December 2008
(click restaurant name or point of interest)
A look back at the previous few trips and what remains in my mind..The New York City list in front of me begins with Le Gigot and Pearl Oyster Bar. That was the night I was to meet my friend Mel Dwork at Le Gigot and arrived early. So what else to do but have a quick oyster appetizer at Pearl next door. I did not tell him. Dinner at Le Gigot was delicious and cozy. On another day I went with my friend Linda Vance to MOMA at 8 a.m. — her invitation. We saw Van Gogh and Miro. I loved the early Miro paintings which I had not seen for many years. (Nothing wrong with Van Gogh, of course). Thereafter we went to a coffee shop next to the Alliance Francaise and Linda and I had a “short stack” (of pancakes). I had not eaten such a thing since a starving student at Berkeley about 45 years ago. They absorbed syrup like dry sponges. I was full until lunch from the cart at the corner of 62nd and Madison.
Cynde and I ate a dozen oysters each at the Grand Central Oyster Bar — one of our rituals. We ordered the biggest ones: Glidden Point XL, Pebble Beach, Moonstone XL. Add a Sam Adams and a Brooklyn Lager and we walked home satisfied.
Since we felt austerity settling onto New York we ate several times at the Burger Joint, got takeout artichokes and chopped liver at E.A.T., and several lunches from the aforementioned cart. (One lunch off the cart was enough for 3 of us.)
South Pacific and The Seagull made the perfect theatrical combination. Loved them both and ate at the Burger Joint both times. Lunch with Michael O. at the bar at Union Square Cafe at 3 on a Sunday was perfect: carpaccio, french fries, risotto and a glass of Sancerre. We had just been to the Pier Show for 4 hours where M.O. spent 65. and i got off free. I decided I did not need framed striped socks, iron wagon wheels or a coil of rusted chain links — but I still remember them all vividly.
Today I ordered 2 foie gras for Christmas Eve — on brioche rounds with a sweet sauce they will be delicious as an h’ors d’oeuvre. Otherwise, perhaps some french macaroons for Cynthia and Kansas City barbecue for neices, nephews and sisters. More in the New Year. Greeetings to all.