Out & About covers events where notable, powerful and influential figures gather. Besides the suits. This week: “The Sopranos” cast reunion and reunion for the “Nota Bene” podcast.
A family dinner on Mulberry Street
On Wednesday night in Little Italy, members of the cast and crew of “The Sopranos,” which premiered 25 years ago this week, gathered for dinner at Da Nico, a former red sauce restaurant on Mulberry Street. The celebration party was held in conjunction with a nostalgia tour for the show's anniversary, featuring fan events and special screenings.
“It's like paradise. It's extraordinary to be with these people,” said David Chase, creator and executive producer of the series, as guests packed the bar around them. He added that he hadn't seen many of them in years.
About 75 people packed Da Nico, a family-owned restaurant opened in 1993, where “The Sopranos” stars Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa are beloved regulars.
Waiters served Chianti labeled “The Sopranos,” waiters offered baby-caprese appetizers, and figures like Steven Van Zandt, who played Silvio Dante, and Steve Buscemi, who worked as an actor and director on the series, made their way among the crowd. (Some of the show's most recognizable faces didn't attend.)
“I wanted to make sure I was here because I don't know if this will be the last meeting,” said Schirripa, who played Bobby Baccalieri on the series.
The evening was also bittersweet, he said, following the recent deaths of co-stars Frank Vincent and Tony Sirico.
Lorraine Bracco, who played Tony Soprano's psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Melfi, said she fondly remembered the years she spent with the crowd in the room. “I shared a large part of my life. “They saw my children grow up, graduate, have children and get married, so it is still a very large and threatening family.”
Matthew Weiner, the creator of “Mad Men,” who worked on “The Sopranos” for several years, said he still sees Mr. Chase in Los Angeles.
Mr. Chase's writing advice stuck with him: “David always said, 'If we like it, they'll like it.' If we understand it, they will understand it. We are the audience.'”
After cocktail hour, the group moved to a private room upstairs, to enjoy dishes such as Carmela's Baked Ziti and Satriale's Special Calabrese. Over the next few weeks, these menu items and others inspired by the series will be available at Da Nico, which will also feature a special Sopranos-themed red dinner. position.
James Gandolfini, who starred in the series as Tony Soprano, died in 2013. But at the reunion, Gandolfini's son Michael, who played a younger version of Tony in “The Many Saints of Newark,” hung from a wall stacked with bottles of wine, enthusiastically introducing people to his girlfriend. One of his father's former co-stars came up and asked, “How's your mom?”
As Gandolfini took in the scene, watching the former team members hug each other and kiss each other on the cheeks, he became reflective.
“I'm not here just as a fan of the show,” Gandolfini said. “But to honor all the cast members and what they've done.”
The Art World Podcast Hosts a Party
Art dealers, painters and critics gathered Monday night at the opening of a group exhibition, “Friends of the Pod,” at the Broadway Gallery in TriBeCa. The name of the exhibition refers to the podcast that hosted the event: “Nota Bene,” a weekly talk show hosted by two art world experts, Nate Freeman and Benjamin Godsill, who discuss industry news and gossip with the kind of difficulty that might befall Siskel. and Ebert, if they had hung out downtown.
“Friends of the Pod,” which runs through February 3, features works by artists who have appeared as guests on “Nota Bene” or who have been regularly discussed on the podcast, with pieces provided by art stars such as Rashid Johnson, Sterling Ruby and Jonas Wood. Freeman is a culture correspondent at Vanity Fair and Godsill is a prominent arts advisor.
“We're real insiders, Nate as a journalist and me as an advisor,” Godsill said. “Our listeners range from directors of major art fairs to small gallery owners on the Lower East Side.”
“There's a lot of confusion in the art world and we're trying to bring transparency to it,” Freeman said. “We're here to tell you what really happens behind the scenes.”
Next to his own painting, artist Andrew Kuo sipped a tall boy's Carlsberg. And critic Dean Kissick considered a painting of oysters by Hilary Pecis and a sculpture by Tony Matelli of a Roman-style bust covered in celery branches and an eggplant.
“Having food appear in these works, in a way, reflects what 'Nota Bene' is about, because a lot of the podcast is about going to dinner,” Kissick said. “That's because a big part of the art world is about going out to dinner. Dinner is how the art world works.”
Admiring a piece by painter and sculptor Sam Moyer was Bridget Finn, director of Art Basel Miami Beach. “I was listening to a new episode of 'Nota Bene' on the way here,” Ms. Finn said. “They always get inside information.”
Attendees soon walked through the cold to a nearby after-party at a dimly lit bar in Chinatown, The River. Trays of pickled cauliflower, beets and green beans were offered to guests such as Rachel Tashjian, a fashion writer for the Washington Post, and Noah Horowitz, executive director of Art Basel. Gutes Guterman, co-editor of the web publication Byline and founder of The Drunken Canal, sipped an old-fashioned and wore a sequin scarf.
Dressed in a dark suit, Max Hollein, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, maneuvered through the crowd to reach the bar. “I listen to the show from time to time,” he said. “They are two friends talking. I find it quite fun and relaxing.”
As midnight approached, the scene embodied the theme of the podcast: gallerists and artists sat in dark corners of the room drinking martinis to loosen their tongues while talking shop and exchanging gossip. Mr. Freeman and Mr. Godsill were busy chatting with their fans, but they were not out of hours, listening closely to the whispers around them.
