at the sign of The Pink Pig

Glorious Gilt: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine:  August 1, 2016]

Ten years ago, chef Paul Liebrandt had his first great New York setting at Gilt, the room which had previously framed Le Cirque 2000, at the New York Palace Hotel.

He'd impressed at Atlas, on Central Park South, but at Gilt--for the brief time he was there--he had the chance to unleash what he'd learned from Richard Neat and Marco Pierre White in London and Pierre Gagnaire in Paris, channeled through his own demanding vision.

I Guess It Was The 4th Of July: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine: July 11, 2016]

After the formalities of the previous week--WD-50 and Eleven Madison Park--I seemed to be all over the map doing international, inexpensive eating before and after the July 4th holiday, which fell on a Tuesday.

I didn't do much on the day itself except cook, and then in the evening participate in a poetry reading (with an understandably thin turn-out) at the Duplex in Greenwich Village.

Tastings At WD-50 And EMP: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  July 4, 2016]

I finished up June 2006 in fine fashion, completing the second half of the length-of-Broadway walk, watching the sun go down in Rockefeller Park at the Poet's House Poetic City event, and discovering a sketch troupe I followed for months after, Slightly Known People.

There was the annual trip to Coney Island and the freakatorium, a terrific exhibition of French book art at the NYPL, and two extravagant dinners.

Piracy And Centrico: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  June 27, 2016]

Ten years ago, I went to see Jollyship the Whiz-Bang.  Aficionados will faint at the memory.  For those who don't know, I should explain that this live puppet-punk rock show was one of the most entertaining revues in town, through several editions and incarnations at venues from The Bowery Poetry Club and Ars Nova to Spiegeltent down at the Seaport.

Genius and skipper Nick Jones retired the crew some years ago, but it lives in the memory of all who saw it.  "The sea.  Dark, mysterious, and very wet."

All The Way Down Broadway: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  June 6, 2016]

Okay, let's be honest about this.  I didn't walk the whole length of Broadway in one day.  Not even within Manhattan (did you know Broadway crosses Spuyten Duyvil Creek and heads off up into the Bronx, and maybe as far as Canada?).

No, but I did walk half the Manhattan stretch, with two charming and absurdly well-informed companions, observing the architecture and swapping anecdotes.

The Modern Way Back When: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  May 16, 2016]

I was recently turning over some old thrillers by William Le Queux which lurk on a bottom shelf, wreathed with dust.  I was thinking, one day, I must get around to reading these.

Imagine my surprise when, turning to my diary for May 2006, I discover that I did read The Treasure of Israel ten years ago. Can't remember a thing about it.

Midtown And UES Nights: Ten Years Ago

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

I know it hasn't been fashionable, oh, since the days of El Morocco I guess, but I've always enjoyed a night out in midtown. My first address in New York was on West 57th Street, and I got a kick out of strolling down Broadway with Times Square looming in the distance.

Ten years ago this week, I was on the Great White Way one night, and on the Upper East Side the next.  Living on the edge.

A Quiet Game Changer: Ten Years Ago

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

Degustation is one restaurant which has never received even a fraction of the credit it deserves for being a New York dining game changer.

Sure, Momofuku Noodle Bar opened in 2004, and Momofuku Ssäm Bar in the same year as Degustation, 2006. But both the Chang places started out as relatively casual dining options. Hard as it may be to recall, noodles and wraps were really the focus of those now storied kitchens. Degustation started swank.

Nibbling At New York: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine:  April 4, 2016]

Not much shaking at the beginning of April ten years ago, but I got around town for some casual eating here and there.  Mainly downtown, I admit.

And the event of the week was the twentieth anniversary of the official opening of Poet's House, a project by poet Stanley Kunitz and arts administrator Betty Kray to found "a place for poetry." The celebration involved a very solid buffet at Jardin Bistro in SoHo, near the institution's home on Spring Street.

Ureña And The Melting Pot: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  March 28, 2016]

The melting pot, as we'll see, in a literal sense was one of the highlights of my New York week at the end of March, 2006. But it was also yet another week when gastronomy hit me from a variety of geographic angles.

Not least with the opening of a challenging modern Hispanic bistro from chef Alex Ureña.