social is running an entire night (Monday) of the Tarzan movies starring your mom. I hope you can take some time out to enjoy with your grandchildren.

@mollyjongfast.bsky.social I have this theory that the White House keeps a “recipe box” like my mom’s: some little tin or plastic concern with 3x5 cards — but instead of recipes, the cards say things like “raid Bolton’s house” or “arrange Putin meeting” — things to be used when the news cycle turns.

If you are a VBG (Very Good Boy), Ed will make lasagna alla bolognese (practice for his upcoming month in Bologna): layers of bechamel and ragù w/ a sprinkling of Parm (but absolutely NO melty cheese like mozzarella) between layers of fresh green pasta (mandated in Bologna). Towering and delicious.

I took my statin drug and indulged in what are probably the best chicken livers in St. Louis, with a rich mustardy sauce that doesn’t hide the savory flavor; PLUS the Grace smash-burger (plus mac’n’cheese) with its crispy edges and more secret sauce. If you haven’t been for a while, go! #eatlocalstl

Try to #eatlocalstl this month — this weather isTHE worst for your favorite restaurants. In that spirit, I scored a damn fine muffuletta from Blues City Deli which, like the sandwich itself, has Italian roots. Add their excellent bacon potato salad and you’ve got TWO lunches.

Everyone who has ever worked in an office: “This meeting could have been an email.” www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Today’s lunchtime adventure: The Hebrew Hammer from Nudo House is just about the best “chicken noodle soup” you can ask for — especially if you spring for a dollop of Salume Beddu ‘Nduja!

After three weeks at home, I went OUT to lunch! Like an adult! We made straight for Jack Nolen’s for a double firecracker burger and their hot crispy fries. I am SO happy.

Ed made pasta carbonara with crispy guanciale (pork jowl, from Bolyard’s) using a non-intuitive technique: Boiling pasta in a shallow pan creates tons of starch, which is super-important for all the Roman pastas (cacio e pepe, carbonara, alla Gricia, amatriciana). Thus, silky porky al dente pasta.

Still at home BUT happy to be here if Ed makes me sticky-spicy char siu, a Hong Kong barbeque pork treat. (Randomly, I got caught up rewatching Jason Bourne movies, which remind me to refer to Ed as “The Asset”.)

@timmiller.bsky.social and @mollyjongfast.bsky.social I think now might be the moment to note that Dean Cain was featured as a gay heartbreaker in “The Broken Hearts Club”.

Being stuck at home (for now) ain’t so bad if your other half serves up a delicious plate of silky-spicy cashew chicken.

Having to stay close to home doesn’t mean doing without treats from favorite restaurants. Last night, that meant STL-style pizze from Guido's Pizzeria and Tapas — salsiccia and jalapeños for me, Italian sausage and artichokes for Ed.

I’m not quite ready for dine-in restaurants, but I CAN do pick-up from favorites, SO I scored the amazing lahmacun from Balkan Treat Box: spicy beef w/ sumac, parsley, and secret BTB sauce, wrapped in a Turkish wood-fired flatbread. Add a glass of their boozy-tart BTB koktel and it’s a treat indeed.

My guess is that, going forward, the new BLS Commissioner will provide a one-pager of top-line numbers with no comment, then deny access to the spreadsheets and databases that would quickly show the real data.

I just assumed they had all joined ICE. The standards on their website are laughably low.

@jbf1755.bsky.social Historical Q: There’s such a sneering reaction to “smarty-pants” people and institutions these days (I have my own bias against the former golf caddies in the White House) BUT was there a prior rejection of expertise and knowledge in American history? And what can we learn?

Man, if Michelle Obama had tried something like this, she’d have been pilloried.

So this is Minority Report, right? Homan is running the Pre-Crime Division to arrest people who MIGHT commit a crime someday?

@therickwilson.bsky.social Did we have it wrong all along? Everything Epstein touches dies.

Dear Media (ALL of you): If the President says “bullshit” it’s a Presidential statement. Run it unedited. If the President texts “bullshit” it’s a Presidential statement. Run it unedited. Stop softening his coarseness.

After a visit to El Torito Supermercado, Ed made slow-braised pork shoulder w/ warm Nuevo Mexico chiles, cayenne build-up at the back, Mexican oregano, cumin, cloves, and honey to make a deep rich sauce. AND esquites (street corn) w/ finely-sliced serranos, cotija cheese, cilsntro, and tart crema.

We stopped to sample the wares of Marconi Mercato on The Hill in St. Louis. Beyond the bodega as you enter, there’s a lively bar with high-tops plus a more sedate dining room. Crispy-creamy arancini, a generous beet salad, and perfectly al dente tagliatelle with a porky ragù alla bolognese. Yum.

