Liza

Only a tropical fruit salad with pineapple sorbet. I really liked the presentation: each fruit (mango, pineapple, kiwi, papaya) was diced into the same size, and plated in a ring mold. Topped with the sorbet, it was a lovely ending. The dessert menu had changed as well, by the way, to reflect the spring season with two rhubarb offerings.

Just a few weeks after lunch there with Steve Klc, I ventured back to find a new menu loaded with morels and asparagus - oh my! I had the asparagus and morel tart (more like a mini-pie, Jinmyo!). Very thin and crisp pastry shell, with bright green asparagus puree, dotted with whole morels. Garnished with thinner-than-thin asparagus tips. Interesting note to the plating thread, my round tart was served on a square plate. One friend had the scallop ceviche Basque-style, the other had a salad of asparagus with fresh crab and mustard sauce. Then, a morel and asparagus risotto with sauce a L'Americaine. Plated with risotto in middle with morels and 'gus, and sauce foamed around the edge. The sauce provided an antidote to the sheer creaminess of the risotto, and the orange color brightened the plate as well. Other two entrees were fresh pasta with fava beans, roasted tomatoes and lobster, garnished with tiny chervil leaves. Dressed to perfection, and the tomatoes were bursting as if they were picked in August. And some scallop dish that I can't really recall but that was demolished happily. We were all floored by the clarity and yet complexity of each dish. Every note was heard separately, yet played together as well.

Stellabella, it's totally plotz-worthy. AND there's a built-in kitty litter box.

We got round to trying the Ducasse method of roast chicken, in which you brown the chicken first. Delicious. With fresh roasted asparagus and a puree of sauteed spinach, bok choy, a little bit of sausage and garlic.

OK, sorry, too, but Ellington is too important to let go. Yes, early Ellington. Isn't early-anyone better than late-anyone? Now, wait, that's wrong. Early Sinatra, early Bennett, early Clooney - ok, vocalists improve with age. And though most dismiss late Billie, I am a staunch defender of her last record, as her version of "I didn't know what time it was" is "our" song with D.. And when you think classical, the inverse holds...Amazing what a musical-minded parent can impart - we like to do side-by-side comparisons, listening to the same piece of music conducted by different people.

I so often mis-remember the "NO wire hangers" scene in "Mommie Dearest" as "NO paper napkins".

And there I thought it was just me and Erich von Stroheim! I inherited my aural fixation from my father, who was thrice broke his wrist playing volleyball, and was often seen holding said wrist aloft, (whilst driving, mind you) conducting Beethoven or Ellington.

D. has a preference for three-tined forks and we're having a devil of a time finding a set we like. Or more accurately, finding a set at all. Is there a rule about 3 or 4 tined forks that I've missed?

Jinmyo - lamb stock can add a certain gaminess to a dish that regular beef stock can't. I relate a lot of foods to sounds and lamb stock has more defined bottom notes than beef. EDIT: but as for dinner parties, well! What's growing where you are, Karen?

Yes, please!

We use big white dishes, but lately I've been serving some things on a piece of black glass. It's frightening to think of the time and planning and care that goes into the plating and serving, when most of the time I'm eating in my pajamas.

Salad of fresh baked trout, smoked trout, arugula flowers and greens, with slices of red onion. Balsamic vinegar and oil. The baked combined with the smoked to complement eachother. ("Why you're a bit of lovely trout, aincha?", "Ditto!")

I've got a basic Krups, but it only takes about one cup of beans per grinding session.

I think the fiddleheads are expected today! BTW, and sort of totally off/on topic, but the thunderstorms yesterday wrecked havoc at Union Square - farmer's tents were torn, and tables went airborne. Amazingly no one was hurt. Sorry! Back to morels.

Um, sorry - what's the point about the duck / rabbit again? Was Witters a stoner or something? (And in my family, that's a good thing.

Ok, how much for the morels? I swear... I don't want to hurt Spot and Blanche.... but how can I leave you with all the morels????? What's it gonna take? How much trout do you want, woman???

Just checked out the 'other' board (for the first time in ages, mind you) to see what Nina was writing about and how can I put this....yowza, what a bunch of mean-spirited and personal attacks.

Baked trout Wednesday and didn't eat it last night, so cold baked trout with arugula flowers and baby spinach, splash o'balsamic and olive oil. Tonight, more trout! With more greens - hopefully some of the magenta Amaranth mixed with the deep green baby spinach. We'll tire of this eventually, but not for awhile. Tomorrow, though, grilled marinated octopus. Thanks, Jim, for the beans tip. I'm going to set a pot up on Sunday. And Jinmyo, how do you store fresh horseradish? I've find it goes...rather limp, rather quickly in the fridge.

Absolutely.

Rachel, don't bother. Things got hot around the collars, for various non-food-related issues.

Has anyone seen "Vatel", featuring Gerard Depardieu as a chef? It's on cable these days.

The purslane is available now at Union Square but the green to really go for is the flowering arugula. I can't get around the years of pulling purslane as a weed. I, too, think Portulaca (sp?) is a succulent garden flower, with lovely bright colored flowers.

I get wonderful artisanal pasta at Buon Italia in the Chelsea Market (in NYC). I did just order a chicken from Smart Chicken in Tecumseh Nebraska. Will report back on whether it's a good bird.

An old chestnut with a great title, "History Happens at Night" with Jean Arthur and Charles Boyer, has a lovely scene where they pretend that they're already married and she wants to make him dinner. There's also a running theme of Lobster a l'Americaine. Boyer is a waiter who takes over the management of Victor's Cafe in NY, while searching for Jean Arthur, who has left her nasty husband ...

Thank you, thank you for that one, BLH.