Best Music Ever: 2025

Monday, November 24, 2025

Jerry Vale

JERRY VALE

"PRETEND YOU DON'T SEE HER"

Jerry Vale

"AL Di La"

INNAMORATA

Stevie Wonder - Rocket Love

STEVIE WONDER

"HOTTER THAN JULY"

STEVIE WONDER

"ROCKET LOVE"

Harry Nilsson

HARRY NILSSON

"EVERYBODY'S TALKING"

HARRY NILSSON

I GUESS The LORD MUST BE in NEW YORK CITY

JUMP INTO The FIRE

HARRY NILSSON

WITHOUT YOU

HARRY NILSSON

"ME & MY ARROW"

NILSSON SCHMILSSON

"COCONUT"

The BEATLES Going to Lose That Girl

The BEATLES

"YOU'RE GOING To LOSE That GIRL"

The Beatles - In My Life

The BEATLES

"In MY LIFE"

From RUBBER SOUL

"GREAT SONG"

LOVE The HARPSICHORD SOLO

"Friggin Awesome" !!!!

Yesterday When I was Young

ROY CLARK

"YESTERDAY WHEN I WAS YOUNG"

Shirley Bassey

YESTERDAY WHEN I WAS YOUNG

By The Time I Get to Phoenix

Glenn Campbell

By The TIME I GET to PHOENIX

Friday, November 7, 2025

Michael Stipe REM at Bar Cichetti NYC

MICHAEL STIP & R.E.M. at BAR CICHETTI

NEWW YORK CITY

1999

BAR CICHETTI

Business Card

1998

CHEF DANIEL BELLINO-ZWICKE

CAMERON DIAZ

BAR CICHETTI

NEW YORK

One night way back when, Michael Stipe bopped in. It was at my restaurant

BAR CICHETTI, (America's 1st Venetian Bacaro). He was with Peter Buck and Mike Mills. They were going to see a Ted Demme movie at The Film Forum across the street from Bar Cichetti. They stopped in early in the evening then went to see the movie. After the movie was over, they came back to the restaurant. Things had slowed down, so I got out to the kitchen and went to the bar. Michael and Buck & Mills were there too.

Michael Stipe and I struck up a conversation. I was in my chefs uniform, and he asked me if I made the rice balls (Arancini). I said "yes, I did." "Love those," he said. He was sipping on glass of wine. I asked him what he was drinking, and he said Chianti. I loved Chianti myself and I tole him about the Chianti he was drinking, where it was from (Castello Verrazzano), and whom made it, my good friend Cavelier Luigi Cappellini of Greve where Verrazzano is located. I got a glass of wine myself. Also the Verrazzanno Chianti. We clicked glasses and cheered each other. "Nice to meet you Michael," I said. "Nice to meet you Damiel," Michael retorted. We drank wine, and had a nice little conversation, and I started to teach Michael a little bit about Italian wine. He was very receptive, and even interested. I poured him a little Vino Nobile to taste. Vino Nobile, like Chianti is made of Sangiovese, and it comes from the town of Montepulciano in Tuscany.

At one point, my buddy Raoul called me on the phone. He said that he and Lisa were at Peter Luger's. "Guess who we ran into?" he asked. I don't know, who? "Cammy," Raoul said, meaning Cameron Diaz, who Rauol knows pretty well, but I had never met. "We'll be there in 20 minutes," Raoul told me. "OK" About 20 minutes later, they arrived: Raoul, Lisa, and Cameron Diaz. When they walked through the door, Cameron spotted Michael. "Hey, what are you doing here, " she said to Michael. Michael told her that they (R.E.M.) went to see the ted Demme film, and that they stopped in here (Bar Cichetti) earlier, and liked it, so they came back after the movie.

We were all having a great time. At one point Michael asked me if I had a piece of paper and pen. I gave Michael the paper and pen, and he proceeded to write a song at my bar. Then Michael Stioe, Peter Chuck, and Mike Mills jumped up on our large buffet table, and started playing the song, that Michael had just written. Everyone in the place were going wild. They couldn't believe their eyes, or ears. There, before their very eyes, in. Bar Cichetti were R.E.M. and they were playing a song.

I brought up a couple bottles of Champagne and poured a glass for Michael, Cameron, my buddy Raoul and Lisa, and as they say "The Boys in The Band."

Needless to say, it was quite a memorable night. The Night I met and hung out with Michael Stipe and Cameron Diaz at my restaurant Bar Cichetti. Wow? Yes quite a night.

I might as well talk a bit about some of my other celebrities at my place Bar Cichetti. Ed Harris was shooting the movie Pollack, and he was in the star role, playing Jackson Pollack. He had lunch with another guy (Maybe the director?). When Ed finished, I was standing at the bar, he came over to me to say "thanks, I really enjoyed that." Wow. Thanks Ed. A couple days later, he came back again.

My old pal Fishcer Stevens came with Marisa Tomei one night, and another time with Rosie Perez. "Thanks Fischer." my friend Matt Dillon, who's also good friends with my old buddy Raoul, who actually introduced us would bop in once in a while. Also John Lurie who's a friend of ours as well, and Debi Mazur as well.