I’m chuffed to be the inaugural spotlight donor for Planned Parenthood Great Rivers. PPGR and the national @ppfa.org do so much for women AND men who need help with reproductive decisions but also cancer screenings plus assistance for the un- or under-insured. They’re do amazing work for St. Louis.

I was in a mood for a burrito, and I found a beauty at Locoz Tacoz, stuffed with carne asada, creamy queso Oaxaca, tomatoes, jalapeños, plus a secret sauce (not to mention an eye-watering selection of salsas). Ed got his usual pork tacos al pastor, but I can’t blame him — they’re 😘

Remember that a clown with a flame-thrower … still has a flame-thrower.

We ventured outside the 270 loop to sample the amazing Peruvian treats at jalea. on Main Street in Old St. Charles. Smooth-as-silk Pisco Sours and spicy yucca-potato croquettes to start, then a bright seafood ceviche with sweet potatoes, and finally a wonderfully-spiced and -sauced lomo saltado.

Mediterranean night a home: swordfish with tomatoes, capers, potatoes, and basil.

Our July 4 weekend: chicken shawarma w/ tangy white sauce, tomato / cucumber / feta salad, corn sautéed w/ smoked paprika, and housemade hummus — to illustrate our country of folks who came or were brought here from Europe, Africa, South and East Asia, all the islands, and the rest of the Americas.

Why do I think that Trump wants his Megabill signing event to look like the unimprovable Captain America production of “A Star-Spangled Man With a Plan”?

Totally random: it pleases me no end to display the marble fruit that my Aunt Millie sent my Mama from Europe when her husband was stationed in France after WWII.

We have a bumper crop of Balcony Basil, so that means random pesto pasta all summer.

If, like us, you get a chance to view #sargentandparis at @metmuseum.org in New York, I recommend reading “The Man in the Red Coat” by @julianbarnes.bsky.social (The Sense of an Ending, Arthur & George). Dr. Pozzi is fascinatingly louche and a creature of The Gilded Age. (I have a copy ...)

Final dinner in NYC. Zou Zou's is a vast, high-energy concern w/ an adventurous pan-Mediterranean menu: turmeric Negroni and sumac spritz, a golden beet salad and grilled artichokes, plus a whole spicy Moroccan fried chicken with yogurt and molasses sauces. Every menu item is for 2 (or 4) diners.

Back down to Gramercy Park for an excellent lunch at Rezdôra Osteria Emiliana. Insalata cacio e pepe followed by Ed’s gramigna giallo e verde and my own tagliolini al ragù. A nice bottle of wine from Emilia-Romagna, and we were all set.

We spent a pretty amazing afternoon at @metmuseum.org viewing the #sargentandparis exhibit. The louche Dr. Pozzi and the aloof Madame X were there, along with Sargent himself (looking remarkably like Cousin Dashiell from The Gilded Age).

Truly excellent Indian dinner at GupShup near Union Square. The number of Desi/Indian patrons was a good sign, as were the hipster downstairs and the elegant upstairs spaces. But the star was the food: a beautiful biryani, butter chicken, spicy cauliflower with molasses, and crisp garlic naan.

Manhattan bars are PACKED this week due to the heat (also because, well, Manhattan) but our reliable standby —Danny Meyer’s The Modern— made room for two St. Louis boys in need of a cocktail.

We scored tickets for the @frickcollection.bsky.social in the freshened-up and expanded Henry Frick Gilded Age mansion on Central Park. No photos allowed beyond the central courtyard, but it’s a dizzying array of Turners, Monets, Goyas, Dutch and Flemish masters, and five (count ‘em, five) Vermeers.

After a morning visiting “old friends” at MoMA, we settled in at another old friend: Balthazar is an institution that never disappoints, is always lively, has excellent service, and can treat us to escargots, a perfect omelette, an oniony goat cheese tart, pommes frites, and even a pavlova.

Wonderful birthday dinner at St. Louis homeboy Danny Meyer’s Gramercy Tavern. Really exquisite food plus friendly and attentive (but not over-powering) service. We couldn’t have asked for better.

Dear News Media: This is a statement by the President. Run it unedited.

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis has now given us delightfully silly productions 3 times out of 4. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is beautifully sung and inventively scored, but totally true to the Shakespeare source material. BONUS: STL favorite son Leonard Slatkin conducts the SLSO with expected elegance.

Steve Gontram’s @noordinaryrabbitt.bsky.social is a tapas-forward pan-Mediterranean experience w/ adventurous cocktails (Another Acid Flashback 💋) & plates full of warm spices. The onion rings sold out fast, so we snacked on duck rillette, chorizo-date meatballs, and gnudi w/ herb chicken sausage.