Welcome to the first Dispatch from New York. Why the photo, you ask? Well, since these dispatches are coming to you thanks to my little sister, I thought I'd include a shot from her recent safari to Kenya. (As an aside, she reports that their first night in Nairobi they "went for nyama choma, the national dish of Kenya, at a restaurant called Carnivor. Nyama choma is barbecued meat, everything from zebra to ostrich to crocodile to camel, grilled on giant sword skewers which they bring round to your table, sawing the meat from them onto your plate. Each table has a little white flag in the center, and they keep coming around until you place the flag down on the table, surrendering, as it were, to the meat. Yeah. We ate a lot.")
But the point of this first dispatch is Little Sister's recent dinner at Balthazar, a reward for The Boyfriend who got his first acceptance into grad school last week. A bit of background on Little Sister: She moved to Manhattan two years ago to work in the non-profit arts sector, is studying to be a yoga instructor and is a reformed vegetarian with a mad addiction to steak/frites. Lately, she and The Boyfriend are on a French bistro kick.
She writes: "We went to Balthazar last night, and I have to say that we both enjoyed it so much more than the first time. I don't know if it's because we were at a roomier table or because we had a charming waiter, but our opinions have improved quite a bit.
I started with a yummy Gewurtztraminer, then The Boyfriend got tomato-fennel soup and I got the oyster sampler (3 East Coast, 3 West Coast) for starters. The oysters were to die for - like little pillows of ocean. For our entrees, The Boyfriend chose duck shepherd pie and I, of course, got steak frites. Last time I had the roasted turbot, so I felt validated in choosing my normal standby since I hadn't had it there. It was cooked perfectly and the frites were delicious! We polished it off with a cheese plate and a glass of port for moi, and The Boyfriend got some kind of blueberry financier that looked tasty, though I didn't try it."
Stay tuned for more posts from The Jungle - I'm going to visit with Mr. Food Musings in April. We're planning our food itinerary right now. More on that later...
Balthazar, New York, 80 Spring Street, 212-965-1785
Hi Catherine,
I read every word and now I am very hungry so I'm going to lunch at a local not too greasy spoon with some friends. I doubt that anything on the menu will be worth writing about or even remembering, but being with friends is always fun.
Diane
Posted by: diane | March 08, 2005 at 11:09 AM