For the past quarter century or so I’ve harbored the hugest crush on Stanley Tucci, the hots so enduring that even his Hunger Games makeup couldn’t deter me. I will watch anything he is in, even crappy nonsense like Burlesque or Julie and Julia. Big Night is one of his handsomest – uh, best – movies, an unusually personal drama he co-wrote (with his cousin) and co-directed (with Campbell Scott) and in which he co-starred (with Tony Shalhoub). Released in 1996, the same year the Food Network introduced us all to melodramatic chef culture, it’s a drama about two Calabrese immigrants running an overly ambitious Italian restaurant in coastal New Jersey. Keep an eye out for Isabella Rossellini and a pre-West Wing Allison Janney.
Across the square from the Jane Pickens, Stoneacre will be serving a Big Night menu all night, including a $28 timpano (see above).
