at the sign of The Pink Pig

The Oiji Perspective

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  December 30, 2015]

Last week I was left ruminating about the endless cultural connotations of the name Lowlife.  This week a foolish voice in my head keeps muttering about Weegee boards, and the photographer Arthur Fellig.

I'm sure the name Oiji means something perfectly sensible and obvious to the restaurant's Korean-born creators, Brian Kim and Tae Kyung Ku, but every attempt I make to find out that meaning leads me to more results about boards and ghosts.  Oh well.

Happy Christmas: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  December 30, 2015]

Ten years ago, the weather was relatively normal. It was crisp but sunny as I walked another 120 blocks (it says here), thanks to the transit strike.  But I did make it to the Mercantile Library holiday party, then downtown for drinks at Jimmy's No.43.

Jimmy's is still going strong of course, but the Mercantile--still, to my surprise, located in a historic building just off Fifth Avenue it had long planned to sell--rebranded itself as the Center for Fiction.

High Life At Lowlife

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  December 22, 2015]

East of Clinton Street?  Nothing there.  A liquor store, a beer distributor, some bodegas. Attorney Street, Pitt Street. A bar with a stripper pole which opened and closed.  Nothing to see.

 

Except now, with the opening of a very fancy restaurant indeed--with the contrastingly unfancy name of Lowlife. "It's very fancy on old Delancey Street," you know, was an ironic sally by Loenz Hart. There's nothing ironic about this place.

Veritas and Mas: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: December 22, 201`5]

So, ten years ago I decided to have dinner on consecutive nights as restaurants with names ending "-as." And the lucky winners were Mas and Veritas.  Er, yeah...

There's was a Christmas party too, in Kingsbridge, and a transit strike. You might remember the latter. I walked twenty miles in three days. No, not a marathon, but not much fun either (yes, it was cold in December ten years ago).

Mostly At Home: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  December 14, 2015]

The first snow of winter started to fall as I ate slab bacon and eggs for breakfast.  That was early December 2005, of course, and it seems inconceivable as we sit through 60 degree weather in December 2015.

I spent the week with a metaphorical chef's apron on, cooking for special occasions and to entertain friends.

Autre Kyo Ya, Yes Another One

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  December 9, 2015]

Another one, but different. Because this rapidly conceived and opened sibling of Michelin-starred kaiseki-to-casual cave Kyo Ya is French. Well, kind of. And it's much more of a bar-lounge.

 

Hair definitively let down here: few formalities in the small room which had previously been The Barrel, and still displayed the mock staves of its interior decor.

Quick Bites: Le Petit Parisien, Tommy DiNic's, L'Étage

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  December 9, 2015]

As I've said before, sometimes you don't eat to post, you just post what you eat. First up, however, and worth some attention is Le Petit Parisien, a new sandwich shop on East 7th.  It joins Porchetta as a serious sandwich contender in the neighborhood.

The menu is very simple. Several classic French sandwich combinations on seriously crisp and crunchy baguettes baked--or, at least, finished--inhouse. Ham, rillettes, saucisson sec, cheeses, that kind of thing.

Truffles And The Bronx: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: December 8, 2015]

Mostly visiting places on the rotation ten years ago, but also driving out to a remote--to me--Bronx location for an unusual dinner.

We kicked off the week with a luxurious tradition: Tony May's white truffle menu at San Domenico.