Category: restaurants

etcetera

~ jamie ~ Leave a comment

» versions of “gypsy” i have seen/heard prior to last night:

— the rosalind russell movie version
— the bette midler tv version
— the bernadette peters broadway version
— the ethel merman broadway cast recording
— the genesius theatre version in kirk’s boyhood home of reading, pa

kirk could add:

— the tyne daly broadway version
— the betty buckley and debbie gibson version at paper mill playhouse

i don’t think he saw angela lansbury as mama rose, but he can correct me if i’m wrong.

at any rate, to say we had “gypsy” burnout would be an understatement. we really didn’t want to see it this past spring at genesius, but kirk knew people in the cast and we had season tickets, so we went and it was good. even though patti lupone was getting raves in the latest broadway incarnation, we just decided to take a pass.

we were sung out, louise.

but then we saw the tonys, and she performed, and she won a tony, and boyd gaines won the tony as herbie, and laura benanti won the tony as louise, and they were all wonderful and we got chills and so forth, so we looked at each other and said “ok, get the tickets”. so we did, and got a decent deal, and went last night. house was packed — a good audience that we didn’t have to shush. amazingly, i think some of them were unfamiliar with the musical; there were lots of audible gasps when baby june took off at the end of act one.

we really enjoyed ourselves. the staging was good — there was a tattered proscenium onstage which symbolically lifted at the end, making it a “play within a play”. i especially loved the interplay between herbie and louise. the actors gave that relationship an added depth i’d never seen. june was alternately manically perky when “onstage” and bitterly cynical when “offstage” — great job. the most world-weary and ancient electra i’ve ever seen — hysterically funny.

and patti lupone was indeed a marvel. force of nature. complete presence. all the adjectives. two standing ovations — at the end of “rose’s turn” and at the end of the play.

even if you think you never want to see this warhorse (“gypsy”, not patti lupone!) on stage again, it’s worth the money.

» dinner before the show at bocca:

no silly, not the sandwich shop. the italian restaurant in gramercy. very nice experience. we had the prix fixe: for me, pomodori (fresh tomatoes, sliced onions, avocados, olive oil), trota (trout with roasted bell pepper salad and grilled potatoes), and frutta e zabaione (strawberries and bananas served with sabayon); for kirk, polpettine (veal meatballs served with melted truffle, pecorino cheese and veal jus), straccetti (pan seared oregano flavored shredded filet mignon served with roasted cherry tomatoes and wild rocket pesto), and the aforementioned frutta e zabaione. i had a glass of white, he had a glass of red. espresso after dessert (please don’t have your coffee with your dessert, says the food snob. so tacky!) we skipped the bread in deference to kirk, but it looked great from across the room.

everything was incredibly delicious because they did a great job of the one thing i love to see in restaurant food — each dish was just a few extremely high quality ingredients chosen and combined simply and well. not fussy, not cluttered, very clean yet surprisingly complex. good job.

they have a nice drinks menu as well and seem to get an after-work one-drink crowd; kirk started with a really yummy basil-infused gimlet.

total bill with tax and tip was $145 — a splurge for us but worth it.

» weekend update:

we’re going to reading for the second weekend in a row.

last weekend we went, borrowed kirk’s father’s truck and went camping at hickory run state park. we’d planned to hike a lot and be all active, but we lucked into choosing one of only eight campsites that were on the park’s babbling brook (out of 300+ campsites; what were the odds?). so we sat by said babbling brook and read, thursday through saturday. left early saturday afternoon due to impending thunderstorms and saw a production of “the women” in ephrata, pennsylvania. very fun.

this weekend, we’re taking an old steam train with kirk’s parents. it runs from somewhere to jim thorpe, pennsylvania and basically takes the whole day doing it. sounds like a relaxing time — looking forward to it.

next weekend, kirk makes the third consecutive trip to reading for sweeney todd auditions. i think my reading visit streak will end at two.

goodbye florent

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great photo essay in the times about florent, the groundbreaking restaurant in the meatpacking district, narrated by the man himself.

