Fish Market

Location: Fish Market on Aðalstræti in Reykjavik, Iceland (fiskmarkadurinn.is)
Occasion: Our fancy dinner of the trip
Edibles: chef's tasting menu (8900 ISK, or ~$75), courses detailed below

Musings: A friend absolutely raved about this place, so I went ahead and made reservations well in advance of our trip. We actually came here twice, once for lunch and once for dinner. (Since the cod dish I ordered at the lunch turned out to be the sixth course of the dinner, I figured one post would cover it.)

The restaurant has a trendy, eco-hip style of décor with lots of natural woods, rough-hewn stone, etc. The dining room is split into two levels. We ate both times on the lower level but I prefer the look of the upper level, particularly for lunch. Being half underground, the lower level is quite dim and dreary during the day. Something to keep in mind if you're making reservations.

Most of the smaller tables in the lower level are up against the back wall, with one person sitting on a long bench that runs the length of the wall, and the other person in a chair. I was the person on the bench both times, and I note that the fake plastic bamboo plants were quite bothersome, poking me in the back and snagging in my hair multiple times.

As with the tapas place, our table was quite close to the kitchen, affording us a good view to spy on the team in action. The chefs were pretty calm and the place was scrupulously clean. However, the long and narrow space didn't look to be very well laid-out and people did seem to get in each other's way a fair amount.

Our first courses were langoustine tempura with a seaweed salad and honeydew melon, and mussels with bonito in lobster broth.

A less-than-stunning start. I thought the deep-frying completely overwhelmed the delicate flavor of the langoustine, and broth for the mussels was likewise quite powerfully smoky and pungent. I also found an untrimmed beard on one of the mussels. Tsk, tsk.

Our third course was mink whale sashimi with two sauces - a wasabi cream cheese, and a lemon soy sauce.

The whale tasted the most like beef to me; Yining perceived more fishiness and likened it to a gamey tuna. I liked the wasabi cream cheese for its richness but Yining thought it was an odd note.

What struck me the most about this course (and the sashimi I ordered at the lunch) was how bad the knifework was. The whale was presented in clumsily hacked, lopsided slices. It's like the chef only got the basic concept of serving raw fish, completely missing the finesse element of Japanese culinary philosophy.

Next up was a romaine salad with wasabi dressing, fried quail eggs, soy jelly and mandarin oranges. The dressing was lovely and delicate but balance of the salad was off, with too much of the salty soy jelly.

Salmon nigiri, salmon cucumber maki, tuna and scallop sashimi.

Again, substandard knifework, particularly on the tuna. The rice in the sushi was horrible, overcooked and almost mashed into a paste. The quality of the seafood was good, but frankly you can get better made sushi at the takeout place around the corner from my apartment back home.

Cod with cherry sauce, an unidentifiable white sauce, sunchokes and celery, on top of some kind of purée.

Probably my favorite course, but still, there were problems. First, there was just too much going on. Too many flavors and sauces piled on top of the wonderful fish, a cacophony where a couple of strong accents were all you needed. When I had it at lunch, the cod was perfection - really rich and tender, each flake almost like silken tofu on the tongue. At dinner, one piece of fish was significantly smaller than the other and got overcooked to the point of dryness. Also, the dish was much saltier the second time around. And the sunchokes were poorly trimmed.

I know, I sound like a Grumpy Gus. But we went in with certain expectations and instead just kept getting disappointed every course.

Next, chargrilled salmon with potatoes, with a side of broccoli-raisin-walnut salad in creamy dressing.

The salmon was cooked perfectly but that broccoli salad was the worst thing in the whole meal. I think the first word that popped into my head upon tasting it was "disgusting." I almost spit it out.

The final savory course - lamb with sweet potato croquettes and shittake mushroom.

The famous Icelandic lamb was terrific, and cooked to perfect doneness. But, once again, the chronic problem of questionable composition interfering with the purity of the raw ingredients. The dish needed salt, the sauce was too sweet, and the mushroom overpowered the other flavors.

Dessert was white chocolate cheesecake; chocolate cake; crème brûlée; chocolate ice cream and pineapple sorbet. Unremarkable. Unrelieved sweetness across the different items - a little acidity for contrast would have been welcome.

Bottom line, I just don't like what this chef does. On the raw dishes, not enough care with the knifework. On the cooked dishes, not enough editing. Instead of fumbled attempts at innovative flavors, I'd love to see some restraint. Emphasis on finesse and skill. Let the amazing local ingredients shine. They deserve it.

