at the sign of The Pink Pig

Osteria Morini At Last

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  December 30, 2011]

I have been very bad at getting to Michael White's restaurants (ever since that dismal tasting menu at Alto, which I should finally stop complaining about).  What with news of the crowds packing Osteria Morinin when it opened, I kept pushing it down the list.

I dropped by recently and have to admit I found it very pleasant.  It's partly about expectations, isn't it?  If I'd gone week one, expecting to be blown away, I might have had a different reaction.

Um Segredo's Game Dinner

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  December 30, 2011]

I already mentioned Dave Santo's remarkable dining club, Um Segredo.  Dave outdid himself with a fine game dinner this week, and the best I can do is just provide a link to a slideshow by Mouthfuls and Chowhound veteran, Rozrapp.

picture this

The Week Before Christmas: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine: December 26, 2011]

Two restaurant dinners in the last few days before Christmas, ten years ago. My second or third visit to Blue Hill and - I think - my first dinner at Le Cirque, then in the New York Palace Hotel. I'd tried Le Cirque for lunch: what took me there the Sunday before Christmas was the list of weekly specials.

Nuts At Red Rooster

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  December 26, 2011]

Room for another nut?    Here's a nomination for best bowl of hot nuts in town.

From Red Rooster, warm, spiced nuts, plenty for two or paradise for one nut-o-phile.

DeKooning And David Smith

[New York Peasant by Wilfrid:  December 22, 2011]

I finally took myself off to the predicatbly rewarding Willem De Kooning retrospective at MoMA.  Massive in scale, more or less orderly in layout, it's the one DeKooning show you'll need to see.

Although many of the paintings are familiar from the continuous barrage of abstract expressionist shows we've enjoyed in New York over the past ten years, seeing them hung together makes a difference.

More Better Meatballs At Meatball Factory

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  December 21, 2011]

My first reaction when I saw the signs go up on the corner of 14th Street and Second Avenue:  "What, more meatballs?"  My feeling after my second meal at the Meatball Factory:  "Okay, better meatballs."

My initial visit was at the invitation of a publicist, but I went back quite happily on my own dime.  Who thought I'd end 2011 - just about - praising a meatball shop.

Eating In: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  December 19, 2011]

It seems I had a busy week in the kitchen ten years ago, building up to the seasonal festivities.  The cold weather arrived, mirroring this year's timing, and I responded by stuffing squabs with prunes and roasting them.

I opened a '95 Mercurey to go with them.

The Cheese: Bocconcino De Langa

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  December 17, 2011]

Found this smelly little disc at Buon Italia.

Bocconcio de Langa:  soft, goat's milk, bloomy rind, oozing interior.  And did I mention smelly?

The Meat: Armando Batali's Mole

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  December 16, 2011]

A selection of Batali sr.'s salume is now available from the Heritage Meat Shop in Essex Street Market.  Batali's stuff is all good - I've known that since I visited the mothership in Seattle.  But do try the mole.

Mole salami, I suppose they call it.  Ancho and chipotle peppers give it a warm, spicy after-glow, but the upfront flavors include chocolate and even sweet tobacco.  For once, the right word is "complex."

Down East, Up West: London Jewish Novelists

[The Cunning Tower by Kim Davis:  December 15, 2011]

So there I was, reading "A Kid for Two Farthings."  It's a long short story by Wolf Mankowitz about a little boy who buys a lame, runt goat in the market, thinking it's a unicorn.

It's collected in a paperback volume entitled Espresso Bongo, after a very short short story set in the world of Soho coffee bars.  A film was released under the same title starring pop sensation Cliff Richard.  Hence the cover.