A night at Il Pastio, a fine Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills, turned out to be a little more interesting than just a great dinner. Yes, the food was very good, there was a nice buzz in the restaurant, but it wasn't so loud that you couldn't hear the conversation. Barbara, Regina and my Mom Dorothy were out to dinner after enjoying an awesome afternoon at the Frederick Weisman home in Beverly Hills, probably one of the finest contemporary and modern art collections in the U.S. By appointment only, you can book a docent led tour of the house and grounds, which includes all the greats of the second half of the 20th century, focusing on California artists. Botero, Robert Graham, Henry Moore, Lichtenstein, Larry Rivers, Kandinsky, Andy Warhol, Ed Rusha, Tom Weselman, Magritte, Tanguay, Raushenberg, I could go on and on. I highly recommend you visit it.
Back to dinner. We all noticed a table of four men sitting behind us by the window, all nice looking older men. They finished their meal a little before us, and came over to our table. One man taps Regina and myself on the shoulder, gives us a big smile, and says, "It's so nice to see a group of strong women out for dinner. I'm Antonio Villaraigosa, former mayor of Los Angeles." I was shocked to say the least, but then we got into about a 10 minute conversation with him. He wanted to know where we were from and a little about us, then told us what he is doing these days. He was Los Angeles mayor from 2005-2013. He had visions of running for senate, but his personal life and reputation got in the way.
In any event, it was a delightful evening. He is a charmer. Beautiful smile, and always knows just what to say. I guess once a politician, always a politician. In any event, you go out for dinner and you never know who might be sitting right next to you.
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