The apartment on the LES opens up on 9/1/15, and in the cards are Rubirosa, Batard, Katz’s, il Alimentari di Buco, and Russ & Daughters. Closer to home? We’re talking salmon from Scotland, corn, tomatoes, cucumber, and English peas in the pod.
It’s been that kind of summer: Holed up writing and reading and cooking, with the occasional foray to a good restaurant.
Locally, the dining scene is interesting.
The high end places are worse than ever before, strangely enough. We’re talking no fewer than seven ingredients on a plate so that flavors are muddied; products that are marketed as cool, but aren’t (wings, collars, tails; necks), and are only on menus because they cost next to nothing and yield big profits; and, F&B prices that are through the roof (Cocktails at $15-17; a glass of wine for $11).
On a positive note, we’re seeing more places that, finally, are taking a long look at Japanese food. Emphasizing vegetables rather than meat. All summer at communal tables with jazz playing, cold noodles are being served with tomatoes, arugula, bean sprouts, and two small pieces of stewed pork. And that’s for $11-13.
The deal is to eat, run, read, and write. My next two pieces are out in Travel + Leisure this week on Japan, Psychology Today just ran my essay on happy families, and my book about India flies the coop tonight.
