at the sign of The Pink Pig

Bienvenue À Benoit

[Pigging by Wilfrid: April 28, 2007]

In which Alain Ducasse delivers the double - how do you say it? - whammy.

Bookending the jewel-like wine showcase Adour with a re-invention of an old Paris favorite for midtown Manhattan.

Pepe's Pizza Pie: New Haven

[Pigging by Wilfrid: April 28, 2008]

A day-trip to New Haven, motivated by the purest aesthetic concerns (see below), nevertheless implies lunch.

Which in turn, implies pizza.

Gerald Murphy's Paintings: Making It New In New Haven

[The Cunning Tower by Wilfrid: April 28, 2008]

I rather anticipated myself by giving this exhibition a full review last August - long before I'd actually had the chance to see it.

Excuses?  I'd been interested in Gerald Murphy, his life and paintings, for some time.

California Pigging: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: April 28, 2008]

I don't treasure the memory of every Greyhound ride I've ever taken - and being too precious to own a driver's license, I've taken a few.

Super-Merkato!

[Pigging by Wilfrid: April 21, 2008]

Against so many odds, a sparkling meal.

By turns inauthentic, ersatz, pandering, nicely executed and delicious.  Cast doubt aside and go.  Credit to chef Andrea Berquist and her team.

Quick Bites: Back Forty - Two Fish and Many Cheeses

[Pigging by Wilfrid: April 21, 2008]

Yet another shout out to one of my neighborhood stalwarts, Back Forty.

It might not need it, but it deserves it.  Look out, among the specials, for the regular appearance of deftly cooked whole porgy, with a lemony-garlicky stuffing.  Of course...

Stages: Seth Rudetsky's Broadway/The W.M.I. + Olafur Eliasson At MOMA

Seth, we love you, show us another clip!

And so the funniest man in New York cranks up the video where Patti Lupone, reaching the high notes at the climax of an Evita ballad attempts to take Peron by the arm - and misses.  Then he shows it again, in slow motion.

Scroll down for the World Music Institute and Olafur Eliasson at MOMA.

Hello, 'Frisco, Hello!: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: April 21, 2008]

A spring holiday and well deserved.  Off to San Francisco for my very first visit, April 1998.

Shocked by the steep hills in the middle of the town!  Mildly taken aback by some of the Tenderloin dive bars too.

Mo Ko - Okay! Or The Pooh of Chang

[Pigging by Wilfrid: April 14, 2007]

The artful creation of expectations and, more importantly, the agent of their fulfilment?  Restaurant gamesman, obsessive conceptualist?  Or is he dangling Pooh-like from a balloon which floats higher and higher, singing a little chef song and hoping all the diners and critics will say...

"It looks like another restaurant is about to open.  Let's all rush." David Chang: genius restaurateur-by-stealth, or luck-kissed bear of little brain?  I know where my money is.

Noble - But What About The Food And Wine?

[Pigging by Wilfrid: April 14, 2008]

It gives no particular pleasure to kick a place which appears to be somewhat down anyway.

But then again, I didn't find much pleasure in a recent dinner at what I'd been led to believe was a wine restaurant of some ambition.