Hermans

Occasion: Vegetarian buffet dinner
Location: Hermans on Fjällgatan in the Södermalm neighborhood of Stockholm, Sweden - nearest T-bana stop is Slussen (hermans.se)
Edibles: all the greens and beans your heart desires!

Musings: Although its menu is pretty far outside my usual preferences, I give a big thumbs up to this place. The location is fantastic - right along the water, with picnic tables in a multi-level garden. This was the view from our table:

When the sun started to set, the light gilded the plants and it was just gorgeous.

The buffet is 150 SEK (~$20). Beverages and dessert are extra, but coffee and tea are included.

There was a grill station outside where they were doing tomatoes, sweet potatoes, eggplant and other veggies. They had this great grilled tofu with a marinade of soy, sugar, garlic, ginger and sweet chili paste. Really yummy. I had about six pieces.

Inside, there was a table with all sorts of casseroles, stews, salads and a giant basket of different breads. I know it's not the best way to get your money's worth at a buffet, but is there anything as wonderful as a fresh, chewy piece of bread slathered with butter? I think the below pic was my second go-around. I probably had four plates like it.



The weather was really just perfect that day. While we were eating, about ten hot air balloons lifted off.

We lingered over mugs of tea as it got dark. A perfect end to the day, and to the Stockholm leg of our trip.

[Postscript: You know, I bet a restaurant like this would absolutely kill in Brooklyn.]

Social Eatz

Occasion: Lunch with Meredith and Mike, with lots of ex-Death Star crew
Location: Social Eatz on 53rd between 2nd and 3rd (socialeatz.com)
Edibles: I had the bulgogi burger and fries, and a bite of Meredith's spring rolls and chop salad

Musings: Social Eatz is the new eatery of Top Chef Season 7 finalist Angelo Sosa. It's Asian fusion - not exactly a shocker for anyone who's seen Angelo cook on TV. But I actually like the concept here - Asian-inspired burgers, tacos, etc. Casual streetfood, in a yuppie diner setting. The menu's got some cheeky, fun items like the Imperialist Hot Dog, and some cringingly pretentious ones like the Chili-Kissed Tilapia Tacos.

The shrimp and chicken spring rolls were flavorful, but surprisingly heavy considering the ingredients. The chop salad not a hit with the table - it's a tiny little portion, and the so-called six minute egg was barely cooked long enough to hold together. Meredith rightly avoided the egg; the runny yolk would have completely drowned the small amount of lettuce.

I got the bulgogi burger with a side of fries. First of all, potatoes are dirt cheap, Angelo - your burgers should come with fries. Second, my burger was way underdone. I mean, it was literally half raw. Not rare. Raw. I practically like my steaks still mooing, but that burger was on the borderline of what I'd eat (v. what I'd send back and ask them to cook longer). Another person in our group left her burger patty half uneaten for the same reason. So please ask your diners how they like their burgers.

That said, I think the concepts of the bulgogi burger, bibimbap burger and Korean taco are genius. I love the salt-sweet flavor of the beef, accented by the tart bite of the pickles. I'd come back to try those latter two.

Ember Room

Occasion: Pre-theatre (Importance of Being Earnest) dinner with Amy, Howard, Brigid, John and Josh
Location: Ember Room on 9th between 45th and 46th (emberroom.com)
Edibles: I had the miso eggplant and the oxtail; Josh had the shrimp satay and Korean BBQ fried rice; we also had the mushroom salad, chocolate baby back ribs and the slider trio on the table, among others (I don't remember precisely who ordered what)

Musings: Ember Room is a new Todd English restaurant in the Hell's Kitchen / theatre district area. Unsurprisingly, the service felt like it hadn't quite settled down into a comfortable routine yet. We were eating pretty early and the restaurant was half-empty, but they had a bit of a delay in seating us and then didn't have enough menus to go around once they did.

The waitress recommended that we order tapas-style and share, but the portions are so small that they're really only practical for two people to share, not a whole table. The only dish big enough for multiple people to try was Amy's mushroom salad.

I was not impressed by the food, as I'm generally not by fusion cuisine. I thought my two dishes tasted overly sweet, and flavors were heavy-handed and muddled. It's like the food that was all the rage twenty years ago when chefs though it would be rad to put soy sauce, miso and wasabi in everything. With all the delicious, authentic and cheap Asian food available in the city, why bother with this junk?

