TimesTalks D.C.: Food is what's going to save America

Last Thursday, The New York Times hosted a most interesting and informative "TimesTalks D.C." roundtable on the future of restaurants, the plight of undocumented workers in the food industry and gender equity in the workplace at George Washington University. The "Future of Restaurants" panelists included James Beard Foundation Award-winners José Andrés (Spanish-American chef and Washington, D.C. restaurateur, often credited for bringing the small plates dining concept "tapas" to America), Danny Meyer (CEO of the Union Square Hospitality Group and founder of the popular Shake Shack casual dining cafes), and Aaron Silverman (owner/chef at Rose's Luxury in Washington, D.C.). The multi-Michelin starred panel was moderated by Kim Severson, national food correspondent for The New York Times.

During the frank and lively 80-minute discussion, which was aired live on Facebook.com/nytimes, Severson started by asking each panelist if they have been practicing their "active male listening" in light of recent stories pertaining to sexual harassment in the workplace, including the restaurant industry.

"We are only as good as the people we have around us ... and we need to be calling out when we see something that is not right," said Andrés, the father of three daughters, about the #MeToo movement happening now in every industry, not just the field of food. "It's about humanity. ... I don't want to have any regrets that I didn't do the right thing."

Meyer, whose New York City-based Union Square Hospitality Group includes Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern and Shake Shack concepts, spoke about the future opening of his first Union Square Cafe outside of New York at the Capitol Crossing complex in Mount Vernon triangle. "The thing that I'm most excited about is starting with the great restaurant community (in D.C.)," he said, which also includes creating safe spaces and promoting diversity. "I think we have an amazing moment to talk about who we want to be going forward right now."

Silverman, whose Little Pearl coffee shop and wine bar evolved out of a daytime cafe (Pineapple and Pearls) he used to operate, responded to a question about the elevation of "ethnic" foods: "I think there is a lot of food that isn't 'American' or French or Spanish that is already being elevated. It's totally happening and I hope to see more of it.

"It feels good to be able to say yes to people. We're just trying to make people happy."

Andrés, whose humanitarian relief effort has resulted in more than 3.2 million meals for hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, recently wrote a Washington Post op-ed about immigration reform. He said: "America is about pragmatism. We should be creating smart visas to give opportunities for those people to come in, work, get paid, and go back to their communities."

Later, Andrés summed up the evening's wide-ranging discussion perfectly – and it took just one just one sentence to do it. He said: "At the end of the day, food is what's going to save America."

Photo: © Michael Dickens, 2018.

A light show seen for miles and miles and miles

"You cannot look up at the night sky on the Planet Earth and not wonder what it's like to be up there among the stars," the actor Tom Hanks once said. "And I always look up at the moon and see it as the single most romantic place within the cosmos."

Light show fantastic / Sunday night's total lunar eclipse.

Imagine, the rare phenomenon that was Sunday night's sight of a total lunar eclipse of a harvest moon, hanging in the sky painted a coppery red. It coincided with a "super-moon," which happens when a full moon makes its closest approach to planet Earth. The result is the moon appears bigger and brighter than usual.

Added together, the night sky's theatrics provided everyone with a celestial show for the ages.

I'll admit, I was among the admirers who stood in awe in the middle of our residential cul-de-sac, along with my wife and a neighboring family of four, together, watching what unfolded in the nighttime sky at its peak between 8 and 9 o'clock Pacific Daylight Time.

Words like "amazing" and "miracle" were among the many gushing adjectives that came up during conversation of our shared experience.

Earlier in the day, I was skeptical that our view would be tarnished because of low-hanging clouds over the San Francisco Bay Area. However, as the afternoon faded to evening, a nice window of opportunity for viewing the total lunar eclipse occurred when the cloud cover above us cleared -- as if on command. So, without worry, it was on with the show.

Meanwhile, as I checked my Facebook news feed throughout the day, I realized the enormity of the event -- and its interest wasn't confined just to a U.S. audience. A dear friend and astronomy enthusiast of mine, Mayssa Yazidi, who resides eight time zones away from me in the North Africa country of Tunisia, eagerly awaited in the wee hours of early Monday morning for her chance to see the total lunar eclipse. In the hours leading up for both of us to see the big event, we exchanged several messages that were filed with hope and optimism. And, we followed up enthusiastically after daylight broke for both of us Monday, recalling what each of us saw from our respective sides of the world.

Sunday night's total lunar eclipse as seen from my patio deck. /
The umbra was beginning to leave the moon at 8:54 p.m. PDT.

When the harvest moon finally appeared high over the horizon of the Oakland hills, shortly after 8 o'clock Sunday night, I could see the total eclipse was already in full effect. While it proved challenging to photograph the total eclipse, both with my DSLR camera as well as my iPhone 6, the memory of it all lives on in my mind.

Sometimes, that's all that matters.

Photos: © Michael Dickens, 2015.

David Bowie ~ Where are we now?

Imagine every one's surprise when David Bowie released a comeback single, "Where Are We Now?" on Jan. 8, and also announced plans to release a new album 'The Next Day' come March, all on the occasion of celebrating his 66th birthday.

In just a few days, "Where Are We Now?" has generated great buzz on American and British radio ~ I first learned about it while listening to the "Morning Becomes Eclectic" show via KCRW.com ~ and the song's been widely written about on both sides of the Atlantic.

In an article published Friday in London's The Guardian, Bowie's producer, Tony Visconti, called the new album "eclectic," saying "it's got five really blistering rock tracks. The rest is really mid-tempo, mysterious and evocative.

"The elegiac balladry of 'Where Are We Now?' isn't particularly representative,"he says. "He's been obsessed with medieval English history, which, believe it or not, makes great material for a rock song. And contemporary Russian history, which makes for a great rock song. The subject matter he chose to write about is amazing. ... One thing the album's got is a lot of substance. You're going to have to listen to it many times, because the lyrical content's going to take a long time to absorb."

Visconti went on to tell The Guardian that on "Where Are We Now?" Bowie is "singing very low-key on the single. A lot of people have misinterpreted that, thinking he's going to sound old and frail on this record, but for that song he wanted to sound vulnerable. Big difference. Elsewhere, he's singing in full voice, that voice you hear on 'Heroes'."

See for yourself ~ I've linked the very creative video filmed by Tony Oursler for "Where Are We Now?" Indeed, it's a very melancholy sound for Bowie. Yet, each time I hear the song, it grows on me. I like it more and more. It's innovative and beautiful.

Vulnerable equals enjoyable.

You knew that David Bowie, the artist, couldn't sit on his creativity forever.