Freedom
We finally decided to release our new cats from their room yesterday and give them full run of the house. They had been sniffing at the door for a few days and seemed eager to get out. So I opened the door and dramatically declared "you're free!" The reaction was fairly predictable.
They ran and hid in the room and didn't leave for some time.
How many people do we all know that do the exact same thing every day of their lives? Really, how many of us do that ourselves in some facet of our lives? Are you free? Are you really?
They have since come out of their room but it seems that they just keep looking for new places to hide. Aren't we all? Where are you hiding these days?
This week I'm hiding in restaurants.
Last night we went to wd-50 for another excursion into molecular gastronomy mind games. I loved as much as I have previous visits, the Mrs. might've loved it even more and our nephew who is transitioning his life from Charleston, South Carolina to Phuket, Thailand with a few days in NYC in between seemed to really enjoy it as well. The "pebbles" were still on the menu only now they were roasted corn pebbles instead of pizza so each "pebble" dissolved into a rich, roasted, buttery corn paste on your tongue and then melted away. There was a scallop topped with a fried beef tendon that had a weirdly familiar crunch and texture to it that I couldn't name until the nephew said it.
"It's pork rinds."
And then you realize that that's exactly what it is (except that is has a strong beefy flavor instead of pork), and you laugh and marvel at how well it pairs with the scallop and the bright parsley puree on your plate. That's what makes wd-50 my favorite restaurant in this whole city. It's creative and fun, the food is well-executed and the service is perfectly pitched, finishing the description of each dish with "have fun!"
I'm not going to natter on about how good the aerated foie gras was or how perfectly controlled the organy flavor of chicken liver was in the chicken liver spaetzel was. I'm awful at writing food porn. I will say that I never thought I would eat something with pine needles listed as an ingredient (the spaetzel) or that I thought it would work (it did). I will say that the capers in the ricotta and frozen honey dessert offered an excellent salty counterpoint and made me think of the salt in Coach Ray's excellent chocolate chip cookies.
And I will say that if you have an open mind, the money to spend, a couple hours to enjoy and the ability to get to the Lower East Side you should go to wd-50. It is a place where unpretentious genius appears on just about every plate. It's also a place where you can slip the bonds of conventional food and experience ingredients and techniques not seen in a typical restaurant, even a high end one.
Tonight is another dinner for the Thailand-bound nephew, this time at Park Avenue (insert name of season here). I expect a different experience than last night, more elegant, less experimental but the level of execution should be high. The company will be good as well, and sometimes that's as important in making a meal great as the food itself. In any event it's another night to be free, even if it's only freedom from doing dishes or my own limited culinary skill set and repertoire. Or maybe I'm just hiding from that. Which one is it?
I'll do you a favor. I'll free you from my limited skills with words. Here's one genius reading another: short version here, long version here, 56 minutes in.
They ran and hid in the room and didn't leave for some time.
How many people do we all know that do the exact same thing every day of their lives? Really, how many of us do that ourselves in some facet of our lives? Are you free? Are you really?
They have since come out of their room but it seems that they just keep looking for new places to hide. Aren't we all? Where are you hiding these days?
This week I'm hiding in restaurants.
Last night we went to wd-50 for another excursion into molecular gastronomy mind games. I loved as much as I have previous visits, the Mrs. might've loved it even more and our nephew who is transitioning his life from Charleston, South Carolina to Phuket, Thailand with a few days in NYC in between seemed to really enjoy it as well. The "pebbles" were still on the menu only now they were roasted corn pebbles instead of pizza so each "pebble" dissolved into a rich, roasted, buttery corn paste on your tongue and then melted away. There was a scallop topped with a fried beef tendon that had a weirdly familiar crunch and texture to it that I couldn't name until the nephew said it.
"It's pork rinds."
And then you realize that that's exactly what it is (except that is has a strong beefy flavor instead of pork), and you laugh and marvel at how well it pairs with the scallop and the bright parsley puree on your plate. That's what makes wd-50 my favorite restaurant in this whole city. It's creative and fun, the food is well-executed and the service is perfectly pitched, finishing the description of each dish with "have fun!"
I'm not going to natter on about how good the aerated foie gras was or how perfectly controlled the organy flavor of chicken liver was in the chicken liver spaetzel was. I'm awful at writing food porn. I will say that I never thought I would eat something with pine needles listed as an ingredient (the spaetzel) or that I thought it would work (it did). I will say that the capers in the ricotta and frozen honey dessert offered an excellent salty counterpoint and made me think of the salt in Coach Ray's excellent chocolate chip cookies.
And I will say that if you have an open mind, the money to spend, a couple hours to enjoy and the ability to get to the Lower East Side you should go to wd-50. It is a place where unpretentious genius appears on just about every plate. It's also a place where you can slip the bonds of conventional food and experience ingredients and techniques not seen in a typical restaurant, even a high end one.
Tonight is another dinner for the Thailand-bound nephew, this time at Park Avenue (insert name of season here). I expect a different experience than last night, more elegant, less experimental but the level of execution should be high. The company will be good as well, and sometimes that's as important in making a meal great as the food itself. In any event it's another night to be free, even if it's only freedom from doing dishes or my own limited culinary skill set and repertoire. Or maybe I'm just hiding from that. Which one is it?
I'll do you a favor. I'll free you from my limited skills with words. Here's one genius reading another: short version here, long version here, 56 minutes in.
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