“Joie de Vivre: Simple French Style for Everyday Living” by chef and restauranteur Robert Arbor (with Katherine Whiteside) should be a must read for anyone contemplating an elegant existance. Elegance, in this case, is defined as simplicity. Or perhaps more appropriately, finding joy in the simple pleasures of life. This isn’t a cookbook, although it has wonderful recipes. It may be more of a memoire. At any rate, it is a joy to read. Especially on a Sunday when you are thinking about supper.

I’ve always judged a restaurant on the quality of its roast chicken; and the same may be said of the cook. Although the pleats on a chef’s tocque are supposed to number the ways that he can prepare an egg, I think one should be set aside for the chicken. And Mr. Arbor’s classic roast chicken is one of the best. Even in this day of the pre-cooked, grocery store rotisserie chicken.

There really is something magical about the smell of a roasting chicken and vegetables. And the leftovers make delicious sandwiches and stock. I cook mine in a two-handled round copper pan. It’s pretty enough to use as a serving platter. Here is my version of the simple roasted chicken. (An easy way to cheat is to use Hungarian Chicken Rub found in the spice isle of your grocery store.)

1, 3-4 lb roasting chicken (giblets removed)
1 large onion
About 24 baby carrots
Fingerling potatoes or 6 small red potatoes
2 cloves garlic (or more)
1 lemon
1 sprig of rosemary, oregano and thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
1- 2 tsp. of paprika
Olive Oil
The end of a stale baguette.

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

Oil your shallow sided roasting pan.

Rinse the chicken inside and out with cold water. Pat dry. Refresh it with the juice of half a lemon. Rub the spices, salt and pepper on the inside. Press the garlic cloves with a garlic press or mince the cloves and rub them inside the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the herbs (you may also stuff the onion in after them if you don’t plan on eating it.) Close the cavity with the stale bread (Thank you Mr. Arbor for this invaulable tip.) Rub the outside of the chicken with the olive oil and salt and pepper it. Tuck the wings under the legs (you don’t have to tie them together as in the photo.) Quarter the potatoes until they are mostly uniform in size. Surround the bird with the carrots and potaotes (and onion quarters if you didn’t choose to stuff it into the cavity.) Dose with olive oil, salt and pepper. You may also sprinkle some herbs outside the bird, as they are pretty on the crispy skin.

Roast for at least an hour. I usually take about one hour and twenty minutes. You’ll know the chicken is cooked when the juices run clear from a pricked thigh. A meat thermomenter is helpful, too. But don’t hit the bone when you insert it as it will give you a false reading. Let the chicken stand for ten minutes so that it carves easier.

Serve with a tossed green salad and some good bread. Any chilled white wine will do. We have a Viognier grape that grows well in Virginia and makes a nice wine. Buy local when you can.

“A Drink With Something In It”

There is something about a Martini,
A tingle remarkably pleasant;
A yellow, a mellow Martini;
I wish I had one at present.
There is something about a Martini,
Ere the dining and dancing begin,
And to tell you the truth,
It is not the vermouth–
I think that perhaps it’s the gin.
– Ogden Nash

First things first.

1. Just because it comes in a cocktail glass doesn’t make it a martini.

2. If it’s made with vodka, it’s a vodka-tini. There’s a reason that James Bond orders a “Vodka Martini.” If he’d have ordered a martini, it would have been made with gin.

Volumes have been written about the martini. And for good reason. I once mixed one for a Frenchman who asked me to make him a classic American cocktail. He about doubled over after the first sip. “You drink this!!!!??” he asked, incredulosly. “And that’s the reason we won the War,” I answered with an appreciative smack of the lips after my first sip. As Mr. Nash wrote in the poem above, “there’s something about a martini.” Learn to appreciate, make and serve an ice-cold “see-through” and you join a long line of elegant men and women.

It’s not a complicated recipe, but for some reason, it’s an easy one to get wrong. Some add more vermouth, some add less. There was a 50’s fad that had everyone barely misting the glass with vermouth; if they did more than just bow in the direction of France. But that’s about it for standard variations.

“Hearts full of passion/Hearts full of youth/Six parts gin/To one part vermouth.” (Tom Lehrer.)

That’s the recipe. It works out to about a teaspoon of vermouth to a shot glass of gin. The classic drink is served straight up, in a triangular cocktail glass like the one pictured above. A green olive with the pit (or Spanish Colossal Olive with a Pimento Stuffing) or a lemon peel is the garnish. The Gibson is made using a cocktail onion.

And please serve them straight up in the classic glass. The juxtaposition of the triangle of glass, roundness of olive (or spiral of the twist) and straight line of the cocktail pick is…. well, it becomes art. That’s probably the reason that Hollywood loves a martini. The camera loves one.

Which brings up another point. Martinis are made with booze and wine. That’s it. Shaking or stirring mixes into the potion the tiny bit of water necessary for the drink to really come into its own. (All cocktails need a very little bit of water in my opinion.) But martinis, as my French friend learned firsthand, are potent. Handle with care. As Dorothy Parker wrote:

“I like to have a martini.
But only one at the most.
After two, I’m under the table.
After three, I’m under my host.”

Chin Chin.

If you’re anything like me, the notion of Casual Friday didn’t go down easily. But, working in a “creative” environment — the advertising and marketing world — where clothing is almost optional, I’ve gotten used to the idea. In my own way.

Casual to me still means tailored. Clothing, no matter how formal or informal should fit. And it should be something comfortable. The picture above is an example of my typical “Friday-wear.” Suitable for work (in a casual setting) and happy hour at the bar. Although I’d change if going out to dinner.

So, let’s get down to brass tacks. Starting at the top, which in this case is the bottom half of my ensemble: the pants. I hesitate to call them trousers since they are stone-colored linen and cotton jeans from J. Crew. Yup, five pockets, brass rivets at the seams and all. They end a 1/4″ above my shoes. Supporting the jeans at my waist is a tan suede belt. And as long as we’ve mentioned the shoes…. tan suede driving shoes. These happen to be Tod’s, but less expensive versions are available through Land’s End and J. Crew. Suede shoes always up your style quotient. If you don’t have a pair of loafers and a pair of lace-ups in brown suede, please save up and invest ASAP. They go with everything. Darker browns will wear beautifully with blue flannel, grey flannel, khaki and jeans. (The link is to a pair at J. Crew again, they are a bit clunky, but a decent start. The better brands will all carry suedes and are well worth the extra money. I think that Churches’ made a fortune twice over with their suede monkstrap.) Elegant shoes mark you as an elegant dresser.

The shirt is a silk, ribbed polo in sky blue which I found at Marshall’s or TJ Maxx a long time ago. You could just as easily substitute a slim cut polo (maybe even in mercerized cotton to give you that polished look) from any of the usual suspects. I say tailored because they fit me better. Especially under a jacket. You know you; do what works best for your body type. There is always your alterations tailor, remember!

The sportcoat (this is Canali, because it is an off-the-rack brand that fits me well with minimal tailoring) is a wheat color with a very faint sky blue overcheck, which is brought out by the shirt and the blue and white cotton mini-check pocket square.

Yes, I’m breaking some rules here in late Summer. The pants are a bit light and the shoes correspondingly so. But it’s still hovering around the 80ºF mark with humidity to boot. This week the temperatures will be about ten degrees above normal pushing up to 88ºF if the advanced forecast is to be believed. If you’re loathe to wear the lighter colors, blue jeans, a white (or sky-blue, white, khaki striped) shirt and darker brown suede shoes would look just as good.

Give some thought to your “casual” wardrobe and strike a blow for a more elegant Friday.