The hunt for a good theatre district restaurant continues....

Grand Café de la Poste

Occasion: Big group dinner - the first wedding event
Location: Grand Café de la Poste, on the Place du 16 Novembre in the new part of town, Guéliz
Edibles: all sorts of stuff - more details below

Musings: They have quite the quirky menu at Café de la Poste. In my immediate vicinity at the table, there ended up being four different world cuisines represented, and the menu had at least two more.

In general, this kind of menu makes me nervous. It's tough on the kitchen in two ways: the staff have to learn to cook a ton of dishes, and they need to keep a lot of ingredients on hand (which in turn means that either their food costs are astronomical, or most of the stuff's frozen). For the customer, ordering is a crapshoot. There's always at least one cuisine the restaurant doesn't do very well - question is, which one?

Anthony and Michelle pronounced themselves "tagined-out" after their adventures in Fez and the Sahara before meeting up with the wedding party. Anthony ordered spaghetti Bolognese and Michelle ordered a steak. Anthony's pasta looked pretty mediocre. Michelle's steak was gigantic, but I didn't find it particularly appealing.

Winnie and Alice both ordered fish. I had a nibble of them, and both were fine. Not stunning or anything, but decent. I was really craving something fresh and crisp, so I ordered the salad with chicken and avocado. It was also fine, if a bit overloaded with chicken and light on the lettuce.

Imon was particularly adventurous and ordered a French dinner of escargots and seared steak tartare. Surprisingly enough, the escargots were done perfectly! Really buttery and tender. Hands down my favorite dish of the night. The steak tartare was well-seasoned, but I didn't like how the searing made the meat lukewarm. I like my tartare nice and chilled.

Café de la Poste has a nice space, but the menu could use some editing. If French is what they do best, they should stick with that and not faff around trying to be all things to all tourists.

Cafe Orlin

Occasion: Post-movie (Battle LA - absolutely execrable) brunch
Location: Cafe Orlin on St Marks between 1st and 2nd (cafeorlin.com)
Edibles: salmon omelet with dill, cream cheese, cucumber and red onions - came with salad, home fries and toast

Musings. In short - long wait; close quarters; exotic menu; great coffee.

My omelet had WAY too many onions, but it was fine after I removed them. In retrospect, I should have ordered something more adventurous. I'm sure there's something amazing on the menu that they don't serve anywhere else. Like maybe the Middle Eastern Eggs? The Tunisian Eggs? It's worth a few more exploratory visits.

[Side story: Josh brought me some layered marzipan squares from his favorite bakery. I gamely tried one, even though sweets like that aren't really my thing. I should probably have been more diplomatic - still, he seemed to take it pretty well when I told him I thought it tasted like toothpaste. Something like 30 seconds later, he had inhaled the three remaining pieces in the box - and those things were not small. It was very cute. I don't think I've ever met anyone who likes marzipan quite so much.]

Crooked Knife

Occasion: Welcoming Winnie back to NYC, and to the east side!
Location: Crooked Knife on 30th between Park and Madison (thecrookedknife.com)
Edibles: a burger for me; fish and chips for Winnie

Musings: A lackluster and expensive pub. The burger had plenty of meat, but was totally unseasoned. Just a hop and a skip away, Shake Shack is vastly superior.

Klee

Occasion: Dinner with Jill and Elizabeth
Location: Klee on 9th Ave between 22nd and 23rd (kleebrasserie.com)
Edibles: mini lobster rolls and the carbonara special for me; Elizabeth and Jill shared a cheese plate and the spätzle "mac and cheese"; Elizabeth also had the Alsatian pizza and Jill, pea soup

Musings: I'd give Klee a grade of B overall. In sum: nice atmosphere; hit and miss on the food; a bit pricey.

My mini lobster rolls were decent enough for the $9 price. Elizabeth and Jill did not have as much luck with their app, the mini pork buns. The filling was described as "pork confit" on the menu but was in actuality a slice of pork belly, 95% fat and 5% meat. Neither Elizabeth nor Jill found it remotely edible. Credit to the restaurant, they immediately took it back and off the bill.

