[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: January 16, 2017]
A sluggish start to the New Year in 2007, with some seasonal illness, and apparently some attempts to make Norwegian fish pudding. Now there's a recipe no longer at my finger-tips.
I did stagger back to the Met for another round with Vollard, and made it to a show of Fred McDarrah's downtown photos somewhere in Chelsea. A couple of dinners out too.
On a ridiculously hot January 6th--72 degrees, my diary says--brunch at Tia Pol. a long walk in the park, then after drinks at the 21 Club, dinner at the Atelier de Joël Robuchon in the Four Seasons Hotel. Ruinously expensive, mainly thanks to the silly wine mark-ups, but creative and polished:
Jamón Serrano with Iberian sausages
Warm poached oysters
Crab with avocado
Langoustine in rice paper
Eel and foie gras terrine
Frog's legs, garlic purée
Quail stuffed with foie gras
Sweetbread
Cheeses
The kind of precise, very high-end cooking one really doesn't find in New York any more, the days of Ducasse at the Essex House and the Atelier itself being long gone. Not at Daniel or Jean-Georges, and certainly not at Per Se.
Much livelier, noisier, even rambunctious, Public in SoHo served better food than it needed to under Brad Farmerie (it's still there, but a long time since I've visited). Ultimately, the place was too much a maelstrom of precious people with loud voices for me to be a regular, but I loved the kangaroo salad, the oxtail and snail ravioli, and a very good cheese selection. An Aussie Shiraz was the right choice.
A couple of honorable mentions from mid-month: roast duck at Big Wong, and the inexpensive buffet at midtown's Utsav. Next week: back to the Kabab Café.
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