[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: July 6, 2015]
A double helping of the time machine this week to catch up.
I have family in Vancouver--they emigrated from the UK when I was a toddler--and ten years ago they came to visit in New York. That explains some things in my diary I would never have thought of doing by myself. Like the visit to the Letterman show.
In which I learned that it tapes in the afternoon, that it was an operation run with military precision, and that the self-deprecating humor was a backstage feature of the show, as well as the host's signature.
"If Dave says something, and you're not sure if it's funny, laugh." That's what the audience wrangler told us. "Laugh now. You can figure out whether it was funny or not on the way home." I have to say, we chanced on a good show. The guest was Tom Cruise, a couple of days after he'd announced his engagement to Katie Holmes and jumped on Ellen's couch. Musical guest, Ben Folds.
For the family-in-town I picked Tribeca Grill--reliable, accessible, and still with perceptible New York buss. Morel soup with a foie-stuffed morel, then Colorado rack of lamb and more morels with cipollini onions, and a selection of desserts. The wine, a '99 Pégau Chateauneuf-du-Pape from the redoubtable Rhone selection.
I spent Saturday and Sunday in the street, first taking the family on a long walking tour of the Lower east Side, Chinatown, Little Italy, SoHo and the Village, then at the Pride march. Saturday was blazing. A rat ran over my foot on Canal Street, to my amusement and everyone else's consternation. Cold beer at that treasure Mare Chiaro, then recently renamed Mulberry Street Bar. Pastrami at Katz's. Then a packed evening, dropping in at MoMA for the Pissarro-Cézanne opening reception, then zipping up to Lincoln Center to join the family for Light in the Piazza (one of the silliest of musicals, against a lot of competition).
Attendance at the Pride parade was preceded by a cheesesteak at Wogie's, and followed by a relaxed evening at home with salmon tacos.
The next evening, a final casual dinner with the family at Gnocco on Tompkins Square Park. The salume plate with the fried puffs of dough for which the place was named; then cold roast beef with a potato and celery salad, and shares in a truffled pizza.
Next up, Independence Day 2005.
Comments