Tag Archives: Arogya

Roundup: Luciano Paving, Winfield Coffee, Playhouse Show …

There are (at least) 2 sides to every story.

A recent “06880” Roundup item about an advertising sign on a utility pole brought a ringing defense of the company.

Luciano Paving, the writer noted, is a long-time, very generous local business.

They donate to Westport PAL, and supply the equipment that keeps the Longshore skating rink clear. They bring equipment to the Touch-a-Truck event at the Imperial Avenue parking lot, and provide trucks and a car for the Westport Woman’s Club Memorial Day float.

Sam Luciano — former Westport chief of police, for whom the Saugatuck train station park is named — was Tim’s cousin. Every year, Tim sponsors a golf tournament in Sam’s name at Longshore.

More broadly, contractors are an asset to the town. In weather emergencies, they plow snow, clear roads and do whatever else is needed.

We would not be where we are without contractors like Luciano — a family that traces its heritage back to Antonio Gilbertie, founder of the floral business over 100 years ago.

Tim Luciano, of Luciano Paving, is a Westport native and Staples High School graduate.

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Winfield Street Coffee has come a long way from its start, 98 years ago in East Norwalk.

Under current owner Breno Donatti, there are locations in Westport (the old Art’s Deli, just over the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge) and Stamford; kiosks in the Croton-Harmon and Rye train stations, plus Q line subway stops in Manhattan, and 2 in Naples, Florida.

Now — in addition to coffee (f course), Italian deli sandwiches, healthy bowls and salads, and fresh pastry.

Donatti is not sitting still. Culinary director Chris Gonzalez has designed an expanded menu, adding side dishes like bacon mac & cheese, roasted brussels sprouts with hot honey and crispy shallots, fries options like (sweet potato wedges, polenta fries, home fries), and homemade baked goods.

Coffee director Caleb MacPherson is implementing new drinks and roasting beans.

I know all this because Westport’s own Stephanie Webster covered it in her great CTBites blog. Click here for the full story (and excellent food photos).

PS: Click on the “Restaurants” tab at the top of “06880,” for details on Winfield Street Coffee and many more.

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“Ain’t Misbehavin'” — a revival of the Broadway show celebrating jazz pioneer Fats Waller’s career, while exploring the “masks” he and his musicians wore while performing for white audiences — opens tonight at the Westport Country Playhouse. It runs through April 29.

Among the special events:

Taste & Chat (tonight, Tuesday, April 11, 6 p.m.): Wine and cheese with Marcella Monk Flake, of The Monk Center for Academic Enrichment and Performing Arts, and co-founder of Monk Youth Jazz and STEAM Collective.

Pride Night (Thursday, April 13, 6 p.m.): Pre-show cocktails for the LGBTQ community and friends.

Black Excellence Night (Friday, April 14, 6:30 p.m.): Free pre-show celebration for the Black and Brown community.

For ticket information, click here. For more on these special events, scroll down on that page.

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Al Jaffee — the Mad magazine cartoonist best known for his clever fold-in comics, on the back page — died yesterday in New York. He was 102.

His obituary is fascinating reading.

Especially fascinating is this Westport connection: His 2010 biography, “Al Jaffee’s Mad Life,” was written by local writer Mary-Lou Weisman.

A 2010 story explains:

He has always had a soft spot … for Mary-Lou Weisman, a 72-year-old author from Westport, Conn., who used to own a summer place near his (in Provincetown, Massachetts). Not only did she appreciate his eccentricities but she also donated a stupid question to his collection. (For that, she thanks the sister who demanded to know, “Where do you keep your ice cubes?”)

Their friendship has led to a collaboration that should cheer anyone with a secret affinity for Mad magazine. Written by Ms. Weisman, “Al Jaffee’s Mad Life” lays bare in harrowing yet often riotous detail how a Southern boy, twice uprooted by his mother to Lithuanian shtetls on the eve of World War II, grew up to become a tireless satirist for some of America’s cheekier magazines. HarperCollins published the book on Tuesday under its It Books imprint.

Readers will also be treated to 74 original drawings by Mr. Jaffee, nearly twice what he had pledged. “He was on fire,” Ms. Weisman said.
Click here for the full Times book review.

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It’s budget season.

