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| Nora Ephron |
By Debbie Mitchell
Today's Foodie Friday bids farewell to a fellow food lover. This week when I heard the news that writer, producer, director Nora Ephron , 71, died I was shocked and saddened. I didn't know Nora Ephron personally, but I, like so many others am a fan of her movies "Sleepless in Seattle", "You've Got Mail", "When Harry Met Sally" and last but not least, “Julie & Julia,” the film she co- wrote and directed about Julia Child and food blogger Julie Powell (who decided to cook her way through “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”). But unlike those who only got to "know" Nora Ephron through her movies , I actually got to meet her when I produced a segment for CBS The Early Show. At the time, Ephron was promoting her book "I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts On Being A Woman" in which was food was a minor character.
Barbara Walters and Joy Baher on "The View" Wednesday were remembering their late friend's honesty, talent, wit and love of food. Barbara Walters actually said "she was a great cook." I smiled when I heard Walters say this, because food is how Nora Ephron and I bonded. I read her book, a honest and funny look at women and aging, in a few hours the night before I was scheduled to pre-interview Ephron on the phone for her segment. During the pre-interview we chatted about the overall book including Eprhon's time spent living in at the massive Apthrop apartment building, in my neighborhood, during its days of affordable rents (the apartments are now multi-million dollar condos) on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and her love of food. Our friendly food conversation continued when we met the morning she arrived to the studio, where we joked about the greenroom (TV waiting room for guests) food.
My long time friend Lystra and I were talking about Nora Ephron's love of food and she revealed that while reading a salon.com overview article on Ephron, Lystra found out about Nora Ephron's love for a cheese found near Portovenere, a small beautiful picturesque fishing village in Italy- a town I love, where my friends Joan and Mario have a home. I've spent many, many, many vacation days eating amazing foods throughout the beautiful seaside town, where residents speak primarily Italian. Most of the trip I smile a lot, practice speaking my rusty Italian, and I eat, but have not eaten that particular cheese. Nora's description of the delicious cheese she found during their annual Fritto Misto Festival made my mouth water for it and focaccia from my favorite bakery. Joan and Mario when you read this, please plan to bring some back to New York City.
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| Joan, Me and Cinzia in Portovenere, Italy |
In the book "I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts On Being A Woman", there is a chapter entitled "The Lost Strudel or Le Strudel Perdu", where Nora Ephron writes about the three stages of grief she experienced when she could not find her beloved cabbage strudel. It had vanished from her life in 1982 when the bakery she loved closed. Ephron searched for twenty three years to find a suitable replacement. The book is sprinkled with tales and funny references to food. In another chapter entitled "What I Wish I'd Known", she writes these two simple lines, You can order more than one dessert and There's no point in making piecrust from scratch, both which made me laugh.
I only spent a couple of hours with Nora Ephron, but I liked her right away and now I know why. In those few hours food (and now I know Portovenere Italy) was our bond. Before Ephron left the studio, she graciously signed a copy of my book. I really thought she was a cool lady and would probably have been a fun friend to hang out with. The interview made my day.
If you have a chance, read Nora's book and eat a wonderful meal. I think Ephron would have liked that combination. Nora Ephron we are going to miss you! R.I.P. Ciao Bella!
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Did you ever have a food you loved and it vanished from your life? Leave a comment, tell me what it is and if you ever found a suitable replacement.
TV/Social Media Producer Debbie Mitchell is an Emmy nominated producer who is a member of the Producers Guild of America (PGA) and is currently a member of the James Beard Broadcast and New Media Awards committee. If you are blogger or brand interested in blogger outreach campaigns or a personality interested in television placement follow Debbie Mitchell @TVProducerDeb or contact http://TheBloggerConnection.com.
Hi Debbie! I love the concept of lost food. There was a place on the 90's on Broadway that sold cream cheese filled muffins. The chocolate one was epic. That was in the mid-1990's. We went looking for them again in 2000, and we could not find the place. We still talk about those lost muffins.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing that. She was a gift to literature and film and will be sorely missed. And I'm going to take your advice of reading that book and enjoying a good meal in her memory.
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