at the sign of The Pink Pig

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?

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.

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.

Paris (Yes, Contined): Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  September 22, 2016]

Diverting my attention briefly from my stomach, I did some exhibition-going the next day, and stumbled serendipitously across a survey of the Dreyfus affair at the Musee d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaisme in the Marais, replete with contemporary photographs. Then Cubism and Surrealism at the Pomidou.

Lunch was in an old dining room known as Machon d'Henri, packed with regulars; dinner at the rather more ambitious Chez Michel, just a short walk from Le Gard du Nord.  It had an acclaimed young chef, who turned out--very audibly--to be a screamer in the kitchen.  Here's what I wrote:

Tocqueville And Dona: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine: September 15, 2016]

Does everyone remember Gotham Book Mart.  I used to hang out in its penultimate location (amidst the Diamond stores) all the time.  Anyway, I was there ten years ago, my diary says. I also discovered John Allan's salon inside Saks Fifth Avenue, which became my regular grooming spot while working around Rock Plaza. 

But you don't care about any of that; you care what I ate.

Pig Heaven In The DR: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: 9/12/2016]

A good ten days of R&R in the DR in August 2006, not least hanging out on the balcony of a recently acquired apartment, reading Deleuze & Guattari's Mille Plateaux and wishing we didn't have to rent the place out.

There was also a close encounter with pigs/pork.

Eleven Madison Park: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: August 17, 2016]

With chef Daniel Humm firmly in place, it was back to EMP in August 2006 (has he really been there over ten years?) to see what he was up to.

In non-food news, I was at the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue for the spectacular French Art Books exhibit which had opened in the spring. Glad I didn't miss that, including a first chance to see Sonia Delaunay's illustrated strip setting for that seminal modernist poem, Blaise Cendrars' "La prose du Transsibérien et de la Petite Jehanne de France."

Craftsteak, Farrell's, And The Red Krayola Mystery: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  August 11, 2016]

Playing catch-up with the ten years ago diary, I find myself surprised at how disappointing Tom Colicchio's west side venture Craftsteak was.  As a total convert to Craft, I welcomed an option I expected to be easier to book (Craft was still a tough table in 2006), even if half the menu was given over to long-aged steaks.

In fact, Craftsteak offered a bewildering variety of steaks, in terms of origin, cut, and how long they'd spent in dry storage.

Hearth To Peter Luger: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  August 9, 2016]

Looks like I did a lot of eating at the height of summer ten years ago, despite the city temperature hitting the big three.

On the art side, I was looking at Rudy Burckhardt's paintings at Tibor Nagy, described as "celebrating the democratic possibilities of shared urban space. " I also saw the remarkable documentary program ranging from the South Bronx to Detroit, Urbanspaces, at Two Boots Pioneer. Oh, and there were a bunch of snakes, lizards, and skinks even, at the American Museum of Natural History.  Which brings me to food.