Alor Cafe Social

Born February 27, 1923 to a Czech family in NYC was Chuck Wayne . He rose to prominence in his 20's as a jazz guitarist in the 1940's. In 1949 Wayne landed himself a spot in the George Shearing Quintet. You can spot Chuck's guitar on the hit "September in the Rain", one of Shearing's most notable tunes. By 1954 Chuck had moved on to be Tony Bennett's music director and accompanist. Throughout the 50's and 60's Chuck peppered his resume with clubs and venue's all over the New York area. Throughout his career Chuck had the opportunity to play with music stars such as  Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Young, Sarah Vaughan, Woody Herman, Joe Bushkin and Hank Jones, among others. Wayne’s own “String Fever” enjoys cult status among jazz guitar fans.  Also producing 5 albums of his own. Wayne was a longtime resident of Staten Island until moving to New Jersey in 1991. Where he pasted in 1997. Survived by his wife,  Mrs. Wayne, who lives in New Jersey...

Every week we experiment with diversity by doing a ravioli of the week on our dinner menu. This week my selection was to do a Thai influence. The ravioli is filled with chicken and then served with sauteed spinach and pork belly lightly glazed with hoisin sauce.  As spoken by  Australian chef   David Thompson David Thompson , a prolific chef and expert on Thai food, observed that unlike many other cuisines: [2] "Thai food ain't about simplicity. It's about the juggling of disparate elements to create a harmonious finish. Like a complex musical chord it's got to have a smooth surface but it doesn't matter what's happening underneath. Simplicity isn't the dictum here, at all. Some westerners think it's a jumble of flavours, but to a Thai that's important, it's the complexity they delight in.".

My little pumpkin can be used as a term of endearment but what I really love is the Pumpkin itself.  These cute and sometimes giant round veggies are probably the number one sign that Autumn has started, and have become the mascot of the season. There are literally more than a 101 ways to use and cook a pumpkin. Just this week I am featuring the pumpkin ravioli dressed with shaved asparagus and carmelized pumpkin on the dish.   There are so many little know facts about pumpkin. I think the biggest myth about pumpkin especially in the United States is that its only used for jack -o- laterns and pumpkin pie. Actually until Irish immigrants arrived people used turnips and potatoes for jack-o-laterns. The traidtion of cutting them into face started in Ireland hundreds of years ago.  The word pumpkin originates from the word  pepon  (πέπων), which is Greek for “large melon", something round and large. [7]  The  French adapted this word to  p...