[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: October 12, 2007]
No particular theme, this week or next. Just bending to my task, and demonstrating my Proust-like devotion to recovering lost meals.
New York stalwarts, this week and next, new to me back in 1997.
Tribeca Bar and Grill. Not as edgily fashionable in 2007 as it was in the early/mid-'90s as part of Drew Nieporent's portfolio, along with Nobu and Montrachet. Of the three restaurants, the Tribeca Grill had perhaps the closest association, in diners' minds, with Robert DeNiro. You dine, after all, under paintings by his father, a significant artist.
It's hard to imagine now, but moderately upscale restaurants serving unabashedly American cuisine were still making a statement in the '90s. Okay, Larry Forgione had almost ten years of An American Place under his belt, but Gramercy Tavern (1994) was a relative newcomer, and swanky French still dominated the upper levels of the market.
At Tribeca Bar & Grill, the rack of lamb came with "Yukon Gold potatoes" - or so the menu said. Today, if you can't mention a small, upstate "artisanal" farm as your source, don't bother. The lamb was preceded by all-American crisp-fried oysters with freshly made slaw, and pursued by a plate of "cookies". In deference to the menu's trend, American wine was drunk: Quail Hill Pinot Noir; and a thimble of Bonny Doon Muscat with dessert.
Danny's Grand Sea Palace - Where Broadway Meets Bangkok! was a step down in ambition. Danny's, which sadly closed over the 2006 holidays, was a kind of hybrid operation. On the one hand, a piano bar with a cabaret room in the back; on the other, a sort of Thai seafood restaurant. I used to combine the options by throwing down clams on the half shell at the bar while listening to pianists of extraordinary longevity and repertoire.
Sometimes I dined. The truth is, as a former resident of London's West End, I couldn't believe that oysters and lobsters could be had at Danny's prices: even poor specimens commanded huge sums in central London. Danny's broiled Maine lobster was not the best, but it came with plenty of melted butter and a huge boiled potato for really just a handful of dollars. On this occasion, I chased it wrecklessly with a Thai rice pudding. I do remember that the house wines were dismaying.
Hurrying on down, in terms of price and ambience, I dined the next evening at what remains one of my favorite, reliable, inexpensive home-cooking spots in downtown Manhattan: the restaurant at the Ukrainian National Home on Second Avenue. Any of the long-cooked dishes are worth trying, and the tripe soup is as good as any in town (unless Le Cirque is still serving its $40 special with lashings of Armagnac). This night, I ate the jellied pig's feet and a kielbasa with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut.
The week was ornamented by a visit to a quite terrific, if crowded, show at the Met: pictures from Degas's private collection. It seems I was particularly taken by some Daumier drawings.
Finally, guests in town - a honeymooning couple, no less. They deserved a New York night out, and I selected the Hudson River Club. In 1997, Waldy Malouf - formerly of the Rainbow Room, now at Beacon - was cooking there to some acclaim. Chef Waldy was offering American cuisine too, but with a specific emphasis on the Hudson valley. We ate local foie gras with an apple and potato pancake, then rare roast venison, the chop and filet. A 1993 Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir was the wine.
The restaurant, then rather comfortable (it later quickly became shabby and rundown), offered touristic night-time views of the Statue of Liberty. Later that evening, another piano bar: Judy's Supper Club in its original theater district location, just by the Algonquin. Jerry Scott at the piano, too much West Side Story, and too many whisky sours.
The indomitable Jerry Scott can be found these days - Friday and Saturday nights anyway - at Caterina's on 53rd Street. He closed Danny's, by the way. I believe the Hudson River Club has passed into history too. The Tribeca Bar and Grill was still busy when I visited about a year ago; and the Ukrainian restaurant is a regular haunt and a treasure.
