at the sign of The Pink Pig

Compétence At Boucherie

[Pigging by Wilfrid: December 19, 2016]

This place came out of nowhere, as far as I was concerned. Instagram friends started posting (professional, staged) photos of meaty dishes: I looked it up, and it was in the old Garage space.

The Garage.  I'd ordered margaritas there, in the big barn of a bar, but not in some years. It's on what became the touristy section of Seventh Avenue (upstairs at The Duplex and Marie's are hardly safe these days), and I should think a McNally-esque brasserie ought to do well.

Quick Bites: An Choi

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  December 19, 2016]

When the Arctic freeze settles in and iced water is seeping through your snow boots, is as good a day as any to introduce your child to a steaming hot bowl of Vietnamese noodle soup. And tell her to say phở.  As in "fu..."

I am sure the internet swarms with connoisseurs of (what is more easily typed as) pho. I don't purport to be one of them.  I find that An Choi on Orchard Street does a decent version, and I like the crispy bread used for bành mí too.

The Galleries: Agnes Martin, Kerry James Marshall

[New York Peasant by Wilfrid: December 19, 2016]

A long time since I've written about art here, which is just my laziness.  I did want to to mention a couple of surprises, especially since there's still time to see for yourselves.

The last painting

I rushed to see Agnes Martin in the main, snail-space at the Guggenheim, a major show for the artist, who died twelve years ago. My main exposure to her work had been at Dia:Beacon upstate a couple of summers ago.  The spacious rooms of tranquil white-to-grey, meditative studies, an oasis from the bright sunshine outside, made for a perfect environment for viewing the work.

More Favorites: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  December 19, 2016]

I was mixing it up with old French writers and visiting familiar dining haunts, this week ten years ago. 

Émile Gaboriau and the stunningly over-named Jules-Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly were contemporaries--although Gaboriau was younger and died earlier. Very different reads, though.

Thin On Details At March: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  December 12, 2016]

My diary let me down this week.  Several blank pages, and a sad lack of insight into what went wrong with a meal at March. "Disappointing tasting menu at March" is all I know.

Remember March? For several years, it had been one of my exemplary Manhattan restaurants, alongside JoJo, Café Boulud, and San Domenico.  Expensive, but not four star-expensive, plush, comforting, and reliably good.

I Do A Headstand: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine:  Wilfrid, December 5, 2016]

Well, it seems worth recording for posterity.  I've done few headstands since.  To say that gymnastics has played a small role in my life would be an understatement, but after an all day workshop mash-up of Feldenkrais and yoga back in November 2006, I was standing on my head like a pro.

No, I don't think I'll try it right now.  Any dining?