Markt

Occasion: Brunch with Abby, Elizabeth, Jill and Katie
Location: Markt on 6th and 21st (marktrestaurant.com)
Edibles: croque-monsieur with a side of bacon

Musing: Yeah, don't get the croque-monsieur here. Their version is thin, dry and Béchamel sauce-less. On the bright side, it was surprisingly uncrowded for a weekend and they made the best coffee I've had in ages. (French press, in case you're wondering. Only $3.) Also, they only charged a moderately exorbitant $4 for a side of bacon.

I'd try it again - I'm sure there's something on this menu I'd like, though it for sure wasn't what I ordered today. Maybe the Benedict. The pain perdu that Abby had looked promising as well.

BXL East

Occasion: Another Tax Day under our belts! This clearly calls for beer....
Location: BXL on 51st between 2nd and 3rd (bxlcafe.com) [Note: There's another one on the west side on 43rd]
Edibles: moules à la Grand Mère (mussels with cream, onions and bacon)

Musings: With our tax returns zipping their way to the guvmint electronically, and our third annual Tax Day an official success, Yining and I headed out for some celebratory beer. Sadly, as we feared, Hofbrau Bierhaus has been completely overrun by obnoxious frat boys. We slunk out to find quieter environs.

We found BXL pleasantly deserted. Because we're suckers for a cute logo, I started with a Delerium and Yining, with La Chouffe. Man, those Belgian beers are strong! Halfway through my second Delerium, I decided that we needed some food or I'd be asleep in an hour. And, of course, nothing goes better with Belgian beer than moules frites.

The mussels were fantastic. I don't think I've ever had a cream-based mussel broth before, but it's AWESOME. (The bacon probably helped.) I was flat-out drinking it with a spoon towards the end. It's also great to dip your bread into, if you're not as willing as I am to be uncouth in public. Yum!

Le Grainne Cafe

Occasion: Brunch with Morgan (former Death Star co-worker)

Location: Le Grainne Cafe on 21st and 9th (legrainnecafe.com)
Edibles: I had the croque-madame; Morgan had some poached eggs with a side of fruit salad

Musings: I often find myself meeting people in Chelsea; for my UWS-dwelling friends, it's a nice locational compromise. (Just one direction of travel for each of us - south for them and west for me.) But I'm usually hard-pressed to suggest a place to eat, other than Tia Pol. So Le Grainne is a nice discovery. The brunch was casual and cosy, with solid, comforting food at a decent price. I'd guess they serve a decent dinner too.

Morgan, great catching up! Don't be a stranger.

[Postscript: Went to Billy's after for some yummy baked goods - it's conveniently right across the street.]

Shanghai Expo 2010 - France

French food can be incredibly fussy and artistic, or it can be good, hearty peasant food. I love both for what they are. The restaurant in the French Pavilion featured neither, instead taking a middle-of-the-road approach with the sort of food you'd expect at a nice wedding, or on a business class flight (trust me, I'm not fancy - Cathay occasionally bumps me up on crowded flights).

I had the shrimp starter....

....the steak main....

... and the peach cobbler dessert.

Does that look like a French dinner to you?

Expo Wrap-up: It's a pity we ended up spending so much time in the European pavilions. New York boasts stunning representatives of all the national cuisines we sampled, and I've traveled to most of the countries to boot. The timid, indifferent efforts on display at the pavilions couldn't hope to compare.

Nonetheless, it was fun to wander around the grounds and gawk at the fanciful architecture of the various pavilions. It was also nice to see so many people gathered together to broaden their cultural horizons. Heartfelt thanks go out to the Lee family and entourage for their incredible organization and hospitality.

Fig & Olive

Occasion: Post-ballet (Don Quixote) with Brigid
Location: Fig & Olive on Lex between 62nd and 63rd (figandolive.com) [Note: two other Manhattan locations]
Edibles: I had the crostini trio (crab with lemon cilantro mayo; salmon and ricotta; bell pepper and goat cheese) and the beef carpaccio; Brigid had the tuna carpaccio and a side of sautéed spinach

Musings: The salmon crostini was bland and oddly slimy. The roasted pepper and goat cheese one was nice, but the crab one was SUPERB - I wish I'd just gotten three of those. The carpaccio was tasty but very insubstantial, sort of like the illusion of eating beef.