Their replacement - the spätzle "mac and cheese" - was much better. Creamy and cheesy with tender homemade noodles, it was very indulgent and tasty, though pretty expensive at $15 for a medium-sized serving. My carbonara wasn't as good as the spätzle. It was a bit gloppy and had a strange and completely superfluous garnish of trout roe. I ordered the half portion and, for such a heavy dish, it was plenty.

I thought the little shot glasses of complimentary passionfruit punch at the end were a nice touch.

Mmmm... balsamic soy-glazed chicken

The second screening in our impromptu Cornball Film Festival - '80s classic Top Gun. Hosted by me, this evening called for a casual dinner to be eaten in front of the TV. (I don't have a dining room table, anyway). It's kind of a mutt menu in terms of international influences, but I think it went well together:

Balsamic Soy-Glazed Chicken
(a hybrid of the old Chinese recipe for Three Cups Chicken and Giada's Balsamic Chicken Drumettes)

12 chicken drumsticks (I cook almost exclusively with dark meat)
¾ cup soy sauce
¼ cup cooking wine
⅓ cup brown sugar and/or honey
1 tbsp sesame oil
10 whole peppercorns
1-2 cups water
⅓ cup good quality balsamic vinegar

[Notes: On the vinegar, know that when you're going to be reducing a liquid, it needs to be pretty good to start with. Otherwise, you'll just end up concentrating its bad qualities. Measurements on the braising liquid are approximate, as usual - tinker with it until it pleases you, is my method.]

Give the drumsticks a quick boil; discard the gunky cooking water. Remove the drumsticks to a nice, heavy-bottomed pot like my trusty yellow Le Creuset Dutch oven. Add the soy sauce, cooking wine, sesame oil, peppercorns and enough brown sugar or honey to give it a distinct sweetness (don't worry, it'll be countered by the balsamic later).

Pour in enough water to cover about two-thirds of the chicken. No need to go overboard, as the liquid will bubble up and cover a little more once you put the lid on, which you will be doing right about now. Plus, the more liquid you have, the more time you'll have to spend reducing it to a glaze later.

Simmer for a minimum of one hour, up to about three. You may want to jostle the chicken around once or twice to make sure everything's getting some quality time in the braising liquid.

When done, remove the chicken to a plate. Crank the burner and bring the braising liquid to a vigorous boil. Reduce until it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Add the balsamic vinegar slowly, tasting frequently. Adjust any other flavors as you see fit. Cook a little longer to give the balsamic a chance to socialize. Return the chicken to the pot and give it a careful toss in the glaze. (It's hot!)

At this point, you can put the whole thing in a 200° oven to keep warm. (Did I mention you can make it in advance?) Give it another toss before serving, which you can do in the pot if it's a nice one, or otherwise decanted onto a big, communal platter. If you have it, sprinkle on some fresh, chopped parsley or some toasted sesame seeds to garnish.

Couscous with Dried Apricots

Making couscous is literally as easy as boiling water. I jazz it up a bit by adding a big pat of butter and using half chicken stock, half water for the amount of liquid recommended on the box. I also browned some shallots and chopped up some dried apricots and threw them in for interest.

Roasted Peppers, Zucchini and Mushrooms

The same method you'd use for roasting any vegetable. I chose these three to do together because they're all similarly high in water content and cook quickly. Chop into approximately the same size, toss in oil, salt and pepper, throw on a baking sheet and it's done in about 15-20 min. at 375°.

Dinner is served! After the movie, we finished off with generous helpings of the brownies and ice-cream contributed by Kathy and Atticus, and the sour cream apple pie contributed by Gerald and Mike. Thanks to all for coming, and for leaving a flatteringly small amount of leftovers!

Favorite quote: "Son, your ego's writing checks your body can't cash."

Tapastree [closed]

Occasion: Dinner with high school buds Tania, Warren, Bib and Alfred
Location: Tapastree on Robson off Denman (tapastree.ca)
Edibles: buttermilk fried chicken with aioli; flatiron steak with gorgonzola sauce; chicken livers with tomatoes, brandy and black pepper; duck confit with cranberry compote; lamb chops; tomato bocconcini avocado salad; grilled asparagus; ahi tuna with ponzu and Chinese mustard; wild mushrooms with goat cheese on toast; sticky toffee pudding; crème brûlée

Musings: I've been coming here for ages. Ages. So long, in fact, that most of my Vancouver friends refer to it as "my" tapas place. (It was originally Sylvia's, and her ex Ollie's before her, but I've been the most devoted over the years.) Sadly, many of the dishes I loved best are no longer on the menu - I'm still mourning the loss of those amazing fried oysters - but the new offerings are wonderful too.

