at the sign of The Pink Pig

Ca l'Isidre: Barcelona

[Pigging by Wilfrid: December 29, 2017]

It's been Isidre's place for some 47 years. And Isidre has been in the business for 60. And he just won a big Catalunyan gastronomy prize (which is how I have those facts to hand). Isidre Gironès: Empresario of classic Catalunyan cuisine.

It's hard to imagine what a dark back-street in the Raval must have been like 47 years ago. When I started visiting Barcelona, in the 1980s, the neighborhood was worse than sketchy.  The Carrer de les Flors is still dim and unprepossessing, but the Raval has gentrified. Cocktail bars, swish restaurants, street life all night.

Paname, Je Crie Ton Nom

Free Stuff by Wilfrid: December 23, 2017]

Padam! Padam! Padam!  Yes, that's a well-known Piaf song, but it's not the one that's relevant here. Less heard. but pretty is Paname, titled after an old slang name for Paris.

Paname
Tu n'es pas pour moi qu'un frisson
Qu'une idée qu'une fille à chansons
Et c'est pour ça que je crie ton nom
Paname, Paname, Paname, Paname...

 

Bufalina: Austin

[Pigging by Wilfrid: December 21, 2017]

There's a pair of pizzerias in Austin, Bufalina and Bufalina Due. They're owned by an old chum from the foodweb, Steve Dilley, and represent two of his main obsessions: Neapolitan pizza and fine wines.

Indeed, if they served no good food, they'd probable still be the two best wine bars in town. It was great to catch up with Steve, I had a fine time, and there were some kind comps too.

Lonesome Dove: Austin

[Pigging by Wilfrid: December 21, 2017]

I didn't have a plan to eat at Tim Love's Lonesome Dove. It just hadn't occurred to me. I knew his work, of course (I'd even filmed with him--see below), but I'd missed his stumble in New York, where a version of Lonesome Dove earned zero stars from the New York Times.

And then I just kind of stumbled on it one night, looking for cocktails at the nearby Roosevelt Room.  I passed it again the next night, and so I looked in the windows, looked at the menu, and started thinking about it.

Micklethwait Craft Meats: Austin

[Pigging by Wilfrid: December 21, 2017]

It was the end of October and Franklin's was still closed because of fire damage (it re-opened in November). Although it was the end of October, the temperature crept towards 90. I was in Austin, I needed BBQ, and I didn't need the bad BBQ readily available downtown, like the dry-as-sawdust goat at Cooper's.

I set out for Micklethwait Craft Meats, which thoughtful souls said was the best after Franklin's. And I walked.  According to the map, I walked only about 1.5 miles.  But I took some wrong turnings at the end, failing at first to find Micklethwait, which turned out to be no more than a couple of trailers and some picnic tables. I did find the George Washington Carver museum, which turned out to be well worth visiting.