Robert Sietsema of the Village Voice recently came out with his top 100 list of Italian restaurants in NYC. I was thrilled to see some of my faves in the top ten, namely ‘ino, ‘inoteca, Max, and Lupa, where I had the pleasure of dining for the first time this past Sunday night after our wine club society meeting. And of course, my beloved neighborhood bar, Otto, held its own at number 11.
I get mocked quite a bit for having a blog. A blog? What the hell’s that? Why would you do that? You mean you have a website? What a dork! Yes, I am a big geek; I’ll admit it. But there’s another bit of geekiness that I haven’t yet shared with you, dear readers. It’s a part of me that has been around for over fifteen years now, ever since my freshman year in college. And now, I will share it with you. I . . . am . . . an a cappella geek. There — now it’s out. During my years at Tufts, I was in the Amalgamates, their first and oldest coed group. In fact, the group is celebrating its 20th anniversary this coming fall. Many of my close friends here in New York are actually Tufts a cappella folks. After Tufts, I missed a cappella so much that I had a brief stint in the Copley Cats, an all female group in Boston, and then once I started law school at NYU, I actually started a coed group there — Substantial Performance. It still exists to this day (yes, that’s the legacy I left in law school).
But why expose the a cappella side now, you ask? Well, this past weekend I had the pleasure of seeing Minimum Wage, an off-Broadway show featuring an a cappella group of the same name. It was cute and quirky, and had some fantastic songs, interesting arrangements, and extremely talented vocalists; best of all, it had tons of inside a cappella jokes, most of which I got. The a cappella world is a small one — turns out the music director is a friend of one of my Amalgamate friends, and one of the writers and arrangers is none other than Sean Altman (mentioned previously in my blog, and a member of the Losers Lounge, which you should go see if you haven’t already). The show closes at the end of the month, so go see it if you can!
After much speculation as to what was going to occupy the corner space across the street from my apartment, formerly occupied by a shoe store and, more recently, by a hideous clothing store, I was pleasantly surprised to walk by today to see Le Pain Quotidien. It looks warm and inviting, and they seem to use organic ingredients, offer whole-grain breads, etc. — my kind of place. If I could manage to haul myself out of bed a little earlier in the morning, it’s the kind of place where I’d settle in over a bowl of au lait and a croissant or tartine. Perhaps I’ll try it this week. I have a good feeling that this new neighbor is going to be a welcome addition to the ‘hood.
I’m finally home early enough that I have more than five minutes before crawling into bed exhausted. So now, the weekend update.
The weekend started out with a road trip. Haven’t done that in ages. But, you put three single women in a car, and the subject always comes back to guys. 
At one point, we were discussing the varying degrees of cute when it comes to guys: there’s cute when you’re sober, cute after you’ve had a few drinks, and not cute ever, even if you’ve had plenty to drink. After more guy-chatter, we took a break at Rein’s Deli, a New York style joint off of Route 84 — and I’m pretty proud that I was able to find it after all those years. It used to be a regular stop on my trips to and from college. Having enjoyed a salami sandwich on seedless rye, some pickles, and a chocolate egg cream, I was ready to continue up to Maine. We arrived quite late, but awoke to a spectacular day, and drove out to lunch at Two Lights Lobster Shack in Cape Elizabeth. Stunning scenery, and a good lobster roll. Huge chunks of meat, and a dollop of mayo, not mixed in — had I known, I would have ordered it without the mayo. Next time.
My road trip companions dropped me off in Portland, and we relaxed a bit until our first graduation event of the weekend — dinner at Mims Brasserie, a new spot down at the old port area. I thought it was a great setting for a casual celebration, and the food was simple and well-done. I had my second serving of lobster for the day in their lobster bisque. 
