Wednesday, August 4, 2010

8/4 - Cynthia Peck, Larry Lipson, Marcia Gay Harden,

Cynthia Peck - Angelo's & Vinci's Ristorante
Thirty-nine years ago, our restaurant was built with tradition and has since continued with tradition. At our home in the old marketplace, we tribute our ancestors who came to America in the late 1800’s – their spirit and their recipes! Originally built as an L-shaped marketplace in the days when Fullerton was an orchard (early 1900’s), the local farmers would bring their produce in from the fields by horse and wagon to sell to the townspeople. The original wood trusses of the old roof system may still be seen in the Venetian Room. Approximately twenty years later, renovation of the building changed it from its original L-shape to a square. This was accomplished by the large wood barrel trusses (an unusual truss!), which can be seen in the Sicilian Room and the Piazza Fantasia. During our renovation in 1992, the old wood, terra cotta tiles and brick was salvaged and re-used to keep alive the feeling and memories of those days long ago. Be prepared when you walk into Angelo’s and Vinci’s Ristorante to be overwhelmed! With surprises in every corner, you won’t know where to look first! You will sit amidst the art of the great masters, in an Italian town square complete with the storefronts of old Italian butcher and cheese mongers, fruit and wine vendors, seamstresses showing their wares, and more. Fairy lights abound under cathedral ceilings as our ancestors smile down at you from the Family Love Altar. Explore and you will be surrounded by colorful Sicilian puppets, the carnival masks and canals of Venice, and the romance of Romeo & Juliet. Find our mystical Room of the Moon…and don’t forget King Kong, Dracula, Frankenstein, witches, ghosts and who-knows-what that await you in the Monster Wine Cellar!  Founder, Steven Peck, renowned Hollywood dancer, choreographer and veteran actor of over 100 movies and television performances, has delightful photographs of over 40 years of famous stars, directors and dancers. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Gary Cooper, Robert Taylor, Broderick Crawford, Kirk Douglas, Walter Winchell, Sam Wanamaker, Vincent Minnelli, Sylvester Stallone, Ted Danson, David Hasselhof, Ray Sharkey, Shirley MacLaine, Cyd Charisse, Dolly Parton, Joan Collins, Raquel Welch, Olympia Dukakis, Shelly Winters and so many more. Films from Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros., MGM, Desilu, United Artists, Universal Studios, to name a few.

Marcia Gay Harden - OSCAR-WINNING ACTRESS  ("Contact Lenses")
Marcia Gay Harden has twice been nominated for Academy Awards, winning for her role in Pollock. She won a 2010 Tony Award for her performance in God of Carnage on Broadway. She has appeared in films such as Sinatra, Mystic River, Millers Crossing, The First Wives Club, Meet Joe Black, Mona Lisa Smile, The Hoax, Used People, and Whip It, which also featured her daughter Eulala Grace Scheel. She was nominated for two Emmy® Awards, one for her role in The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler and another for her guest star role on Law and Order. And she co-starred in the critically acclaimed FX drama Damages.  Just in time for Back-to-School, award-winning actress and mother of three, Marcia Gay Harden, is available to discuss the importance of proper vision care for academics, sports, and overall performance. Harden’s daughter – Eulala Grace Scheel, 11 years old, also an actress – recently navigated the transition to contact lenses. A recent survey revealed that 50% of parents know their child would rather be wearing contact lenses over glasses[1] and studies indicate that kids with glasses sometimes choose not to wear them because they don’t like the way they look. Parents are then left wondering what they can do to help overcome this challenge because, when kids don’t their wear glasses, it can negatively affect their performance in academics, sports and other areas. However many parents feel the everyday maintenance, responsibility, and hygiene associated with contacts is too much for their kids to manage.  "Seeing Eye to Eye".

Larry Lipson - Live from Costa Rica
Former LA Daily News Food Columnist (50 Years) Larry Lipson is live and direct from his research Institute in Costa Rica. He will talk about wine food and the good life and will have comments  From Frommer's Travel Guide: " Wine: Although some European immigrants have been experimenting with wine grape cultivation in Costa Rica, no one has succeeded. The government did sponsor an experimental effort several years ago, but eventually most of the vines were ripped out.  If you see Costa Rican wine for sale, it is almost surely from imported Chilean grape juice that is then processed in Costa Rica--the quality is terrible and it is--at least so far--not worth buying except as a total novelty."