it’s going away, like mchales, cbgb’s, le madeleine, and any other of the long list of victims of gentrification and skyrocketing rents. much of what makes the city “new york” are these individual places, and each time we lose one we’re a step closer to being cleveland. i’ve been to florent a few times, and always enjoyed myself and had a great meal. the man, a true pioneer among restauranteurs, deserves better.

think about that the next time you hit a starbucks. and i’m sure cleveland is a wonderful place.

but it ain’t new york. at least not yet.

unsolicited recommendation: salvatores of soho

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had dinner at salvatores of soho on friday night. the name’s a bit misleading — the restaurant isn’t in soho. it’s in riverdale. maybe salvatore is from soho, and he came to riverdale to open a restaurant. not sure.

anyway.

they have excellent basic red-sauce italian food. great pizza. a well-planned menu with lots of variety. and they deliver it all. we’ve been a few times before, for basic stuff. so far, a solid neighborhood option, but perhaps not worthy of an unsolicited recommendation.

but we splurged a bit on friday night, taking a chance on some more expensive entree specials. three things shoved them over the edge, to the point where i’m flogging them on my blog:

» amazing specials. on friday i had a whole grilled bronzino with a rosemary sauce. i’d never had this mediterranean fish before, but man was it good. i like a fish roasted whole, head and skin on and bones in, because it keeps the fish moist and delicious like no other cooking method, if done correctly. and this was the best whole grilled fish i’d had in ages. it rivalled anything i’ve ever had at uncle nick’s on 9th avenue in midtown manhattan, which is mecca for a grilled fish. kirk had a broiled steak with mushroom sauce, which was equally as wonderful.

» great staff. welcoming, professional, prompt, every single person genuinely concerned with my total experience. they all enjoy what they are doing, and it shows.

» byob. they don’t have a liquor license, so you look at the menu, grab a bottle of wine from down the street, bring it back, and they serve it with no corkage fee.

total bill with tip was $50, which is about as much as you could possibly spend here. it’s a mixed crowd — half of the tables are families eating meals and bringing wine, like us, and the other half are tables of college students splitting pizzas. two could eat well and comfortably here for $20. but any money you spend here is well spent, and everything on the menu is an incredibly good value for the money, even the more expensive entrees. they definitely have kitchen staff that knows what they are doing.

we’ll be back.

a lot.

for the specials.

unsolicited recommendation: orsay on 75th & lex

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had dinner last night at orsay, in new york city on 75th st. and lexington avenue.

i’m usually not one to venture onto the upper east side of manhattan. the transportation is awkward if you live on the west side, which we do. the extreme upper west side. but last night, kirk chose this restaurant to celebrate his raise and new title at work.

so i schlepped.

and i’m glad i did. the a la carte menu looked great, especially the blanquette de veau, and a beef cheek special. but they had a prix fixe “surprise”, which intrigued. for $38, you got a surprise appetizer, a surprise entree, and a surprise dessert. you could tell them “fish or meat” for the entree, and of course let them know if you had allergies and whatnot. but other than that, you were flying blind. we went for it, and asked for wine pairings to accompany.

the appetizer was a chicken terrine, wrapped in smoky bacon and studded with vegetables — i remember mushrooms and carrots. accompanying the terrine was a frisée salad with small potatoes and bacon. both were wonderful, both separately and together. the wine was a chablis — i remember it being very buttery, though not sure of the name. i was very proud of myself for figuring out the wine tasted buttery; i usually can’t tell these things and when the sommelier gave us that assessment unprompted, i was amazed.

the entrée was a pork porterhouse with a dipping sauce that had tiny julienned cornichons, and frites. that’s french fries, to you and me. the porterhouse was incredible — it had been brined well and cooked to perfection, with a crispy exterior while still tender inside. and the fries were sensational, as only fries cooked twice and perfectly can be. the perfect combination of salt, heat, and grease. yummy. the wine was a great merlot.

