Ciao time for Mascia

Loosely Speaking by Nancy Gaines

After two an a half years at the helm of one of the most successful restaurant operations in town, John Mascia is out of La Bettola and Galleria Italiana. In what owners Rita D'Angelo and Marisa Iocco call an amicable parting, Mascia -- who was director of operations at the pair's South End and Theater District bistros, and who ran their Ciao Chow Catering -- now hopes to hook up with a local restaurateur intent on expanding. The rather abrupt split is reminiscent of the breakup three years ago between "the girls," as D'Angelo and Iocco are called, and their star chef, Barbara Lynch. Now chef/owner of the acclaimed No. 9 Park, Lynch rose to fame at Galleria but experienced ego clashes with the sometimes temperamental owners. Mascia, credited with shaping the award-winning La Bettola, is known as a tough manager, but "he was in charge; it wasn't his job to be a popular person," says a colleague. His duties will be divided among existing staff.

Art imitating life imitating Arthur? It could have been coincidence. It could have been a snide inside joke. But either way, it was a curious juxtaposition. A New York Times Magazine back cover last month featured one in a series of Absolut vodka ads in which a well-known writer (John Irving was first) scripts a slice of fiction in a style evoking his popular works, featuring Absolut as a literary prop. On this occasion, the writer was Brookline resident Arthur Golden, author of the best-selling Memoirs of a Geisha, whose "Absolut Golden" takeoff has a geisha and her client "drawing lines in the beaded moisture on an unopened bottle of Absolut Vodka." The next week's New York Times Book Review ran as its "Bookend" piece an R.O. Blechman cartoon called "The Godsend," featuring a fatuous "best-selling novelist" who imperiously defends taking time from his precious art to, uh, make money. By being in a liquor ad. It's unlikely Golden was the specific target of the jibe -- being a scion of the Times-owning Sulzberger clan, he would hardly be in such dire need of money -- but the tweak was rather pointed. "Yeah, I had someone in mind," says Blechman, "but I won't say who." No, it wasn't Golden. "That was coincidence."

Still tending her flock

Never let it be said that connections don't count: Mario Russo Salon's Heidi Holmander, cited by Vogue as one of the best colorists in the nation, departed the Newbury Street shop last week in a dispute over how to dispense in-house discounts. But before you could count to, ah, 29, she was hired across the street. As soon as word got out that the popular Holmander was available, City Salon owner Jeffrey Lyle phoned, reaching her through friends at the local watering hole 29 Newbury. In less than 24 hours, Holmander had a new job.

Fundraiser for Buckley

Friends of John Buckley Jr., the South Shore lawyer and political activist who ran for district attorney last fall, are holding a fundraiser February 25 to help defray costs incurred by Buckley and his family while he battles leukemia. The father of two, Buckley, 42, is the son of former Dukakis cabinet member Jack Buckley. The gathering is scheduled to be held at the Massasoit Conference Center, on Route 27 in Brockton, from 6 to 10 p.m.

Warming up the catbird seat?

Though it's premature to suggest that Malden Democrat Ed Markey is ready to give up his congressional seat, pundits suggest that when he does, a likely contender for the post is Middlesex County sheriff Jim DiPaola, who succeeded Markey in the state legislature when Markey went to Washington. DiPaola is already making inroads -- of a sort -- into Markey's office. The sheriff's daughter, Jamie DiPaola, is working as an aide in Markey's DC office, a nice spot to check out the furnishings for a future occupant.

Nightmare on Hale Street

One of the most beautiful streets in Massachusetts seems to hold a curse for Mullen, the Wenham-based ad agency. Some 20 years ago, the agency's gorgeous headquarters, on a baronial estate on Hale Street in Beverly, burned down. A few years later, the new headquarters -- rebuilt with equal splendor in Beverly Farms -- were also destroyed by fire. Last week, the Revolutionary War-era Hale Street home of Mullen's vice president and associate creative director, Greg Bokor, burned to the ground. Bokor and his family were awakened by their dog, Boris, and escaped harm, but the fire killed Boris.