Photo by John von Pamer
We met Sunny many years ago at our local, Franny’s. She always delighted us with fantastic stories, amazing wit and charming presence. I’ve only grown to love her more over time; she unfolds her bewitching personality slowly but surely, always making you want to hear more from her. Lucky for you, she shares here what delights her, what scares her and what she’s looking forward to. Meet Sunny Ozell!
Favorite recipe?
I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of fava beans…I love eating them, and I love the meditative aspect of just how much work they require. You buy a pound and you yield a cup shelled, at best. I love them cold, slightly mashed with some crumbled pecorino, or warm, sautéed with some good mushrooms.
Last great book you read?
Barbara Kingsolver’s Lacuna.
Winter drink of choice?
A proper Negroni, with proper ice cubes. I also drink Genmaicha tea, pretty much on the hour.
Your Animals-names and breeds?
Family animals back home—Jerry, a 15 pound, 16 year old tuxedo-wearin’ manx cat. He’s fallen in love with my nephew Will…Jerry lets him pull his ears and his fur. Buck, my Pop’s achingly beautiful buckskin quarterhorse. Suzie, my Mama’s sweet paint quarterhorse. Taz, sort of my brother’s horse, a grey pasofino. And Shadow, also a pasofino, who I’d like to think of as “my horse”. Though I’m a total novice horse-person, I had a pretty hair-raising ride on Shadow last summer—he wound up walking through a yellow jacket’s nest, getting eaten alive, and I managed to get us both through it. He was bucking like crazy, and I had that moment of “this is the part where I fall off the back of my horse” but then I looked down to see just how far away the ground was, and through what seemed like sheer force of will, I got us both through it intact.
Do you exercise? What do you do, if so?
I walk everywhere, and do yoga every so often, which always makes me feel like a magic giant. Warrior Two is my favorite—I can solve all the world’s problems in that pose.
Salty or sweet?
Both, preferably in concert with butter.
Who inspires you and why?
Currently, my sister-in-law Shannon. She just finished up a three-year medical residency, and is now a physician as well as a new wife and new mother. She worked huge, on her feet, literally up to the last minute…she stopped work on a Friday and delivered my perfect nephew the following Wednesday. She is handling all these giant changes with an amazing amount of grace, patience, and joy, all while being an extraordinary mother and partner. She rules.
Pool or ocean?
Neither. Lake Tahoe, on the east shore.
Favorite city?
New York, always and forever.
Last great vacation?
London, where I walked to Borough Market three days in a row. Walking along the Thames feels like a great privilege…it’s just such an old city, and you know people have been coming and going along that river for centuries.
Favorite tv show?
Nuts for Boardwalk Empire. But I still think Six Feet Under was the best thing that’s ever been on television.
Weirdest job you’ve ever had?
Cocktailing during happy hour at a lounge off of Wall Street when I first moved to the city. Those guys couldn’t be any weirder, darker, or more misogynistic. They ALL had secret mistresses, they ALL were alcoholics…and these are the people running our financial world. Yeesh.
Favorite restaurant
Undeniable bias aside, Franny’s (I worked there for over four years). The food is simply flawless. But I also love Mimi’s in Ditmas and Spicy Tasty in Flushing…and Prune. Always Prune. And St John in London.
Favorite object in your home?
Oof…tough. I’m a bit of an “emotional decorator”…nearly everything in my apartment resonates for me in some way. I have a Kupka print hanging on my wall that makes me happy every time I see it. I was given a truly stellar, perfectly patinaed cast iron art nouveau table that looks as though it could walk away on its curvy, hundred year-old legs. And I love my posh little mid-century bar that has all its original glassware.
Favorite piece of clothing?
Vintage: my Grandma’s forties, fringed deer-skin coat (the hide from an animal she hunted and skinned herself…a very different era). Current: an even tie between my nasty, gorgeous, tight Gucci black leather pants from last spring (I am not to be fucked with when I’m wearing them) and a very lady-like Dries Van Noten dress with the most subtle print.
Favorite blog or website?
I’m addicted to Wikipedia. I binge. I look up “farro” and an hour later I’m reading about Neolithic temples on the border of Turkey.
Something you’re scared of?
Skin cancer. Having to drink vulgar California Chardonay in order to be polite. Indian Point blowing up or a category three hurricane or tsunami hitting New York. Bed bugs, obviously…a fear that borders on being debilitating. Oh…and the Super Volcano beneath Yellowstone that is curled up like a sleeping Goliath, ready to blow, that would do us all in like dinosaurs. AND…religious fundamentalism.
Favorite record?
Of all time? A tie between D’Angelo’s “Voodoo” and Paul Simon’s “Rhythm Of the Saints“. Currently? Gillian Welch’s new one…”The Harrow and The Harvest“.
Favorite popsong?
I think Aimee Mann writes absolutely perfect, grown-up pop music. But I’ll purr to anything at all by Hall and Oates…or Journey. I do a mean, spot-on Steve Perry impression.
Your Ideal day?
Finding treasure at a flea market, drinking excellent rose, sweating through my clothes to Forro in the Dark, sleeping with the windows open.
Favorite gift you’ve ever received?
A Georgian agate necklace…though the Gucci rainboots I got for Christmas last year are a close second.
Favorite flower?
Ragged garden roses.
Favorite scent (perfume)
Santa Maria Novella Tuberose.
Astrological sign?
I’m a double fire snake…which holds more meaning for me then being a Capricorn.
What do you do for a living?
A whole host of things…I sing occasionally for my supper. I’ve gotten to do some commercial recording work recently—really gratifying. I also work for Melissa Clark of the New York Times, and it’s pretty much a dream come true. My official title is “recipe consultant” which I quite like.
Where do you live?
On the southern end of Park Slope, a block from the park.
Your lucky number?
Seven.
What piece of art would you buy if you had absolutely no budget?
Anything of Kandinsky’s or Delauney’s…love the whole Blue Rider group. But really, no, NO budget? Holbein’s portrait of Thomas Moore that’s hanging in the Frick. Though it so belongs there I’d hate to remove it. And my life would be completely different if I could wake up every morning and see one of Turner’s late abstract works…big sublime waves and washes of light and color that he painted as he was going blind.
What do you like most about yourself?
I’m a social chameleon—I can adapt to any environment. It’s very rare for a social situation to make me nervous, and I’m very grateful for that. I can hold a genuinely interesting conversation with just about anybody. I also have superhero hearing…it’s both a blessing and a curse, because sometimes I hear things I don’t want to. And I like the way my hands are starting to look as they age.