I think we ordered all of their meat dishes. My favorite was probably the fried chicken, with the steak and lamb running a close race for second.

The veggie dishes aren't slouches, though. The wild mushroom dish is a perennial favorite, and though I was outvoted on the Japanese eggplant this particular dinner, I usually get that as well. The asparagus we did order was decent, but I thought it was a tad overpriced at $9.

A shocking revelation did take place at the end of the meal, when the waitress came to take our dessert orders. It happened almost by accident. In the course of ordering our fancy coffees, we were (or at least I was) aghast to discover that the kitchen does not stock full fat milk!! Just 2%!!

Horrors.

Okay. First, how can you claim to offer a decent after-dinner coffee without full fat milk? Second - and more chilling - how do you make your crème brûlée?!?! (Which, despite its name, contains no cream. The custard is made with milk.) I understand not getting it through your bulk supplier but there's a Safeway just across the street - why not keep a few litres in the walk-in?

I calmed down a little after a generous dose of sticky toffee pudding. A little.

Dairy scandal aside, our varied and delicious meal, bottle of white, dessert, tip and tax came out to $45 a person. Karen and Josie, I'm looking forward to taking you guys here in February! I may bring my own milk.

El Viejo Almacén

Occasion: The dinner part of a tango show package
Location: El Viejo Almacén on the corner of Balcarce and Independencia in the San Telmo neighborhood of Buenos Aires (viejo-almacen.com.ar)
Edibles: I had the empanadas, followed by a fish dish and cake for dessert; Elizabeth had salad, ravioli and fruit salad

Musings: A COLOSSAL waste of time and money. I'm actually still angry that this is where we spent our last night in Buenos Aires. Grrrr. Hate.

If you find yourself in B.A. and feel that you simply must see a tango show*, please do NOT get the dinner package. You will be tempted to do so because of the awkward scheduling: the show starts at 10:00, around the same time Argentineans eat dinner. (Restaurants are generally still prepping for the start of service at 8:00.) But trust me, you will be able to find something better than the in-house prix fixe.

In quality and preparation, the food was about the level of airplane food, listless and perfunctory. Elizabeth succinctly described it as "disgusting." She picked at her salad, which featured an inexplicable selection of canned vegetables, and only ate three out of her five ravioli. My empanadas were mass-produced, microwaved travesties. Just criminal, consider the fantastic and reasonably-priced food otherwise available in the city.

The piss-poor wine that they served (included in the prix fixe) was so cheap that they were willing to open two bottles for us, white for me, red for Elizabeth. At $50 a head, you'd think they could spring for some decent local wine - for example, on our wine tour we tasted an excellent sauvignon blanc that we were told retailed for under $4 a bottle.

Bottom line: Blechh.

[*Note: The tango show itself - another $50 per person - was amateurish and cheesy. The dancers barely had space to move around on the tiny stage and the show contained about a 3:1 ratio of filler to actual dancing. What a racket.]

El Drugstore

Occasion: Lunch in Colónia del Sacramento
Location: El Drugstore, just off the Plaza de Armas in Colónia, Uruguay
Edibles: I had garlic shrimp and a ham-and-cheese omelet; Elizabeth had the chicken breast with roasted pumpkin

Musings: Led astray by another bad recommendation. Now, I don't take restaurant recs from just anyone, but the guy who suggested this place to us seemed to have solid credentials: 1) he lived in Tribeca for a few years; 2) he now lives in San Diego; and 3) we met him at Casa Felix. When he learned about our upcoming daytrip, he warned us about the 1-hour time difference between Buenos Aires and Colónia, which caused him and his friend to miss the ferry. They spent the majority of their 3-hour wait for the next ferry at El Drugstore. "The name is cheesy," he said, "but the food is great."

What I'd like to know is, what did this guy order?

My overall impression was of tourist trap mediocrity. The food took forever to come. When it did, my shrimp had charred bits, but strangely so - as if the pan hadn't been washed in ages, or the chef burned the garlic REALLY badly and then threw the shrimp in anyway. Elizabeth's chicken was pretty average and the pumpkin was cold and under-seasoned. The omelet was the best of the three items; it was monstrously huge and stuffed full of ham and cheese. Between the two of us, Elizabeth and I only finished about half. (I was very tempted to give the rest to a very cute and earnest-looking stray dog that was hanging around.)

