Mimi Sheraton will be interviewed by Michael Gross at special lunch event at Rotisserie Georgette
Rotisserie Georgette
140 East 60th St. between Madison & Fifth Aves.
Saturday, October 31, $59 (plus tax, tip, and book purchase), 12 noon
212-390-8060
www.rotisserieg.com
Brooklyn-born restaurant critic Mimi Sheraton will be at Rotisserie Georgette on October 31 at 12 noon, interviewed by Manhattan-born author Michael Gross, focusing on Sheraton’s most recent book, 1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover’s Life List. As they discuss food and real estate — quite a healthy topic, as so many New York City eateries have closed or moved because of skyrocketing rents — guest will dine on Barigoule d’Artichauts and Brandade de Morue as an appetizer, Poulet Rôti “Farnèse” and Pomme Aligot for the main course, and Chocolate Pot de Crème for dessert, all taken from the book. Afterward, there will be a book signing with both Sheraton, who has also written such tomes as From My Mother’s Kitchen: Recipes and Reminiscences and The Bialy Eaters, and Gross, author of such nonfiction works as 740 Park and House of Outrageous Fortune.
FIAF’s CinéSalon series “Theater & Cinema” concludes October 27 with François Truffaut’s powerful Oscar-nominated WWII melodrama, The Last Metro. Set in Vichy France during the German occupation, the film takes place in and around the Théâtre Montmartre, which has been taken over by movie-star actress (and non-Jew) Marion Steiner (Catherine Deneuve) after her husband, Jewish theater director Lucas Steiner (Heinz Bennent), has apparently escaped the Nazi regime. But in fact Lucas is hiding out in the theater’s basement, where he has translated a Norwegian play, aptly titled Disappearance, and is directing it from below. The cast and crew of Disappearance include ladies’ man Bernard Granger (Gérard Depardieu) as Marion’s love interest; costume designer Arlette Guillaume (Andréa Ferréol), who refuses Bernard’s advances because of a secret reason; young actress Nadine Marsac (Sabine Haudepin), who will do just about anything to get parts; stage manager Raymond Boursier (Maurice Risch), who is deeply dedicated to the theater; and Jean-Loup Cottins (Jean Poiret), the stand-in director for Lucas. Only Marion knows where Lucas is, but danger grows when critic, publisher, and Nazi collaborator Daxiat (Jean-Louis Richard) starts sniffing around a little too much.
Unless you’re a dedicated fan of table tennis, you’ve never seen Ping-Pong played quite like this. In Top Spin, first-time feature-film documentarians Sara Newens and Mina T. Son follow a trio of young Americans through the tournaments necessary to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team and compete in the London Games. At sixteen, Fremont, California, native Ariel Hsing is the youngest women’s national champion, a two-wing attacker who calls both Bill Gates and Warren Buffet “Uncle.” Seventeen-year-old Mineola, New York–born Michael Landers is a two-wing looper who is the youngest men’s national champion. And Lily Zhang is a fifteen-year-old all-around attacker from Palo Alto and the world #2 in under-fifteen girls, usually finishing right behind Ariel. Director-editor Newens and director-producer Son speak extensively with the three players and their parents, coaches, teachers, trainers, and friends while counting down the days to each event, fierce competitions in which Ariel, Michael, and Lily play against opponents who are sometimes more than twice their age. They dedicate their lives to their Olympic dreams, spending large amounts of time away from school and their friends and family as they attempt to make the low-ranked American Olympic squad that has little chance for a medal, without even a high-paying professional league in their future. Yet they battle on, despite the heavy odds against them. Much of the Ping-Pong action is mind-blowing, particularly a late match in which Michael returns slam after slam with amazing acumen and accuracy. The film is executive-produced by Jonathan Bricklin and Franck Raharinosy, cofounders of SPiN, the Ping-Pong social club on East Twenty-Third St. that is partly owned by Susan Sarandon, who appeared in Michael Tully’s indie film 
