Nancy Silverton to Massimo Bottura, Who the Hell Do You Think You Are?

UPDATE - June 14, 2016 - Editor's Note - Further proving American chef Nancy Silverton's point, last night Bottura's Osteria Francescana was named #1 on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list.

Three courses into a lunch this week at the renowned Osteria Francescana in Modena, Nancy Silverton put down her spoon after contemplatively savoring its hyper green contents, took a long sip of leggy red wine, slowly shook her head, scowled and said "Just who the hell does Massimo Bottura think he is..."

"You don't like this food, Nancy?" interrupted Danielle Bernabe, a fellow diner who clearly didn't know Siverton well.  Nancy ignored the question and continued with her thought. 

"That he can just go ahead and make food that is so much better than everybody else's.  Clearly, he has left the brotherhood of chefs. He's not a team player. I hope aspiring chefs don't taste this food. They'll give up the profession. Who the fuck does Bottura think he is?" .

That particular comment - profanity included - was broadcast on news stations throughout Western Europe and initially drew outrage toward Silverton on both traditional news outlets and social media. In addition, many food critics who have adorned Osteria Francescana with every possible restaurant accolade, criticized Silverton for being not only jealous of Bottura's talents, but crass. "Nancy Silverton is simply an American PBC", said Sir Charles Dillingsworth, food critic for the London Herald who used the acronym which means Pretty, But Crass.

But, Silverton's fellow chef cadre quickly came to her defense and stunned the restaurant world when they agreed with her assessment of Massimo Bottura.

"I'm with Nancy. Fuck that guy," said Mario Batali, the famous American chef based in New York City and partners with Silverton in the Mozza kingdom based in Los Angeles, Stalingrad, Newport Beach and Singapore. "Just because Massimo's aunt invented tortellini and his grandma invented milk and his great, great grandfather domesticated the pig, does not mean that Massimo does not have to work like the rest of us."

In San Francisco. Dominque Crenn, the impassioned chef of Atelier Crenn who shares some of Bottura's wild -if not downright hallucinogenic - imagination, weighed in..  

"Look, I don't even know Massimo, but I think he is a genius," said Crenn, whose two Michelin star restaurant in San Francisco is considered one of America's best.  "I know Lara [Gilmore, Bottura's American wife] and I am inspired by their story.  But, as for him, well, umm, well, I better not say anymore. I am French and I don't want to make Franco-Italian relations any worse than they already are."

Crenn walked away from the interview, stopped, turned around and said "But, I think Nancy is right. Nancy is always fuckin' right."

In Los Angeles, Roy Choi, L.A.'s "Takin it to the Streets" chef, said he considered Bottura a "brother", though he had not been to his restaurant. 

"I love him a a human though I've never had his food in Modena.  I can't get a reservation. Who the hell do you need to know to get a damn table at Osteria Francescana?".

Max Paul Runstedtler, professor of food history at the American University in Washington, D.C., said that Bottura was at the "classic crossroads" of his career. 

"Massimo Bottura is at that well-known intersection where he is in front of the pack. and he can choose to wait and have everyone catch up .- the few that can, at least - or he can continue on his Monza-speed path and go on increasing his lead," said Runstedtier, who was an associate producer of the documentary "Chefs Gone Wild",  "Right now, it looks like Bottura is not stopping. I had the "Sensatons" menu for lunch at OF the other day and it was well-named."

It is that very "increasing the lead" impression that is troubling for many. And those accolades are becoming problematic, as well.

Most troubling of the honors bestowed on Bottura and Osteria Francescana has been the never-before-garnered rating of 19.75 in Le Guide de L'Espresso's I Ristoranti D'Italia. The reason for the backlash of that rating is that 19.75 is - clearly - a figure greater than 19.72, a number that is dear to millions of Italians. In a February, 24, 2012 interview, just a week before he died, colorful Italian sports reporter Germano Mosconi explained the importance of 19.72.

