A Tale in Two Voices
The odds of us ever meeting were slim, because our worlds do not often intersect.
DEE DEE: I was in politics, originally in the Midwest and then in Washington, DC. Paul lived in Los Angeles, where he had a wonderful acting career. As unlikely as it may seem, our paths crossed on the set for a TV news show in New York. Paul was appearing on the show late in the afternoon of December 11, 2013. I was scheduled to take my chair right after he was done. I was waiting to go onto the set just as he was leaving.
PAUL: I took one look at Dee Dee, and I was smitten. I arranged through the producer for the three of us to have a drink after the show at Del Frisco’s, a restaurant next door to the studio. I successfully maneuvered to sit in the chair next to Dee Dee and surprised myself by doing something very much out of character. I am old-school and a gentleman and have never been forward with women. But I was so overwhelmed by the beautiful woman sitting beside me, I was compelled to act. Without a moment’s thought, I put my arm around Dee Dee and then leaned in to kiss her. For me, that was that. After twenty years of being single, I knew I had found a woman with whom I could celebrate life. That evening turned into our first dinner. I had planned to meet friends elsewhere, but we ended up staying at Del Frisco’s and invited them to join us there.
DEE DEE: I was not expecting anything to come from the meeting. I had lots of friends in town and was enjoying everything New York had to offer. Truth be told, I didn’t like actors. I found them demanding. They were like children and divas expecting to have everything revolve around them. Besides, I was not a fan of Los Angeles, and Paul lived there full-time.
PAUL: When I got back to Los Angeles, I called Dee Dee often, unaware of a serious communications glitch: When Dee Dee returned my calls, her caller ID appeared on my phone as Private Caller. All of her calls were blocked. Though I didn’t understand why she was not getting back to me, I continued to call. I was a man on a mission.
DEE DEE: When Paul came back to town to New York to shoot Brooklyn Banker, directed by Federico Castelluccio (aka Furio from The Sopranos), he went to see me perform in a political satire called Electoral Dysfunction. We went to Sardi’s after the show, which was our “official” first date. We had a great time. Paul got me a walk-on role at the very end of Brooklyn Banker. In the course of the movie, the character Paul was playing went from being a gangster to a boss. The movie ends with all the guys and many extras showing the new capo respect. I was in that scene looking with deference at the boss like everyone else.
PAUL: Not long after Brooklyn Banker, I was working on a movie called Cold Deck in Canada and asked Dee Dee to join me. One of the stars of the movie invited us for Canadian Thanksgiving dinner, which falls on our Columbus Day. I was so caught up in the spirit of the celebration that I asked Dee Dee to marry me.
“You ask me sitting down?” she responded.
I got down on one knee and proposed again at the Thanksgiving table. I couldn’t wait any longer.
Dee Dee accepted.
DEE DEE: We married a little more than two months later, on December 27, 2014, in what I call “the simplest wedding ever.” We had a thirty-second ceremony performed by Judge Matthew Sciarrino, my consigliere from early politics, at the fountain at Lincoln Center. Our witnesses were Paul’s oldest friend, Paula, and her partner Riccardo, who had joined us for dinner the night we met, our photographer, and Stacy Blum Sciarrino, the judge’s wife. A very tight knit wedding party—the only way to elope. Perfect, just the way we wanted it. Our small wedding party walked across the street to celebrate our marriage at Fiorello’s. And we are still celebrating.
In Pinot, Pasta, and Parties, we have collected our favorite recipes so that you can effortlessly prepare special food for your family and friends. Pinot, Pasta, and Parties features ten party menus—from an intimate dinner to a Goodfellas feast, from an abundant buffet to a picnic with an Italian accent. We include more than eighty simple recipes that you can enjoy with your guests.
A sample menu begins each chapter. We loosely followed the courses of a traditional Italian meal:
Aperitivo—small bites served with drinks
Antipasto—appetizer
Primi—pasta course
Secondi—main course
Contorni—side dishes
Insalata—salad (always served after the main course)
Dolce—dessert
We are far from formal and go all out only when the occasion merits it. That being said, we can get excessive at holidays! But if we are serving a six-or seven-course meal, we keep the portions small.
If you don’t want to prepare an all-out feast, you can pick and choose from the menus rather than serve every course listed. And though some menus, namely Made in America and Nice Guy Meets Pundit, are designed to be buffets, you can select one or more dishes from those menus for a simple meal for two. Feel free to mix and match these recipes to create a meal that fits your tastes and needs. In every chapter we’ve added “alternative” recipes for mixing and matching.
We enjoy treating our guests to a great spread. We like to serve them the traditional food they have come to love and expect at our table and to surprise them with new twists on the classics. Pinot, Pasta, and Parties provides you with a culinary “playlist” for creating party food guaranteed to delight your friends and family.
BUON APPETITO!