Good eats and conveniently cross-town from Lincoln Center, though the kitchen closes too early for it to be a good after-theatre place. We barely squeaked in after an average-length ballet with a 7:30 curtain. No way you'd make it after an 8:00 opera.

La Belle Vie

Occasion: Family dinner
Location: La Belle Vie on Groveland Ave in Minneapolis (labellevie.us)
Edibles: five-course tasting menu - gougères and a tuna amuse bouche to kick off; scallop crudo with fennel; skate with an artichoke ravioli; poussin with fava beans and ramps; a Mediterranean-y lamb dish; mascarpone cake with rhubarb compote for dessert, and petit fours

Musings: Tasty, but another restaurant for the anorexic model in your life. The portions were teeny tiny - I've never before, for example, been served a single poussin breast. There was between two and three bites of every protein. At $65 dollars a head, they really should be more generous with their serving sizes.

Dining room was a bit stiff and formal, the sort of place you might take your grandmother for a special occasion. The bar / lounge looked a little livelier, but only works for smaller parties. As I said, the food was good and certainly elegantly prepared but I was disappointed with the overall experience.

Veritas

Occasion: Pre-movie (Alice in Wonderland) dinner with James
Location: Veritas on 20th between B'way and Park Ave S (veritas-nyc.com)
Edibles: so many yummy things - described in detail below

Musings: Been on my To Do list for ages, and it did not disappoint. Dinner here is an Event.

The wine list, the restaurant's proudest achievement, is a daunting volume filled with hundreds of choices. It was mostly wasted on me. I was very happy to abdicate the choice of wine to James, and found our bottle of medium-bodied red tasty enough.

The food... now that, I did appreciate.

Amuse bouche: An artistically-presented trio of crab wrapped in cucumber with mango sauce, cucumber cream with shrimp and mango, and cucumber sorbet. Dainty and delicious, though obviously designed for warmer weather than we had that dreary day. I guess the chef is longing for spring just like the rest of us!

Appetizer: On the waiter's recommendation, I made a last minute switch from the scallop salad to the lobster nage. (Thanks to him for the great advice!) The lobster sauce was so incredibly rich and savory - like the essence of a thousand lobsters distilled into a few spoonfuls of liquid bliss. Fantastic! James was kind enough to share one of his crispy frog legs with me. I was as happy to eat it as I usually am to eat things that are deep-fried, but I thought the flavor of the meat got lost in the crunch and the oiliness.

Main: The veal chop, medium rare. It's a Flintstonian-looking chop, but thankfully carved down to a few perfectly pink slices for each of us. The meat was so unbelievably tender that it actually creased where one slice lay against another. Best veal I've ever had, full stop. On the side was a whimiscal truffled pastina.

Pre-dessert: a tiny rhubarb tart and a diminutive strawberry shortcake

Dessert: A slightly weaker course. I had the honey tangerine panna cotta. The flavor was good but the panna cotta was tough from too much gelatin, and the tuile cookie tasted stale. Maybe the cheese plate would have been a better choice.

All in all, I was very impressed. The chef demonstrated real mastery of his craft.

JoJo

Occasion: Brunch with Sylvia
Location: JoJo on 64th between 3rd and Lex (jean-georges.com)
Edibles: 3-course prix fixe - butternut squash soup with trumpet mushrooms and chives, salmon with truffled mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts, and molten chocolate cake for me; Sylvia had the same, except tuna tartare for her first course

Musings: The hidden gem of Jean-Georges' empire. (I find the food at Jean-Georges' eponymous restaurant, the one just off Columbus Circle, to be too gimicky and fussy.) JoJo has a nice cozy space, elegant food, very reasonable prices, and you can always get a reservation.

I usually get the crab for my first course, but this cold winter afternoon I just couldn't pass up the butternut squash soup. It was perfect - piping hot, velvety and rich (though I barely tasted any cream), with a bit of texture from the mushroom. For the second course, I find their chicken to be a bit olive-heavy; the salmon is my go-to. They source some nice fish so you can get it cooked rare.

I believe the pure bliss of an expertly crafted molten chocolate cake needs no further elaboration.

[Note: I had gone to Carnegie Hall with Amy the night before to see him, and was stunned when Yo-Yo Ma turned up at the restaurant and sat down at the table behind us. He was very nice and gracious when I stopped him on his way out, even though he was obviously in a hurry and loath to attract attention. Luckily, I still had the playbill in my purse - which he autographed!]

