at the sign of The Pink Pig

Some Time In The UK: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine:  April 30, 2012]

I seem to have taken some extended vacation -- although I worked too -- in the UK ten years ago.  I can't now recall the occasion, but it seems to have involved a blizzard of restaurants. 

I can tell by some of the recommendations I followed that I was active on eGullet, although like me, the people I took the recommendations from have long ago moved on to other forums.

Troughing At Acme

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  April 26, 2012]

The one thing I didn't expect from Mads Reflund's Acme was a belt-stretching dining experience.  I guess this is post-modern-Skandvisk comfort food?  I left full.

It certainly wasn't the adventurous jaunt through experimentalist locavorism I'd been kind of led to expect.

Quick Bites: Foie Gras At Traif

[Pigging  by Wilfrid:  April 23, 2012]

I know some people will never reconcile themselves to a restaurant called Traif, no matter how nice the owners, no matter that it's not even a new idea (there's been a Traif bike shop in the neighborhood for years).

But crowds of people obviously don't care, and regularly pack the little dining room to bursting.  I walked by a couple of times on a recent evening, and finally spotted a seat at around 10.30pm.

Alison On Dominick and Industry (Food): Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  April 23, 2012]

In a neat piece of symmetry, Pete Wells reviewed Alison on Eighteen -- Alison Price Becker's encore as a Manhattan restaurateur -- last week; this week I recall a visit to Alison on Dominick ten years ago.

Somehow it doesn't seem that long ago, but at the same time, the crisp white table cloths and tall candles on each table seem out of another world.

The Art Of Laura Tack

[Telegrams from the Street by Wilfrid: April 17, 2012]

I have been promising Laura I would write about her art, as soon as she has a show in place long enough for people to get along and see it. She's still doing group shows and brief shows in various venues around the LES.

 

In the meantime, here's a beautiful film about her by Jennifer Hamblett and Tim Verheyden. She's a talent to watch.

Quick Bites: A Return To Lupa

[Pigging  by Wilfrid:  April 16, 2012]

Mario Batali's modest osteria Lupa has been so consistently packed for dinner service that it's been years since I dined there.  My lunches there, too, were some time in the past -- although the plate-sized tripe omelette remains a vivid memory.

But needing an early week destination in the Village recently, I scooped up a four-top, and had a pretty good time.  After the odd and slightly off-hand greeting, anyway.

Fleur De Sel Again: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine:  April 16, 2012]

Turning these pages from ten years ago certainly gives a sense of the arc of time when it comes to dining.  Only last month, I review La Quenelle, the restaurant at which chef Cyril Renaud is re-creating some signature dishes from his Fleur De Sel menu.

Is it really ten years ago this week that I was eating those dishes at the original venue?

Down At The Bowery Diner

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  April 12, 2012]

It all started so well.  It really did.  An excellent lunch with my daughter at this cheerful, buzzing spot next to the New Museum.  I resolved to eat dinner at the Bowery Diner as soon as possible.

The more ambitious evening menu revealed the flaws.

Plenty Of Both At Beer N'Balls

[Free stuff by Wilfrid:  April 10, 2012]

Not every day you get a message titled "Beer Balls" dropping into your mailbox.  I opened it because I love beer, and that's all I'm saying.

The balls in question turned out to be meatballs, and the invitation was for an event presented by Get Real, promoted by Wined & Dined, at the 404 NYC event space in Chelsea.

April Came In Like A Lion: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  April 9, 2012]

March turned into April ten years ago with dark skies and a huge downpour.  I waited it out in Manitoba's, a rather edgier joint then than it is today, reading Nik Cohn's wonderful's journalism collection, Ball the Wall.

I ate in a couple of long-gone Alphabet City restaurants that same week.