Pear Oyster Bar

Still drawing crowds.  Eat early and avoid the mob.  Sit at the bar, if you can.  If you cannot, sit at the counter which runs along the left side of the restaurant.  If a place at the bar becomes available, before your food comes, the staff will move you without you having to ask.  Strayed away from the traditional  lobster roll served on an open-topped, New England style hot dog bun, and accompanied by shoestring fries, which were perfect last night.  The green leaf lettuce garnish, at first seemed like a frill, until I realized that it reminded me of all those lettuces you find at summer framers' markets.  Ah, summer.

The bouillabaisse was very good--a bowl of mussels, a few clams, a shrimp, a grilled sea scallop, a grilled piece of sea bass, and half a lobster tail swimming in a delicious broth.  While the broth was not the one you will find in the south of France, it was delicious.  A bit of toasted bread with a smear of aioli was a nice touch, even though I would have liked more aioli.  Fresh crsuty bread is served with a pot of butter to soak up that broth.  Too full for dessert, but the ice cream sundae looked yummy.

It was nice to see Rebecca Charles expediting the evening's meals.  Too often these days, the chef whose dream has come true is not present, and both the dream and the patrons suffer for this absence.

How to Meet Men

Wear a football (soccer) scarf.  All types of people, but mostly guys, will call out to you ("Go Hammers"), give you the thumbs up, or even strike up a conversation.  Football fans, living in or visiting the U.S. are so desperate and thankful to find a "fellow" fan, they will try and get your attention even when you are walking hand in hand with your sweetie.

Caterers in the City

If my food last night at Chelsea Piers is any indication, then Abigail Kirsch caterers has really gone down hill.  Hot Hors d'Oeuvres either ran out when the cocktail hour was only half over, or the kitchen decided in advance to limit the amount served.  The one hot Hors d'Oeuvres I tasted was a tasteless Smoked Salmon Croque Monsieur.  It was really a smear of smoked salmon on toast triangles half the size of an old fashioned book of matches.  No evidence of any traditional Croque Monsieur elements.  Cold Hors d'Oeuvres sampled include the Baja Fish Taco, the Banh Mi Slider and Waves & Foam--"roquefort foam on a wispy cracker with a port wine fig reduction."  The fish tacos were minute, the size of two thumb nails and the fish under-seasoned.  The Banh Mi Slider tasted of bread alone.  I guess that cracker was the Waves & Foam, another insipid bite.

The best thing about the Roasted Beets & Goat Cheese Brulee appetizer was the currant sunflower seed sliver of flatbread served with it.  The Peppercorn Steakhouse Beef was a round chunk of meat, not a filet mignon, cooked variously from well-down to what I heard was bloody, although I could not see a piece of rare meat at my table.  The best thing was the confit of slow roasted shallots.  This was served on about an ounce of cauliflower creamed spinach, although I could not detect any cauliflower.  The fingerling potatoes advertised as "smashed" were not.  The best part of the meal was the bread basket.  Everything tasted fresh.

For $300 a person you would think a better dessert than Bananas over Chocolate would be served.  I did not have the heart to stay for dessert.  The description was a bit over the top.

It irks me that caterers can still get away with exclusive arrangements with all the larger venues in the City.  This provides them with no incentive to keep the food good.  I am not even asking for spectacular, just good. 

Peter and the Starcatcher, Broadway bound?

Last night, I saw an entertaining new musical at the New York Theatre Workshop, "Peter and the Starcatcher, based on the Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson novel of the same name.  It was fun, clever and a delight.  It is a bit bawdy, a play for grown ups.  Should it live beyond its limited run downtown?  Most definitely, but should it make the broad jump to Broadway?  Less sure.  Aspects of the production that seemed clever, fun, and sweet might get lost on a gargantuan Broadway stage.  Perhaps an off-Broadway house would be a better venue to let this production maintain its air of intimacy and fun, while giving more theatregoers the opportunity to enjoy it.

It reminded me of "Spamalot" with its primarily no-name cast performing multiple roles; its occasional anarchy, broad acting style, and adult humor.  However, "Spamalot" came to Broadway with legions of Monte Python fans that would and did fill its Broadway house.  This production of "Peter and the Starcatchers" does not seem appropriate for the younger readers among the novel's fans.  One of this play's delights is that it is decidedly for adult fans of that iconic childhood hero, Peter Pan.

Eataly, Observed

Yes, Eataly is one of my favorite places in NYC.  If you must go on a Saturday, the best time to go is in the morning.  It opens at 10 a.m. and you can have an espresso, browse, or even shop without being trampled.  Did you know that there are even chairs near Manzo that are available just for sitting?  Every time I have been there, 9 times and counting, I have observed an employee going out of his or her way to  be helpful to a customer.  Why is it such a shock to be in a retail establishment where you are welcomed?

Parenting in the 21st Century

What has happened to parenting, that a pizza parlor has to post a sign that parents/adults should not leave young children unattended while in the restaurant?  I guess some people have not seen those faces on milk cartons, OR believe their children are so "smart" that they know how to handle themselves when alone in a restaurant.  I even have to remind myself to use my "restaurant voice," and I am well past childhood.

Cafe La Fortuna--random thoughts

While waiting for my lukewarm Starbucks coffee, my thoughts wandered to the past when there was a real cafe in my life.  Cafe La Fortuna.  Vincent and Alice.  Alice's sister who waited tables, and went to Italy for a visit and never came back.  Opera music.  Exposed brick walls full of opera memorabilia.  The first decaffinated espresso I ever drank that tasted like espresso.  When it opened it was half a store front, two steps down from the sidewalk with a garden in the back.  The regulars who sat at the first table inside the door, when Vincent wasn't sitting there himself, included Joe who always had something to sell.  My first taste of Veniero's Italian Cheesecake.  It put the cream cheese type to shame and out of my life forever.  I never baked another one again.  Walking to La Fortuna from the West 80's taught my boys how to walk.  A half mile or more was nothing.  Summertime, iced cappucinos with homemade coffee flavored Italian ice.  An uncomfortable afternoon in the garden bearing witness to a couple breaking up.  Sideways glances at the occasional celebrity who lived in the neighborhood.  The two Gregorys, waiters, one an aspiring poet and the other a caterer to be.

It was not Starbucks or fame that claimed the life of Cafe La Fortuna.  It was love.  The love a parent has for a child, that would trust the child to be able to take over a business the parent had built.  Unfortunately, we are sometimes blinded by this love, and do not realize that our children are not capable enough.

It was heartbreaking to see Vincent come out of retirement to sit at the cash register once again.  Even sadder when he was there after his beloved Alice had passed away.  A place that love built had to end when those two lovers died.