Wilfrid

“Dude, what’s happening on TV?” You are watching it. Figure it out. It’s not like you are being confronted by a Latin text or a Bresson movie.

So The Desmond was a dinner of two halves. On the second floor of a Kimpton Hotel, it had the look of fine dining… The service was the over-enthusiastic, cheerleading kind. My server explained that the menu had ingredients from many cuisines and offered to help me with my “vocabulary.” She congratulated me on picking her favorite wines. That kind of thing. I decided to ask the captain about the “floral congee.” I told him I knew what congee was, but what was floral about this one? He didn’t know. He thought it might be how the “rice cake” was garnished. I think he needed help with his vocabulary. Anyway I ordered the dish. Dungeness crab with what (happily) was a congee. Not much flavor to anything. Some nigella seed crackers that seemed stale. The wine list was mysterious. Items called “red blend.” No vintages. Two Coravin selections, one a red at $30 a glass. I looked it up and it’s $28 a bottle. Maybe this was a prized vintage; wouldn’t know from the list. Then it all turned on a dime. The beef cheek was excellent, served on a thick, unrefined but tasty guajillo tomatillo sauce. You could make “tacos” by wrapping it in Moroccan baghrir, freshly made pancakes with crisp edges; unsuitable for my diet but quite delicious. A glass of Inniskillen for dessert. I even started liking the service. The cost was better than I expected but I was probably comped (knowingly or not) at least one glass of wine.

Hinds are playing SXSW next year. I have indicated to them that New York would be a good stopover.

I write about the companies that enable this kind of thing. Imagine how many ads I get from them. Which is more annoying? Ads for something I just bought or ads for something I can’t buy — like one I probably already wrote about, a big discount from a fancy hotel, but exclusively for people visiting New York from London. How did I get on that list?

These posts are designed to make me miss Kathy.

Right, it’s stupid.

The Pick Three section of the ruined Goings On About Town is like a bad imitation of [i]Vanity Fair[/i]. “Fall to me is the most glamorous season…”

Tacos El Gordo recommended by a local. Lengua, good; I was surprised that the tripa was crunchy. On closer inspection of course it wasn’t tripe (English) or callos (Spanish) but what Dominicans call tripitas. Intestines slow cooked then crisped on the grill. Very good too.

Yes, surprised at all the vegan options. Had not realized it’s a mini-chain.

Oh, intestine skewers. I think I last had them in a Turkish restaurant in London (I have had other intestine preparations more recently of course).

Now I have to change my pants again. As it’s San Diego I should probably think about the local fish of the day, but I had halibut at Francie last week.

One free night in San Diego and I have selected The Desmond for dinner. It's ten minutes walk from my hotel and has a beef cheek on the menu.

That may be fair because, as I tried to say, it presents much more as a sleek, modern restaurant than anything homey. BTW, the first amber wine I tasted was great. Then they accidentally served me a different one when I asked for more. What I ordered was the 2019 KAKHETI CO - KISI AMBER. But of course it's possible they got my first order wrong and the second right. Who knows?

I am using the blender formerly owned by the Johnsons: clearly too large and heavy to fly back to the UK

It certainly looks good.

I have been curious about this Georgian restaurant on West 14th for a long time. Finally went and it was not what I imagined. Forget Oda House, or anything homey. This is a sleek, very large space (two rooms), modern and loud. And very busy (Friday evening). I would not travel miles for the food, but the appetizers in particular were interesting. A selection of pkhali: minced vegetables squeezed into balls -- eggplant, spinach, etc -- served with flatbread and grated smoked cheese. And a wild garlic salad, the taste of which stays with you. My entree was a pork kebab which I felt could be any pork kebab from anywhere. My companion ordered the massive rack of lamb chops (and I got one). There are a lot of interesting salads as well as traditional dough-based dishes. Fair price, around $150 for two before tax and tip. Only one drinking. Guess who.

Low carb brandade: cauliflower instead of potatoes. Easy. Now I need to clean the food mixer.

Weird. I wonder if it's true.

I can't recall if I went to the original. The food reads very well, but would I fight for a reservation?

Since I can now add photos.

Last week's Alex Ross report from London: in the course of one column, the Arts Council is referred to as "Arts Council" (which is like calling the Senate just "Senate") and he has copied the "Rule Britannia" words from some online source giving the original lyrics not the lyrics as actually sung. And what it has to do with "colonialism" god knows. Jingoism, yes.

Now I have to change my pants.

Yes, same. It happened to me this morning when I was trying to submit a post. Happily, when it opened back up it had saved my draft. In good news, I am suddenly able to upload photos direct from my phone after months of trying and failing.

Had I bet money on this I probably would have won. Yes, he's another white male, Scandinavian too, but he's very, very good. In fact I bought an advance copy of A Shining, latest novel to be translated, at the Brooklyn Book Fair on Sunday. The masterpiece is the three volume Septology. (I would like to see Gayl Jones win, but I am not betting any money on that.)

Terminal 5?Joan Jett and The Hold Steady supported by Art Brut. Good shows.