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Letter

In the Old Balducci’s, a Hollywood Sighting

To the Editor:

I read with regret about the closing of the last two Balducci’s shops in Manhattan (“Balducci’s Makes a Quiet Exit From Manhattan,” news article, April 27).

Balducci’s was a regular stop of mine during the years I lived on East 10th Street. It offered an amusing mixture of Mom-and-Pop friendliness and inexhaustible culinary adventure — a place where you were always running into somebody searching for something special and delicious.

I remember waking up one Christmas Eve morning in the mid-1980s and realizing that I hadn’t done my holiday food shopping. Balducci’s officially opened at 8 a.m., but if you were there a few minutes early and they knew you, there was never any problem.

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Credit...Louise Fili and Jessica Hische

I walked into the near-empty store and noticed a woman standing at the poultry counter wearing a vintage fur coat, huge fur hat and enormous sunglasses. I realized it was Greta Garbo. She sensed my recognition and immediately began to back away.

I also stepped away and, realizing that her space had not been violated, she continued her transaction. She was giving the butcher firm instructions, but at a certain moment she turned toward me and said, “It must be a fine old bird to make strong soup for a sick friend — at least five pounds!” She paid, took her package and with a slight nod, left.

As soon as I got home, I called my parents and told them: “I’ve just had an ultimate Jewish show business moment. I saw Garbo buy a chicken!”

I’ll always be grateful to Balducci’s for fresh food and lasting memories.

Michael Tilson Thomas
Miami, April 29, 2009

The writer is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and artistic director of the New World Symphony.

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