The Big Apple - December 3, 2010

The lure of the Big Apple coincided with the need to get away from it all, Cherry's birthday, anniversary #35 just days away, and the premature demise of the Longhorn football team. New York during the holidays is at its best.  The air is crisp and you can wear those winter coats and sweaters rarely used in Houston.  Once you have been to Battery Park and the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Ground Zero, & Metropolitan Museum of Art your visits focus on food and drink, holiday decor, shopping, and Broadway Shows.

Cherry and I arrived on Friday in time for an early dinner at Insieme and the show Jersey Boys at August Wilson Theatre.

Insieme ($$$) is Italian for "together" as it pairs modern and traditional Italian cuisine. We started with the Tonno Marinato Bluefin Tuna and Agnolotti Ai Quattro Formagi  Pasta and a bottle of Etude 2007 Pinot Noir. Cherry had the Halibut Picatto and I had the Contrafiletto Invecchiato Sirloin Strip and we celebrated Cherry's birthday, December 3rd, with a Tartufo al Cioccolato Amaro Truffle for desert. The sirloin strip was served as four or five slices about half an inch thick and was the best quality lean cut of perfectly prepared medium rare steak I have had. This cut was second only to the melt in your mouth Wagyu filet and strip I experienced in Tokyo.

The Jersey Boys story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons is a great show and we had front row seats at The August Wilson Theatre. Finding a falsetto who can sing the range of notes Frankie hit has to be a difficult task. The hits: Sherry, Big Girls Don't Cry, Walk Like a Man, Can't Take My Eyes Off of You, and more took me back to high school days. John Lloyd Young was a great singer and the cast with all the Jersey accents and jokes were great telling the story of struggles, stardom, and personal conflicts behind the scenes.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the Irish Pub for a snack and drinks. They served Irish sausages rolled in pastry dough not unlike a kolache. That and a Guinness hit the spot. Best Guinness I have had in the US. And yes that is a Middleton Whiskey in the photo following our viewing of Elf on Sunday night.

Elf was new to Broadway and Cherry and I love the movie because it is all about believing in Santa.  The actor who played James Caan's role was good casting.  They left out Bob Newhart's Papa Elf role but it was a decent adaptation of a movie and we enjoyed it.  Prior to Elf we dined at  Picholine on the upper West side.

Picholine was entertaining and expensive.  We had five courses: Prelude, Princess, Truffles, Daddy's Girl, and the Main Course.  Luckily we had no time for dessert. 

Prelude: Cherry had a giant salad and I had the Warm Maine Lobster in fried vanilla milk, Endive, and Gooseberries.

The Princess was there for our entertainment and was with her husband and six older relatives.  She was an expert on everything and she could have played Barbara Streisand. Her husband said nothing all night and probably not for the rest of the year.

White truffles from Alba (M/P) were served as a mid course over risotto.  We should have realized that  we were working new territory when they brought the truffle to the table in an armored car surrounded by soldiers with automatic weapons.  They apparently shave truffles on to your dish until you tell them to stop like pepper on a salad.  We never said stop so they shaved quite a few.  We would understand better when we received a bill.

Daddy's girl had emailed her allergies to the restaurant before arriving at the restaurant.  Daddy wanted to kick the chef's kiester early on but his daughter convinced him to keep quiet.

The Maitre d' came out and talked to us for a while.  I suspect he wanted to meet the people so heavily invested in truffles and talk to normal humans. 

The last course consisted of Wild Pheasant shot in Scotland and  Sea Bass.  Both were great.

Picholine was quite entertaining and the food was great.  Just need to be careful around truffles.