at the sign of The Pink Pig

Summer Eating: La Montanara, Pok Pok Wing, Güeros

 

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  July 30, 2012]

Threading my way through the slashing rain, brutal sun, and occasional hail-stones of mid-summer New York, I've continued to graze here and there.  It's an opportunity to apply vaguely sizzled critical faculties to some of the city's casual options.

And an occasion to confirm that I still don't really get pizza.  Or in this case, fried pizza.

London To New York: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  July 30, 2012]

So there I was in London, strolling one morning through Kensington Gardens, my favorite London park, on my way to the Serpentine Gallery.  The occasion, an exhibition of Gilbert and George's "Dirty Words" pictures, a fabulous explosion of red and black aggression.

Then lunch, of course.

The Cheese: Rogue Crater Lake

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  July 25, 2012}]

A big hunk of blue from the cold cabinet at Alphabet City Beer Co.  This was the Crater Lake Blue, one of a number of blues created by Oregon's Rogue River Creamery.

Raw cow's milk, and a multiple award winne.

London Via Kansas City: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  July 25, 2012]

Ten years ago this week, I set off on one of those interesting business round-trips, this time from New York to Kansas City, Kansas City to London, and back to New York again.

The Kansas City-London flight was certainly a chance to catch up on quality relaxation time.  Also, to try reading Thomas Wolfe (and I don't mean Tom).

Summer Eating: Lake Trout, San Matteo, Williamsburger

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  July 23, 2012]

I admit, I've taken my lumps in the past for publishing photographs which don't do full justice to the creations of our great New York City chefs.  Restaurants are sensitive about that kind of thing.

Sure, sometimes I'm just being clumsy; but sometimes I'm trying to be surreptitious, often the light is bad, and occasionally my photo just reflects the reality of the dish.  See, for example, this New York picture of the Lake Trout "cheese fish sandwich."  Above is what it really looks like.

Quick Bites: A Pork Pie At The Beer Authority

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  July 18, 2012]

I don't spend much time in cavernous bars in and around the Port Authority, but I'll go anywhere for a pork pie.

I was raised on them, and I don't know what I'd do without the occasional fix from Myers of Keswick.  When I heard The Beer Authority had a version on the menu, my destiny was fixed.

Titbits At Takashi

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  July 16, 2012]

Last week, I joined a party of grizzled experts for dinner at popular Greenwich Village yakiniku Takashi.

A yakiniku is a grill joint -- as opposed to a yakitori, which is a grilled chicken joint.  So now you know.  Fortunately this wasn't one of the hottest evenings of the last ten days, because this has hardly been the season for sitting over a grill.

Quick Bites: Coppelia's Cuban Burger

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  July 16, 2012]

I came late to Coppelia.  A fan of Julian Medina's work at Toloache and Yerba Buena, a Greenwich Village pan-Latin diner sounded like a great idea.

Unfortunately, a late-night diner with no liquor license was less appealing, and Coppelia was left in the lurch quite some time before it could serve booze.  And so I kind of forget about it, until recently.

At The Kabab Café: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  July 16, 2012]

Can it really be ten years since I first set foot in the tiny Astoria storefront which houses the legendary Kabab Café?

Ali El Sayed, deft chef and genial host, has since been showered with television's magic dust, memorably on an edition of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations".  Ten years ago, his tiny dining room seemed more of a secret (although, of course, it had been known to hardcore Chowhounders for years: this remains the only place I've actually seen Jim Leff eating).

Café Ghia

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  July 13, 2012]

Four years ago, a pizzeria called Roberta's opened on a grubby block of Bushwick in a neighborhood featuring light industry and a huge Boar's Head factory. 

Roberta's sneakily grew to become one of the most famous restaurants in the country.  Bushwick was touted as an up-and-coming gallery district.  Would more restaurants and amenities follow?  No.