Colónia seemed pretty touristy in its entirety so I don't know that the other choices were much better. But if you find yourself there, try your luck somewhere else; this place is a definite loser in my book.

La Biela

Occasion: Lunch in the Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires
Location: La Biela on Avenida Presidente Manuel Quintana, at the large intersection in front of La Recoleta Cemetary
Edibles: I had the tuna salad; Elizabeth had a turkey and roasted red pepper sandwich

Musing: The "Tourist Central" location should have tipped us off, but we tried it on a friend's recommendation. The service in the outdoor area was a chaotic mess. At the same time, this place can't be making much money since everyone around us seemed to be just drinking coffee. (Another tip-off, now that I think about it.)

Elizabeth's sandwich looked pretty rudimentary. My tuna salad was sort of reminiscent of a Niçoise, with tuna, tomatoes, potatoes, a hard-boiled egg and (way too much) raw onion. It was sizeable and filling but nothing to write home about, and pretty expensive. Oh yeah, and the food costs more when you sit outside - the first time I've ever encountered this in all my travels.

If you desperately need a place to rest your feet, and maybe people-watch a little, take a hint from the majority and stick to coffee.

Martha Stewart Living Cookbook Vols I and II

Martha Stewart Living Cookbook Vol I: The Original Classics
Martha Stewart Living Cookbook Vol II: The New Classics

My review: 4.5/5 stars

These are my other stalwart cookbooks. I picked them up used at The Strand a few years ago. I paid something like $12 apiece, and they've since proven themselves invaluable. Say what you will about her morals or her personality, Martha Stewart know how to cook and she runs a tight ship at MSL. I'm sure their test kitchens rival DuPont's labs for method and precision. And while my own cooking style might generously be labeled "freestyle," I appreciate that level of attention to detail.

The very thorough and descriptive indexes are a large part of the reason these two books make such excellent reference sources. Use the index in the second (blue) volume; it cross-references all of the recipes in the first.

How to Cook Everything

How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food

by Mark Bittman

My review:  4/5 stars

First recommended to me by Elan. Since learning about it, I've spied its bright yellow spine on lots of my friends' bookshelves. When I was in Chicago and Karen was wondering what ratio of water-to-lentils to use, this was the book she reached for. When I was contemplating lobster stock, this was one of the two books I consulted (don't let my failure with that one deter you).

It's a great cookbook for everyone. If you've just mastered toast and canned soup, the recipes and instructions are straightforward and easy to follow. Even if you know what's what in the kitchen, you'll still find it a handy reference. I docked it the one star for not having any photographs.

Thanks for the hardcover upgrade, Ben!

The Manor

Occasion: Kathy and Atticus get hitched!!
Location: The Manor on Prospect Ave in West Orange, NJ
Edibles: the invitation said "feasting" and they weren't kidding....

Cold buffet: sushi; bruschetta; shrimp cocktail; raw oysters; caprese salad; smoked salmon; tortellini salad; marinated mushrooms; crudités; seafood salad

Hot buffet: paella; veal marsala; chicken in champagne mustard sauce; fried calamari; shrimp and scallop Newburg; eggplant rollatini; baked ziti; tortellini alfredo; carving station with beef tenderloin and roast turkey breast

Kathy insisted that they keep the buffet open all the way to the end of the event. Just in case someone wanted a snack after their lunch. (This kind of attitude is why we're such good friends.) So we guests enjoyed this spread for five hours.... and then dessert came:

Then coconut wedding cake showed up:

It was a sore trial for the ladies, many of whom were wearing form-fitting dresses. And I'm sure I wasn't the only one who succumbed to a food coma on the ride home.

Kathy and Atticus - may your marriage be as full of variety, flavor and luxury as your buffet!

Studio Square

Occasion: Beer garden revelry with Yining's friends
Location: Studio Square on 36th St near 36th Ave in Astoria (studiosquarenyc.com)
Edibles: a few pilfered fries [and two donuts (glazed and old-fashioned) from Dunkin' Donuts, conveniently across the street]

Musings: Sept. 19 - not done yet! This day just might be one for the history books. A meander-and-graze through Flushing, followed by an al fresco lobster feast at sunset, followed by donuts and beer? Doesn't get much better than that.