So in this week’s “What’s Next in Weston” podcast, 1st Selectwoman Sam Nestor discusses her town’s projections — and urges residents to participate

Click below to listen, courtesy of the Y’s Men of Westport and Weston.

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Save the date!

The VFW Joseph J. Clinton Post 399 charity golf tournament is June 12, at Longshore.

Individuals, businesses and organizations can support the local club by sponsoring a veteran (or a vets’ foursome) to play.

Other ways to help: donating prizes, registering to play, buying a tee sign, even being a title sposnor.

For more information, contact tournament chairs Ed Cribari (203-451-0644; ecribari71@gmail.com) or Patty Kondub (203-767-3778; nortonpk@aol.com).

VFW on Riverside Avenue.

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Speaking of the VFW:

Ever-popular pianist Chris Coogan headlines this week’s Jazz at the Post (Thursday, April 13; shows at 7:30 and 8:45 p.m.; dinner at 7 p.m.).

Chris grew up here, and the area is home base for his multi-faceted career. He is a world-class jazz pianist; an in-demand accompanist for singers; a powerhouse Gospel pianist, choir director and bandleader; an inspiring educator, and an all- around good guy.

He’s joined this week at the VFW by bassist John Mobilio and drummer Joe Corsella.

Reservations are highly recommended: JazzatthePost@gmail.com.

Chris Coogan

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Starting yesterday, Church Lane will be closed to through traffic.

The move — begun during COVID, and continued in following years thanks to the popularity of outdoor dining and leisurely strolling — continues through November 6.

Outdoor dining on Church Lane. (Photo/Dan Woog)

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The Y’s Women spaced out yesterday.

Marty Yellin — a Ph.D. in engineering, who helped design and manage the Hubble Space Telescope — explained the differences between it and the James Webb Telescope.

His photographs, we are told, were “out of this world.”

Marty Yellin addresses the Y’s Women.

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Martha Stewart returned to Westport recently.

She sampled Arogya Holistic Healing & Tea’s teas, and shared recipes. The event was filmed for her TV show, “Martha Cooks!”

Click here, for the full episode on Roku.

Martha Stewart at Arogya.

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Judith Katz’s Harvest Commons magnolia tree serves beautifully as today’s “Westport … Naturally” image.

(Photo/Judith Katz)

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And finally … Happy Barbershop Quartet Day!

(Stay “in tune” with “06880” — and please support what we do. Click here — thank you!)

 

 

 

 

Frederic And Jeanine’s Old-Time, 21st-Century Salons

In 2002, Frederic Chiu returned to the US after 12 years in France. A Juilliard-trained concert pianist, he settled in Westport. He loved the town’s support of arts and culture; besides, his wife Jeanine Esposito lived here since 1991. She is both an innovation consultant to Fortune 500 firms and a visual artist.

The couple bought a small house in Green’s Farms. As their children grew, they searched for something larger. It took a while, but finally they found an 1806 house on Weston Road. They loved it, for its bones and because there was space to invite artists and musicians for “salons” — just like in old-time Paris.

Jeanine Esposito and Frederic Chiu, in their Weston Road home.

Jeanine Esposito and Frederic Chiu, in their Weston Road home.

Five minutes after seeing it, they “crazily” put in a bid. They added a letter, about their dream of sharing arts there with the community. Soon, the house — once owned by Morris Ketchum — was theirs.

They had not even furnished it, when Frederic invited a touring Argentinian pianist to perform at an “art immersion event.” Argentine friends helped prepare native food. Guests called it an “amazing” night.

Frederic and Jeanine staged a few similar events. Each celebrated art, music, film and food, for no more than 65 guests. No one is an expert in everything, so everyone is open to sharing their experiences.

But each one cost money. So last fall Frederic’s friend — internationally renowned violinist Joshua Bell — played a fundraiser there, in the warm, graceful Weston Road home the couple calls “Beechwood.”

Beechwood House is a perfect place for salons.

Beechwood House is a perfect place for salons.

A neighbor — a part-time Westport resident — who had come to every event took the invitations, and pages from the website, and reported Frederic and Jeanine to town officials. The couple spent their fundraising dollars on lawyers.

