at the sign of The Pink Pig

Empellón Cocina Is Stellar

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  February 28, 2012]

Believe what you're reading about Alex Stupak's second venture into modern Mexican cuisine.  NYC Foodie @joshbeckerman tweeted: "UNBELIEVABLE! Best restaurant 2012! WOW!"  And he may well be right.

It's a step up, certainly, in terms of what's on the plate, than Stupak's first, wildly popular Mexican venture Empellón Taqueria.

The Big Move: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  February 27, 2011]

Turning the pages of diaries from a decade ago is an experience full of suprises.  Was it really ten years ago, at the end of February 2002, that I moved my life from Gramercy Park down to the far East Village - and did everyone call it Alphabet City back then?

It so happens, I had acquired the apartment the previous year, but various things held up the move.  I seem to have built up to the big day by, well, dining out.

Dave Santos' Um Segredo At City Grit

The luxe NYC dining club for those in the know, Um Segredo, the lovechild of former Bouley and Per Se chef Dave Santos, is hitting a bigger stage.

Dave wants you all to know that he's cooking at City Grit, Sarah Simmons' culinary salon in Nolita.  This means it will be a little easier to snag a seat, but don't delay - the opening dinner, a "March Madness" menu, featuring a coffee-braised venison shepherd's pie as one of six courses, is coming up on March 1.

Easy booking at the City Grit Website.

Il Buco A&V Versus Porchetta: Dueling Sandwiches

[Pigging  by Wilfrid:  February 22, 2012]

At the request of The Local: East Village I made an expert comparison of Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria's porchetta panino, and the porchetta sandwich at Sarah Jenkins' Porchetta.  The new guy on the block, even at a significantly higher price, was the easy winner.

Read all about it right here.

Masten Lake: A Jewel In Williamsburg

[Pigging by Wilfrid: February 20, 2012] 

Too late.  A day after posting this rave review comes the news that Masten Lake is closing.  I don't know what this says about what diners want, considering that it offered a substantially better dining experience than many places in the neighborhood which are packed to the gills - and at comparable prices.  What a great pity.

I just didn't expect it. I really didn't. What I expected was another storefront gastro-cupboard, packed with braying hipsters, with a line on the street outside, precious service and trendy small plates.

But no.  This is a gem, an oasis, a place of peace and comfort with serious food; in fact, with some of the best plain eating I've enjoyed in a while. You should go, and go hungry.

Quietly At Home: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  February 20, 2012]

After the fantastic long weekend in Barcelona, I was relaxing at home this week ten years ago.  A little home cooking and reading Thomas Mann.

I did manage a couple of meals out, though.

Burrell And Iuzzini By Induction

[Free stuff by Wilfrid:  February 15, 2012]

Hard to resist an invitation to eat dinner made by Ann Burrell and Johnny Iuzzini, whether cooked on a pile of burning twigs or Electrolux's swish induction ranges.

But the occasion was indeed a celebration of Electrolux induction cooking (#iheartinduction) for which Burrell and Iuzzini are spokespeeps. (Facebook page.)

North End Grill Is A Keeper

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  February 13, 2012]

Although Tabla eventually stumbled, and became the first restaurant Danny Meyer ever had to close, it's hard to argue that it was anything other than a success over most of its twelve year run.

No surprise, then, that Meyer has given Floyd Cardoz a curtain call at a big and brilliantly equipped new location, and that it's off to such a rousing start.

To Barcelona: Ten Year Ago

Quan a la falda et miro de Montjuïc seguda...  Well, it made me as happy as the poet, Jacint Verdaguer, to be flying into Barcelona one morning in February, ten years ago.  A weekend indulgence apparently, New York to Barcelona and back, eating up a few air miles.

I stayed at the Oriente, one of the older hotels on the lower part of the Ramblas, below Liceu, down towards the water: cool, dark and quiet. 

Are Republicans Voting With Their Hearts Or Heads?

[The Cunning Tower by Kim Davis:  February 9, 2012]

I don't often use this platform to write about politics, but I have a question racing around my mind this week, and I need to let it out.  Are voters in the Republican primaries following their hearts or their heads?

Their hearts - for the most part, anyway - seem to tell them that they need a candidate who consistently and sincerely espouses a set of conservative values.  Continuing to perceive the Obama administration as a liberal aberration in the country's history (it's hardly that, but it's the perception which matters), they search for a strongly contrasting conservative voice.

That voice isn't heard from Mitt Romney.