at the sign of The Pink Pig

Don't Tell Me To Duck Off

[Pigging by Wilfrid: April 28, 2011]

Oh, I get it, it's an event.  A duck event.  In fact a duck cooking event at the basement East Village gastropub Jimmy's No. 43.

Jimmy's is a pleasant oasis, where I've downed the occasional beer and sausage, and my 10 year-old daughter is very partial to duck.  So we decided this was a good way to spend a Saturday lunchtime.

Hungry Man

[Telegrams from the Street by Wilfrid:  April 27, 2011]

Hungry Man (2011), marker on whiteboard, price on application.

Good Food, Rough Edges At Griffou

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  April 25, 2011]

The deep-drinking youngsters who prop the bar and block the maze-like corridors of Hotel Griffou are surrounded by history, but don't feel it.

 

They are in the proximity of some good to very good cooking, and they are largely oblivious to that too.

Born With The Spring: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  April 24, 2011]

Naître avec le printemps, mourir avec les roses...  The lot of the butterfly, according to Lamartine, and the fate, I suppose, of almost any online endeavor.  Still the Pig hauls itself patiently toward a fourth anniversary, which means buckling down to reading my ten year old diary again.

Give A Pig A Break

Thanks, I suppose, for giving me break and checking back in now and again.  I needed to take the weight off my trotters.

I've been very busy over recent months transitioning various odds and ends of my life, and I've had less time for eating out and even less time for writing about it.  The good news is that the dust is settling (oh rash prediction) and as we come up to the fourth anniversary (yes, really) of "At the Sign of The Pink Pig"  - and closing in on 1,000 posts - it is time to draw a deep breath and launch ourselves upon the world with renewed vigor.

Expect to see regular reviews returning as well as briefer looks at specific dishes and neighborhoods.  Expect relentless promotion of Eating the Apple too, and yes, good question, where is the eBook?

A Spot Of Lugny

[Free Stuff by Wilfrid: April 11, 2011]

Colonie, a five week old French-ish oasis near the watery end of Atlantic Avenue, was just the spot to taste three wines from Caves de Lugny.

Not to mention a few hors d'oeuvres.

A Fresh Look At David's Brisket House

[Pigging by Bob Martinez:  April 6, 2011]

Following yesterday's photo-essay on Mile End published yesterday, here's Bob Martinez taking a deeper dive into the pastrami at David's House of Brisket.  All words and photos by Bob.

I have had a pastrami monkey on my back for the last month. Longings for pastrami would suddenly come over me at random times. In the morning. Riding on the subway. In the middle of meetings. Late at night, the monkey would whisper in my ear. It was too much to fight and so I began to try to tempt Deb into joining me on an expedition to David’s. Luckily, it didn’t take much.

A Fresh Look At Mile End

[Pigging by Bob Martinez: April 5, 2011]

Following our recent abortive attempt to compare and contrast the smoked meat sandwich at Mile End and the pastrami sandwich at David's Brisket House, my co-conspirator diligently returned to the scene, ate the Mile End sandwich and dived fully into the David's pastrami experience.  Bob Martinez's photos and words, today and tomorrow.

I finally made it. On Friday I had an unexpected a day off from work and thought that this would be the perfect time to sneak into Mile End. And it wasn't easy either.

Again With The Galleries: Blachly, Whiteread, Riley

[New York Peasant by Wilfrid:  April 4, 2011]

I have been at the Chelsea galleries again, walking against the brisk wind from the Hudson.  I found myself drawn back to the Parlá show at Bryce Wolkowitz reviewed last week.  This is always a good sign.  For all that one can detect recent art historical influences in his work, it buzzes with positive energy.  I'd like the deeply colored backgrounds to some of the collages at first sight; this time I was fascinated by the monochrome works which feature one or two types of pure form, white on black, struggling with each other.  The ability of paint on canvas to convey animation through form is always remarkable; the passage of the eye insists that certain shapes and swirls are moving left to right, no matter how much logic insists that they are a stationary pattern.

I also noticed that the dramatic collages which the artist created directly onto the galleries walls seem to be poured from the ceiling.  Look up.

Continue reading for Duke Riley, Jimbo Blachly and Rachel Whiteread.

Transatlantic Commuting: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  April 4, 2011]

Regular readers of these old diary pages - and it humbles me to say that there are some - may be weary by now of the constant back-and-forth across the Atlantic.  I seem to be in London every other week; occasionally varying it with a side-trip elsewhere in Europe.  Imagine what it was like.