Monday, September 23, 2019
It's been more than 20 years since I last went to Serendipity 3, 225 East 60th Street, which is about to celebrate its 65th anniversary.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/
This long absence is notable, because, when I returned to the Holy Land in 1980 from exile on the Left Coast, I ate at Serendipity 3 almost every Sunday for months. And, I ordered the same thing -- a hamburger and frozen hot chocolate. At that time, at three dollars and change, its hamburger was one of the most expensive around, but worth it to my mind. I think that they lightly covered the patty with cracker crumbs before broiling, yielding a crunchy exterior. The frozen hot chocolate was what Starbucks' frappuccino aspires to. I never tired of the meal.
However, as I started living a normal life, I rarely returned alone, but continued to go to Serendipity with friends and that's what I want to tell you about. One night, after work, I went with Cindy, Susan and Sylvia (the Sibilants?). Standing on line, we couldn't help but stare at Andy Warhol, seated at a center table. As I was telling the host/seater/greeter that we were the Nächst party, pronounced "next," Sylvester Stallone and entourage entered right behind us. Under those circumstances, I pretty much represented the mean of masculinity.
. . .
Not all newspaper headlines these days are depressing. According to the business section: "Engineers Sprint Ahead, but Don't Underestimate the Poets"
Relying on the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) majors initially draw much higher pay than liberal arts types. However, the gap is closed over time as innovations in STEM fields leave many workers behind, while the "soft" skills developed (we pray) in liberal arts majors may help them rise to leadership and management positions. It doesn't hurt the numbers, also, to go to law school and work for a Wall Street firm, not exactly what you anticipated when you registered at Yale for English 126 to study "the English literary tradition through close reading of select poems from the eighteenth century through the present."
. . .
Allow me to introduce you to Alain Eigermann, proprietor-chef of Alain's Petit Bistro, 88 Main Street, Nyack. We encountered him and his establishment yesterday, when the Upper West Side's Power Couple took a little jaunt out of town, on the gorgeous day that was the last day of Summer. It was lunch time and the place seemed very French and inviting. The deep carmine walls were covered with French posters, maps and Parisian street signs. Proud roosters also appeared in various forms. Edith Piaf sang.
Alain is Alsatian and started working in kitchens when he was 14 years old. He progressed through increasingly prominent restaurants in France and then New York, eventually opening several of his own. This bistro seems to an exercise in tranquility, after some of the ventures that he described to us.
The lunch menu was simple. I had creamy scrambled eggs with chives, accompanied by a green salad and frites. My young bride had the best looking salade Niçoise that I have ever seen, many thick slices of grilled tuna sitting amid fresh greens, hard-boiled eggs, olives and haricots verts (French green beans). Ooh-la-la.. . .
This puzzle defeated me: What comes next?
D1 N1 O1 S1 A2 M2 F1
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
"But if the government takes an ax to the political convention and there are no rules, then there is a complete void in which the executive can act however it likes.” Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Gentleman Jerry accompanied me to Pho Vietnamese Sandwich Shop, 141 West 72nd Street, newly opened, replacing an undistinguished Japanese restaurant. The place was very busy; almost all seats at its 10 two-tops, 3 booths and 2 tall tables were occupied. The two long walls were white-painted brick, one side hung with indigenous objects, large green leaves painted on the other.
The name is misleading. It's a full-scale Vietnamese restaurant; banh mi, the national sandwich, makes up only a small part of the menu. More choices are offered of pho, the classic noodle soup, and bun, vermicelli/mei fun/angel hair, covered with stuff, beef, shrimp, pork, chicken. Prices are reasonable, the same for lunch and dinner. Everything in the teens except for two items at $20.
I had a beef bulgogi sandwich ($12), thin slices of beef dressed with kimchi, pickled shredded carrots, cucumber, cilantro and a fried egg ($1.50 extra), on a fresh baguette. Jerry had bun bo cha gio ($14), fine noodles with grilled sesame beef and a spring roll. Both of us were very pleased with our choices.
. . .
No, a Ukrainian has never won the Miss Universe pageant, contrary to what the president of the United States (who owned the Miss Universe pageant from 1996 to 2015) said while sitting next to the president of Ukraine today. This will register as another lie on the Washington Post's presidential veracity scorecard, but I have a suggestion. https://www.washingtonpost.
Instead of trying to comprehend that the president of the United States has told 12,019 "false or misleading statements" out loud since taking office (as of August 12, 2019), why not list and enumerate the truths that he tells. It will take far less time and space to record them.
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