Le Crocodile

Occasion: Celebratory dinner with the family, for my upcoming birthday and my brother's stellar LSAT score (congrats, kid!)
Location: Le Crocodile on Burrard at Smithe (lecrocodilerestaurant.com)
Edibles: I had three apps for my meal - foie gras terrine with toast points, a crabcake, and salmon three ways ("west coast" style, smoked, tartare), with tiramisu and a latte to finish; my sister had the halibut with beurre blanc sauce and linguine (no app); my brother started with the steak tartare and had the same halibut main; my mom started with the salmon trio, followed by escargots, followed by a prawn and scallop dish with angelhair pasta; my dad had half a dozen raw Kusshi oysters and a duck main course

Musings: The best French restaurant I know in Vancouver. The interior is small and intimate, with rich but understated colors. The waitstaff tends to be comprised of the career type; they are uniformly calm and capable. The food is high quality and incredibly consistent. And yet... it's rare that I have a completely satisfying experience here (which I demand at this price point).

For example, my dad still hasn't forgiven them the time they charged him twice the corkage fee quoted over the phone. That night, he gritted his teeth and shelled out $80 for the two bottles we brought, prevented from arguing with the manager by the presence of guests. I think my dad needs to get over it, but I also think that if a restaurant employee tell a customer something by mistake over the phone, the restaurant should honor the original statement, if only as a one-time exception.

For tonight, I e-mailed for a reservation at 7:00. They returned with a confirmation for 6:30. When we walked into the restaurant, it was more than half empty. If so, why not just give people the reservation they want? Le Crocodile does good business, but I doubt they turn every single table on a weeknight.

I ordered a cocktail, and my martini filled half the glass, no exaggeration. For looks alone, either mix a more generous drink or use a smaller glass. It also tasted terrible.

My mood definitely improved when the food started arriving. The foie terrine and crabcake are two old favorites, and they tasted as good as the first time I had them years ago. (The terrine really should be shared; it's a huge slab too rich for one person to finish, even by my greedy standards.) I also enjoyed my salmon trio, though I found the west coast one to be too sweet. I had a nibble of my brother's boldly seasoned tartare and one of my mom's buttery, garlicky escargots - both yummy.

The food at Le Crocodile is plated old-school; it's all very precise, ornate, sauced and garnished up the wazoo. The culmination was my dessert - a tiramisu painstakingly built in a chocolate demitasse cup, complete with tuile spoon.

It's nice for a special occasion but, for me, Le Crocodile just misses the mark for being a true top-flight restaurant.

Resto

Occasion: Dinner with Ben
Location: Resto on 29th between Park and Lex (restonyc.com)
Edibles: frites with lime pickle sauce and smoked paprika sauce; tête de cochon sandwich with sriracha and pickled onions and carrots; lamb belly ribs for me; veal belly for Ben; waffle ice-cream sandwich for dessert

Musings: In my neighborhood, finding a nice bar is no mean feat. The blocks near me are cluttered with insufferable places like Merc Bar, Tonic and Joshua Tree, usually packed to the rafters with fratboy douchebags.

Resto is a much appreciated oasis. Like Back Forty, it's dim and casual, bustling but not too crowded or noisy, and patronized by adults. Ben and I lingered long after we were done with our food and drink, and the staff couldn't have been nicer about it.

I've always wanted to try the tête de cochon or pig's head. Ben, never one to turn down a culinary curiosity, was all for it. The sandwich that arrived was a bit of a surprise, but a yummy one. It was meaty and spicy, with a nice bite from the pickled vegetables. Sort of reminded me of abánh mi.

Whoever was manning the grill did a great job with the lamb ribs. They had a gorgeous, fragrant crust on them, and had more meat than I expected. My one quibble was that they were pretty fatty. Ben's veal belly was also really fatty, but I guess that what you get for ordering the cuts we did.

The waffle had a bit of a funny aftertaste, like undissolved baking powder or something. Once I slathered it with vanilla ice-cream, it was hardly noticeable. The few kitchen missteps aside, it was a fun evening. Ben, it was great catching up and I look forward to seeing your new place!

