Recent Eats V

I like Red Hook for a lot of reasons: it's an easy bike ride; it's by the water; it's *not* an easy public-transport trip, which keeps the riff raff out... But it couldn't maintain its place in my affections without one other, crucial thing. If you've been paying attention, you know that said thing is, yes, FOOD.

Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pies
Accept no substitutes. And nothing against the regular pies, but why would you get a regular key lime pie when you could get a key lime pie dipped in chocolate and frozen? Answer: you wouldn't. Get a swingle. Start with the classic, and work your way down the list (spicy, white chocolate, raspberry). So far this summer I've introduced several new people to the swingle, and thus rocked their friggin worlds.

Seabourne
Nice drinks, relaxed atmosphere, free bar snacks. When you can't get in the door at Fort Defiance or Botanica, try heading down here instead.

Moving right along. Sometimes I can't make it back to Brooklyn, and end up eating in Harlem instead.

Ponty Bistro
Excellent steak sandwich.

Rejuvenate
Where my coworkers all get their vitamins. In a fast-lunch wasteland, this place is our savior.

The rest of Manhattan...

Mother of Pearl
Planned on meeting my parents at Death & Co for pre-dinner cocktails last week. Got there first, saw there was a crowd waiting outside, realized they were doing their incredibly annoying velvet-rope entry nonsense, decided I did not want to stand around on the sidewalk in 100F weather, no matter how good the cocktails were... Walked to the end of the block and this place, instead, where they had no problem letting me open the door and walk in all by myself, not to mention sit at a table and order a drink before the rest of my party arrived. Hallelujah.

Huertas
No tipping and a "chef's selection of on- and off-menu plates, served family style," all of which where excellent? Done. This was the aforementioned parental dinner, and it was a winner.

RECIPE: Creamy Tortellini. Never make it any other way again.

No One Ever Said Being a Woman Was Easy

A friend of mine recently attended a Beyoncé concert. Judging from Instagram, it was awesome. But getting ready to go that afternoon, she wondered "What do I wear?" And I had to stop myself from repyling, "Who cares? All Beyoncé ever wears is bathing suits." I didn't say it, because this was Instagram, not a private chat, and I am not a troll. But the point stands.

See, I spend a lot of time in bathing suits, so I know what they look like. Specifically, for women, they default to triangular bottoms -- just like Bey's bodysuits. Bottoms that force the question of ladyscaping.*

I wear a bathing suit because I am swimming laps and these are articles of clothing that are specifically designed to meet the needs of a person doing exactly that thing. Wearing anything else would be uncomfortable and illogical, in addition to being against pool rules. I have no issues with wearing a bathing suit because I have no issues with my body, and anyway when you're actively doing a sport you rapidly forget what you look like and start caring a lot more about what you can do. Anyway, no one can really see you in the water.

So I have a triangular-bottomed bathing suit. I am in the process of switching back to my preferred boy-short style. We won't go into the details. But my problem is that although yes, boyshorts exist, they are hard to find and expensive. They are not, again, the default. To wear boyshorts is to actively decide to seek out boyshorts, to go against the grain, to rebel. And there are times when I want to rebel, but just buying a goddam swimsuit so I can hop in the pool on my lunch break isn't necessarily one of them. At the very least I want my rebellion to be convenient, cheap, and come in a wider variety of colorways.

Thus I have a hard time understanding why Beyoncé would choose, as her stagewear, almost universally nothing but triangular bottoms. I wonder about her (and Madonna these days, frankly) the same way I wonder about any dude who wears a speedo: WHY. You have so many other great options, why on earth would you choose this one?


* I know ladyscaping is not a word. And yet manscaping kind of is. Which only goes to show that if a man does it, it's news; if a woman does it, she just has to bloody do it and shut up about it. Bring on the sharp objects and molten wax.

RECIPE: Roasted Carrot & Avocado Salad. I didn't used to get really into salads, but it turns out that if they're not 95% lettuce, they're actually really good. As is roasting your carrots.

Things That Are the Best I

I keep starting these series without any clear knowledge of how to continue them. So it goes. Maybe these are the only best things and I'll never think of any others. Doesn't change the fact that these are, really, The Best, each in their own different way.

What do I mean by The Best? A thing that is itself. Perfect. Exactly what it should be, couldn't be that thing any better than it is. Apotheosis. For example: Nina Simone singing "Pirate Jenny." The best of the song, and maybe the best of her, or in any event the essence of her, distilled.

Or, to go in a totally different direction: peshtamels. Otherwise known as Turkish bath towels, these are the best that a towel can be. Big enough to use as a blanket, beach towel, or sarong, yet they roll up incredibly small; also super absorbent. Not much more you can ask for or that I can say about it, frankly.

Or, too, to round things out: Jasper Fforde's Instagram. He's not doing anything fancy -- no flat layouts or fashion or food -- he's not trying to be an Instagrammer. He's just taking great photos, sometimes from the cockpit of an airplane, mostly of Wales.

RECIPE: Smoked Bluefish Salad. I first had something like this at Iris Cafe, and now that I don't work in Brooklyn Heights anymore and have to pay for my own lunch, it's good to have the recipe.

Recent Reads I

I am, after all, a librarian. Okay fine, an archivist, and I have almost nothing to do with actual books -- but I also have an hour-long commute. I read a lot.

Alexander Hamilton - Ron Chernow

Down to the wire with this one, as I had to return it to the library. But I made it.

Would I have ever in a million years picked this book up if not for the musical? Definitely not. Would I have enjoyed it as much without the songs running through my head? Possibly not; but I still would have thought it was good. Because it is: a damn good book.

I used to say that everything I knew about American history I knew from musicals (ask me anything about Assassins). Now that is slightly less true. Work.

Last Night, a Superhero Saved My Life - Liesa Mignogna

Hit and miss. The more personal the essay, the better. The more abstract (looking at you, Nail Gaiman (as spelled on the spine)), the worse -- or at least, more pointless.

They Do It with Mirrors - Agatha Chrystie

Knocking down approx. one Marple a week. This is the first time I figured out who it was before the end.

A Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula K. LeGuin

A lot more boring than I'd expected. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and say that some things aren't really meant for audio book export.

Schulz & Peanuts - David Michaelis

Solid bio, well illustrated.

Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? - Lorrie Moore

Finding myself deeply, deeply over these two-girls-hanging-out-in-nostalgic-summers-or-whatever books.

Did not finish it. This sort of thing all starts to feel the same after a while. Two girls: one, at least, beautiful; one, at least, troubled; drinking; smoking; immature boys; possibly rape; bare legs and long hair; sweat; peanut butter; ice cream. Enough.

The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen - Jacques Pépin

Turns out Jacques is just as engaging on the page as he is irl. Good on him. Also I'm generally not into baby photos, as a genre, but his is absolutely the best I've ever seen. Happy cooking!

Recipe: Spiced Dried Fruit Compote. Supposedly for blintzes, but I served it alongside the Christmas ham, and stirred into oatmeal for weeks afterward.