"19.72 is the beloved number of seconds that Barletta, Italy-born sprinter Pietra Mennea took to famously win the gold medal in the 200 meters at the 1980 Moscow Olympics,"  said Mosconi, the late Telenuovo sports reporter based in Verona.  Mosconi was quiet for a few seconds, than released a torrent of expletives in ascending volume before straight out screaming "Pietra Mennea set a world record with that 19.72 and it held for over 16 years, goddamnit. For Bottura, or anyone, to mess with 19.72 is cazzo scopata!"

So will Massimo Bottura slow it down and have the other great chefs of the world catch up? If his Four-door Maserati Quattroporte is any indication, then the answer is resounding, unmuffled "No".  The Maserati sedan is normally equipped with a V-6, 410 horsepower engine. Bottura's Maser? 490 horsepower. Massimo Bottura is not slowing down at all. Floor that baby. 

(To see sports caster Germano Mosconi in action check this  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRG2LlBfCn8

Donald Trump Soiled Pants After Getting Threat From Chapo, Dry Cleaners says "Trousers Totally Ruined"

Republican presidential candidate and television personality Donald Trump was talking tough when Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman-Loera escaped Mexico 's highest security prison Saturday, but he changed his tune dramatically - and most foul - when the drug lord threatened him on Twitter

According to sources in the businessman's  camp, Trump turned a shade of "very light pink" and then began making "a series of high-pitch toots" from his buttocks area and then a "painfully loud :gasp emerged followed by a stench of usually bad proportions". The account was confirmed by two others in the room at the time, one who was briefly hospitalized for fart inhalation. 

Trump, another sources said, then whimpered "I think just ruined these Paul Smith pants" and ran "awkwardly" from the room.

After Trump had threatened Guzman, the man from Sinaloa  tweeted  "Sigue chingando y voy hacer que te tragues todas tus putas palabras pinche guero cagaleche" which translates roughly into  "And I still fucking make you swallow all your fucking fucking punk ass  words"

A dry cleaner speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the trousers "rear end looked like they had been through a Dresden fire bombing." 

Guzman, known as "El Chapo" is perhaps best known for being the world's best drug lord, a titled he has had for over a decade.   Most drug trafficking reporters usually rate him second only to Colombian  Pablo Escobar as the greatest drug dealer of all time.

A Huffington Post piece recounts the Tweets.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/13/donald-trump-el-chapo_n_7788128.html

Joyce Mitchell Seen At Taco Truck Near Prison Where Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Escaped

Joyce Mitchell, previously best known for her role in the escape of two New York state prison inmates, was spotted late Saturday afternoon at the Luis Ramirez Taco Truck in La Manera which happens to be located two miles northwest of the Mexican prison where Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped Saturday night.

Mexican authorities initially dismissed speculation that Mitchell, 51, had anything to do with the infamous drugs lord's escape, but admitted Sunday to being stupefied when they learned the former prison employee had ordered chicken enchiladas at the truck. The Luis Ramirez. truck is known solely for its tacos, consistently listed among the top 25 in North America.

"That Joyce was at the truck near the prison where Chapo escaped would not normally be of an issue to us," said an Mexican federal law enforcement officer speaking on the condition of anonymity and fifty dollars. "However, that she ordered the enchiladas at Luis'  truck, well, that raises some concerns. I've had the enchiladas there."

Five members of Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel, dining at El Pollo Hermanos in Culiacan,  denied any knowledge of Chapo's whereabouts and claimed to have never heard of Mitchell. 

Tavin Price Gets His White Picket Fence; LAPD Gets His Killers

Three Los Angeles street gang members are in custody for the killing of Tavin Price, the 19-year-old mentally handicapped  man shot to death May 29 in front of his mother at a car wash on Florence Avenue near Crenshaw Boulevard. 

The alleged shooter, Kanasho Johns, 27, was taken into custody today near Houston, Texas  and will be transported to Los Angeles within a few days.  Dwight Kevin Smith, 30 and Kevin Deon Johnson, 24, who allegedly confronted Price over his red Chuck Taylor Converse tennis shoes,  were both arrested and charged on suspicion of murder last week and are being held in lieu of more than two million dollars bail.   A 27 year-old woman, Antheyst Jarrett, was arrested shortly after the homicide on charges of witness intimidation and accessory after the fact to murder. Her bail is $500,000.