dessert was good, but not great — a kind of ice cream cake with sliced bananas on top and chocolate sauce brushed underneath. it got better as the ice cream softened a bit. the dessert wine to accompany was of course very sweet and fruity, and i liked it quite a bit even though i’m not much for sweet wines. i remember it was from the south of france, but no more details than that.

espresso with a nice belgian chocolate finished the evening.

the service was very french — completely attentive and friendly in the way it should be. wait staff were personable, helpful, and witty but not obsequious and pushy. everyone knew their role and executed exactly as they should have. in fact, our waiter guided us away from a la carte and toward the prix fixe, even though the former would have been a bigger check for him. good thing we listened — the chef was transitioning from the winter menu to the spring menu next week, so our dishes were a sneak preview of the spring menu items. our food definitely drew attention from the many regulars sprinkled about.

in all, a great experience — all pluses and no minuses. we’ll be back.

riverdale garden: outstanding cuisine in the bronx

~ jamie ~ 2 Comments

Here’s a reprint of a post I put up on chowhound.com:

We gave the Riverdale Garden a test run a couple of weeks ago. We were very happy with the service, atmosphere, and food on the regular menu, so we returned last night to celebrate my partner’s birthday with a 15-course meal with wine pairings (available by advance arrangement with the chef). It’s a really lovely setting inside, but the best seats are outside in the garden, weather permitting. And last night, it permitted.

Here are the courses, along with a few general comments. I didn’t manage to get details for most of the wines, but I know that there was a heavy emphasis on Long Island wines — I know there was a Martha Clara chardonnay that was really nice.

Smoked trout with marinated peaches and onion.
Wine: champagne
— Very cool, trout lightly smoked and not at all overwhelming. Nice balanced start.

Heirloom tomatoes with chives, viniagrette
Wine: sauvignon blanc
— Tiny, thin slices of three different varieties, with light vinaigrette. Really understated and delicious; I could have made a perfect summer meal out of this and the cheese grits which came later.

Corn chowder with marinated olives, hot pepper
Wine: rest of sauvignon blanc
— Served in a tall thin shot glass, with the olives layered in and the hot pepper on the bottom. My partner’s favorite course.

Rosemary bread with Jerusalem artichoke, balsamic vinegar dots
Wine: Martha Clara chardonnay
— Very earthy, good combination of textures. Artichoke a bit stringy in spots.

Smoked duck with chanterelle mushrooms, light sauce dusted with ancho pepper
Wine: pinot noir
— Duck was lightly smoked, and the mushrooms cooled off the balanced heat from the ancho. The wine overpowered the dish a little, but the dish itself was one of my favorites.

Pine Island oyster with finely grated horseradish, pickled shallot mignonette
Wine: champagne
— I love oysters, but these were briny to the point of being slightly malodorous. Personal preference, but this was my least favorite course by far.

Slow roasted red and golden beets with camembert, friseé, toasted hazelnuts
Wine: Rosé
— Best flavor combo of the night for me was the camembert and the beets. The sweetness of the beets melded wonderfully with the creaminess of the slightly warm cheese.

Grilled squid, avocado, scallion, habañero
Wine: Rosé continued
— The sauce was spicy and the avocado cooled it off, continuing a theme. Great textures and taste combo–one of my favorites.

Smoked salmon on brioche with radish, chives, creme fraiche, caperberries
Wine: Rosé continued, I think. This is where I start losing track of the wine ; )
— Gentle, balanced, very nice.

Summer salad of mountain greens, jerusalem artichoke, corn, flat-leaf parsley, fennel, radish, pepper, favas
Wine: something white that continued through the cod
— Refreshing, light break from the action.

Soft shell crab, sauce with corn
— Flavorful but just a bit too tough and chewy for me.

Cod with saffron, eggplant, kale
— We talked with the next table while eating this course; I remember liking it but not the details of it.

Ostrich, pickled cherries, green roasted garlic, snap peas, parsnips
Wine: something red for this course and the next
— The ostrich/pickled cherry combo was awesome. Just enough acidity to give some snap to the meat.

