I did lots of things today. One thing I did not do, though, was eat breakfast.
This is very unusual for me, but I figured I should save room for lunch at David Chang’s
Mà Pêche, which is one of the
Momofuku restaurants.
This is what I ordered:
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| Lamb bacon salad with watercress, rhubarb, and goat cheese |
And then this came out of nowhere:
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| Pork bun with hoisin, cucumber, and scallion |
And then this came out, with a “this is from the chef”
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| Soft shell crab buns with ginger scallion mayo, Calabrian chili and cilantro |
This has been a theme all week. I ask if I can see the kitchen—I explain why I’m interested and what I’ve been doing this last year—and then magic happens for the rest of my meal. And then I get to see the kitchen!
After lunch, I checked out the nearby Argosy rare bookstore. Then I walked home via Times Square:
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| Times Square |
Times Square is pretty much representative of what I consider the worst characteristics of New York and why I don’t think I could ever live here (as much as I have loved visiting).
That evening I walked to
Jehangir Mehta’s
Graffiti to meet Gabe and Emily for dinner. Mehta was born in Bombay, but cooked for years in French restaurants. Graffiti is his first restaurant and he describes it as French/American cuisine that uses Asian ingredients. It’s a menu of small plates meant to be shared, like this one:
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| Braised pork buns with apricot chutney |
Everything was tasty, but I think we were all a little underwhelmed. Gabe and I made guacamole later that evening. Small plates of food are fun because you get to taste many different things, but our hunger wasn’t really sated. I imagine my appetite is particularly enormous today because I did over 6 miles on foot today.