The beer garden area of Studio Square is huge, and bar is pretty slick and modern compared to the others I've been to. The crowd looked pretty innocuous when we got there but seemed to get a lot younger on average as the night wore on - the number of meathead guys and hoochie women increased exponentially after about 11:00.

Pitchers are $18 and there's a selection of about 20, foreigns and domestics. We drank a lot of the seasonal Oktoberfest offerings (by Sam Adams, Spaten, Hofbräu) and some Blue Moon. They appeared to serve a decent sausage but I was too full to try to bum a taste. For some strange reason, sushi was also on the menu. One of Yining's more reckless friends ordered some and deemed it so-so but edible.

Oh, and one more thing. The bathrooms are all self-contained stalls. While there's nominally one side for ladies and one for men, the attendant will call ladies over to the men's side when their line gets long. Equality in waiting for bathrooms - I like it!

Public

Occasion: Pre-shopping brunch with Abby
Location: Public on Elizabeth between Prince and Spring (public-nyc.com)
Edibles: the fry-up for both of us - eggs (scrambled for me, poached for Abby) on sourdough toast, tomatoes, mushrooms, and bacon for me

Musings: Lovely space. A lot of thought and effort (and money) obviously went into the décor, so I thought I'd spend a little time on it. The theme of the place is "public spaces," including the library....

....the post office....

....valet parking, etc. Pretty cool.

As I was starving at the time, I was a little miffed that they charge for bread. $3.50 for a muffin or scone! On principle, I didn't get anything.

The brunch menu was very eclectic, with such dishes as Turkish eggs (served poached, on Greek yogurt), boudin noir sandwich and venison burger. We both ended up getting one of the more mundane items, the fry-up. I thought it provided decent value at $11 ($13 for mine with the bacon). I'm not usually one to advocate non-functional garnishes, but I thought the plate needed a little chopped parsley or something to bring the separate elements together. (For a place that puts such a high premium on décor, you'd think they'd have fancier platings.)

I'd like to try dinner here sometime.

[Note: Dress shopping for Abby for Karen's wedding was successful! I also talked her into a pair of kicky beige patent ankle boots.]

Follow Me Caffe

Occasion: Dinner with Kathy and Atticus
Location: Follow Me Caffe on 62nd between 3rd and Lex
Edibles: smoked salmon, goat cheese and cucumber sandwich; Kathy had the salad with cumin scallops; Atticus had the spinach-and-cheese crêpe; we all shared the hot fudge brownie with vanilla gelato for dessert

Musings: A cute, tiny place tucked away on a quiet street. By tiny, I mean that the restaurant is literally about 10 feet across and 30 feet deep. But so cute! Perfect for brunch.

My sandwich was a nice, light summer dinner. Atticus' crêpe looked workmanlike. It was Kathy's scallops, though, that had me drooling surreptitiously. I am definitely getting that salad next time. Thanks to Kathy and Atticus for introducing me to this UES gem.

Blue Fin

Occasion: Lunch with Nellie
Location: Blue Fin on B'way at 47th (brguestrestaurants.com/restaurants/blue_fin/index.php)
Edibles: tomato and fresh mozzarella salad; soft-shell crab BLT with sweet potato fries; almond cake with stewed plums; Nellie had watermelon gazpacho, the BLT and a white chocolate cremeux with fresh berries

Musings: The Restaurant Week 3-course prix fixe offers great value at $24. You just have to resist all the add-ons they push, the bottled water, wine and cocktails, coffee, etc. I was very pleasantly surprised by how refined and delicious the food was, given the neighborhood.

The salad starter was good. A little stingy with the mozzarella, perhaps, but the basil aioli dressing was fantastic. I tasted Nellie's gazpacho as well, and found it cleverly seasoned - it was distinctly a savory dish but didn't taste salty.

We both agreed that the open-faced BLT was a home run! The battered and deep-fried soft-shell was crispy, but still meaty and succulent. Three strips of perfect bacon, a fat slice of tomato, a few leaves of butter lettuce and sweet garlic sauce. And don't even get me started on the sweet potato fries on the side. Perfection. (I couldn't bear to leave any on my plate even though I was full, so I smuggled the leftover fries into my purse and ate them later that afternoon. Even cold, they were yummy.)

The desserts were beautifully made and presented. The fruits provided a nice acidity to balance the sweetness of the main component. A graceful finish to a wonderful meal.