"These people murdered my child in front of my face," said Jennifer Rivers, Tavin's mother who broke down once during Tuesdays's press conference announcing the arrests. "I'm going to be seeing my son shot  in front of me and asking me "Am I gonna be Okay?" and then telling me "Mommy, I don't want to die"  for my while life. This is just torture." 

LAPD homicide detective Chris Barling, coordinator of the 77th Street Division's busy homicide unit,  applauded Rivers' for her relentless efforts to help find the killers of her son. 

 "I want to thank her because she helped keep this in the public's eye," Barling said in the 77th's press room which was packed with local television news cameras.  "I also want to thank LAPD's Metropolitan SWAT unit, the FBI/ LAPD Fugitive Task Force, Houston Police Department, Montgomery County Sheriffs, the local media and, mostly, the community for their help."

Tavin Price, who was, in the correct term, "intellectually disabled",  was at the Simms Car Wash on Florence at 11 a.m. with his mother and a family friend when he walked into the adjoining smoke shop. Price, not a gang member, was confronted over his "red Chucks", the symbolic color of the confederation of street gangs known as the Bloods. Price did not reply and returned to his family vehicle. Soon after, allegedly, Johns, who was not in the smoke shop, ran from across the street to the car and shot him multiple times.

Johns is a member of the 58th Street Neighborhood Crips. Both Smith and Johnson are members of the Rollin' 60s Crips, one of the city's most infamous. Both gangs have been widely criticized on the streets for not only killing the diminutive Price in front of his mother, but for shooting a 4-foot, 11-inch, 100-pound mentally handicapped young man in the first place. According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Inmate Locator website,.Smith is 6-foot, one-inch, 170 pounds and Johnson is five-foot, five-inches 140 pounds.  "Why couldn't they just go toe-to-toe with the guy if they thought he was a Blood?" several people have said.

"Who would do that?" Jennifer Rivers asked. "I don't get it. But, I'll be in court everyday."    

Los Angeles City Council member Bernard Parks, the former LAPD Chief of Police, said their arrests should provide some comfort to the family, but won't stop the pain.

"There is never closure when you lose a loved one," said Parks, who has known Tavin's family since the 1960s. Parks noted that near the same car wash where Tavin was shot, LAPD police officer Daniel Pratt was killed in a drive-by shooting on September 3, 1988. (Kirkton Phanor Moore, now 54, was convicted of the murder in 1990 and is serving life at Kern Valley State Prison.) 

After the press conference, at the  Inglewood Park Cemetery where Price was buried last Saturday, family and friends gathered at his grave site. Tavin's brother James clowned around, getting laughs for his impersonation of Tavin walking when he was upset. 

The grave was surrounded by a white picket fence.  

"Tavin loved white picket fences," his mother said as she looked on from afar. "We used to have one when we lived on the Eastside. Now, Tavin has his own."

$50,000 Reward For the Killers of Tavin Price, Man Shot at Car Wash in Front Of Mom

Of all the posts on this site, none have garnered more page views than the story about recent killing of Tavin Price, the 19-year-old mentally handicapped, 4-foot, 10-inch, 100-pound man shot to death by gang members in front of his mother at a car wash on Florence Avenue near Crenshaw Boulevard.

His last words, "Mommy, I don't want to die", made this already-maddening story incomprehensible. Even the hardest gang members in Los Angeles were disgusted by this killing.

Today,  Los Angeles City Councilmember Bernard C. Parks introduced a $50,000 reward motion to help solve the death of Tavin Terrell Price.  The reward motion is expected to be officially heard and voted on at the Wednesday, June 24 Council meeting. The reward is for information leading to arrest and conviction. 

"Hopefully the money will, with the grace of god, help get someone to come forward so they can catch the people who killed my son," said Tavin's mother, Jennifer Rivers. 

