small h

Passionfruit! Thank you. And I thought the caramel was honey - it’s dark in there.

I was exactly at the corner of the bar, close to the host stand, around 8pm. “You” were on my right. Does this look familiar?

Was that you at the bar, ignoring your tart?

I had a second vesper at the bar after dinner, and the guy next to me ordered that tart and then just let it sit there while he gabbed to his companion. I was seriously considering just snatching a truffle slice, 'cause I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have even noticed.

I really liked the look of the menu, here, and the two dishes I had were very good, as was this briny vesper. I started with this custard, basically a chawanmushi (or a pascaline!) but HOT. Which was surprising. Very good, though, super-creamy and with a generous portion of uni and shrimp, unlike whatever that was at Time & Tide. And the smoked eel dumplings. The wrappers were more al dente than I expected, but the filling was delicate and well-balanced, and the broth was awesome. I considered trying to get some bread for it, but then I just ate it like soup. Maybe you’re supposed to. In the background is my dad’s turbot with clams, which was fine, nothing special. The turbot seemed a bit overdone. For dessert, we had a vin jaune gelato - forgot to take a picture, which I regret, because maybe someone could help me ID what seemed to be pomegranate arils, except they were very pale. I seem to be having a vin jaune-heavy month.

Finally made non-terrible fried rice. Yay.

Hah! I never knew the name of that song.

I don't even want to pay for me.

If someone else is paying, definitely go and get the monkfish, the leek salad and the olive oil cake. There's also a lot more on the menu - the swordfish was of interest to me, as were the shrimp and the aforementioned wedge salad. And the chef just got a James Beard nomination, if you're a Beard whore (probably not). But yeah, your life will not be over if you miss this one.

Yes, Eleven Madison Park is their neighbor. Dunno, it's (marginally) easier to spell? You say pascaline, I say chawanmushi, let's call the whole thing off.

Six of us went to the relatively new “seafood steakhouse ” Time and Tide , from the fancyfood folks at Kent Hospitality. It is steakhouse-like in that the fish is aged. and there’s a lot of expense account-y large format (and large price tag) menu items, like this tuna collar with gochuchang, which was delicious, but - as is typical for collars - did not contain much actual tuna. Look at the size of those radishes, though! I was most excited about the halibut pithivier, which looked very impressive. The fish was a bit bland, but I am easily seduced by presentation and vin jaune sauce. I also liked the monkfish make-your-own-mole-taco plate. The mole was quite spicy, as it should be, so I would advise choosing this or the tuna, but not both, 'cause it was a little too much overall heat. This crab tagliatelle was very nice, but not as crabby as in the video, so that was deceptive. And I fought for the wedge salad, but we had a leek freak among us, so we got the leek salad instead. I was won over. The frisee wasn’t as much like a ball of hair as frisee usually is. I was less enamored of the squid (the rest of the table loved it), as the sauce was too heavy. And I’m not much of a carrot fan (I lost the battle to not order this). The biggest disappointment of the evening was the uni toast, which had zero discernible uni. There’s none on the toast, as you can see, and there’s apparently none in the spread either, which just tasted of citrus (or maybe sour apple - that’s what’s listed on the menu). The steelhead and mackerel were fine - I kind of think it’s a waste to order raw fish in an expensive place, since it’s something I can make myself. And this giant goldfish is a good conversation piece, but not that exciting a dish. It’s a cheddar shortbread, basically (I was hoping for a biscuit). Desserts were very good, a panna cotta and maybe the best olive oil cake I’ve ever had. All in all, a mostly solid, very expensive meal, so this isn’t a place I’d rush back to. The room is enormous, so who knows how they’re going to keep enough tables filled to stay afloat (reservations look pretty easy to get). Service was excellent, and points for not making me feel bad about hurling my martini glass to the ground while trying to brush off my plate.

Nice round egg, on smoked salmon, on avocado, on bialy.

My egg circle greets your egg circles.

I think (also judging by the cleaned-out vendors at USQ) that a lot of people were storm shopping, as was I. I got to DiPalo's at 3:30 and there were about 25 people on line, which is unusual. I wish they had an express line for people who don't need to taste 40 different hams.

After a four hour shopping trip (would've been briefer, but I made some transportation errors, and DiPalo's line is VERRRRY SLOW), I had assembled the makings of (among other things, obviously) chirashi, so I decided to try my hand at it. I even got out the good knife! I am untrained at cutting fish, as is obvious, and I also suck at omelettes, as previously whined about, but I was not displeased. Also made broccoli leaf oshitashi and ponzu sauce for these amazingly easy-to-open oysters (Wellfleets and Bad Boys).

Me, tomorrow.

(raises hand) I was at USQ today and tasted Cato Corner's Drunken Monk, which may be even more pungent that Hooligan. I elected to take home a milder cheese, 'cause the mister's tolerance for stink is essentially zero. I get my Hooligan fix when he's out of the house.

Homemade fettuccine with roasted oyster mushrooms and sage butter.

I knew that Pinhead has a Freaks connection, but that's it. And now I have the Fess Parker song stuck in my head, which is unpleasant.

I Wanna Be Sedated? I know, it's very obvious, but it's the first thing that popped into my head.

This hits hard. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/david-lynch-blue-velvet-mulholland-drive-1236110711/

Or! Or! She just likes being on her own.

The time for winter borscht is now.

A (low alcohol) screwdriver with fresh squeezed orange juice, because H found a bag of oranges.

I lived at the Carteret (next to the Chelsea Hotel) in the 90s, and every morning I went out to buy a NYT and an egg & cheese from the Malibu. It was a good reason to get out of bed (and the apartment).