at the sign of The Pink Pig

3030 Ocean: Seafood By The Sea

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  October 31, 2016]

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, right on the sea-front, and a strong wind is blowing through the palms.  The occasional squally rain shower. Not so idyllic.

I'm at the Harbor Marriott Beach Resort, and it would need four wheels to get to restaurants outside the immediate vicinity (and on later inspection of downtown Fort Lauderdale, I'm not sure if it would have been worth it).

Quick Bites: Cheese Grille NYC & 10Below

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  October 31, 2016]

It wasn't my idea.  My daughter had seen or read something, or gotten word of mouth, about this great new grilled cheese place on Allen Street. Now I view grilled cheese as an enjoyable accoutrement of daily life, but I don't expect major gastronomic advances in the space.

But why not acknoledge a place which does it very well, and where it's a pleasure to hang out too? (I mean, who wants to spend an hour or so in a Melt Shop?) 

The Guts Of The Matter At Kabab Café: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  October 31, 2016]

A lot of restaurants at the end of October 2006, and an entertaining night out at Bloomingdale's, with the store converted into a party scene for selected guests: performances by Forbidden Broadway and a Jacques Brel show I no longer remember too much about. A department store with multiple open bars.

But let's review dining, starting out with a two-restaurant Saturday.

Cockscomb: Buzzing in SF

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  October 24, 2016]

I read a reference this morning to M.Wells Steakhouse in Queens, and I had the sudden thought: that's the place Cockscomb reminded me of.  But I think it's really that Cockscomb has captured a part of that Zeitgeist shared by any number of restaurants in New York and elsewhere.

An industrial space in an unexpected location, bright and buzzy inside, serving hearty--and yes, "meat forward" food: a very 2016 mix of rough charm and elegance.  Cockscomb has a very good feel to it.

Quick Bites: SF's Tadich Grill

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  October 24, 2016]

Okay, I admit it: I was in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago, but then I was in other places, so I'm late writing about it. But I was also late getting to Tadich Grill, that atmospheric FiDi spot with its glowing window.

I'd walked by many times; peered in; but I was always going to or coming from another dinner or another event. Still, as the lesson of New York's Sloppy Louie's taught me, if you leave these places too long, they're gone.

The Time Warner Center: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: October 24, 2016]

Maybe it will soon be the AT&T Time Warner Center: who knows?  But it's easy to forget that restaurant openings in that upright mall overlooking Columbus Circle were once big news. Opened in 2004, Per Se and Masa are the enduring jewels in the crown, but other options have come and gone.

In particular, Jean-Georges Vongerichten's much-discussed steakhouse V, which offered deconstructed versions of traditional steakhouse appetizers and sides (along with the steaks), and endured a series of poor reviews during its brief existence (it closed in 2005).

Don't worry, the pig is still here. I've been traveling most of the last two weeks and have a backlog of reviews to publish.

Yasuda And Musil: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine:  October 20, 2016]

Ah, mid-October, grey and melancholy.  But brightened up ten years ago by some casual eats and a couple of good stage shows.

Literature was in the air too, as I began attending a Robert Musil reading group led by Burton Pike at the Mercantile Library (now the Center for Fiction).

The Malt House: Bar Food With A High Ceiling

[Free Stuff by Wilfrid: October 3, 2016]

Back in January, I trudged through the cold to sample superior bar food at the Greenwich Village branch of The Malt House.  It had been open since 2012, but the owners were excited about their newer, grand, finer dining version on Maiden Lane in the FiDi.

The ground floor Arch Bar from above: courtesy The Malt House

Nine months later, I was pleased to accept an invitation to sample my way through a good section of the menu at the second Malt House (and there are rumors of a third).

Orange Pig: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  October 3, 2016]

Yes, this pig was more orange than pink.  A nice, fatty pork shoulder, well rubbed with annatto, garlic and sazón, and cooked long and slow.  I ate cochinita pibil several days at the end of September ten years ago.  Including in tacos, in quesadillas, and with Native American "fry bread."

I did eat out too.