Lamb porterhouse, pickled ramps, house made BBQ sauce, cheese grits
— At this point, three hours in, we were so stuffed that we split one plate and took the other home. I haven’t had cheese grits that good since I don’t know when. Incredible. The pickled ramps and the BBQ sauce gave the same acidity to the lamb that the cherries did for the ostrich — nice echo.

Dessert for me: Lemon tart with blueberry sorbet, hold the blueberry sorbet (I had the blueberry sorbet on the last visit anyway). My third favorite lemon dessert in NYC, behind the lemon tart at Le Madeleine and the lemon cake at Del Frisco.

Dessert for the birthday boy: buttermilk sorbet and coconut sorbet with a coconut tuile. The buttermilk sorbet was for me the best of his dessert lot. But I really love buttermilk, so I’m not a fair judge.

Two espressos
— Very welcome caffeine!

As I reread this, it would seem to a reader that the evening devolved a bit as it progressed, due to the overindulgence. Maybe so, but it was a celebration, and the food and wine were, with a few noted exceptions, absolutely marvelous. I think too that the atmosphere (good service, nice outdoor setting, convivial dining companions, regulars seated next to us) made us relax and enjoy ourselves far more than one might ordinarily, given the expectations of a 15-course meal. I also think that, given the quality, quantity and variety of the courses and the wines, $150 per person (pre-tax and tip) was a good value.

It’s great for us, as it’s two blocks from our house, but I firmly believe that Riverdale Garden is worth the schlep from anywhere in the city.

things i’m hoping for today

~ jamie ~ Leave a comment

» i hope someone else besides me comes to work today. there’s absolutely no one else on my entire row of cubicles.

» i hope that that hysterical tourist who got off the 1 train at 50th street with her husband and left her kid on the train gets her kid back safe. i hope that someone on the train took care of the kid. if the kid was old enough, i hope that mom had made the normal contingency plan for such events–get off at the next stop and wait. i know she was a tourist, by the way, because she had a fanny pack. not a single person who lives in any of the five boroughs wears a fanny pack. they did a study.

» i hope that the food at the riverdale garden is as good as everyone says it is. it’s one of two michelin restaurants in the bronx (the amazing roberto’s is the other), and it’s a couple of blocks away from our new apartment. it would be nice to have an awesome restaurant in the hood.

» i hope for world peace and a cure for aids and an implementable solution to global warming and the full and sensible restoration of new orleans. why the hell not, right?

» i hope leopard ships early. i want a new mac, either an updated mini or an imac — not sure which. but i’ll wait until leopard ships, because then i’ll get it free with the new computer, rather than having to pay $129 for it. i’m cheap, or sensible, that way. since we don’t have cable tv, i want a mac to hook up to the hdtv so we can watch internet content on the tv. so we’ll either get an imac, and hook up the old mini to the hdtv, or we’ll get a new mini and hook it up to the hdtv. not sure which — probably the latter. the old mini still works fine for what we use it for — email, web surfing, light photoshop, and garage band.

» i hope you don’t think i’m too privileged. i worry about that quite a bit. not, i mean, what you think of me, but rather that i’m too comfy with my stuff.

» i hope the mets stay in first place and win the division. the braves have me worried, as do the phillies.

big apple bbq block party roundup

~ jamie ~ 1 Comment

yet another return to the big apple bbq block party held each year in madison square park, although a little birdie told me it may not be located there next year.

we again had a bubba pass — a stored value card that lets you skip the long lines and go “behind the scenes” and in special lines to get your bbq. this worked like a breeze this year — they made it a punch card, so the lines moved quickly with no snafus.

i was there on saturday june 9 — my sense is that the crowds were slightly smaller than in previous years. in fact, i’d say that for some stands, you might have gotten your bbq more quickly in the public lines than in the “bubba pass” lines. and many stands had no lines at all.

that meant more bbq for me, of course. in years past, we’d have to return on sunday to get to all the stands. this year, the combination of smaller crowds and better organization meant that we could hit all the stands in one day. great for my day planning, but not so great for my waistline.

