JennyUptown

A year or two ago, I found myself in one of those corn mazes in Maryland. It wasn't my choice - the friend whose birthday it was thought it would be very, very fun. After a sunset picnic dinner eaten near the smelliest turkey farm ever, we advanced to the maze. A kindly older woman explained the concept to us: Two mazes (she didn't know if they interlocked or not) Various checkpoints where you could punch your little card to show you've been through the maze The problem? We weren't given a map of any sort so we couldn't make it a start-finish race. We also weren't sure where (or how numerous) the checkpoints were. You could be in there for ages without knowing if you were done. We quickly decided as a group "what's the point?" So what's my point? The point of this oddball post is that I'm really not sure what the point of this dining guide is. Organized as it is - 52 restaurants, one for each week of the year - shouldn't these be the 52 best and brightest, not "oh, we need a Cuban spot so here's a place with one star"?

I am heading to Firefly with some girlfriends tonight. Can't wait! Has the fall menu been implemented? The lovely new web site has the summer menu. I'd be happy to eat from that - "just feed me" is my present philosophy.

You really want company, huh?

I'll be drinking my pain away with a friend or three at Firefly tomorrow night. Not that I'm looking forward to it or anything. I need a drink. Many in fact.

Last week I had dinner at Indique and although I had previously said hello to Chef Vinod, this time I had a proper introduction to him - what a lovely, warm man! We had a very enjoyable discussion of Indian food and Chef Vinod encouraged my friend and me to try some menu offerings beyond our old favorites. During our dinner we enjoyed some dishes similar to what I think was served at Monica's Indian "street foods" event including bhel puri (rice puffs and crisp gram flour noodles tossed with cilantro and tamarind chutney) and chaat papri (flour crisps, potatoes, chic peas mixed with yogurt, cilantro and tamarind chutney). The food was delicious, but what I appreciated most was the time we spent with Indique's warm and wonderful host.

Yesterday. Casual lunch with a client. Mini-burgers. Perfection. These burgers were a return to the ones of old. Cooked to medium/medium-rare, a touch of salt, mustard offered without my requesting it. What a relief.

I'm glad you said it (so I didn't have to - though I agree!!).

I feel for you with a picky eater in the house...that was me, but to a lesser extent because my parents aren't all that adventurous.

Tom's commentary re: Belga Cafe.

Nothing says 'I love you' like seeing your loved one upchuck...and not feeling a desire to run away. Did I ever tell you the PLM head injury story??? It's a real laugher.

I have dropped a gazillion hints that I'd be overjoyed to receive the Bacon of the Month gift. <<swinging pocket watch is in front of your eyes>> <<concentrate>> <<my birthday is Saturday>> <<you want me to have the pork products>>

Indique's updated web site features beautiful photographs of select dishes. Just thought you'd want to see!

Hear-hear! Permablogger, Perennial blogger...I'm in favor. We need a blog-only area for those, like torakris's, that should keep going and going and going.

Has anyone been to Pure this fall? I noticed Sarma hasn't visited for awhile so I was curious to know what's up with the menu.

Be sure and give us a full post-mortem! It doesn't look like any of the NY regulars have been to City Hall recently.

Which Jaleo did you check out?

I had such a bad sandwich today - my own fault so I don't even know why I'm posting about it. Reading about all of these other sandwiches, real, imagined, mythic, etc., makes me very, very jealous right now. My mistake? Sliced Koo Koo Roo chicken at the Dupont Fuddruckers. Yikes. It was cold, my friend was stupidly wearing shorts and we were desperate for something to eat. Even Cosi a block north would have been a better choice (soup and coffee). Blech. Badness.

After having dinner at Al Tiramisu this past weekend, it's pretty clear why it's not the darling of eGullet. The dining room is kind of outdated. The wine list is average, not Wine Spectator material. And - horrors! - there's no fois gras anywhere on the menu. But do you know what? My family group and I had such a pleasant meal there on Saturday that my parents are still talking about it. Faux Veg joined us as PLM is out of town for work for the foreseeable future (blah, whatever - who wants to be my birthday boyfriend in his absence?). I was the only wine drinker in the bunch that night - I had two glasses of a Chianti Classico whose name has been wiped out by my now-advancing age. The others stuck with cocktails. The food was very enjoyable. Not groundbreaking, but tasty and the portions were just right. For starters, Faux Veg and I shared a pasta, the agnolotti ripieni di ricotta e spinaci, burro e salvia ($15.90). So good. These were a big hit. The shared portion came to four good sized dumplings each. My mother had asparagus in a viniagrette dressing ($8.50) - it must have been great, because she didn't offer to share. Dad had pasta e fagioli alla toscana ($9.90 - but worth it); unlike Mom, he was generous. I took advantage except when he offered me the last delicious spoonful. That would be too greedy. But damn, that was good, thick, hearty fall soup. I ordered rack of lamb from the specials menu (which I hear are more expensive than the rest of the menu; I didn't see the bill so I don't know the damage). Lots of fresh rosemary flavor, tender meat cooked to medium, as requested. Served with roasted potatoes and fresh veggies. Again, very good. Faux Veg ordered a dish that I thought would be boring - grilled sliced chicken with rosemary sauce ($18.90) - but it ended up being one of the tastier birds I've eaten. Mom had filet mignon (yes, I know) with aleatico wine reduction ($18.90). Worse, she ordered it well-done. She didn't offer a taste which didn't disappoint me one bit. Dad stayed on the healthy tip and ordered a simply prepared red snapper, grilled with lemon and olive oil. Another special thus I can't quote a price, but the plate was clean at the end - he loved it. We sampled four desserts. The favorite was the chocolate salami with vanilla ice cream. The description isn't online so I'm working from memory here - chocolate ganache formed around chunks of ladyfingers and hazelnut and sliced. Rich and delicious, it's the dessert I would order upon return. My dessert was ok, a chocolate creme caramel. Not a favorite, but ok. Dad had mango and blood orange sorbet (poor guy with me, the food police around) which he devoured. Faux Veg indulged in the poached pear in red wine - I tasted and it proved to be a worthy selection. My parents are kind of picky and easily scared by "strange" menus so this recap might be wasted on a lot of you, my more adventurous compadres, but Al Tiramisu really was pretty perfect for this celebratory evening.

I went there a very long time ago (2000?) for dinner and it was an impressive setting, good steaks. Not Luger or anything, but nice. Curious: of all the restaurants in NYC, how'd you pick it?

Pity me. Since I sold my car about a week and a half ago, and haven't yet gotten the new one, I'm stuck with the crapola Giant at Connecticut and Veazey, or getting rides to Whole Paycheck from FauxVeg (fortunately she's not sick of chauffering me...yet). Yesterday I got fresh produce for the first time all week. I owe her big.

Awesome, Eunny (and Jeff)!

How sweet! Eunny Jang's wishes, not the flash mob idea (which would have been funny in that dark little restaurant). <<home with a pounding head>>

At Firefly? Do tell. My approximate schedule is lunch today at Paolo's followed by dinner at Al Tiramisu. Reservation on Thursday for Firefly. Nectar on the 20th.

DC would be good for a sports day right now - sunny, warm and gorgeous! At my school, it was called "Field Day." I competed at the side hop, and the standing long jump. Those events were the extent of my, uh, athletic career.

Click here for a previous discussion of what's open on Sunday. Maybe something in there will strike your fancy.