at the sign of The Pink Pig

CRAFTFISH! Why Not?

[Pigging by Wilfrid: June 30, 2008]

(lower case)craftsteak(/lower case) they called it, but the critical consensus when it opened, more than two years ago already, was that the steaks, neither particularly tender nor tasty were not the restaurant's centerpiece.  In fact: "they were actually its most glaring flaw."

Thus spake Bruni, and for once I agreed, writing "If I was the boss, I'd take steak out of the name and off the menu and call it Craft Chelsea."

Action/Abstraction And Dalí At The Movies

[New York Peasant by Wilfrid: June 30, 2008]

The first and most important thing to say about the "Action/Abstraction" show at the Jewish Museum through September 21, is that if anyone needs an excellent, broad introduction to Abstract Expressionism, this will do as well as any.

Not that that's the overt curatorial point, as the tendentious title indicates.

Scroll down for Dalí  at MOMA

A Quick Diary Dip: Ten Years Ago

[Pigging by Wilfrid: June 30, 2008]

Moving swiftly along, my life continued at a routine and placid pace ten years ago.  Tired of travelling, I spent time cooking at home.  Catfish in sherry sauce (apparently), roast chicken, a chicken curry.

Remember Me To Sheridan Square

[Pigging by Wilfrid: June 23, 2008]

With less flourish than one expects in the Manhattan restaurant world, Gary Robins recently unveiled a mixed kind of formal-casual restaurant-café a few steps up from Sheridan Square itself on the west side of Seventh Avenue.

This is far from an obvious location for a restaurant with any ambition.  Indeed, if you didn't know Gary Robins was in the kitchen, you'd assume Sheridan Square was just another open-fronted, beer-and-burger tourist haunt.

Queen For A Night: Brooklyn Heights Italian

[Pigging by Wilfrid: June 23, 2008]

"We are honored that you should bring us your business, and Franco will be here to greet you."
Never has a request for a dinner reservation been met so solicitously.

And Franco, whose identity was initially a mystery, was indeed on hand when we arrived, a compact, courtly presence in the dining room, and one of many things about Queen which haven't changed in decades.

Wines Of Spain And Wild Times At San Domenico

[New York Peasant by Wilfrid: June 23, 2008]

Typing this on a sticky evening at the end of a week fit to induce une crise de foie.  Cries for madder music and stronger wine were repeatedly answered in the affirmative, as I cavorted through the Spanish Wine Festival, the closing debauche at San Domenico, a series of vintage cocktails in the East Village, and sundry private soirées.

First, the toping in support of City Harvest...

Scroll down for the San Domenico closing party.

The First Week of Summer: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: June 23, 2008]

Not much to report from mid-June 1998.  It was rainy, though, not unlike the current season.

I made it through the storm to Citarella's cheese department on a Friday morning, and tasted through the domestic selection - inspired by my recent Picholine dinner.

A Merry Tale Of Gotham: The Bar & Grill, I Mean

[Pigging by Wilfrid: June 16, 2008]

If you ever troubled to look up the origin of "Gotham" as a nickname for New York City - no, it doesn't come from the Batman comics - you'll have discovered that it was derived by Washington Irving from old tales of an English village called Gotham, legendary for the stupidity and folly of its inhabitants.

It's safe to say, however, that Alfred Portale is no fool.  Far from it.

Tomma Abts: Quiet Contemplation At The New Museum

[New York Peasant by Wilfrid: June 16, 2008]

To the New Museum again - that stack of cereal boxes on the Bowery - for the first time since I miserably under-enjoyed it's opening show, "Unmonumental".

These quiet, rewarding paintings by Tomma Abts are a whole different story.

Putting My Feet Up: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: June 16, 2008]

After a over a year of non-stop travelling, and some bad spells in the Midwest, it seems I slowed down a little at this summery juncture, and spent some time enjoying New York, and my apartment.

Some things are fun the first time around, like the St Anthony festival down in Little Italy, a street fair on one of the quieter blocks of St Mark's (yes, there were some ten years ago), watching the Tony Awards, and watching boxing at Jimmy's Corner.  Actually, the latter never got old, but the fee got too expensive for it to be worth Jimmy's while.