[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: December 21, 2009]
So I was back from a couple of nights in Toronto, the days were dark, the temperature was falling, and it was a matter of hanging around town until the holidays.
Not too many gastronomic highlights, but let's list them for the record. I started back with lunch at the Harry Cipriani location atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza, a business affair. Bean and pasta soup followed by tagliatelle with a veal ragù. Fish and chips for lunch the next day at Maggie's Place, a midtown pub, and supper at Morrell's Wine Bar on Rockefeller Plaza: a selection of seafood tartares, then some cold cuts and cheeses.
The next evening I returned to Les Halles, which was one of the better bets for French bistro food in those days. Rillettes, a steak, my usual bottle of Tavel. Saturday, I recall, dawned ice cold. I had signed up for a historic walking tour of the Bowery, which was supremely enjoyable despite the sub-zero temperature: the site of the Dragon's Head, a nineteenth century gay bar, inside the tiny Amato Opera House, McGurk's Suicide Hall (since pulled down), the location of Steve Brodie's saloon, all the way down to the Manhattan Bridge. A few days later, a bit of modern history instead: Liza Minnelli at The Palace - a brave performance, although it was perhaps unwise to pause to show film clips of her mother in her very great prime. And then the holiday party Season - an event at the Marriott Marquis, seasonal drinks at the Commonwealth Brewery, and at last some very good eating at Kuruma Zushi.
Kuruma Zushi is still with us, hidden upstairs in a faceless midtown office building. Omakase can be superb - and also as expensive as Masa. This was a lunch, and a controlled - if still pricey - selection of sushi and sashimi, preceded by freshly opened sea urchins and followed by green tea ice cream.