On May 29, at 11 a.m, Price was at the Five Minute Car Wash, located at 3312 West Florence Avenue, with his mother and a family friend. Price walked about 25 feet away to the adjoining smoke shop and was confronted by "Suspect-1" over gang affiliation.  The suspect made comments about Price's "red Chucks", his Chuck Taylor Converse sneakers.  Price did not reply and returned to his mother's vehicle. "Suspect 2" walked up behind Price and fired multiple times striking Price in his torso

A 27-year-old woman, Antheyst Jarrett was arrested shortly after and charged with accessory to the murder of Price as well as two counts of witness intimidation. She is being hel ind the county jail facility in Lynwood on $500,000 bail. She is expected in court tomorrow, June 18.  

Anyone with information is urged to call Detectives Eric Crosson or Fernando Cuevas the Criminal Gang Homicide Division at (323) 786-5100 or (323) 786-5113.

To read more on the death of Tavin Price check these links.

http://krikorianwrites.com/blog/2015/6/1/son-dies-in-his-mothers-arms-after-being-shot-at-car-wash-on-crenshaw-and-florence

http://krikorianwrites.com/blog/2015/6/11/4vfs7n6zmv7g036k8lrjivb5x6f20

Tavin Prce

Carl Betts Remembered as "Cornerstone of his family" as 1,000 Pay Tribute

More than 1,000 people gathered Saturday morning to pay tribute to Carl Sebastian Betts at the Bethel A.M.E. Church on Western Avenue, recalling him as a "cornerstone of his family" and "a friend who was always there when you needed him."

Betts, 51, was shot to death on the night of May 31st on St. Andrews Place and 85th Street by some lost soul who asked him those three notorious words "Where you from?"

The accurate answer to that question from Carl would have been Florence, Arizona, and - if he got particular - to James and Barbara Betts on June 29, 1963. His large family moved to South Los Angeles and he attended La Salle Avenue Elementary, Brette Harte Middle School and Washington and Gardena high schools.

Betts married the love of his life, Jessa Weaver, in 1992 and was a father to eight and a grandfather to nine. 

"Carl was the cornerstone of his family, a man who made other people feel good about themselves," said Kevin "Twin" Orange who had known Betts for nearly 40 years. "He was all about family."

Several of the mourners talked of Betts love of sports and his nearly fanatical love of the Dallas Cowboys. Several men attending the funeral wore Cowboys jerseys.

"Somehow, even if the conversation wasn't about sports, Carl would find a way to bring up the Dallas Cowboys," said one man.  

On his last night on earth, Betts visited his mother Barbara, gave her a gift, told her he loved her, and went out to get some food with two friends. By 10:30, he was dead.,Detectives have surmised Bett's assailants may have thought he was "from" Eight Trey Gangster Crips, the gang that has dominated that Manchester Square neighborhood for decades.

Wednesday around 12:30 p.m.,  an Eight Trey Gangster known as "G Witit" was shot to death by the liquor store on 88th Street and Vermont Avenue. 

And, as Betts was being eulogized, so too was Tavin Price,  the intellectually disabled 19-year-old who was shot to death in front of his mother at the car wash on Florence Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard. To read more on Price check here - http://krikorianwrites.com/blog/2015/6/11/4vfs7n6zmv7g036k8lrjivb5x6f20t  

Twin, speaking from the church podium, passionately urged the crowd to get involved with ending the gang violence.

"We should be ashamed of ourselves because we are creating a genocide. We have become expert marksmen on each other, We need to stop this and make our neighborhood a community like we had in the '70s."

After the funeral, on Vermont Avenue and 88th Street, Raymond Lockett slowly shook his head as he spoke of his old friend Betts who had the nickname "Straw Dog". 

"Man, Straw Dog was good people. And they killed him for nothing."  

carl betts was loved by a whole lotta people.

