MitchW
-
Posts
1,081 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
75
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Articles
Events
Posts posted by MitchW
-
-
Oh no...we shared quite a few meals, and John always loved to share his knowledge.
RIP, my friend.
-
-
16 minutes ago, hollywood10 said:
Might be of interest to see who attends his funeral and who avoids it.
The shiva calls should be interesting.
-
2
-
-
57 minutes ago, Wilfrid said:
Interesting fact: Shane formed two consecutive bands that ended up editing their names to be less controversial. The Nipple Erectors became The Nips
Much more correct!
-
Lots of great songs to listen to.
-
Did you ever write about them, @Wilfrid?
-
The great, great frontman of the Pogues (when it wasn't Joe Strummer). At 65.
Probably be hearing Fairytale of New York even more this Christmas season.
RIP, Shane.
-
1
-
2
-
-
6 hours ago, hollywood10 said:
Putting aside his involvement in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, how will history judge his involvement with China?
He was a good guy who did some bad things? He was a bad guy who did some good things? He was a fucking horrible human being?
-
59 minutes ago, small h said:
I use the Nomad recipe, which has Luxardo and sweet vermouth, Old Tom gin, angostora bitters and no Cointreau.
Yeah, Leo liked to name his gin. As a matter of fact, he calls out Antica for the vermouth. And Hayman's for the Old Tom.
-
Me too - see you Xmas eve!
-
Here's how it was made at Pegu:
2 oz. gin
1 oz. sweet vermouth
1 barspoon Luxardo
2 dashs Ango
Garnish - lemon peel
-
I never knew it, but evidently millennials (and Gen Z) have "invented" mortadella AND the charcuterie board!
QuoteWith help from the European Union’s labeling laws and the rise of Instagram and TikTok (and their endless charcuterie boards), mortadella is getting a second act in America.
-
1
-
-
-
1 hour ago, Wilfrid said:
Music Hall of Williamsburg was a perfect place to see them but they easily sold it out. Maybe they will indeed move up in size.
I would worry about getting a ticket, but since I see their every move on Instagram I should be good.
I've come to learn, after decades of shows, that nothing in NYC is ever truly sold out. Or to put it another way, one can always get a ticket.
-
-
38 minutes ago, backyardchef said:
It all reminds me of Adam Perry Lang being Epstein's personal chef and saying he "never saw" anything out of the ordinary.
Which reminds me of: I guess that depends on what one's definition of "out of the ordinary" is.
-
-
Similarly to @Sneakeater, I'm not feeling great. Unlike @Sneakeater, however, it's not Covid, apparently just a cold I caught somewhere on our way home. At least that's what it appears to be, after testing negative two days in a row.
But one has to start cooking at some point. So...
Last night, pan-roasted chicken thighs, red beans, rice, peas and carrots.
Night before last, penne marinara and roasted Brussels sprouts.
-
1
-
-
As long as @Orik was recommending, we weren't about to just toss the dice, so in our short stay in Madrid, we had dinner at two of the above recommendations: La Buena Vida and Saddle. As we were staying in the Cheuca district (or is it called Justicia?), that meant we could walk both to and from our dinner reservations, perhaps even stopping off for a preprandial cocktail each night. Perhaps.
So as mentioned before walking to dinner:
A stop off at Del Diego Cocktail Bar.
For a Martini and a Manhattan. Obligatory crisps and crackers, in this case. Then on to dinner.
Sig Eater started with the classic Iberian ham croquettes, while her partner wanted 'shrooms...
And got 'em. Our main courses don't appear on the menu above, as they were both specials. Chef came out to chat about what he was cooking, and that made the decision easier.
Fantastic red mullet served atop its bisque. This was great.
My knockout wild duck dish, with some creamy potatoes. I had asked chef about the broad beans on the menu, and he was nice enough to send out a small ramekin for us to taste - tasting straight out of Florence, meaning delicious. Fine meal - lovely service...I think we ended with a couple of sherries, because I don't see dessert on our bill.
On our way to dinner at Saddle the following night, it just so happens that Saddle is located across the street from the Ministerio del Interior, and some other important stuff on the block, as there were policia et al. everywhere, toting their machine guns. Which either makes you feel safe...or maybe not. But it also means there is generally a divey bar nearby, because those public servants don't make a lot of dough. At least, not legit dough...
I kid, I kid. But it works out just great for the two of us - we love the dive bars.
Yes, we were an early res at 9 PM, but that's how it goes, after a light lunch and a couple of hours walking around in a museum, a nap, and hunger. The food here was great, and the service was...omnipresent. From the Martini cart at the start (we demurred), to the bread, oil, and butter service (don't tell Sietsema, but the bread and butter was more expensivo than that unnamed place on Avenue A).
Lotta butter. Olio. Great bread. Amuse me...
Re amuse - fantastic brodo.
Paté en croute...
Full portion, split tableside for us. It's great that Saddle also offers "1/2" portions on many of their dishes, which enabled us to try more. And more...
Boletus w/grilled, wild rabbit, whitefish and paprika crumbs "El Sequero." Holy shit, this was good.
Wood Pigeon Tortellini - Game consommé, chestnut infusion and wild eel.
Those were the starters! For my main course...
