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| Tony May and Marisa May of SD26 New York. photo by Robert Caplin |
He’s known for bringing Italian
Alta Cucina to the American food palate. At a time when Southern Italian was
the predominate Italian food experience for Americans, TONY MAY has made it his
mission (as chairman of the Gruppo RistoratoriItaliani -GRI-) to promote Italian Food and Wine products through his restaurants and
other restauranteurs in this country. He and his fellow restauranteur members (restaurant list found via the link above) are dedicated to conveying the authenticity of Italian cuisine
to the American market. He and his daughter Marisa May own SD26 Restaurant in New York City.sd26ny.com/
Tony has been a dear friend
of mine for almost as long as he and my husband have been friends.
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| Tony and my husband Bill in the Salumaria at SD26. |
Tony did our wedding when he was running the
Rainbow room in 1970. Even then he had Italian fortnights centered around the
regional cuisines of Italy by bringing chefs from Italy to the iconic restaurant in New York. Tony continued to promote chefs in this country, often times
hosting them in his home, while they became familiar with the ingredients
available here.
We would happily be invited to tastings from these chefs around his table. Cooked in the restaurant equipped kitchen in his home, chefs like Sandro from Rome, would create his specialities for the New York restaurant he would open.
Sandro's is located on the upper east side of Manhattan.
We would happily be invited to tastings from these chefs around his table. Cooked in the restaurant equipped kitchen in his home, chefs like Sandro from Rome, would create his specialities for the New York restaurant he would open.
Sandro's is located on the upper east side of Manhattan.
In the 1980’s when I was
creating campaigns for Sophia Loren Eyewear, we had a party for her at Sandro’s
Restaurant. Roman cuisine for another Roman fan.
Tony introduced me to so many
wonderful Italian experiences, like eating pasta at midnight after his
daughter's wedding in Capri or sitting around the table with
his family and guests of honor, in Greenwich, Ct. We would mingle around an outdoor pizza oven and wait
to sample the next amazing taste to come out of the oven. Pizza of course, but
roasted baby lamb as well. Many pastas, and much good Italian wine.
When it came time to find a
place to cook the food for my Italian Food and Wine campaign, it was Tony who
offered his kitchen, and even Sandro came and prepared a Fettucini
dish for one of the ads.
We also enjoyed after dinner cigars, as in the photo below, at a previous house.
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| If you remember, one of my clients was General Cigar. But I think that Tony brought these Cubans. |
Tony has been an enormous
inspiration to me over the many years. Showing me how to prepare
a myriad of Italian ingredients. After all these years I am still going to the
kitchen to cook something I’ve eaten at his restaurant.
Last week at lunch I had a scrumptuous creamy, but no cream, chilled tomato soup with Burrata. I made it at home, with delicious and fresh locally grown tomatoes and basil.
Last week at lunch I had a scrumptuous creamy, but no cream, chilled tomato soup with Burrata. I made it at home, with delicious and fresh locally grown tomatoes and basil.
Here is a photo of the chilled Tomato Soup with Burrata that I ate at SD26.
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And, below, the Tomato Soup I made without the Burrata, unfortunately.
Chilled Tomato Soup with
Burrata*
Serves 4
2 oz Spanish onion brunoised*
1 garlic clove minced
3 oz extra virgin olive oil
¾ lb ripe plum tomatoes,
blanched and peeled*
2 oz cherry tomatoes
½ lb fresh burrata*
4 basil leaves julienned
Sea salt & ground black
pepper corns to taste
Let me first explain those
ingredients that I have *starred.
Burrata is a fresh Italian
cheese, made from mozzarella and cream. The outer shell is solid mozzarella and
the inside is a combination of mozzarella and cream. When you slice into the
outer layer of cheese you get a contrast of buttery creaminess in the center.
The word “burrata” means “buttered” in Italian.
Brunoise is a very fine dice,
a term I just learned. It means cutting the item into julienned sticks and then
crosswise into 1/8 inch pieces. Cooked in butter or oil, it is used to flavor
soups or sauces.
Blanching tomatoes to peel
easily. Cut an X on the bottom of each tomato. Bring a pot of water to a boil.
Submerge the tomatoes and par boil for two minutes. Immediately plunge the
tomatoes into a bath of ice water. ( A bowl of cold water and ice cubes to stop
the cooking of the tomatoes). The tomato skins easily slides off.
In a medium saucepan sweat
the onions and garlic using half the olive oil ( to sweat is to cook slowly
over a low heat, covered). Add the plum tomatoes, salt and pepper and cook,
until soft for at least 15 minutes. Quickly chill the soup in an ice bath, then
puree in a blender with the raw cherry tomatoes.
Strain through a chinois (a
very fine mesh strainer that’s shaped like a funnel and comes to a narrow
point). Season to taste. Add the rest of the olive oil and julienned basil.
I can't wait to discover what my next post will be about... until next week, cook something Italian and tell me about it.
xxoo Sheila
