[Pigging by Wilfrid: December 21, 2017]
There's a pair of pizzerias in Austin, Bufalina and Bufalina Due. They're owned by an old chum from the foodweb, Steve Dilley, and represent two of his main obsessions: Neapolitan pizza and fine wines.
Indeed, if they served no good food, they'd probable still be the two best wine bars in town. It was great to catch up with Steve, I had a fine time, and there were some kind comps too.
[Pigging by Wilfrid: December 21, 2017]
I didn't have a plan to eat at Tim Love's Lonesome Dove. It just hadn't occurred to me. I knew his work, of course (I'd even filmed with him--see below), but I'd missed his stumble in New York, where a version of Lonesome Dove earned zero stars from the New York Times.
And then I just kind of stumbled on it one night, looking for cocktails at the nearby Roosevelt Room. I passed it again the next night, and so I looked in the windows, looked at the menu, and started thinking about it.
[Pigging by Wilfrid: December 21, 2017]
It was the end of October and Franklin's was still closed because of fire damage (it re-opened in November). Although it was the end of October, the temperature crept towards 90. I was in Austin, I needed BBQ, and I didn't need the bad BBQ readily available downtown, like the dry-as-sawdust goat at Cooper's.
I set out for Micklethwait Craft Meats, which thoughtful souls said was the best after Franklin's. And I walked. According to the map, I walked only about 1.5 miles. But I took some wrong turnings at the end, failing at first to find Micklethwait, which turned out to be no more than a couple of trailers and some picnic tables. I did find the George Washington Carver museum, which turned out to be well worth visiting.
[Pigging by Wilfrid: September 17, 2017]
First time in Providence. A travel delay meant a ten-minute late arrival for a reservation at Birch, the sleek counter-only (but not tasting menu-only) restaurant from Heidi and Benjamin Sukle, who also run the more casual Oberlin.
Squash, lemon verbena, pine
Great service: mostly good to very good food. Mood lighting, so the photos are what they are. It's vegetarian-, but not especially vegan-friendly.
[A Pig at Large by Kim Davis: August 29. 2017]
On a recent visit--several more coming up, it seems--I wanted to eat at least one relaxed, grown-up, elegant dinner. Meaning, I suppose, no hard stools, loud music, or menu gimmickry.
Friends pointed me towards Barbara Lynch's restaurants, and I ended up at her flagship, No. 9 Park.
Continue reading "No. 9 Park and Atlantic Fish Co., Boston" »
[Pigging by Kim Davis: August 29, 2017]
Fast and casual, "but is it good?" the Times headline asked about the food at Made Nice. Pete Wells thought not, for the most part. I liked the lunch I ate there; loved what my daughter ordered (a dish Wells didn't try; presumably not on the menu when he was there.
As Wells would, I think, agree, the operation is spectacularly well run: many cooks on the line, servers clearing dishes and trays in a spotless dining room. Before you eat anything, you're in a much better environment than the average midtown food-on-a-tray lunch spot.
Continue reading "Quick Bites: I Thought It Was Made Nice" »
[Pigging by Wilfrid: May 8, 2017]
Simplicity is the eye of the beholder. Great frying is the mouth...of the eater, I suppose.
I was on Clinton Street, I was hungry, I'd never noticed Simply Hooked before, and there was no-one at the dining counter (there are tables in the back). And the real draw was the simply priced combo on the blackboard.
[Pigging by Wilfrid: April 2, 2017]
Oh Otway, Otway, how you raised my spirits. I feel I've been on something of a roller-coaster with restaurants recently. Disappointment when traveling, disappointment at home (some exceptions, of course, like Monsieur Benjamin, reviewed today).
But Otway made me focus again on what upper-mid-priced restaurant dining in New York could and should be. Casual, essentially, but with sparkling service in relaxed surroundings, and really--what's more important?--focused, sure-footed food. Made nice--if not quite "new romantically."
[Pigging by Wilfrid: May 2, 2018]
Rather like the Spanish Inquisition, I never expected Monsieur Benjamin when I arrived in San Francisco. I really didn't.
In fact, I honestly hadn't heard of Monsieur Benjamin, even though it's the brainchild of the highly regarded Keller-alum Corey Lee, better known surely for Benu.
[By Kim Davis: May 1, 2017]
The ten year anniversary came and went on April 27, 2017. A decade of "At the Sign of the Pink Pig." Here's the first post.
Ten years has seen--as you'd expect--a lot of changes. I started out with that randomly chosen handle, "Wilfrid" (I'd already been using it on eGullet.com), because I was working in a corporate legal environment, and didn't need everyone in my business. Ten years later, I'm a jobbing journalist again, an executive editor and writer, and--guess what?--doing journalism as a hobby (or blogging as it's known) holds less appeal when journalism is your day job.