The next day, we woke up bright and early to head up to Bates for the on-campus festivities, including a Baccalaureate service and the Phi Beta Kappa induction (my brother’s wicked smahht — takes after me, of course). Did you know the Phi Beta Kappas have a secret handshake? They may be wicked smahht, but they’re still a fraternity. We had a barbecue back at my brother’s house that night, with all the parents and siblings of his housemates floating around. The party got even bigger later that evening, and my brother, with his best peer pressure skills (“I don’t care if you come to graduation, it’s more important to me that you stay and hang out tonight!“), convinced me and my sister to stay the night. Unlike my brother, however, we did not stay up all night. But, being the old woman that I am, I made sure he had provided me with a towel, something to sleep in, and a place to store my contacts before the drinking started in earnest.
The next day was graduation. The weather was perfect, the speeches were short, and my brother didn’t pass out or throw up from the previous night’s festivities. Congratulations on all counts — including the graduation part. Upon returning back to Portland, I had time for one final lobster roll before I flew back to NYC. This time, at the Portland Lobster Company. And it was perfect. Perfect. No mayo, huge chunks of lobster, toasted bun, Bibb lettuce, drawn butter, and lemon. Combine that with a picnic table on the water and end of the day sun, and I was in heaven. Yay Maine! You can find the rest of the photos here.
Deb, of Smitten, in an attempt to cheer up a friend who got dumped via text message (how lame is that?!), has been collecting “worst breakup” stories. Strangely (and to my relief), I can’t think of anything to add from my own life, certainly nothing quite as hideous as some of the stories people have posted. As painful as some of my breakups have been, they have generally been civil, and have never happened via email, text message, or IM. Apparently, this is not as uncommon as one would hope. Technology really can suck sometimes.
I awoke to the sound of NPR bringing me delightful news in my semi-conscious state: after formerly switching to Crunch-n-Munch, Yankee Stadium has brought back Cracker Jack. I hope this makes you all as happy as it made me — I was so confused last time I was there — the game just wasn’t the same without it. Welcome back, Jack!
I’m not sure exactly when I’ll get the pictures up (hopefully tonight), but wanted to give you something to chew on in the meantime. First, continuing on the lobster-related theme, Florence Fabricant goes to Pearl Oyster Bar with the author of The Secret Life of Lobsters. Sounds like a man after my own heart.
Second, what the hell is up with Amanda Hesser’s “????” rating of Masa? Seems like a cop-out to me. Perhaps all the controversy and trash talk has finally caught up with her. So tragic.
I made it back from Maine — my brother successfully graduated from college, I survived my final college party (co-llege!), and I managed to have lobster in one form or another four times in three days. What more can you ask for? The full report, I suppose. Tune in later in the week for the grand rundown plus plenty of pictures. Congrats, Bill!
the website) when I read about the closing of Zito’s Bread Bakery. Many a fantastic whole wheat loaf was purchased there during my 10 year stint in the neighborhood — for fondue, for garlic bread, or just for plain old eating. Farewell, old friend.
Earlier this week, I impulsively signed up for the NY Post’s Dating Game. Why? Not sure, really. At the time, my thought process was more like, “why the hell not?” I was scheduled to go in for my headshot today, but have since thought of several reasons not to go. As my dad said, it seems a little too public (and as my mom said, “oy“). I told some work colleagues about it and got a similar reaction — I am well-known in my professional community, and people know what I look like, so they would recognize me if they saw me in the paper, and would get a chance to read about my personal life. I seriously doubt that participating in the column would do much for my dating life except increase the possibility of a free dinner, and I don’t think it would bolster my professional image in any way, shape, or form. I have only told a few professional colleagues about this blog, and, in keeping with my general guidelines on subject matter of my blog, I have never written anything in it that I wouldn’t be relatively comfortable telling them about in person. Not so with a review of a date, half of which would have been beyond my control to edit. And finally, the gentleman from the Post who called to schedule my headshot was the co-author of the article about what to wear on a date which I recently characterized as “useless drivel.” Not a good sign. So — I have decided to bail.
In other news, I’m off to Maine for my baby brother’s college graduation. He’s the last of the three of us to finish up, and he’ll be joining me in NYC for at least a few years, which will be a great addition to the mix. This is, of course, assuming I’m still around . . .
Have a great weekend!
