Wilfrid

Okay, that location (where I did eat), closed 14 years ago. It then opened on Avenue C and I have to believe I ate there but have no memory of it. That one closed nine years ago. So after the "brief hiatus" of almost a decade, I wonder what the latest place has in common with the earlier ones?

I'll have the poached brains followed by the sweetbread and truffle pie, thanks.

You know it's a snowy day when I spend the morning doing puzzles in the New Yorker.

I confess I enjoyed the digital interactive thing where you had to drag cartoons into a timeline to get them into chronological order. Like there was an obviously ancient one that turned out to be 1929, but if it was about COVID you knew it was later than that. Fun.

Le Jardin is apparently "back." The veteran of Cleveland Place (okay, Lafayette) has re-opened on Delancey after a "brief hiatus" (no, it's been years). As the menu description of coq au vin begins "oven roasted chicken," someone else needs to bat for the team here.

And another worthwhile show at Hauser & Wirth. https://www.hauserwirth.com/hauser-wirth-exhibitions/henry-taylor-no-title/

I am still waiting for this week's. Usually comes on Tuesday. I have it in the app of course.

I blame myself for not really paying attention to the price when ordering. Given all the raves I think I ordered badly. Rosner doesn't mention the lamb. Neither does Cuozzo, but it looks like it was a $64 veal shank when he went.

It ended up disappointing. It had all started so well. Lovely room, great service. First course, sweetbread spiedini, absolutely glorious. Sweetbreads charred on the outside, soft inside, charred leeks and a delicious sauce. A glass of Tortuga Libertango orange wine with that. Pastas served either side of me looked and smelled great; but I try to avoid pasta. I ordered the only red meat on the menu, roast leg of lamb. How difficult can it be to get that right? The plate was garnished with fiercely vinegary green leaves in a vinegary sauce. The lamb, garnished with prune pieces, had just not been cooked long and slow enough. There were a couple of big, inedible pieces of gristle; generally it was just chewy. Not as chewy as NYC duck breasts, but chewy. A glass of red wine, Occhipinti. Sigh. No dessert, a grappa and espresso. Check for two courses with drinks? $200 before tip. I am not going to blame the glasses of wine this time. The lamb (clearly portioned for one person not for sharing) was priced ludicrously at $64. That would be too expensive even if it was good. Appetizer and a pasta is clearly the way to go, although the pasta portions are modest.

I am so preeningly pleased with myself. The new New Yorker praises the Criterion Channel and mentions two movies I had already selected and watched. "Man's Castle," a 1933 movie with Spencer Tracy because early Spencer Tracy is always great. "Bushman," 1971, in which a young Nigerian man's immersion in San Francisco life is violently ripped into a documentary when the actor playing the role is deported.

Happens to me about once a year. I think it's the postal service but if you can be bothered to complain to customer service they usually add a couple of weeks to your subscription.

And slammed by 5.30.

I finished work for the holidays and went down to Borgo for an opening time walk-in. Easy. Six of us in line and there is plenty of bar seating. Lovely transformation of the old I Trulli space.

This has been in my wallet since November. Just found it.

That looks great. For me, guesses welcomed.

Edges of Ailey occupying a full floor of The Whitney. It's a must-see, but it's a curious hybrid, like two shows overlapping slightly. You have big screens on the upper part of the gallery walls showing a constant montage of Ailey's dancework, and the side galleries at each end of the floor are filled with Ailey ephemera -- notebooks, programs, posters. Everything an Ailey fan could want. The floor is mainly filled with Black American art from the last hundred years. Certainly, there are pieces directly relevant to Ailey and his practice, like portraits of his dancers; but I would say most of the work is connected to Ailey only because it's by Black artists. Much of it predates Ailey's fame and some even predates his life. But it's a great show. Bearden, Lawrence, Walker. William H. Johnson and I am sure "Moon Over Harlem": was in the Met's Harlem Renaissance show. Brought up short by an anxious man painting by Rashid Johnson: "I have seen this somewhere recently." Duh, it's linked to in Johnson's profile in the current New Yorker (on the app, not the print edition). I even found a Clementine Hunter (see below -- I discovered her in New Orleans). Two artists that struck me: Purvis Young and Sam Doyle. Doyle was from one of the South Caroline Gullah Islands, and right upstairs at The Whitney is a small presentation of photos from the remaining island communities taken in 1979 by Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe. I only wish that was a bigger show. I didn't need the Ailey show to be any bigger. Good time to visit.

I thought Portland ME was staggeringly cheap. It didn't hurt that an Uber to a restaurant was about $7.

Bear in mind I started with a $30 glass of champagne and followed with two white wines and a sake. So the mark-ups on the beverages are probably more to blame than the food costs. At the same time, hardly a big meal.

Eel Bar does look appealing.

Florent now some kind of odd sex-adjacent pop up.

Amazing. And good to know Jesse is still around. It's been a few years.

Thinking this over, I would go back for the setting, service and drinks. Is there any food here I would care about eating again? No. Certainly there were repeat visitors in earshot and the lobster was being ordered.

Right, William Powell is unimpeachable.

I could say a lot about this place. Positives: the bar is indeed comfortable and spacious, no bumping elbows. The service is excellent. But perhaps the reviews, online comments and rankings overstate the merits a little. It's important to know that it's basically a small plates menu. There are only a couple of entrees. Even the "ice box," coming in different sizes, isn't like the old seafood towers where you could make a complete meal from it. I started with the smallest ice box. People are raving about the shrimp cocktail. Why? Good enough shrimp with a standard cocktail dipping sauce and, a slight twist, some garlic mayo (made inhouse probably). There was some diced scallop in a scallop shell with some horseradish flavor. And then the raw bar components: two oysters, two clams and two mussels. Although there is a shucker behind the bar, they are limited in what they can shuck. Policy here, I believe, is one kind of oyster only. These were from New Brunswick, absolutely tiny, and although they were good enough I was relieved not to have paid $47 for a dozen. The clams and mussels continued the tiny and jewel-like theme. Of course I am spoiled by having eaten a wide spectrum of outstanding oysters in Maine last week but Penny is less of a raw bar than Aquagrill was. Two warm small plates to follow. The first was a novelty: confit oysters steeped in warm liquid chicken fat. My reaction went from eew to, okay, I quite like this. Tellingly these chubby, soft oysters (four of them) had been nowhere near the shucker. I suspect they emerged from a plastic tub, and hey, I use those same kind of oysters when I am serving cooked dishes at home. The fixings were the highlight. A scoop of delicious creme fraiche showered with salt crystals and very good crackers dusted with something like paprika. Finally two little squid stuffed with tuna on a dark sauce with some fiery spicing going on. I skipped the ice cream sandwich. No liquor here and no coffee of any kind; I finished with a plum-based sweet sake that was delicious. The Ardeche by the glass is great too. The check nudged past $170 before tip probably helped by my BTG program. It was just enough food.

I did good. Saw a small crowd of the badly dressed drunks at the top of 3rd Avenue headed for the subway, otherwise avoided it. I don't know if there is a law stopping it crossing 110th Street, but it doesn't (yes, there's a song there).