CHEF DANIEL BELLINO-ZWICKE
CAMERON DIAZ
BAR CICHETTI
NEW YORK
One night way back when, Michael Stipe bopped in. It was at my restaurant
BAR CICHETTI, (America’s 1st Venetian Bacaro). He was with Peter Buck and Mike Mills. They were going to see a Ted Demme movie at The Film Forum across the street from Bar Cichetti. They stopped in early in the evening then went to see the movie. After the movie was over, they came back to the restaurant. Things had slowed down, so I got out to the kitchen and went to the bar. Michael and Buck & Mills were there too.
Michael Stipe and I struck up a conversation. I was in my chefs uniform, and he asked me if I made the rice balls (Arancini). I said “yes, I did.” “Love those,” he said. He was sipping on glass of wine. I asked him what he was drinking, and he said Chianti. I loved Chianti myself and I tole him about the Chianti he was drinking, where it was from (Castello Verrazzano), and whom made it, my good friend Cavelier Luigi Cappellini of Greve where Verrazzano is located. I got a glass of wine myself. Also the Verrazzanno Chianti. We clicked glasses and cheered each other. “Nice to meet you Michael,” I said. “Nice to meet you Damiel,” Michael retorted. We drank wine, and had a nice little conversation, and I started to teach Michael a little bit about Italian wine. He was very receptive, and even interested. I poured him a little Vino Nobile to taste. Vino Nobile, like Chianti is made of Sangiovese, and it comes from the town of Montepulciano in Tuscany.
At one point, my buddy Raoul called me on the phone. He said that he and Lisa were at Peter Luger’s. “Guess who we ran into?” he asked. I don’t know, who? “Cammy,” Raoul said, meaning Cameron Diaz, who Rauol knows pretty well, but I had never met. “We’ll be there in 20 minutes,” Raoul told me. “OK” About 20 minutes later, they arrived: Raoul, Lisa, and Cameron Diaz. When they walked through the door, Cameron spotted Michael. “Hey, what are you doing here, ” she said to Michael. Michael told her that they (R.E.M.) went to see the ted Demme film, and that they stopped in here (Bar Cichetti) earlier, and liked it, so they came back after the movie.
We were all having a great time. At one point Michael asked me if I had a piece of paper and pen. I gave Michael the paper and pen, and he proceeded to write a song at my bar. Then Michael Stioe, Peter Chuck, and Mike Mills jumped up on our large buffet table, and started playing the song, that Michael had just written. Everyone in the place were going wild. They couldn’t believe their eyes, or ears. There, before their very eyes, in. Bar Cichetti were R.E.M. and they were playing a song.
I brought up a couple bottles of Champagne and poured a glass for Michael, Cameron, my buddy Raoul and Lisa, and as they say “The Boys in The Band.”
Needless to say, it was quite a memorable night. The Night I met and hung out with Michael Stipe and Cameron Diaz at my restaurant Bar Cichetti. Wow? Yes quite a night.
I might as well talk a bit about some of my other celebrities at my place Bar Cichetti. Ed Harris was shooting the movie Pollack, and he was in the star role, playing Jackson Pollack. He had lunch with another guy (Maybe the director?). When Ed finished, I was standing at the bar, he came over to me to say “thanks, I really enjoyed that.” Wow. Thanks Ed. A couple days later, he came back again.
My old pal Fishcer Stevens came with Marisa Tomei one night, and another time with Rosie Perez. “Thanks Fischer.” my friend Matt Dillon, who’s also good friends with my old buddy Raoul, who actually introduced us would bop in once in a while. Also John Lurie who’s a friend of ours as well, and Debi Mazur as well.
Well, anyway? That’s that. It was quite nice to meet Cammy and Michael. Yes a real treat. And those are some special memories for me and my restaurant (Bacaro – Osteria0 Bar Cichetti.
“Basta” !!!
Daniel Bellino Zwicke
ITALIAN FOOD & TRAVEL
ROME VENICE PIZZA PASTA & ?
by DANIEL BELLINO ZWICKE
R.E.M. at BAR CICHETTI – NEW YORK
Michael Stipe, Peter Chuck & Mike Wells
ME & SOME of MY FRIENDS
L to R – Daniel Bellino Zwicke, Raoul M., Lisa, MATT DILLON
ABBY, JOHN LURIE & GLENN O’BRIEN
BAR CICHETTI
NEW YORK CITY
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