This section of my website is dedicated to musicians all around the world. I have yet to meet one that doesn't enjoy delicious food, or have an interesting and/or funny story to tell. I invite you to join in this section and share your time-honored "Notes" with others.

This is a listing of restaurants around the world which artists and musicians would enjoy:

• SOLE Restaurant - Annagasse, Vienna, Austria
  "Italian restaurant next to the opera house. Wonderful food including a dish named: Pasta Zubin Mehta. At the restaurant you may usually meet all participants in the opera at the time of the performances."
  submitted by Yeheskell Beinisch, Chairman Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Jerusalem, Israel

• Los Caracoles - Barcelona, Spain
  submitted by Yuval Zaliouk

• Cafe des Artistes - Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
  submitted by Yuval Zaliouk

• Le Jardin Bistro - New York, NY
  submitted by Yuval Zaliouk

Send me your favorites to be displayed!

I love to cook, and I love to eat! Below are a couple of delicious recipes, which I hope you will enjoy. Please send me your favorite recipes. One will be selected from those that I receive, to be featured in next month's "Recipe of the Month."

Barack Gomboc
Hungarian Apricot Dumplings
By Yuval Zaliouk

Ingredients:
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup flour plus extra as needed
1 egg
fresh or dried (soaked) apricots
1/2 cup butter
3 tablespoons bread crumbs
1 teaspoon cinnamon mixed with 3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Instructions:
Mix cheese, flour and egg into a dough. Knead, adding a little flour if necessary, until dough is smooth. Divide dough into small balls, flatten to small rounds, about 3 inches in diameter and 1/4 inch thick. Put half an apricot in the middle, fold over and seal.

Gently put dumplings into boiling water. Boil for 10 minutes until dumplings float. Remove and set aside. Up to this point, the recipe can be prepared in advance.

Just before serving, melt butter in frying pan. Add bread crumbs to pan. Put dumplings in pan, turning to coat with bread crumbs. Serve warm in individual dishes. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Asian Chicken-and-Noodle Salad
with Almondina Sesame Biscuit Topping
By Jeanne Jones
Special to The News
The Buffalo News

Ingredients:
1/4 cup chopped raw almonds
Dressing:
^1/4 cup frozen, unsweetened apple juice concentrate, undiluted and thawed
cup rice vinegar
1-1/2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
2 teaspoons peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Salad:
6 cups water
4 ounces instant Chuka Soba noodles (available in all Asian markets and most supermarkets)
2 cups julienne-cut cooked skinless chicken breasts
6 cups shredded or thinly sliced Napa cabbage
4 scallions, chopped, 1 cup
8 Almondina sesame biscuits, crumbled for topping, 1 cup
8 Almondina sesame biscuits, whole for garnish, optional
4 scallion tops for garnish, optional

Instructions:
Place the chopped almonds in a small skillet and place over medium heat. Cook them, stirring frequently, until a golden brown, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Combine the dressing ingredients in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly and set aside.

Put the water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the noodles and cook, stirring for about 3 minutes. Drain the noodles thoroughly and place in the bowl containing the dressing and mix well. Add the chicken, cabbage and chopped scallions and again mix well. Cover and refrigerate for several hours, or overnight, before serving.

To serve, add the almonds to the cold salad and mix well. Place 1¹/2 cups of the salad on each of four large plates. Sprinkle ¹/4 cup of the crumbled sesame Almondina biscuits over the top of each salad. Garnish each serving with 2 whole Almondina biscuits and a scallion top stuck in the center, if desired. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains approximately: 421 calories, 13 grams fat, 69 milligrams cholesterol, 608 milligrams sodium, 42 grams carbohydrates, 39 grams protein, 2 grams fiber.

Send your recipe!

Every musician has a story to tell, be it funny, tragic, or inspiring; be it about him or herself or someone else (conductors, soloists, orchestras); be it about playing music or flying airplanes, about a particular theatre or production, or even a recurring dream. Let this be one of your "15 minutes of fame" and share with us your tales, your "Musical Notes".

The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus
From Michael Moore
The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus was in Canton, OH, where we were below stage with part of the Orchestra waiting for a chamber ensemble to finish the first half of the program. To pass the time, some of the musicians got up a crap game, right out of "Guys and Dolls" and let me tell you, those string players really knew how to roll 7's and 11's. To provide atmosphere, some others started playing a little gypsy cafe music that got so loud downstairs that Robert Shaw, the ensemble, and the audience could hear it quite clearly upstairs. Rather than see it as two performances for the price of one, Shaw could hardly wait until intermission when he stormed into the room and blew like Vesuvius. I don't think I ever saw such fury, with the possible exception of Iago's soliloquy in a Kabuki production of "Othello".