Ivo & Lulu

Occasion: Date #2 with Boy
Location: Ivo & Lulu on Broome between Varick and 6th Ave
Edibles: cilantro baked shrimp, followed by the chicken for me; the roasted pear with blue cheese app, followed by the duck confit for Boy

Musings: I wanted to like Ivo & Lulu, I really did. It's the kind of quirky, hole-in-the-wall restaurant I want to open myself one day. The menu is short and sweet, giving the miniscule kitchen a fighting chance. The prices are right - mains are $14 to $16. BYOB helps keep the bill down, too. They have the fundamentals right - it just needs a few tweaks.

First of all, they need to remove a couple of the tables along the wall. They have about ten tables right up against each other, and the only way to get in and out is to pull the entire thing out, disturbing both neighboring tables in the process. If they had just a little space between them - I'm talking five or six inches - you could slide your table over against the next one to make room to get out.

The baked shrimp smelled DIVINE when it arrived at the table next to us (and by "next to us," I mean "this woman was sitting closer to me than my date"). I'm a fiend for cilantro and it's hard to make a dish with copious amounts of it that I won't like. This one? They over-baked it and the cilantro became a bitter, brownish mush. A great idea for a dish; it just needed to be properly executed.

Boy's app was a bit heavy-handed. Pears and blue cheese are a classic pairing but I thought the pears came out too sweet and the blue they chose was too pungent for an app. It almost would have made a better dessert.

The sauce on my chicken was creamy and delicious; the chicken itself was dry. And so on.

A lot of potential. If they fully realized it, Ivo & Lulu would be great.

Julie & Julia

Directed by Nora Ephron

Starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams

My review: 2½ / 5 stars

I wasn't crazy about the book, but thought the leading ladies were worth going to see. I went into this movie with extremely low expectations; consequently, it was better than I expected. Meryl Streep's Julia Child is pretty convincing. On the flip side, the Julie character is sort of a hateful wench and even Amy Adams' natural charm couldn't overcome it.

If you like food porn, this movie will disappoint you. (Eat Drink Man Woman - now there's a movie that will make you drool.) As with the book, there's just not enough about the food.

Which leads me to what I think is the movie's biggest problem (ditto the book): Julie doesn't see herself as a cook, she sees herself as a writer. She doesn't care nearly as much about the food as she does about her blog. Here, the interests of the creator and the audience diverge. Seeing someone cook onscreen can be interesting; seeing someone write onscreen is decidedly not.

Julie & Julia

Man, they are advertising this movie up the wazoo! Since it's topical, I thought I'd paste in my Goodreads book review from last year:

Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen
by Julie Powell

My review: 3/5 stars

Not enough about the food - Powell really only describes making about 25 of the 500+ recipes she refers to in the title. Granted, she didn't start out as a very good cook but she seemed to have a lot of difficulty with the simplest of tasks. As I recall, not one person in my culinary school class had problems making mayonnaise by hand, even the first time around. Powell doesn't master mayonnaise until almost the very end, but somehow managed to de-bone a duck easily on her first try. I'm not sure how that works.

Powell notes that she wrote a blog during the year of cooking (the book came after) and it really shows. Lots of minutiae about her everyday life, her marriage, her crappy New York apartment, etc. She comes across as a Bridget Jones-type, by turns adorably inept and inexplicably insane.

My two favorite passages are below:

"If I had thought the beef marrow might be a hell of a lot of work for not much difference, I needn’t have worried. The taste of the marrow is rich, meaty, intense in a nearly-too-much way. In my increasingly depraved state, I could think of nothing at first but that it tasted like really good sex. But there was something more than that, even. What it really tastes like is life, well lived. Of course the cow I got marrow from had a fairly crappy life – lots of crowds and overmedication and bland food that might or might not have been a relative. But deep in his or her bones, there was a capacity for feral joy. I could taste it."

"I baked David Strathairn absurdly complicated pecan-cornmeal cookies… I can’t imagine anyone - a few of the more repressive Islamic societies aside - who would consider baking an act of adultery. Still, for Eric, knowing what he knew of my proclivities, watching me roll out thin layers of cornmeal dough, sprinkle them with chopped pecans, cinnamon, and melted butter, then lay another layer of dough on top, and repeat over and over with infinite patience, must have been a little bit like noticing I’d gotten a bikini wax and a tight red dress the day before leaving for some business convention in Dallas. He didn’t do anything but roll his eyes and grumble with careful good humor, but he knew what I was doing."