FOOD! #2

Today is Saturday, when Restaurant Week takes two days off from their menu deals, so the establishments can return to charging their usual fees during the weekend rush and meaning that for the first time in five days I DON'T HAVE ANY APPOINTMENTS TO ORIENT MY DAY AROUND! So, I stayed inside the entire day, writing a few of these Blogs, reading most of today's NY Times, looking through some Flickr photographs, reading my one-week-only library bestseller ('Eat, Pray, Love' by Elizabeth Gilbert, which I am truly enjoying), and not having to be any particular place at any particular time. I also did not shave today, after 5 straight days of injuring my skin with a razor to be socially appropriate, and wore ratty old running shoes instead of the less comfortable leather 'dress' shoes I've worn in which to walk all over town while 'dressing up' for these restaurants. I did get dressed today, but nothing I had to iron. Blissful inactivity.

To get from our apartment to any of these restaurants we usually left about an hour prior to our reservation, and while a bus or subway ride was involved in three of them, walking was too--at least two miles a day. The meals themselves took an hour and a half, on average, in length--it WAS the planned highlight of our entertainment for the day, and we weren't about to bolt it all down and run. Then we'd stoll around whatever neighborhood we found ourselves in, frequently stumbling upon something else to do while there (e.g. an Evensong service at St. Thomas' Church, watching ice skaters at Central Park's Wolman rink, attending the New York Pops concert of Gershwin music at Carnegie Hall). We would seldom return home in less than 5 hours, meaning we'd spend significant time outdoors in the cold in nice clothing (as opposed to 'serious cold-weather comfortable' clothing, which doesn't look nearly as good in a fancy restaurant). While walking home last night from Carnegie Hall it was 21 degrees with a strong wind. So yeah, it's nice to stay inside where it's warm & comfortable and let the day proceed from one spontaneous self-directed activity to another .

Here you'll find some images of AQUAVIT, a Swedish restaurant in upper midtown (www.aquavit.org) that's rated 25-24-24-$68 in my two-year-old Zagat Survey. Barb had the salmon (those green things around it in the photo are potatoes) and I had Swedish meatballs (and yes, they were MUCH better than those served at Ikea). The desserts were not only beautiful to look at, but wonderful to taste as well--that tall white column in my dessert, the 'Arctic Circle,' was a goat cheese parfait with strawberry sorbet and passion fruit curd.

Finally, TAO was the best example yet of 'restaurant interior as movie set,' all with unique lighting and high fidelity music (22-27-19-$54). They also have a top-of-the-line website (www.taorestaurant.com) with an interesting folding origami on the home page. At one time this building was a movie theater (and originally a 19th century stable for the Vanderbilt family), and we sat in the mezzanine. There is also a room up high at the back (former projection booth?) that overlooks all of the restaurant (see photos). Of course the highlight of the room is the 16-foot tall Buddha statue with Japanese Carp swimming in a reflecting pool below its feet. My fear beforehand was that this might be a restaurant that was 'all show and no chef,' but we really enjoyed our meals. These were the largest portions we received in the five days of entertainment eating and Barb couldn't finish hers (and, they gave us a really beautiful bag in which to cart home our leftovers). In order, the photos show: satay of chicken with peanut sauce; Peking duck spring roll with hoison sauce; Kung Pao chicken; wok-seared New York sirloin with Shiitake mushrooms and Szechuan potatoes; and for dessert, chocolate raspberry wontons with Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream.

I knew that if I exercised full-time during this entire weekend I still would not be able to lose the weight I probably gained from this week's culinary pleasures, so of course I didn't even try, and as a result this day has felt wonderful, luxurious, slow-paced, and decadent, much like each of those five fantastic meals. More to come,

Dan

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