at the sign of The Pink Pig

A Piece Of Le Coq Rico

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  April 18, 2016]

Just a little sidelong glance at this thoroughly interesting and worthwhile flatiron bistro from Antoine Westermann, Michelin-starred tocque of Strasbourg and Paris.  A sidelong glance, because looking Le Coq Rico full in the face means ordering a whole bird.

There were two choice chickens on the menu the night I dined there, as well as a duck and a guinea-fowl. Most parties were ordering up the golden chickens in big hot skillets.  My disadvantage?

The Old Flash Inn: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: April 18, 2016]

I'm not sure why I would cook roast beef in a sangria sauce, but apparently I did so for guests ten years ago.  Maybe a random magazine recipe?  Maybe a sangria surplus?

I also ate out at some interesting places, not least the legendary--and sadly now closed--Flash Inn up in East Harlem.

A Quiet Game Changer: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: April 11, 2016]

Degustation is one restaurant which has never received even a fraction of the credit it deserves for being a New York dining game changer.

Sure, Momofuku Noodle Bar opened in 2004, and Momofuku Ssäm Bar in the same year as Degustation, 2006. But both the Chang places started out as relatively casual dining options. Hard as it may be to recall, noodles and wraps were really the focus of those now storied kitchens. Degustation started swank.

Turn The Lights On, MIMI

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  April 5, 2016]

I usually like the main focus of a review to be the food, but focusing on the food was just the problem at MIMI, a relatively new French addition to Greenwich Village.  Here's the problem.

That's the best photo I took all evening (non-flash, obviously), with a candle practically garnishing the dish.  Here's what a dish looks like to the kitchen.  And please understand, this is not about photography: it's about visibility.

Nibbling At New York: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine:  April 4, 2016]

Not much shaking at the beginning of April ten years ago, but I got around town for some casual eating here and there.  Mainly downtown, I admit.

And the event of the week was the twentieth anniversary of the official opening of Poet's House, a project by poet Stanley Kunitz and arts administrator Betty Kray to found "a place for poetry." The celebration involved a very solid buffet at Jardin Bistro in SoHo, near the institution's home on Spring Street.