02 May 2004
Today was a very New York day.
I took my friend Chris out to lunch at this lovely French place, Fleur de Sel. The servers were all very courteous and even picked up on the fact that it was his birthday, cause when his raspberry feuillete came, they had put a candle on it and written "Happy Birthday" in chocolate sauce on his plate. In any case, I do believe I need to talk about the food--seeing as how it is one of the main loves of my life.
We decided to choose dishes so that we could taste everything--if I picked A, he would pick B, etc. So I ended up with tuna tartare for appetizer, scallops for entree, and banana mousse for dessert. He got white asparagus soup, duck, and the rapsberry feuillete. The tartare was unbelievable! So fresh, bursting with flavor without being oversalty like Le Cirque. Then I do believe I had the best damn scallops I've ever had in my entire life--usually I dislike scallops because they are dry or stringy. But these scallops--oh, they were heaven! Succulent, moist, and perfectly seasoned. And oh dear Lord, the dessert was just as good--on his way out, an older man told us the banana mousse was to die for, and it literally was. I would literally die for that banana mousse again. Also, the presentation of the foods was whimsical, adding to the atmosphere.
The one strange mark on the whole restaurant experience was when suddenly, Chris says, "There's a woman in the window pointing her camera at me." I look, but there's a curtain blocking my view. So I strain a bit, and there she is! A woman with a foot long lens pointing it straight at Chris! It was so very odd! She stood there for a very long time, and we mused over the reasons for her presence. The most plausible one we came up with was that she believed him to be Randy from Real World San Diego, because he looks exactly like him. At length, she walked away, and to this moment, we still don't know why she was there.
Anyway, after lunch, to complete our high class/culture afternoon, we went to the Met for their special exhibit entitled, "Dangerous Liasons: 18th century furniture and fashion." It took us 4 guards giving us directions before we finally found it, but it was so worth it. They had set up little scenes with mannequins dressed and coiffed circa 18th century, and some were rather scandalous. In one, a man-nequin had his hand on the breast of the woman-nequin. In another little closet display, two mannequins were going at it. Yup. It was great!
Then we visited the Impressionists, because I hadn't gone to see them in a long while. It was so stange to think that I live in a city where access to this sort of art is easy--the glory of Monet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, all just a subway ride away. It's overwhelming for a girl whose home city boasts one "art center" which usually displays local artists. Can't say I'm hatin' this easy access either.
BTW: Loved Mean Girls. Loved loved loved it. Jonathan Bennett is too gorgeous.
I took my friend Chris out to lunch at this lovely French place, Fleur de Sel. The servers were all very courteous and even picked up on the fact that it was his birthday, cause when his raspberry feuillete came, they had put a candle on it and written "Happy Birthday" in chocolate sauce on his plate. In any case, I do believe I need to talk about the food--seeing as how it is one of the main loves of my life.
We decided to choose dishes so that we could taste everything--if I picked A, he would pick B, etc. So I ended up with tuna tartare for appetizer, scallops for entree, and banana mousse for dessert. He got white asparagus soup, duck, and the rapsberry feuillete. The tartare was unbelievable! So fresh, bursting with flavor without being oversalty like Le Cirque. Then I do believe I had the best damn scallops I've ever had in my entire life--usually I dislike scallops because they are dry or stringy. But these scallops--oh, they were heaven! Succulent, moist, and perfectly seasoned. And oh dear Lord, the dessert was just as good--on his way out, an older man told us the banana mousse was to die for, and it literally was. I would literally die for that banana mousse again. Also, the presentation of the foods was whimsical, adding to the atmosphere.
The one strange mark on the whole restaurant experience was when suddenly, Chris says, "There's a woman in the window pointing her camera at me." I look, but there's a curtain blocking my view. So I strain a bit, and there she is! A woman with a foot long lens pointing it straight at Chris! It was so very odd! She stood there for a very long time, and we mused over the reasons for her presence. The most plausible one we came up with was that she believed him to be Randy from Real World San Diego, because he looks exactly like him. At length, she walked away, and to this moment, we still don't know why she was there.
Anyway, after lunch, to complete our high class/culture afternoon, we went to the Met for their special exhibit entitled, "Dangerous Liasons: 18th century furniture and fashion." It took us 4 guards giving us directions before we finally found it, but it was so worth it. They had set up little scenes with mannequins dressed and coiffed circa 18th century, and some were rather scandalous. In one, a man-nequin had his hand on the breast of the woman-nequin. In another little closet display, two mannequins were going at it. Yup. It was great!
Then we visited the Impressionists, because I hadn't gone to see them in a long while. It was so stange to think that I live in a city where access to this sort of art is easy--the glory of Monet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, all just a subway ride away. It's overwhelming for a girl whose home city boasts one "art center" which usually displays local artists. Can't say I'm hatin' this easy access either.
BTW: Loved Mean Girls. Loved loved loved it. Jonathan Bennett is too gorgeous.