Sometimes I take a moment in the middle of what I’m doing to realize how incredibly lucky I am. I had several moments like this over the past few days. First, what was going to be an ordinary night (gym, home, bed) ended up with a lovely dinner with Rob at Bar Carrera (If you haven’t yet made it there, it’s worth a trip). Comfortable and inviting despite its awkward space with a great 80’s centric soundtrack, Bar Carerra serves up tapas in style — my favorites that night were the shrimp & chorizo followed by the pate with truffled mushrooms. Yum. After a bit of Dodgeballing with Kim and some dessert negotiations with Rob, we headed to Otto for gelato where we met up with Nic, David, and ulimately Kim. We ended up making a pit stop at ‘ino for nutella panini and dessert wine before landing squarely at Mas (farmhouse) for late-night carousing. Now Mas has a legendary late-night menu, offering everything from oysters & steak tartare to short ribs. We weren’t particularly hungry, but still made room for their gougeres, a.k.a. cheesy poofs. Despite being a tad tired the next day, it was well worth it to spend time with good friends over food and wine. At some point at Mas, I looked around the laughing, smiling faces at the table and took a moment to cherish it all.
Saturday, after helping my sister buy some interview clothes, we met up with our brother, his girlfriend Sarah, our cousin Sara, and Bill’s friend Sebastian for dim sum at Golden Bridge. Although we got there on the late side, we still managed to taste all kinds of steamed dumplings, some short ribs, and some Chinese broccoli with a drizzle of oyster sauce. I’m looking forward to going back a little earlier at some point. After paying the bill ($11 per person — woo hoo!), I realized again how lucky I am to have both my siblings and my cousin living in the same city for the first time in ages, even if we don’t see each other as often as we should.
Finally, Mark and I went to see Billy Joel last night at Madison Square Garden — a belated and very thoughtful birthday present. I don’t even recall mentioning to him the fact that I like Billy Joel except for one fairly brief conversation a while back . Some may scoff at him, but as we sat there last night, I realized how rare it is to sit through a 2+ hour concert and literally know every song. Sure, some I knew more than others, and some I liked more than others, but to be able to sing All for Leyna at the top of my lungs because the words are seared into my brain from childhood (Glass Houses
After the concert we went to ‘inoteca for dinner — a perfect cap to the evening. We sat in the cozy warmth of the restaurant watching the snow swirl all around outside while we enjoyed our gamberetti with pancetta and truffled egg toast (someone was kind enough to let me dominate the ordering, it being a birthday celebration and all). As we bundled back up and headed out for a cab, the city was covered in a tranquil blanket of white, (which I find so beautiful and peaceful every time it snows) and as we headed home, I soaked in the beauty of it all and took another moment.
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In response to your plea for comments, I decided to ‘fess up. Thanks for the shout-out. Dim sum was delish!
In response to your plea for comments, I decided to ‘fess up. Thanks for the shout-out. Dim sum was delish!