at the sign of The Pink Pig

Graffiti: Study For A Restaurant

[Pigging by Wilfrid: November 30, 2007]

The Revenge of the Pastry Chefs Episode 5 (or is it 6)?  Or so I feared.

Following in the footsteps of Iacopo Falai, Sam Mason, Pichet Ong, and doubtless others, here comes Jehangir Mehta, former dessert-wizard of Aix, with his own East Village doodle of a restaurant.

Quick Bites: Zlata Praha and The Monday Room (Again)

[Pigging by Wilfrid: November 30, 2007]

People pretend they'll go anywhere for their offal and/or organ meats.  I am not so sure.

(Pig's Head Terrine at The Monday Room)

Some November Wines

[Pigging by Wilfrid: November 30, 2007]

The most interesting wine drinking I did in November was at an Instituto Cervantes tasting of the wines of Catalunya, organized by the indefatigable wine writer, cineaste and philosopher, Helio San Miguel.

I have done my best with the spelling here; prices are rough estimates; the bad news is that some of these are just not to be found in New York:

A Twombly Blooms In Chelsea - And Other Doings

[New York Peasant by Wilfrid: November 30, 2007]

So.
Farewell, then, Poet's House.

You were a nice place
To sit and read poetry,
Or listen to poets reading,
And quite handy for Balthazar

Or Savoy.  And now,
You have quit old SoHo
For some fancy new building
Downtown, nowhere near
Any decent restaurants.

(After E.J. Thribb).

After whiling away a few last hours in the Poet's House reading room, which closes its doors on Saturday,  I headed for the Gagosian - I should say a Gagosian -  gallery in Chelsea to be uplifted by some of Cy Twombly's recent doings.

Working Through The List: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: November 30, 2007]

The list of possibly worthwhile Manhattan restaurants, I mean, whether in Zagat or in a 1996 Gault Millau I still have, battered and creased, on the shelf in front of me.

The Pink Pig's Thanksgiving: A Savory Mess

[Pigging by Wilfrid: November 23, 2007]

This isn't turkey day for me, of course.  It's capon day.  The feast of the castrated rooster.

This is double the pleasure.  Serve people from a smart-looking large bird, the meat of which vaguely resembles turkey, but shot through with delicious fat and juices.  And once they've eaten it, you can tell them about castratos, high voices, the delay of puberty, and chubby plumpness.

A First Map of Bohemia

[The Cunning Tower by Wilfrid: November 23, 2007]

If you're looking for more food, nothing to see here, move on...

To my surprise, I've been driven to write about the Beat milieu around Ginsberg, Kerouac and Burroughs again  and again and again this year, and a 50th anniversary On the Road exhibition awaits my attention at the NYPL.

Some October Wines

[Pigging by Wilfrid: November 23, 2007]

I know, I know, I'm behind already.  I'll throw up the November wines, so to speak, next week.

My First Thanksgiving: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: November 23, 2007]

I did celebrate a Thanksgiving dinner in Australia with several American friends in 1990, I think it was, but 1997 was my first Thanksgiving in the United States.

Devi Breaks Free: Our Best Indian

[Pigging by Wilfrid: November 16, 2007]

The Devi guys have finally trod the path to independence.

I first ate the food of writer/conceptualist Suvir Saran and tandoori-master Hemant Mathur at Amma in midtown.  The original Devi was part of the less upmarket Baluchi chain, but Suvir and Hemant this year became co-owners.