Family Marches For Tavin Price, "Intellectual Disabled" 19-Year-Old Killed in Front of his Mother by "Biggest Coward"

"A man got to have a code" - Omar Little

The adult gang member who shot Tavin Price, had no code. If he did, he wouldn't have shot a 4-foot, 10 inch, 100-pound,  19-year-old intellectually disabled man in front of his mother.  But, this man - now wanted methodically by the police, wanted revengefully by some members from his own set and wanted most passionately by the heartbroken mother - did just that to Price two weeks ago at a car wash on Florence Avenue near Crenshaw Boulevard.

Street sources say the shooter was urged to kill Tavin by another gang member who had lost a fist fight (aka "fade") to a family member of Price's a month or so ago. Using Price's red sneakers as a pretext, the instigator told his accomplice that Price was from a local rival gang, sources said.  The two, said to be affiliated with the Rollin' 60s, demanded the "red Chucks" ( Chuck Taylor Converse tennis shoes) and when the confused Price headed to his mom who was cleaning her car, he was shot at least three times. 

"Mommy, I don't want to die," were his last words.

Tavin's mother, Jennifer Rivers said "The coward who killed my son disrespected every mother in the world."

Condemnation for the attack was universal on the streets, too  Here is a smattering of comments. 

"In front of his moms?!"

"Boy, was like four feet something, Couldn't he go toe-to toe with him? Coward." 

"Why the coward have to shoot him? And in front of his mother? Man, sock him, if you got to, He had to be the biggest coward."

"It's an embarrassment for the Sixties, if he really from Sixties."

"Someone that small and you got to put heat on him? That's some cowardly shit. A fuckin' embarrassment."

Last week, some Rollin' 60s, who the LAPD say have 1,200 members, expressed their sympathies to the family.

"Some of the guys from 60s, they knew Tavin and they said this was a totally senseless killing," said Tavin's sisters Runisha. "Tavin was stylish and walked around he neighborhood, but he wouldn't hurt a flea. Everyone around here knew that."

Sister Runisha thought about the person who killed him. 

"Whoever shot my brother if he was trying to get some brownie points for his gang, instead, he lost his entire soul." 

Meanwhile, the family and friends of Tavin, after hosting a viewing of his body,  marched in his memory down Crenshaw to the site of his killing in front of the Express Car Wash on Florence.

There were about 60 people along the march. There were no so-called national black leaders there. There was no national media. CNN and Wolf Blitzer didn't have 'man on the street" reporters there. There wasn't even any local media there.  The mayor wasn't there. Tavin Price wasn't much in the way of news. Just a short, mentally-handicapped,  young black man gunned down by another black man. 

Everybody, black and white,  gets all up in arms and marches in unity when a cop kills a black man. But, it appears it's okay with everybody - everybody except the family and friends of the victim, everybody except the homicide detectives  - when people kill their own.   

Funeral service for Tavin Price will be held Saturday, June 13 at 1 p..m at Angelus Funeral Home at 3875 S. Crenshaw Blvd, Los Angeles, Calif, 90008.

If anyone would like to help the family with the burial costs, check this site  - http://www.gofundme.com/w3u5ag

Anyone with information on the homicide can call Det. Eric Crosson of LAPD's Crinimal Gang Homicide Division at (323) 786-5100.

Woman, 27, Arrested as "Accessory" in Killing of Mentally Handicapped Man at Car Wash

A 27-year-old woman from the neighborhood near Florence Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard has been arrested for being an accessory to the murder of Tavin Price, the 19-year-old mentally handicapped man who was shot to death in front of his mother at the local car wash Friday morning over a pair of red tennis shoes.

In addition, Antheyst Jarrett was also charged with two counts of witness intimidation, LAPD Det. Chris Barling said. Two of her male companions are being sought and the detective urged the community to step up and identify the alleged attackers.

Even by brutal Los Angeles street gang standards, this killing has been widely condemned as one of the most cowardly acts ever committed under the now-ancient banner of "colors". 

"Someone that small and you got to put heat on him?" said a man who grew up in the neighborhood.  "You can't go toe-to-toe with a little guy like that? It's an embarrassment."

One of the men demanded Price, who was 4-foot, 9-inches tall,  give up his "red Chucks" - slang for Converse Chuck Taylor All Star tennis shoes - and the other shot him several times as he ran to his mother, Jennifer, who was washing her car at the time.