at any rate, here’s a quick roundup of my favorites:

» best sausage, best brisket — southside market & bbq, elgin, texas, my consistent favorite year after year. their sausage is, for me, always the best thing at the entire event. but this year, their brisket was my favorite as well. it had the largest smoke ring, and was the tenderest and most flavorful. bonus points for the slice of cheese and the raw onion. sausage runner up was the salt lick bbq in driftwood, texas — it’s more kielbasa-y than sausage-y, but really juicy and good. brisket runner up was baker’s ribs in dallas, texas — nice flavor and outsanding fall-apart consistency. gotta mention this, though — the baker’s ribs beans tasted like liquid smoke. not positive of that, but if true, a big big no-no. that stuff is cancer in a bottle.

» best pulled/chopped pork was mitchell’s bbq, wilson, nc — whole hog chopped up. it’s good, but what makes it great is the vinegary sauce. it’s in a squirt bottle and not obvious, so while i knew to put it on, not everyone might. the sauce makes the whole taste come together, for me.

» best cole slaw — my favorite was big bob gibson, from decatur, alabama. it was mustardy and rough chopped and delicious. kirk and our friend stephen preferred the coleslaw from the salt lick bbq in driftwood, texas, which had beaucoup celery seeds.

» best beans — the multi bean mix from 17th street bar & grill, murphysboro, illinois was outstanding. honorable mention goes to ubon’s champion’s choice from yazoo, mississippi, for the inclusion of tasty burned-y bits.

» best ribs — hands down, 17th street. honorable mention to rack & soul, nyc, for great baby back ribs. jake’s boss bbq from boston had ribs as well, but they were way too saucy for me. didn’t see any dry-rub ribs, which was odd — maybe i just missed them.

» best surprise — the brunswick stew from the proclamation stew crew from lawrenceville, virginia. didn’t expect to see it there, and loved every last bite.

and damn did i miss the smoki o’s people. no pig snoot for me this year. i guess i’m going to have to go to st. louis.

mcguire’s forced to remove “joke” bathroom signs

~ jamie ~ 1 Comment

this has to be the dumbest damn thing i’ve seen in a while.

there’s a great irish pub in pensacola, florida. used to go there all the time, back in the day. they have live music, usually some folky guy with a guitar with whom you can sing “the unicorn song” or whatever. they have the last of the original tullamore dew in a glass display case, and i think you can buy some for an astronomical sum, if i remember correctly. you sign a dollar bill and staple it to the wall or ceiling on your first visit, after you’ve kissed the moose on the wall or some such thing. the regulars all have mugs with their names on, for when they visit.

you get the picture. goofy fun type bar. great atmosphere, fun people, good food and drink.

and one of the jokes is that the signs on the bathroom doors (you can see the signs if you click the link above) mislead you into entering the wrong restroom.

big frigging deal. it happened to me the first time i went there. and i walked into the ladies’ room.

and i immediately realized my mistake, and exited, and everyone laughed, and someone bought me a drink.

and i laughed too.

maybe that’s because i have the ability to laugh at myself. that’s a trait i treasure in a person.

and evidently it’s the trait lacking in the sad asshole-y poor excuse for a human being who threatened to sue mcguire’s because his 15-year-old daughter got walked in on by mistake by a college-age guy. and the state made mcguire’s take the signs down.

good lord. big fat hairy deal.

i’m hoping this turns out to be a snopes-worthy hoax.

i’m betting it isn’t, though. it’s idiots like this who ruin the world for everyone else.

get a life, dude.

fun weekend with houseguests

~ jamie ~ Leave a comment

our friend dayna is coming to stay with us, along with her friend jennifer as well.

we know dayna from richmond–we met them when kirk was doing hedwig at a local theater. at the time, they had a goth clothing shop, and they did some co-promotions with the show.

dayna now does stunning makeup and style consulting with her company vamps and vixens. and the two of them are in town for a makeup show, and they are staying with us.

