at the sign of The Pink Pig

Quick Bites: A Salad At Belcourt

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  July 27, 2009]

Nothing like a nice refreshing iceberg lettuce salad on a warm summer evening, right?

And if a few fats and proteins can be added, so much the better.

Summer Reading And The Re-Opened Merc

[New York Peasant by Wilfrid:  July 27, 2009]

As long ago as October 2007, I gushed about the Mercantile Library on 47th Street opening its stacks to readers for the first time in its 187 year history.  I spoke too soon.

Back To La Barca: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  July 27, 2009]

Ten years ago, the train ride back from Tarragona to Barcelona was hot and slow.  I was reading Manuel Vázquez Montalbán for the first time, The Angst-Ridden Executive, a thriller full of Catalan politics and gourmet food.

Num Pang: Bánh-Storming

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  June 20, 2009]

In which the Vietnamese sandwich style known as bánh mi, which has held the city in an increasingly tight grip over the last couple of years...

...is  challenged by a Cambodian contender and taken the full distance.  I like these things.

Quick Bites: Disaster Confit At USC

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  July 20, 2009]

There has been even more bloviating than usual, the last few weeks, about so-called "food bloggers," their lack of qualifications, their unreliability and mendacity, and all the rest of it.

And I am sure restaurant occasionally get unfair, ill-reasoned, inaccurate reviews.  I am also sure restaurants send out ill-considered, badly prepared dishes, and when I get one I'll write about it.

A Bit Of Whistler At The Frick

[NewYork Peasant by Wilfrid:  July 20, 2009]

To the Frick for the first time in about a year, I should think, to see the four splendid full-length Whistler portraits re-hung in the Oval Room.

Barcelona, Tarragona: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  June 20, 2009]

My 1999 holiday in Spain continued with a couple of side-trips.  First, a day-trip to Montserrat, the basilica set high in the mountains a short train ride from Barcelona.

A Mostly Safe Harbour

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  July 13, 2009]

Ahoy shipmates, jump aboard, the splice the mainbrace, and look out for the crabs.

Harbour restaurant docked earlier this year in an unlikely corner of Tribeca, and seafood's afoot.

Hamming It Up: Stove Monkeys

[Free stuff by Wilfrid:  July 13, 2009]

Send me your garments and I shall model them.  I mean within reason, of course - chocolate speedos not solicited.

Stove Monkeys is an outlet for the designing instincts of two former chefs, and as if they had a window into my soul, they sent me what they call the "pork-tee."  Very nice it is, and I just know I am going to have occasion to wear it.

I think their "save-the-foie tee" expresses a noble sentiment too.  Check out the selection at the website.

Bacon's Centenary At The Met

[New York Peasant by Wilfrid:  July 13, 2009]

Nothing to do with fresh pork belly: move along.  Just to say that you have a long month left to see Francis Bacon, born '09, in retrospective at the Met.  Which you certainly should, if you've not seen enough of his work over the years.