small h

Took my new(ish) oyster plate for a test drive. Works good!

This happened to me during a production of Hair in 2008 (the performance was delayed), and this past summer for Twelfth Night (the performance was cancelled, so we went again).

Well, that explains the bucatini.

I feel like this place must've been mentioned before, but damned if I can find it. We had dinner here on Monday with another couple. It's a very comfortable space, although you need GPS to find the bathroom (it's in the 9 Orchard Hotel). The items on the menu are arranged into "snacks," "appetizers" and "from the grill." Broccolini and tortellini en brodo are appetizers. French fries and beef tartare are snacks. This makes no sense. I started with The Pickle - cornichon gin, giardino secco, centerbe, patino’s pickle bitters. Which is a lot of words to say "gussied-up dirty martini." It was very good, but it also felt a bit too refined for me. I was hoping for a crazy amount of garnishes, not just an austere black olive and a cornichon. Next, the grilled mushrooms with fried egg and crispy buckwheat. I loved this. So much variety in texture that every bite felt like a new dish. It was, however, extremely rich, and I tapped out halfway through and traded the rest for some standard-issue scallop ceviche. And then the bucatini pomodoro, which was a fail. The pasta was overcooked and sticky, the sauce tasted tired and flat, and it was oversalted. Look at that sad piece of basil. I barely made a dent in it. I tried to put things back in the plus column with a sticky toffee pudding, but alas, it was just okay. Nowhere near Dame's version, or the ones I had in Scotland. Oh, well. Pear sorbet felt like an odd choice, but that muscovado sugar crumble made a nice bookend to the kasha.

Clean-out-the-fridge puttanesca.

I have been complaining about this since I learned to complain, which was a long time ago. I'm not sure over-salting is gender- or age-specific; it might. But I think it has a lot to do with whether the chef smokes (cigarettes).

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/arts/music/neil-sedaka-dead.html I didn't know 'til now that his last name was an alternate spelling of tzedakah. This seems like a thing I should have noticed. Anyway, sad to lose him. I like both versions of Breaking Up Is Hard To Do.

You want eggs benedict? Sure! Pad thai? Also yes!

Bean & guac soft taco ftw! I loved that place. I miss that neighborhood, although a lot of my old faves (Bendix Diner, Man Ray, ZigZag Bar) are long gone.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/nyregion/malibu-diner-nyc-blind-community.html I lived at the Carteret in the 90s and bought my potato egg and cheese at the Malibu every morning. There was no finer diner!

Which one is yours?

Alimentari Flaneur! Still around, doing catering.

The Fulton seems to have survived (reservations readily available!), so JG still has something going on down there.

Thanks! We have heat and power and plenty of food. And also a bad chest cold. Whee!

I am unsurprised. Not accessible enough, overpriced, redundant. I still remember ordering a dry martini from the bar out front (before a Jenny Lewis show) and getting something akin to a 50-50 because the adorable young bartender thought "dry" meant "more vermouth." Where is he now, I wonder.

Squid moilee and raita.

Deleted!

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/movies/frederick-wiseman-dead.html My favorite director has left us. He changed this world for the better, and I am so glad I got to hear him speak at MOMI a few years ago. Goodbye, genius.

Weapons. Like many horror movies, this sets up a pretty interesting premise and then completely squanders it by devolving into gore and nonsense. I was scared exactly once. H convinced me to watch it by saying it was Oscar nominated. It will not win.

Roseanne Barr (when she was still funny) famously pushed back against her then-husband's habit of asking her where things were by announcing that "the uterus is not a tracking device." I was reminded of this just last night when H texted me (I was at a party) to ask where the popcorn was. So, yes.

Okay then!

95! I did not think of him as that old. His legacy is so solid, even if it was just The Apostle and The Great Santini. But then you throw in BOO RADLEY.

Noted! Will continue.

I've only seen the first two episodes. Do I need to watch further to understand that reference?

It showed up for me yesterday, which is why I made it! I'm not psychic - just impulsive.