Catching up

Don't want to seem crass by seguewaying from talking about the tragic loss of a colleague into trite descriptions of entrees and cocktails. We all wanted Mach with us for a longer time, but those who knew Mach acknowledge that his life was an incredibly rich one, chock full of amazing experiences. When I check out, hopefully people can and will say the same of me. Admittedly though, my over-indexed NYC social life is not exactly on par with global humanitarian relief efforts. However, I've had a brilliant summer, and it is my pleasure to blog about it.

For the past 2 weeks, I've essentially tried to eat and drink outside at every opportunity.

Going back to Tuesday, Aug. 15... Had dinner with Duck at Barbone. I've said before how much I love their garden, but it's awesome to have a neighborhood place where there is fresh, seasonal food. To start, I had the watermelon salad (it's cubed watermelon topped with toasted ricotta cheese and spices - sounds kinda weird but is quite good). For main course, had tagliatelle with rock shrimp, corn and a light cherry tomato sauce. We had cheesecake topped with pistachios for dessert. The staff sent over complimentary biscotti and dessert wines.

Wednesday had dinner and sake at Kasadela with Gail and friends. Basically this is Japanese bar food; we couldn't get enough of the Tebasaki (spicy Japanese-style wings). Thursday had sangria and tapas at 1492 with TP.

Stayed in Friday and Saturday nights, but went out Sunday with Rick to neighborhood stand-by Esperanto. Their oil for dipping bread is so good, we're obsessed with it. We asked for 3 bowls. Ab met us for drinks later at a new bar on St. Mark's called 10 Degrees. Walking home, I passed Petticoat Government, a new clothing store on Avenue B I've been wanting to check out. The owner Ken was actually still there and let me come in and try on clothes at 11 pm. Yes, I'm out of control.

Tuesday did a sake tasting at Satsko with Robyn and TP. Thursday, met Robyn and her ad school friends for happy hour at B Side. $1.50 bottled Bud Lights - quite possibly the cheapest drink I've had a decade. We went to Max for dinner. Homey Italian. I had the lobster ravioli with a very spicy tomato sauce. The guy who recommended this place ordered the meatloaf, which is served as a big ball with a hard-boiled egg wrapped in ham and cheese in the center. I didn't say this was healthy Italian.

Back to Barbone Friday with Charles & Howard. Had the pappardelle with braised short ribs this time. Night cap at Rue B next door.