Yesterday was one of those days that makes me love New York — and makes everyone else think that I should probably be locked up for the inane grin on my face and kind, open look in my eyes. There was no special event happening. In fact the day was about as mundane as could be, but no matter where I was it was a pleasure. Went to go meet my friend Jon for lunch and he noticed and commented on this cheeriness in his usual way (with vague threats of physical violence). After lunch I took a pleasant, slow stroll through the streets near the UN to my apartment listening to music and feeling a strange and sweet sense of connectedness to every pedestrian who crossed my path and to the buildings and streets. The weather was perfect, and I am sure that helps. And being freelance and feeling no particular time pressure helps as well. In the evening I walked across town for a website meeting at a new (fucking) hipster hotel and then had a lovely dinner at a (so called) Indian restaurant called Tabla. The food was really more Indian inspired than Indian, but delicious nonetheless.There was seating outside, right across from Madison Square Park, the weather was perfect, and this continued my good-feelings-toward-New-York mood.
Other stuff happened during the day, but not as worth mentioning here. I leave that to your imagination…
Last night my friend Jon took me out to a yummy birthday dinner at a place called Zampa (which, funny enough I have passed several times admiring the signage). The food was great, I highly recommend it, and the staff was super sexy and friendly, always a nice combo. We had a few drinks and a nice time, then said our goodbyes, and I went to bed.
This morning I woke up and went downstairs to the coffee shop to grab a coffee and muffin. On my way and in the coffee shop, I (literally) bumped into 3 people and had to do the swerving dance with two others. Somehow my sense of direction is all screwy this morning. Like I went to bed in a right-handed culture and woke up in a left-handed one.
I just HAVE to write about the most amazing restaurant that we (John, Kevin, Paul and I) ate at this evening in the Village. It is called “August“, and it was perhaps the best meal that I have had in New York since arriving 4 months ago. Yes, it was THAT good. You can of course check out their menu yourself on their website, but if I had to sum up in a tidy description, I would say we ate as kings would have in the 16th or 17th century, albeit in smaller quarters. Or at least how they would have eaten in my romantic vision of the excesses of royalty from that period. My only regret was not having my camera handy to delight you all with the delicious visions that graced our table. I highly recommend a trip here after your next hastily arranged annulment and spouse beheading, or anytime really.
It seems we have dispensed with spring altogether, as this weekend was hot. And seeing as how it was the first hot weekend, people were out in full force all over the city, especially in Central Park. I enjoyed a lovely picnic on Saturday with several French friends, and a really yummy brunch (at Telepan) and walk in the park with my buddy Jonathon today. Click on the pic below to go the the full album.
Oh, before I went to India, my experience with Indian food in New York was limited to the bevy of 6th street establishments in the East Village, most of which are frankly not very high quality. Since returning, however, I am delighted to be finding delicious, excellent (and often cheap) Indian delights (or close approximations). After my fabu frankie a few weeks ago, today I finally tried a Kathi roll place that friends of mine have been raving about, and with good reason. I can highly recommend the Kathi Roll Company in the west village. In some ways more authentic than the frankie place (which gets a little inventive with the menu), and super delish. I scarfed down a chicken and lamb roll and took a short trip to heaven.
I just added a new album to my cv site. This one is focused on the huge variety of food I have had around the world. Not all of the images are frankly as nice as I would like them to be, but examining the diversity of meals is fascinating to me. You can either check out the slideshow below, or click here to launch the slightly fancier version on my cv site.
I love going to the market in foreign countries, especially tropical ones to examine the huge variety of fruits and vegetables that I have never seen before. I love trying new flavors and investigating odd looking species of plants. So there I was with Elson yesterday, helping him with the grocery shopping and asking about all the names of things I didn’t recognize. We got to one fruit that was quite round with a dark green skin and about one and a half times the size of a softball. I asked what it was and he said (what sounded like) “abacahsh”. Since this sounded so similar to “abacaxi” (pronounced “abacahshee”) which means pinapple, I assumed that this tropical marvel was in the same family, but something I had never tried before. So with the help of a kindly grandmother next to us, we picked out a ripe one and brought it back to Elson’s. This morning I excitedly went to cut it open for breakfast and realized to my slight horror upon bisecting it that this was nothing other than the lowly avocato (albeit much larger and a different shape). Crestfallen, I put it back in the fridge and told Elson he could make a monster salad with it one day soon.
The amazing lunch I had today with Newton at Paraiso Tropical: fried yucca, carne seca, seasoned rice, 2 kinds of farofa, grilled banana and starfruit, several fresh condiments and the piece de la resistance shrimp moqueca with palm kernel, coconut, cashews, and pitanga. Yum.
