Wilfrid

Jeez, how long did that take?

Booked Hisop.

One degree of separation. I knew a litigation partner based in Atlanta who, as a young lawyer, had been offered -- and declined -- a role in the Carter administration. Looking him up, I learn that he passed away in June this year. That's my Jimmy Carter story.

Yes indeed.

Just three days short of 100 and three months. Well done, Jimmy.

This seems the perfect place to mention the Schomburg Center's centennial tribute to Baldwin. Plenty of photos, great video footage including Baraka's eulogy at his funeral. Not a huge show, but bigger than the supposed Baldwin show at the NYPL Schwartzman building which turns out to be one glass case within the large Treasures show. Apparently they are rotating the Baldwin memorabilia once a month. For regulars? Well, there's always Pooh.

Controversially racy when people noticed that she was underage. I learned recently that in the DiCaprio version the studio replaced Natalie Portman (14) with Clare Danes (17) to make the love scenes less creepy.

Only 73.

For anyone not following my obsessions, I am flying to Barcelona to see Hinds at Sala Apolo. I will also see my godson, who lives there, and his father who will travel from the UK for post-punk pop.

This suddenly got real. Just over two weeks away. I have La Sosenga reserved and I am looking at the Hisop menu. The good news, my usual hotel is hilariously cheap mid-January.

I just learned there's a new Wallace & Gromit movie, "Vengeance Most Fowl." I have bought a ticket to interrupt the tedium of New Year's Day. This must be the first since the original voice of Wallace, Peter Sallis, passed away.

I recall you said you asked if you mentioned it previously, but I don't recall the answer, maybe you did.

There is a little disclaimer that the publication preceded the Boar's Head thing. But why do people care? You can make a liverwurst sandwich or not; it's easy. Like freaking out because you can't get a PB&J at your local deli.

@StephanieL Bird's custard is a flashback to my youth for me.

Second most read Eater story of 2024. Inexplicable.

I want a muffin. Two of my cheeses were from Formaggio, one from Zabar.

Seared foie with capers and raisins fried in olive oil. I am obsessed with the caper/raisin combo which seems to garnish anything. Elk, sauce au poivre, roast vegetables. Pont L'Eveque, Asturian queso azul, Crostina di Pane. Contino Gran Reserva 1996. Nervous when the cork is a soft sponge but I managed to extract it piece by piece without crumbs in the wine. And the wine is fine, still opening up.

Serendipity. Tables for three were scarce this week at restaurants with which I am familiar, but I stumbled across an opening at The Bee Next Door, which is indeed next to the big Bee. And what a pleasure to write that everything was really good. A small, cozy room, no bar, elegant servers. For a moment I thought they only had a beer/wine license because I saw no cocktail list. Not at all; our server told us they didn't have house cocktails but could make any classic, just name it. So we did. The menu is short and slightly curious. There is a prix fixe ($88) with choices from three courses; there's also a carte, which for the most part has the same (or very similar) dishes to the prix fixe. There are some supplements including a hefty $65 for a white truffle risotto. We ate an outstanding sunchoke velouté with tender braised chestnuts, a soft poached egg, little pieces of grape and probably half a dozen other things. A salade gourmande came with a generous hunk of foie gras. Black cod marinated in white miso, then caramelized with daikon radish cream, prettily sculpted slices of daikon radish and slivers of regular radish — unbelievably good. One member of the party went for the lobster and received the tail with a mild curry sauce and, on a separate plate, a pile of claw meat on a slice of toast. Desserts were truffled ice cream, millefeuille with pear custard and Calvados ice cream, and a dark chocolate torte. Chenin Blanc with the seafood. After dinner, the sommelier went to some lengths to track down their last bottle of Quinta Dos Pesos Carcevalos 1997, a sort of cross between port and madeira. I was grateful for the effort. Worth putting on the list and serves to make me more curious about L'Abeille. One thing perhaps worth noting is that none of us ordered meat (there was a filet and a Wagyu burger), so no risk of a chewy hunk of gristle this time.

It's actually not good for the pharmacies. I needed some toothpaste this week. I would have to trudge through the snow to find a pharmacy that has it, then trudge around the store to find someone to unlock the cabinet. Or I could order it same day, free delivery, from my armchair...

I remember watching him, most likely when he was with the Mets for a couple of seasons.

I have cured pork belly in salt before, but not recently. I saw a pack of cured salt pork in the supermarket, so why not petit salé aux lentilles? The pork soaked overnight. Lentils cooked in chicken stock with carrots then finished with red wine (they drank it, you can't see it) and previously sauteed shallots. I crisped slices of the pork in the shallot oil. Really good and actually didn't need mustard.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DD4qkMFxcWT/?igsh=MWk5d3d6aWxwajJ0bg==

Funny to scroll up and see my table from a year ago. I have no memory of making rabbit tacos, but well done me.

Yay. And I am not a big puzzle fan, yes the food ones are fun.

I went to 125th Street last night after sunset to enjoy the holiday lights. I have been walking by PB Brasserie since it opened in September, admiring the huge, sweeping bar and meaning to go in. It was never the right time until last night. It is a gorgeous space, the bar curved and endless, lovely stools; the more formal dining in the back. And it was busy. There was a DJ (Friday, I don't know if it's nightly), volume tolerable, a lot of vintage funk (kept my Shazam busy; I remembered Yarborough and People after I looked them up). I drank a PB 125 which was sort of Old Fashioned-adjacent and comes regular or smoked, which is an attention-getting conflagration. Service was nice (okay and good looking). The food I saw at the bar looked good, but it was too early for me. I plan to go back to eat. Menu is French bistro/steakhouse, only the joloff rice reminding you that PB is an allusion to the veteran West African Ponty Bistro with which it is connected.