Mont Royal Pigeon - Potato gnocchi and inside meatballs (inside here meaning the innards). Another fucking winner.
Here's where things got interesting. Significant Eater did not like her main...at all. From the first bite. But...they noticed, came right over, and basically forced her to choose something else. She did, and was quite happy with the wild sea bass (which was on every menu around, from San Sebastian on down), done fairly simply. Kudos to the staff for that.
Another tidbit..I spilled some wine drops onto our tablecloth.
They came over with dots to cover it up! This came...
And we almost had enough. But we didn't, so queso was consumed. Nice petit fours to send us on our way. Oh - one more interesting tidbit. Saddle was the first place, after two weeks in France and Spain, where my Cap One card would not go through. Sig Eater's Cap One card would not go through. So they said let's go outside, maybe the connection will be better. It wasn't. But there were like 6 people there with us, watching the credit card transaction...I felt like Anna Sorokin. A different card was proffered, and off we stumbled into the night.
We had an early flight Saturday, and wanted to stay close. And eat early. That's easy, in Chueca,. Our apartment was directly above:
Which our airbnb host practically insisted we try. Scoff if you must, but...
The wings were fucking great. And on a Friday night, around 7:30 PM, they were turning people away. We'd reserved. As should you...https://celsoymanolo.es/
The Madrid portion of our trip was way too short; gotta do a week next time...this city is great.
-
2
-
-
Haven't been, don't know if that'll ever happen. But...Helen Rossner has been, and it must've been tough (or was it?) for ol' Helen to to give props to someone (April Bloomfield) who knew and allowed terrible things to go on in a restaurant she partly owned and was in charge of.
QuoteBloomfield’s previous tenure in New York, as the chef-partner of the restaurateur Ken Friedman, came to an end, in 2017, after she was accused of insufficiently protecting her staff from the alleged sexual predation of Friedman and Mario Batali, a Spotted Pig investor. (Friedman settled harassment claims against him; Batali denied assaulting anyone but acknowledged that his behavior was “deeply inappropriate.” Bloomfield has said that coming to terms with her failures in addressing employee concerns “blew my psyche wide open.”)
I'm so happy for April's psyche...and happy that April has come to terms with it.
Oh lookie here - Helen feels guilt!!! And ambivalence.
QuoteI also felt a twinge of guilt, and maybe ambivalence. She is one of the greatest cooks of her generation, and one of the most under-heralded; in a still viciously sexist business, she is the rare woman who made it to the very top. She is also a chef who, by many accounts, turned her eye away from the monstrous misdeeds of the men who employed her and a person who, after those men slunk away out of the public eye, retreating to the comfort of their money and their summer homes, had to keep working. What makes Sailor a success, besides the quality of its fare, is that it doesn’t feel like Bloomfield is making a play for redemption, or taking a shot at glory. It feels like she’s doing what she always wanted to be doing: cooking fantastic food, putting it on a plate, and then handing it off to someone else—someone like Stulman—to make sure all the fittings and fixtures are in place for the lucky people eating it.
Didn't April already hand stuff off to someone else, somewhere else? I guess that lesson wasn't learned.
Just...no.
-
In our short stay in Madrid last week (next time, it'll be a longer stay for sure), we (re)visited both the Museo del Prado as well as the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. We had a need to (re)see some classic works, and both museums had excellent exhibitions currently running.
At the Prado, before spending time getting as depressed as possible, we took in this:
Reversos - a quite fascinating look at what goes on behind and in back of a work of art. Then it was time for depression, so we trudged to this:
The Lost Mirror. Jews and Converts in Medieval Spain - what is there to say?
To cheer ourselves up, we took in Bosch, el Greco, Goya and Velazquez. I then needed a drink. What an amazing museum; that's all. It's also great because they don't allow photography - I wish every museum would do the same (I know, I know, I take pictures, but I do it without annoying everyone around me, and also with the knowledge that, for instance, Las Meninas is not going to be better because I'm in front of the fucking painting).
The following day, we headed out after lunch to the Reina Sofia. In addition to (re)seeing Guernica and it's attendant works (I particularly like the Dora Maar photographs of Guernica in progress), there was this wonderfully curated exhibition:
Picasso 1906 -- The Turning Point - basically focused on one year of Picasso's life (when he was 25), an in depth look at what influenced him, and his influence on modern art. Astounding stuff.
Since they let you take photographs at the Reina, what the hell...
El Greco, for Picasso.
Gertrude Stein, for Picasso.
Picasso, for the world.
Stendahled out.
-
25 minutes ago, Sneakeater said:
Most of the people who were at the Thanksgiving dinner I went to this year -- including me -- caught COVID.
How was the food?
-
When we first started listening to Chronic Town, R.E.M.'s debut EP (thanks to a piece I'd read by Christgau in the Voice), my then partner, other friends and I would often listen and try to figure out what lyrics were being sung.
We never did.
And I was lucky enough to see them on their first swing through California, at the Keystone Palo Alto, in June, 1983.
-
Try gin.
.jpeg.460dc1bdb1c96560c0f6e6714dfd1760.jpeg)
Sailor, Fort Greene
in New York
Posted
Wow, the Helen print piece (just catching up on missed mags) certainly skirts the issue about shame and guilt.