at the sign of The Pink Pig

(Not La) Boqueria

[Pigging by Wilfrid: September 28, 2007]

Not the one in Barcelona, anyway.  La Boqueria, the food market where I would like to spend every remaining day of my life.

No, this is Boqueria, the tapas (kind of) joint where L'Acajou used to be.

Dennis Foy's Quiet Struggle

[Pigging by Wilfrid: September 28, 2007]

Against a difficult location.  Against Frankula of the Times.  Against small plate mania and lowered expectations.

He should adapt the Syms menswear slogan:  "an educated feeder is our best customer."

Some September Wines

[Pigging by Wilfrid: September 28, 2007]

Four wines, including a Spanish red which deserves to be better known, and is beautifully priced.

Autumn Leaves: the Beats Go On/AbEx at the Met

[New York Peasant by Wilfrid: September 28, 2007]

In this, the fiftieth year of On the Road, it looks like the Beats are going to linger.

I already devoted two   articles  to a walking tour of Greenwich Village based around a book published by City Lights (thanks for the link).  I said then that I hadn't done Burroughs justice; but in fact the party for Kerouac is by no means over.  A forthcoming New York Public Library exhibition, a new book by John Leland, Why Kerouac Matters, the publication of the original "scroll" version of Road, and now attendant ruminations by Louis Menand in The New Yorker.

Scroll on down for Abstract Expressionism at the Met...

Eat Like A Pirate: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: September 28, 2007]

Jean Lafitte, to be specific, a privateer in the Gulf of Mexico, "king" of the swamps of Louisiana, and run out of New Orleans in 1817, leaving behind him Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, the oldest building in the French corner (it's a real tumbledown shanty) and reputedly the oldest bar in the United States.

Hello Tailor! The Sweet's In Town

[Pigging by Wilfrid: September 21, 2007]

Ripped leather, swanky hooch, going underground.  Girls in upscale Hooters outfits.  Molecular grindhouse.

But the menu's sugar sugar.

Nestle Down At Trestle

[Pigging by Wilfrid: September 21, 2007]

When the days get shorter, and a cold wind blows off the Hudson

Prop your skis outside Trestle and nip in for some fried duck necks.

Quick Bites: Arthur Avenue, Ssam Bar, Centovini

[Pigging by Wilfrid: September 21, 2007]

Crystal light on a perfect early fall day.  A warm breeze.

(Calabria Pork Store)

Time to go to the Bronx and eat stuff.

Jodie Foster in "The Brave One" and Calder at MOMA

[New York Peasant by Wilfrid: September 21, 2007]

Neil Jordan's "The Brave One", released a week ago: I don't suppose it was sponsored by New York City tourism.  Back to the mean streets; back to Travis Bickle.  And how the hell did Jodie Foster get to be forty-four?

Back to London Town (Moro, Sofra, Beoty's): Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: September 21, 2007]

A quick  whiz through the Great Wen, September '97...battered bouquets strewn in the streets and dew-dampened photos of Princess Diana flapping from palace railings.  Funeral time, more or less.