small h

👀

We ate at 7pm, and they were pretty serious about kicking us out at 9pm when the kitchen closed. So it's not a good place for a late dinner, but there's a fair amount of hot food on the menu. We just didn't order it.

Dinner for six last night, with beaucoup Scandinavian goodness. But the dishes started to feel redundant (shrimp, egg, herring, beet, potato, repeat as needed) and seemed more suited to lunch than dinner (salad, sandwich, appetizer plate). Still, I like all these ingredients (except the brisket, which I did not try). And the dill/caraway/fennel-infused aquavit was awesome. The aquavit, like most of the drinks menu, is low ABV, but that meant 25%, instead of, I dunno, 96%?

That's a pretty great legacy.

Silken tofu, (possibly too many) scallions, sauce.

This town is really so small.

Um, hi ex-neighbor. I lived at 301 E 22nd from around 1995 - 2003.

He's got a new album coming out soonish.

I keep up with Tom Meltzer and (especially) Paul Foglino.

Same (although I was long out of high school). Also the Surreal McCoys and Sleepy LaBeef and the Five Chinese Brothers and Loup Garou and... you get the idea. Simon Chardiet is still around and playing (mostly) jazz shows. I ran into him at Rockaway Beach last year.

Dare to toast.

Yes, Third and 27th. Or 29th. I forget. The place was lousy with kitschy decor - remember that the bar in the music room was an actual trailer. And in addition to the aforementioned portraits by the stage, there was a buffalo head busting through the wall.

My favorite part was her marveling at the reheated bread.

Many years ago, I was a loyal patron of the Rodeo Bar. if you were too, you know there was a Janis Joplin portrait, and an Elvis rug, hanging on the walls nearest the stage. And for a while, there was a picture of me behind the bar. My boss at the production studio where I worked decided to have a photo shoot so we could have some arty shots of the staff in the office, with everyone making duck faces, as was the custom at the time. The photographer decided to shoot some solo stuff, for fun, and a couple of weeks later he presented me with a framed 16 X 20 of me, posing with chin on hand, like a book jacket photo. I went to the Rodeo Bar after work, carrying the picture, and the bartender hung it behind the bar. For a couple of months, I enjoyed seeing myself on the wall. I pointed it out to people a few times, and no one believed it was me (I look different with neat hair and full makeup, as does everyone). One day someone stole a bunch of stuff - the Janis Joplin, the Elvis, and me. I like to think I'm part of a shrine somewhere.

I need to triple the shrimp recipe next time.

I had a very traumatic artichoke experience years ago, making me a very vigilant artichoke prepper.

Flow and The Wild Robot, both of which were enjoyable, neither of which lived up to the hype. I may be jaded.

I am excited to visit! And eat oden.

😬

I'm going to the oden omakase pop up, and I thought others might also be interested. https://resy.com/cities/new-york-ny/venues/dashi-okume-brooklyn?date=2025-03-08&seats=2&query=dashi oden&activeView=list

$75! Totally reasonable!

Found a bottle of green Chartreuse at the not Trader Joe’s wine store on 14th and 3rd.

Now I feel like going and getting an appetizer and a glass of water.

Caramelized cabbage in tomato sauce. I had a note on this recipe that it took much longer than indicated, but last night it did not. Which is good, 'cause I was hungry. Shrimp and firefly squid salad. I still have squid left over (this is the second dish I've made with it), and I'm getting a little sick of squid. Eh.

Musubi!