at the sign of The Pink Pig

Austin BBQ: Iron Works, Stubb's

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  November 29, 2016]

Austin, Texas is a BBQ city.  Even if you weren't forewarned, you know as soon as you step off the plane and catch the aroma of smoked meat from the terminal outlet of Driftwood's Salt Lick.

 

And just walking around town, you just keep getting the scent: like Durian fruit in New York Chinatown or curry in Murray Hill.

Thanksgiving And San Domenico: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: November 29, 2016]

Time to get cooking, late November 2006.  My daughter had just celebrated her sixth birthday, and Thanksgiving fell a few days later. I was cooking for about six or seven people.

A roast capon, then.  Bigger than a chicken, smaller than a turkey, better than both.

Stop That Trolley: Emmer & Rye, Austin

[Pigging by Wilfrid: November 21, 2016]

So Austin's Emmer & Rye isn't the only non-Chinese restaurant with a dim sum service theme. I remember seeing The Church Key in L.A. show the same paces on Bravo's Best New Restaurant show. 

Award-winning Emmer & Rye chef Kevin Fink clearly thinks the dim sum component of the menu is a good idea, and I'm sure regulars love it, and it's not going anywhere.  I liked almost everything else about the place.

Daniel Humm's Eleven Madison Park: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine: November 21, 2016]

Just about a year since Daniel Humm took over the reins at the Flatiron masterpiece from Kerry Heffernan, here was the tasting menu (and what a lot of time and changes in the last ten years).

In particular, how very pointedly French Humm's cooking was ten years ago.

N'eat N'eat (Nearly) N'eat

[Pigging by Wilfrid: November 14, 2016]

Nothing, of course, to do with The Damned ("she can't afford no cannon"--who can, these days?). Nothing, really, to do with Elvis Presley, Ray Charles or Johnny Cash--although you can expect to hear them on the restaurant's soundtrack.

No: this is Nordic.  N'Eat as in Nordic Eatery.  As in wood paneling, and some raw fish, and some berries here and there.  And a little fake lawn on the sidewalk outside. Really.

Perry Street, Etc.: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  November 14, 2016]

A forgotten movie? A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints with great early performances by Shia LaBoeuf, Melonie Diaz and Tatum Channing (and a mis-cast Robert Downey Jr.). One of my favorite New York City movies, but who talks about it any more? Anyway I went to see it ten years ago, and ate at a bunch of restaurants too.

New ones like Bread (Tribeca): frito misto, orichiette with wild board ragu. And old favorites like Hearth: scallops with braised cabbage, figs, and squash purée; lamb chops, with braised lamb and sausage; and a share of someone else's beet and Gorgonzola risotto.