Thursday, February 17, 2000
Georges Haidon cooks as a signer of books
BY JIM KNIPPENBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Heard around town, part I: “Lord, I ate his food at the Maisonette for years. Of course, I'd be here,” spoken by no one in particular and everyone in general last week at a Joseph-Beth book signing.
That would be Georges Haidon, Maisonette chef for 27 years, signing The Perfect Setting: Menus and Memories from Cincinnati's Taft Museum (Taft Museum, $21.95), a collection of anecdotes and elegant recipes.
Haidon contributed only one menu (salmon with shrimp and mussels, sauteed veal chop in Burgundy sauce, oranges and strawberries in orange liqueur), but he's such a power draw that the museum opted for him to host the signing.
Which he did for a room full of foodies, chefs and longtime Maisonette diners.
Not that Haidon's doing a lot of cooking anymore. “I'll be honest with you — not very much. I'm enjoying my retirement, living the good life. You know, I never had a life when I worked. I'm still consulting for the Queen City Club, but that's all.
“The rest of the time, I putter around home and go out to eat — Maisonette, always. Chez Alphonse is one of my favorites, and so is Bing Moy's China Gourmet. Lately, I've discovered Daveed's in Mount Adams, and I love it.”
HEARD AROUND TOWN, PART II: “I love this work. It's art that just flies off gallery walls.”
That would be arts grande dame Phyllis Weston, founder and director of Closson's Gallery but not the namesake of the Weston Gallery, talking about David Black at a recent opening at the Aronoff's Weston Gallery.
Black is a Broadway producer (George M, Ides of March, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Ready When You Are, C.B.) who turned artist in the '80s when he got fed up with the theater business: “New York critics — enough to drive anyone out.”
Even as we speak, he's showing 19 impressionist paintings and 27 metallic engravings, plus getting ready for a show at Closson's later this year. “Look at his work. Who wouldn't want to show him? It's so real,” Weston says.
Black, who entertained opening-nighters with a monologue he calls “How Producing Broadway Plays Drove Me to a Painting Career,” says he's not finished with theater yet. “I want to do sets, and maybe masks for a ballet.”
And more paintings? “Whenever the urge hits.”
40????: So then, you were wondering about the giant banner streaming across the front of the Anderson Township Penn Station restaurant? The one that says “Guess who's over 40, over 200 and under 6 foot but ... still has his hair.”
It's a birthday greeting for Penn founder Jeff Osterfeld, who hit 40 on Feb. 13 and hit 200 pounds, well, awhile ago.
The sign was unsigned and driving Osterfeld nuts all week. Don't know if he knows yet who did it but Eye does: Penn staff and his three brothers, all of whom are bald, all topping 200 pounds.
The other milestone this week out at Penn Station is its 15th birthday. Founded in 1985 on Walnut Street (it recently moved to Main), it is today 33 stores, selling 14 kinds of subs.
Knip's Eye View appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.