Planning & Zoning ruled that no permits are needed for private salons. “We’re certainly not running a business,” Frederic notes. But the time-consuming, frustrating and expensive process got them wondering: How could they take something people loved — something that opens up all the senses, includes a mix of young and established artists and performers, and gets people talking to each other, laughing, having a good time — and reach a broader audience?

A piano performance is just part of one salon.

A piano performance is just part of one salon.

Around the same time, Frederic played a concert with 100 other pianos — all over the world. It was streamed over the internet. An idea was born: add technology to old-style salons, in a worldwide web of shared intimacy.

Guests chat with others far away, at satellite salons. The iPads are placed on mannequins, for a more "personal" feel.

Guests chat with others far away, at satellite salons. The iPads are placed on mannequins, for a more “personal” feel.

A donor offered to provide equipment. The challenges were daunting, but on November 17 Frederic and Jeanine hosted an event in Westport. Linked “satellite salons” took place simultaneously in Boston, New Jersey, Virginia and Beijing. All were small gatherings, with Skyped music, artwork, poetry and a Chinese dancer, plus fresh, local food. (In Westport, attendees ate from Wafu, and drank teas from Arogya.)

Frederic and Jeanine have made Beechwood a site for more than their salons. He’s held intensive weekend workshops there, and the couple has collaborated with the Westport Historical Society and Westport Country Playhouse to host events. Last summer, a “Beechwood Open” brought together young and old for an open stage, open mic, open screen (for films), open walls (for art) and open table. Frederic and Jeanine envision Beechwood as “a meeting ground for all the arts in town.”

Up next: a springtime collaboration of artists, musicians, filmmakers and tech folks. They’ll start at Beechwood, then move out into the community to do more.

It’s all part of Frederic and Jeanine’s wish to make their town a “cultural salon hub.” And not just for Westport, but the world.

Sculpture -- indoors and outside -- is an important part of Beechwood salons.

Sculpture — indoors and outside — is an important part of Beechwood salons…

...and so too is great food and good conversation.

…and so too is great food and good conversation.

 

(If your browser does not take you directly to YouTube, click here.)

 

Bedroom Matters

Shaw’s closed; Fresh Market opened.  Sweet.

Depot Liquors is gone; another package store will take its place.  No big deal.

But Bedroom Matters is shutting its doors tomorrow.  That is very bad news for thousands of Westport women — plus their partners. 

Bedroom Matters is a boutique across from the railroad station — a few doors down from Depot Liquors, in fact.  It sells the usual:  lingerie, massage candles, rhinestone pasties, Kama Sutra honey dust, vibrators, Bad Girl cuffs.

Margaret Wagner

In 2 years, it’s developed a loyal following.  “Our customers are amazing,” says founder Margaret Wagner.

But rents are high.  So tomorrow (Friday) is her last day as a brick-and-mortar retailer.  All merchandise is 50 percent off.  A final event tomorrow night will clear everything off the shelves.

Customers — many of whom thank Wagner for spicing up their sex lives and/or saving their marriages — need not despair.  She will continue to sell her products — including bedding, intimate objects, and educational and erotic books — online

Her classes (intimacy, lap-dancing — “anything fun and sexy,” Wagner says) and her Sensual Circles women’s groups will be held in several area locations. 

“We have 2,500 women on our mailing list,” Wagner says.  Places like Arogya and Soleil Toile are very interested in having our events at their place.”

Kama Sutra massage oil is $19.99 on the Bedroom Matters website.

Wagner says she is “passionate about one thing:  living a sensual life.” 

But sex, she says, “has become an action, a verb. Its soul is lost as it gets tracked through the mud of everything from pornography to Cougar Town.”

 She founded Bedroom Matters to “reintroduce sex and intimacy as a core of our being.  (I wanted) to build a platform for sensuality and sexuality that is beautiful, respectful, fun and intimate.”

She calls her store “an expensive tool to help women — and couples — with relationships and intimacy.”  It’s time now, she says, to move more toward the educational side of the business.  And to sell products in an environment with no overhead.

As Shoeless Joe Jackson says in “Field of Dreams”:  “If you build it, they will come.”

(Wagner also blogs.  Click here to read “Margaret’s Bedroom.”)

This book includes a box to check after completing each of the 101 places.