this won’t be easy. we’ve started a bit of packing in advance of our upcoming (hopefully!) move, and we gave away our futon on freecycle (you should give them a try–great way to get rid of crap you don’t want anymore. people just come and get it).

anyway, with no futon and a living room full of boxes in our new-york-sized one bedroom apartment, you can imagine how interesting this will be.

we’re giving them our bed, and we’ll sleep on the floor on sleeping bags and cushions and whatnot. this may sound gallant, but in reality sleeping on the floor for a night or two will do both our backs a world of good. so it’s self-interest, really.

so brunch today at piper’s kilt–nothing like all-you-can-drink bloody marys to start a weekend right. then some shopping with the girls, whose tastes make for fun times. tonight a bit of carousing, and then it’s off to work for them sunday and monday.

oh and dinner somewhere too.

but we’ll have fun today. it’s a welcome change to have friends stop by. and it gave me an excuse to stay home from work yesterday and clean the house.

it needed it.

i’ll let you know how it all went, probably.

angela lansbury in “deuce” tonight

~ jamie ~ 1 Comment

that’s what i’m doing, along with eating at i trulli.

it’s been a number of years since angela lansbury was on broadway. 1983 to be exact–a revival of “mame”. before that, you are in the ’70s with “sweeney todd”.

so as soon as i saw “deuce” go on sale, i jumped all over it. it’s a limited run–18 weeks. we bought tickets for my favorite time–in previews, a day or two before opening night. my logic with that is that most or all of the kinks will be worked out, and the cast’s energy is building, and if the show’s a hit you don’t have to deal with the madness that comes after opening night.

and if the show’s a flop you still got to see it. nothing worse than the show closing before the night you had tickets for a performance, if you really wanted to see it.

it’s been a while since we went to i trulli, but it’s wonderful non-red-sauce-italian food that’s consistently tasty, and the atmosphere and service are always top-notch.

i need a good new-york-style great night on the town.

i think i’m going to get it.

jello biafra at the knitting factory

~ jamie ~ Leave a comment

my god, what a show.

i’ve seen some amazing spoken word performances in my life. henry rollins. utah phillips. hunter s. thompson. jim carroll.

nothing compares to jello biafra, i have to say. although all those other guys come close, in their own way, jello edges into the lead due to sheer stamina.

onstage at 8:45 PM. one fifteen minute break, two and one-half hours into the show. offstage just after 1:00 AM. by my count that’s four continuous hours of dialogue.

and every damn minute was compelling.

you got some “greatest hits” (loved the imitation of his weirdly swedish high school geometry teacher), but also an awful lot of extemporaneous conversation, mostly about iraq. it’s tough to say what was the best, or what was wonderful, because of the sheer volume of ideas. the best i could do was to take away a general feeling of reflection and renewed commitment and enthusiasm for doing the right thing again.

it was an affirmation, too. i’m doing the right thing in a lot of ways. giving back a significant portion of my income to microloans via finca. registered to vote, and actually voting, and actually voting in all the odd primaries and local races. and just generally giving a shit.

i admire people like jello biafra, and larry kramer, and all the other people who can keep that fire burning intensely for so long. the normal human tendency is to soften with age, become more conservative with age, compromise with age.

seeing someone like jello biafra gives me hope that everything might not be completely lost. thank god he’s still fighting the good fight.

dinner at mocca espresso lounge–loved the food (fried halloumi cheese, veggie burgers, tilapia, house-made cheesecake), great service, excellent italian sodas and espresso martinis. worth stopping by if you are in the area.

la casserole–18th arrondisement, paris

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this is the restaturant where kirk and i sang, ate, drank, socialized, and had an enormously good time until 5am. here are the pictures:

« click on thumbnails to view pictures »

“cerf”, a.k.a.
rudolph

huge filet
of beef

liquid
refreshment

la casserole
food fest

birthday
cake

birthday
cake

la casserole
food fest

la casserole
food fest

la casserole
food fest

la casserole
food fest

la casserole
food fest

more details to come!