As a computer entrepreneur and inventor, Steve Jobs changed the world.
The co-founder, chairman and chief executive of Apple Inc., and former executive of Pixar Animation Studios, died Oct. 5 from pancreatic cancer.
To honor this leading innovator of our time, The Gallery at the Tech Garden is displaying an exhibition titled “Open Apple Steve — Memoriam: An Aesthetic Homage to Steve Jobs.” Having opened in mid-November, the exhibit can be viewed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through Jan. 16. There’s no admission charge.
The Tech Garden is downtown at 235 Harrison St.; 474-0910.
While the exhibit showcases work in many media by artists from as far away as India, Ireland, Salt Lake and Los Angeles, local artists include Kathryn Petrillo, Ryan Diana, Vicki L. Harris, Paul Melnikow, Isaac Bidwell, Ellen Leahy and Matthew Keeney.
“The Tech Garden is a place where ideas come to grow,” said curator Ty Marshal, the Syracuse artist who recently recreated the Cardiff Giant. “Our state-of-the-art facility focuses on the incubation of technology start-up businesses with a focus on high technology entrepreneurship.”
For venue info, visit thetechgarden.com.
For exhibit info, visit stevejobsart.blogspot.com.
Gentile’s expands into ’burbs
One of Syracuse’s best restaurants, Gentile’s at 305 Burnet Ave., has branched out into the suburbs. Last month, chef Kevin Gentile opened Gentile’s Pasta & Pizza Café at 1349 Cold Springs Road (Route 370), at the corner of Long Branch Road, in Liverpool.
“It’s gourmet quality food,” Gentile said, “but it’s café quick. We’re proving you don’t have to sacrifice taste and quality for convenience and affordability.”
Kevin’s not kidding.
I stopped in for a grilled chicken-breast sandwich last week, and — with portabello mushrooms, prosciutto, tomatoes, mozzarella and sage aioli on a fresh ciabatta roll from Renzi Brothers — it was the best chicken sandwich I’d ever tasted! Service was stellar: swift, pleasant, attentive and efficient.
Can’t wait to try a few of Kevin’s “designer pizzas,” such as the Gucci pizza with shaved steak, Gabana pizza with Applewood smoked bacon, Prada pizza with chicken and pine nuts and Giannini pizza with shrimp scampi and green onions. While those specialties boast gourmet ingredients, they don’t come at gourmet prices. Pie prices range from $9 to $11, and each of six pasta dinners cost $9.95.
Caricatures and cavatelli
And here’s something you don’t get at most pizzerias: on Sunday afternoon, Gentile’s Past & Pizza Café serves caricatures as well as cavatelli.
That’s right. Local illustrator Brad Cole creates free caricatures for customers between noon and 4 p.m. every Sunday.
Check out Cole’s varied work at bradleyjcole.com; 246-7572.
For Gentile’s Café info or to place an order for pickup or delivery, dial 457-3333.
Meanwhile, Gentile’s Restaurant continues to draw discerning diners to Burnet Avenue. After 10 years there, Kevin Gentile has forged a reputation for serving high-quality Italian-American dishes with all fresh ingredients for both lunch and dinner. Specials include $5 appetizer Tuesday, $6 martini Wednesday, $20 wines Thursday and a family-style Sunday dinner from 4 to 8 p.m. for $12 each, including a complimentary “sweet finish.” Call the restaurant at 474-8258; gentilesrestaurant.com.
‘Pope Joan’ gets Reelz
“Pope Joan,” the spectacular German-made English-language movie based on the novel by Syracuse author Donna Woolfolk Cross, makes its small-screen debut this Sunday evening on ReelzChannel.
The digital cable television pay-channel provided locally by Time Warner Cable will debut the two-part miniseries “Pope Joan” for the U.S. television audience. Set to air at 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18, “Pope Joan” tells the story of Johanna von Ingelheim. A controversial figure of historical record, she disguised herself as a man and rose to rule the Catholic Church in the 9th century as the only woman to sit on the throne of St. Peter.
“To get the from the book to the screen, it took 10 years, four different production companies, five different directors and seven different scripts, two of which were mine,” Cross sighed. The movie-making process, she said, “can drive you crazy.”
The epic film, which stars Johanna Wokalek (“The Baader Meinhoff Complex”) as Pope Joan and John Goodman as Pope Sergius, premiered in Berlin in October 2009. It made its Syracuse premiere April 2 at the Palace Theater in Eastwood, and the two-and-a-half-hour feature film has since been expanded into a four-hour television miniseries.
Shot in modern-day Morocco by director Sönke Wortmann (“The Miracle of Bern”), the film vividly recreated the Eternal City of the Middle Ages and populated it with bazaar vendors, tooth-pullers, soothsayers, acrobats, pigs, goats and horses as well as holy men.
Reelz will air it in separate two-hour segments starting Sunday, Dec. 18, and concluding Monday, Dec. 19, at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.