Well, anyway? That's that. It was quite nice to meet Cammy and Michael. Yes a real treat. And those are some special memories for me and my restaurant (Bacaro - Osteria0 Bar Cichetti.

"Basta" !!!

Daniel Bellino Zwicke

ITALIAN FOOD & TRAVEL

ROME VENICE PIZZA PASTA & ?

by DANIEL BELLINO ZWICKE

AMAZON.com

R.E.M. at BAR CICHETTI - NEW YORK

Michael Stipe, Peter Chuck & Mike Wells

ME & SOME of MY FRIENDS

L to R - Daniel Bellino Zwicke, Raoul M., Lisa, MATT DILLON

ABBY, JOHN LURIE & GLENN O'BRIEN

BAR CICHETTI

NEW YORK CITY

Sunday, October 26, 2025

What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong

LOUIS ARMSTRONG

"WHAT a WONDERFUL WORLD"

From GOOD MORNING VIETNAM

And I Love You So - Perry Como

PERRY COMO

And I LOVE YOU SO

Paul Anka - Put Your Head on My Shoulder

PAUL ANKA

"PUT YOUR HEAD on MY SHOULDER"

Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime

DEAN MARTIN

(Real Name DINO CROCETTI)

DEAN MARTIN

EVERYBODY LOVES SOMEBODY SOMETIMES

Something Stupid - Nancy and Frank Sinatra

FRANK SINATRA

SOMETHING STUPID

FRANK & NANCY SINATRA

The SINATRA COOKBOOK

SINATRA SAUCE

The SINATRA COOKBOOK

COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK

His FAVORITE ITALIAN RECIPES

https://amzn.to/434aZ1W

Perry Como - Its IMPOSSIBLE

PERRY COMO

"IT'S IMPOSSIBLE"

Lynn Anderson - I Beg Your Pardon

"I NEVER PROMISED YOU a ROSE GARDEN"

LYNN ANDERRSON

LYNN ANDERSON

"I BEG YOUR PARDON"

I NEVER PRoMISED YOU a ROSE GARDEN

Tammy Wynette - Stand by Your Man

TAMMY WYNETTE

"STAND by YOUR MAN"

The BEATLES I Should Have Known Better

The BEATLES

HARD DAYS NIGHT

The BEATLES

"I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER"

From A HARD DAYS NIGHT

Frank Sinatra Eating Collard Greens

FRANK SINATRA EATING COLLARD GREENS

Creaturenomics

COFFEE GRIN MEDIA

SINATRA SAUCE

The COOKBOOK

COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK

His FAVORITE ITALIAN FOOD

RECIPES & STORIES of FRANK

Daniel Bellino Zwicke

AMAZON.com

Saturday, October 25, 2025

Pavarotti Cooks Pasta - Spaghetti Luciano Recipe

LUCIANO Cooks PASTA

"BRAVO LUCIANO" !!!

PAVAROTTI PASTA

Recipe :

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium Onion, peeled and sliced
2 j- 32 oz. jars of Italian Tomato Passata (we like Mutti)
3 cloves Garlic, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp. Tomato Paste
1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup chopped Italian Parsley

12 fresh Basil Leaves, washed and torn with your hands
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
1 pound of imported Italian Spaghetti (best quality)

In a large skillet, add the Olive Oil and onion. Cook the onion on low heat for 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook on low heat for 2 minutes.

Add the wine, turn heat to high, and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the Tomatoes, Tomato Paste. Add 1 1/2 teaspoon each of Salt & ground Black Pepper, and half of the Pecorino Cheese.

Bring to the boil. Once the tomatoes start to bubble, low heat to low, and cook on low heat for 20 minutes, being sure to stir with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom of the pot with the wooden spoon to keep the tomatoes from sticking or burning.

After 20 minutes, add the Basil & Parsley, and cook 5 minutes more. The Tomato Sauce is done. Turn the heat off and let it rest in the pot.

Fill a large pot, 3/4 full with water. Add 2 tablespoons salt. Bring the water to a rapid boil. Add the Spaghetti.

Cook the spaghetti according to the directions on the package. Two minutes before the the pasta cooking time on package, remove one cup of water from the pot and reserve. When the spaghetti is 1 minute away from the cooking time on package, turn the heat off and drain the pasta in a colander.

Add the Spaghetti back to the pot it cooked in and add half of the cooking water. Add 2 cups of the tomato sauce. to the pot, and turn the heat on to a low flame. Cook for 2 minutes on a low flame. Add more of the pasta cooking water if it gets too dry.

Turn the heat off, and drizzle some olive oil over the spaghetti and mix.

Plate a portion of Spaghetti onto each persons plate. Add about half a cup of Tomato Sauce on top of each portion of Spaghetti, and serve.

Serve with grated Pecorino or Parmigiana Cheese on the side.

Enjoy !

Recipe by Daniel Bellino Zwicke