"Mommy, I don't want to die," Tavin told his mother.

His older sister said "He never left his mama's shoulder. He never left her side."

Residents of the area said Tavin - disabled at age three from a car accident - was well-known and liked, and enjoyed dressing  "stylishly", often wearing his red shoes in the neighborhood which is considered the "turf" of the Rollin' 60s Crips, the infamous gang whose "color" is blue.

Funeral service for Tavin, ( who preferred the name "Tevin") will be held Saturday, June 13 at 1 p..m at Angelus Funeral Home at 3875 S. Crenshaw Blvd, Los Angeles, Calif, 90008,  A Pay Pal account to help with Tavin Price's burial expenses is being set up .

If anyone would like to help the family with the costs of burial, check this site   - http://www.gofundme.com/w3u5ag

Anyone with information of this crime can call Det. Eric Crosson at (323)  786-5100

Son Dies in his Mother's Arms After Being Shot at Car Wash on Crenshaw and Florence

"Mommy, I don't want to die" were the last words 19-year-old Tavin Price said after he was shot several times in front of his mother as she was cleaning her car Friday morning at the Express Car Wash on Florence Avenue near Crenshaw Boulevard.

One assailant had ordered him to take his "red Chucks off", referring to the red Chuck Taylor tennis shoes Tavin was wearing. But. Price, seriously injured in a car crash when he was three, was mentally disabled. The only way he knew to react was to run to his mother. 

The pathetic attacker opened fire on Price, who was only 4-feet, 10-inches tall, barely 100 pounds. Price died a short time later. 

Today, June 1st, would have been Tavin's  20th birthday.  Instead of a decorating a birthday cake, Tavin's older sisters were solemnly setting up a memorial - a poster with several photographs, "Happy Birthday" balloons, and dozens of candles - to him on a telephone pole near where he died. (Because he always wanted his name spelled with an "e" rather than an "a", the sisters wrote his name as "Tevin" on the tribute.)

At 6 p.m. tonight, there will be a vigil for him.

Residents of the area said Tavin was well-known and liked, and enjoyed dressing  "stylishly", often wearing his red shoes in the neighborhood which is considered the "turf" of the Rollin' 60s Crips, the infamous gang whose "color" is blue.

"My brother wasn't in a gang, he never hurt anybody, " said one of his sisters.

Even by brutal Los Angeles street gang standards, this killing has been widely condemned as one of the most cowardly acts ever committed under the now-ancient banner of "colors". 

"Someone that small and you got to put heat on him?" said a man who grew up in the neighborhood.  "You can't go toe-to-toe with a little guy like that? It's an embarrassment."

A few Rollin' 60s, who the LAPD say have 1,200 members, expressed their sympathies to the family.

"Some of the guys from 60s, they knew Tavin and they said this was a totally senseless killing," said another of his sisters, Runisha. "Tavin was stylish and walked around he neighborhood, but he wouldn't hurt a flea. Everyone around here knew that."

His older sister said "He almost never left his mama's shoulder. He never left her side."

The sister said Tavin had a summer job last year and had never seen him happier.

"He said 'I don't want to just sit on a couch. I want to get another job. I don't want to be written off as nothing."

As the family got ready for tonight's vigil, sister Runisha thought about the person who killed him. 

"Whoever shot my brother if he was trying to get some brownie points for his gang, instead he lost his entire soul." 

Funeral service for Tavin, ( who preferred the name "Tevin") will be held Saturday, June 13 at 1 p..m at Angelus Funeral Home at 3875 S. Crenshaw Blvd, Los Angeles, Calif, 90008,\

If anyone would like to help the family with the burial costs, check this site  - http://www.gofundme.com/w3u5ag

Anyone with information on the homicide can call Det. Eric Crosson of LAPD's Crinimal Gang Homicide Division at (323) 786-5100.

Tavin Price would have been 20 today, June 1st. Instead, his sisters put up a memorial near where he was killed