April 1, 2012 Lunch Mother’s Frittata with Bernice, Dinner with Holzwiegs at J.S. Chen

April 1, 2012 Lunch - Mother’s Frittata with Bernice, Dinner - with Holzwiegs at J.S. Chen

What a whirlwind, wonderful weekend.   At around 9:30 to 10:00 a.m. today Billy made one of Mother’s favorite egg dishes; an avocado, tomato and onion frittata.  Elaine made a salad with the fresh lettuce and radishes that we picked up at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning and we stopped at Whole Foods to pick up a baguette of French bread on our way to Bernice’s.  Bernice was mother’s best and oldest friend.  We grew up ½ block from their home on Stadium Drive, before we moved to Manderly Pl. in Fort Worth.   

Bernice is still just as sharp and funny as always and we love her very much, although she suffers from Parkinson’s.  But when you are 95, you probably ought to suffer from something.  When we arrived at Bernice’s apartment we were greeted by Margarita, who is Bernice’s assistant and care giver.  After heating the frittata and the bread and setting the table in Bernice’s dining room we all sat down and ate a brunch with her.  While we were eating and talking, her son, Morton Meyerson, took a seat at the table after adjusting Bernice's computer and ate some salad and talked for a bit.  Morton has many interests and the ones we talked about today with Bernice were our families’ histories.  It seems that both of the families came from East Prussia in about the 1880’s and both came through New York.  Bernice‘s grandfather was a trader and entrepreneur.  As Morton says, “A deal maker.”  So it is clear where Morton got his deal making prowess.  Morton among other jobs was President of EDS when Ross ran for President and Ross gave the City of Dallas the Morton Meyerson Symphony Hall in Morton’s honor.

Around 2:00 p.m. we left for the Dallas Museum of Art and saw the amazing Exhibit: “Youth and Beauty, Art of the American Twenties” with over 100 photos, sculptures and paintings all made between about 1920 to 1929.  There were sections on groups I had never seen before, such as the Harlem Renaissance.  The Stieglitz group was heavily represented including my favorite Marsden Hartley “Mine Cave Cabins” and a “Sterling Building” by O’Keefe and lots of photos of Rebecca Strand by lots of people.  The strongest theme of the show seemed to be eroticism.  It seemed like the U.S. broke out of the grip of Belle Époque priggishness around 1920 with the onslaught of the Jazz Era.

At around 4:00 we went to SMU to the Meadows Collection for ½ hour to see the over 500 year old Pastrana Tapestries.  They are the four largest tapestries I have ever seen (36 by 13 feet each) depicting the conquest of the North African cities of Asilah and Tangier by Afonso V (1432-81), King of Portugal in 1471.  They are richly woven in many colors including depiction of the royalty's armor in gold and sliver threads.  The most beautiful tapestries I have ever seen.

Then at 4:30 p.m. we went home and at 5:30 we drove to J.S. Chen’s 3948 Legacy Dr. in Plano, TX.  We arrived at 6:00 p.m. just as Elaine’s parents, Sandy and Rita Holzweig, were driving up.  When we walked in to the restaurant we were immediately greeted by the view of an glassed in area in the back of the restaurant in which were hung about a dozen roasted ducks.  We were shown to a large round table that seated 10 with a lazy susan in the center that rotated next to a large three or four generation Chinese family at an adjoining table of 11 or twelve.  After a few minutes I poured Pineau for all and then we called Marion, Jerry’s wife, and she said she was coming, so we ordered a dim sum dish, dumplings filled with stir fried shrimp and Chinese Green Chives.  When the dumplings were served we ordered our entrées:  Peking Duck, Jumbo Crab in Spicy Garlic Sauce w/Special Fried Rice, BBQ Duck, Stir Fried Snow Pea Sprouts, Mu Shu Vegetables, Chicken Flat Noodle with Satay Sauce, BBQ Pork.  Billy opened a bottle of Ramsteck Napa Valley Pinot Noir for those who wanted red wine with their food.  It was all wonderful. I really enjoyed every bite and although stuffed when finished,I did not feel uncomfortably so.

Marion and her daughter, Celia, joined us after about ½ hour and Marion ate as much as she could eat and we packed up the leftovers in boxes and went home happy and full.
Celia is a completely delightful 5 year old.  We went by Marion’s house on the way home to send a document to my niece, Rebecca,  while Elaine and then Marion played with Celia to all of our delight.
A lovely day with family and art and food.  What could be any better!
Bon Appétit