The weather turned yesterday.
The air was suddenly, blissfully free of the sodden end-of-summer heaviness and the scent of August — that heady perfume of sixteen million sweaty feet in sandals — receded in favor of the crisp promise of autumn. Hallelujah.
tofu at Danji
We’ve been dining out a bit — big surprise. We took the kids to Danji on West 52nd Street. I’ve written about Danji a few times before but it remains a standout. Their tofu with ginger-scallion dressing is hands down one of the best bites in town. Their deep-fried ginger chicken wings are no slouch, either.
We met some Upper West Side friends for a casual dinner at Saigon Grill and we were pleased to see that it has returned to its former glory. It slipped tragically there for a while — there was talk of labor problems, changed ownership — but their solid, fresh, tasty Vietnamese food is back in the Wasteland. Good for us.
Danji’s wings.
They also deliver — so quickly that it seems the food arrives before you’ve hung up the phone. We met friends from out of town — I’m including Brooklyn in that category — at Il Cantinori on 10th Street. It’s a favorite of theirs and I hadn’t tried it before. We ate quite well and I was pleased that when I ordered a bowl of what turned out to be very good spaghetti aglio-olio con peperoncini, which was not on the menu, our server smiled and said, “Of course, sir! Right away!” I like that.
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Best dish so far? At home, of course. We shopped the Columbus Avenue farmers’ market on Sunday and bought some baby arugula. I put whole-wheat pasta in boiling salted water, sautéed some thin-sliced garlic in lots of olive oil, dumped the almost finished noodles into garlic and oil mixture and tossed for a few minutes until the pasta absorbed the taste of the garlic. Then I added quite a bit of the baby arugula — three, four big handfuls — and tossed some more – until the sweetness of the garlic and the peppery spank of the arugula twined their way around the chewy noodles. Can’t get enough of that wonderful stuff.
Ahh…back on track–food-wise. Did you experience anything of the 2 twisters that supposedly hit NYC?
So loved having you and Jill here in Cape May for your all too brief visit….but the show was delicious. You ARE a wonderful, fun and insightful writer….and Jill does just the best job of interpreting your prose!!!
Fall has finally arrived here as well and we are now enjoying a bit heartier fare.
all the best,
Leslie Martel
We have been to Il Cantinori a number of times and its excellent quality and service. Also another good restaurant nearby is Knickerbocker. Al Hirshfield, the artist that used to make the drawings in the NYTimes Arts section lived upstairs and there is a table where he used to make his drawings or ideas.
My sister-in law was working for Sirio Maccioni at Le Cirque before they closed and I asked her to find out where Sirio goes for his nights out. She asked and found out that he likes going to Il Cantorini, Il Nido (closed) and Remi on 53rd Street. “Remi” is what the Venetian gondoliers call their oars. I think the interior designers of Remi also designed the original interior of Le Cirque.
Of the three, I think Il Cantinori has held up to quality and service.
An excellent restaurant to try is Crispo on 14th Street. Make reservations for the “back room” and order the hanger steak — outstanding.
But an interesting evening is to go to Crispo in the cold winter and ask them to open the retractable roof. The roof opens under the NY skies and there are heaters to blow heat down to you. It’s amazing. They also have this amazing collection of meat slicers on the walls. When you go to the men’s room, you get the feeling that you’re in a former butcher shop that has converted the meat refrigerator into a men’s room. Not so, the interior design was made by a friend of the owner who is into heavy steel doors and things. It’s a very hippy place to be and relaxing. Has an open kitchen so you can see how they cook.
Enjoy
The arugula was the secret. Such sweet and spicy stuff! A real stealth ingredient…
@ David — We were on our way out of town on Saturday around 10:00am and ran into the worst storm I’ve ever been in – right around the tennis stadium in Queens. We turned back – and missed a great meal, I’m told.
@ Leslie — Thanks. We had a great time, too. We’ll be back
@Sal – Thank you!! I’m trying all these places. Crispo in the middle of winter – thanks.
@ Susan – You got that right.