Arrived in New York for graduation festivities. Arianna R., HG/BSK’s beautiful and brainy granddaughter received her MBA a week earlier in Providence. Equally brainy and beautiful granddaughter, Sofia, was slated to get her BA from Columbia (Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa) in graduation ceremonies on Monday. Longtime pals, Peter and Susan H., made their spacious Riverside Drive available for the Freeman and R. family (P. and H. were away visiting their daughter, her husband, and a new baby). A very gracious and generous act (typical of P. and S.). Sofia was off to Zabar’s, the long time West Side culinary institution. Came back with an overwhelming feast of Jewish delicacies. Nova Scotia smoked salmon. Sable (best ever). Whitefish salad. Scallion cream cheese. Potato salad. Coleslaw. Pickles. Olives. Onions. Capers. Corned beef. Pastrami. Zabar’s mustard. Bialys. Traditional Jewish rye bread. A meal full of joy and memories as the feast and the H. apartment evoked HG/BSK’s days on the West Side some 47 years ago.
Susan and I were SO glad to be able to host the Freeman/Riva clan for the graduation days! How clever of us to live so close to Columbia campus! And, while we worked hard to make sure the apt. was neat and clean, the aforementioned clan somehow managed to leave it even neater and cleaner!! And managed to leave behind quite a few choice bottles of wine, crowned by a well-aged Amarone della Vapolicella. That bottle will await the return of cool weather in the fall……
Brought back those happy W. 79th Street years (1963-1972). Grittier in those days. Hookers. Crazies. Muggers. But, joyous, inexpensive, diverse. And, a culinary heaven, of course. Zabar’s has expanded but the Broadway Nut Shop, Babka Bakery, etc. were removed by The Real Estate Steamroller.