at the sign of The Pink Pig

Paris: Laying Siege To Senderens

[Pigging by Wilfrid: May 18, 2009]

I confess the reservation at Senderens was something of a gamble.  Reports about the food had been far from uniformly great.

But I am sucker for a historic room, and I could never pass by the Place de la Madeleine without peering in through Lucas-Carton's windows.

The Grand Concourse's Century: And The Feeding Tree Too

[New York Peasant by Wilfrid:  May 18, 2009]

"She had a most immoral eye.  The sailors called her Lorelei..." 

An alluring Rhine maiden, an art gallery, two baseball stadiums, and the finest art-deco architectural district outside of Miami Beach. And that’s just along the southern stretch of the four-and-a-half mile Grand Boulevard and Concourse. It deserves its full name, for once, because it’s one hundred years old this year.

New York To London Again: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: May 18, 2009]

After a quiet period, I suddenly had a busy week mid-May ten years ago.  It started in New York with another visit to the Ninth Avenue Food Festival.

Craftbar Gets Meaty

[Pigging by Wilfrid: May 11, 2009]

Everyone knows I am a sucker for an offal menu.  Or les abats, or "organ" meats, or whatever you prefer.

It was such a section on craftbar's menu which prompted me to re-visit after an absence which must run to at least two years.

Bringing The Restaurant Home: #2

Just as well that you can't eat too much pork, isn't it?  I mean, last week pork belly, and this week...

Well, to be honest, I forgot about the pork belly, and we'll cook a different animal next week.  But hey, there's a fish!

Paris: Casual Eats Part I

[Pigging by Wilfrid: May 11, 2009]

Guys, what are you doing to that pig?

No messing around here with happy little pigs lining up to have their trotters removed. "To the foot of the pig!" is the toast.

EMP And Others: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: May 11, 2009]

May 1998 began with my second dinner at Eleven Madison Park, a local restaurant for me at the time, living as I was on 22nd Street near Third Avenue.

Paris: Dazzling Gagnaire

[Pigging by Wilfrid: May 4, 2009]

I made my advance reservations for Paris restaurants for eight in the evening, which seemed a reasonable sort of time.  It turns out that, with French rigor, everyone dines at 8.30.

Which meant that everywhere, including Pierre Gagnaire in the Hotel Balzac, I was confronted by a startlingly empty dining room upon arrival, which was full by the time I was picking at my appetizer.

Bringing The Restaurant Home #1

[Correct Dining by Wilfrid: May 4, 2009]

So here's something you can do as an alternative to spending ninety bucks and up for dinner for two.  Because the truth is, if the entrée is twenty dollars, and you order a three course meal, pay tax and tip, that's the price bracket you're in right away.

And let me be honest, I need to balance my own budget after ten days in Paris.  This is the first in a series of six attempts to create an acceptably enjoyable three or four course meal at home in New York City.

A Single Day In London Town: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  May 4, 2009]

Well, the week started in the Bronx, with dinner at a disappointing fish shack called Mariscos del Atlantico, and continued into the night with Cuba Libres at a dance club called Jet Set.