Thanksgiving: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  November 29, 2010]

As I set myself the task of re-tracing my steps of ten years ago, I realized there would be some quiet stretches.  It hasn't been nothing but champagne, foie gras and dancing girls.  And so we enter now on a period of new parenthood.

Oh never fear.  This is not going to mean no going out and no restaurants.  Just a slight change of gear at first.  Indeed, during the first week or so after the baby arrived, mother and child were so tightly surrounded by family members, especially those experienced in the relevant arts, that I could barely get near them at all.  I was encouraged to occupy myself quietly.

Thanksgiving was a solitary collation of turkey and ribs, followed by a slab of Stilton.  Baby was still in hospital uptown, but must have been set free a couple of days after Thanksgiving.  My diary is unclear.  Anyway, visiting over, I sent myself to the far west of the island one evening for refreshment at the Ear Inn followed by dinner at remote Capsouto Frères.

In 2000 a mere twenty years old, the Capsouto brothers have always had a loyal following, and indeed the restaurant presents a cozy appeal on a cold night in the middle of nowhere.  The trouble is, I never had great food there.  This particular dinner was okay - a warm salad of sausage and potatoes followed by the roast duck in a tart blueberry and ginger sauce.  Cheeses, of course, and a decent '95 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru.

Simple home dinners for the rest of the week, though.  A big kasha-stuffed sausage from Kurowyzcky, braised beef with rice, blood sausage with apple sauce, lemon chicken; all good early winter stuff.  Building up to a blow-out at L'Absinthe.