Saturday, June 22, 2024
Louisiana is getting away cheap. According to Jewish tradition, the Torah contains 613 commandments.
Sunday, June 23, 2024
Happy Birthday Lord K.
. . .
While my readership is not entirely homogeneous, it does skew towards viewers of “Antiques Roadshow.” However, for the unwrinkled folks out there, choosing a welcoming environment as you move out into the world is an important step. Looking at one-bedroom apartment rents, restaurants per capita, number of single people, unemployment rates and other variables, this survey of the country’s 100 largest cities ranks their suitability for new college graduates.
I can draw only a few general conclusions examining the results. The Sun Belt does not shine here. High rents are very influential (the Holy Land comes in 20th overall), but not dispositive (San Francisco lands in fifth place). Your parents’ basement does not figure in the calculations.
. . .
Barbara and Bernie, cousins of cousins, joined us for dinner at Sempre Oggi, 166 West 75th Street. This was the site of ‘Cesca, once a favorite that suffered a fatal decline. The interior has been completely redone. Once fairly dark, the walls are pale green and the seating is covered in sea foam green leatherette. Service was very attentive, commensurate with the high prices and the absence of a crowd.
Bernie and I shared a very good, but small, plate of calamari, accompanied by both marinara sauce and ranch dressing ($21). I then ordered linguine with scallops in a buttery lemon sauce ($34). While good tasting, the portion was woefully undersized for the price.
I’d like to see Sempre Oggi succeed. The neighborhood could use a “nice” Italian restaurant, but the bucks have to carry more bang.
Monday, June 24, 2024
Dear Gentile friends,
Many on my team are as disturbed by the excessive loss of life (as if there is just the right amount) in the Israeli/Palestine conflict as you are. However, it would be helpful to curb the idiocy of the likes of Dr. Rupa Marya, a Palestinian advocate at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center, who said “the presence of Zionism in U.S. medicine should be examined as a structural impediment to health equity.”
Just imagine if we could remove Zionism from U.S. medicine? A lot of patients would be stretched out on examining tables, draped in flimsy gowns, waiting interminably for a doctor.
. . .
Our local heat wave of 90+ days broke today, so I decided to venture into Sandwichland again, guided by “57 Sandwiches That Define New York City.” I headed straight uptown to Morningside Depths, renamed after the appalling collapse of intellectual integrity at Columbia University.
Milano Market, 2892 Broadway, sits a half-block north of Tom’s Restaurant, the setting for countless “Seinfeld” episodes. Milano’s sandwich counter deserves a show of its own. A half-dozen people stand behind piles of meats, cheeses, vegetables, bread and condiments, assembling sandwiches quickly, but carefully. Their creations are formidable, judged by the #9 that I ordered. Rare roast beef, horseradish cheddar, sauteed onions, tomato, chipotle on toasted focaccia ($15).
It was so big that I could not finish it in one session. That’s seriously big. Milano is strictly a market, everything takeout. I ate the first half of my sandwich on a bench in the middle of Broadway at West 112th Street and the second half at a table on the sidewalk in front of a pizzeria on Broadway just below West 71st Street.
Tuesday, June 25, 2024
I was hoping that we could join in a chorus of “O Canada” in celebration of the Edmonton Oilers victory in the Stanley Cup finals last night. They would have been the first Canadian team to win in 31 years. But it was not to be.
In fact, one reason that I was rooting for Edmonton was my preference for their national anthem over ours. It was written in 1880, but only became the national anthem 100 years later. There is a French version and it is sung in both languages in some arenas. Of course, next year, we will hear the “Star Spangled Banner” when the New York Rangers go all the way, I hope, I hope, I hope.
Wednesday, June 26, 2024
I have begun working my way through Sandwichland, the 57 Sandwiches That Define New York City according to the New York Times. However, they have just thrown out a (geographically) bigger challenge, a nationwide collection of superior pizza.
While some of the sandwiches were already familiar to me, these pizzas are terra nova. Therefore, I think that I need the assistance of you gentle readers. Cindy & David go over to Bird Pizza in Charlotte; Lyell, The Lincoln Winebar in Mount Vernon, Iowa is only 22 miles from you; Warren, Pizzeria Bianca is right there in Phoenix; Jeanne, check out Rose Pizzeria in Berkeley; Jae & Robert try St. Pizza in New Orleans; Larry, get John to take you over to Yellow in Georgetown; Rabbi Jonah, Bungalow by Middle Brow (sic) in Chicago has six pizzas without compromising ingredients; Alan H., Pizzeria Sei is easily accessible to you in Los Angeles. It takes a village.
Thursday, June 27, 2024
Caring Ken Klein came over for dinner and our debate watch vigil, in retrospect named Misery Loves Company. To describe what we witnessed, I am unsure whether to refer to a Shakespeare play or a Peanuts cartoon.
Friday, June 28, 2024
How about we turn our attention to Iran’s presidential election?
. . .
Kinky Friedman - R.I.P.
Commenting on how he represented an amalgam of two cultures, cowboys and Jews: “They both wear their hats indoors.”
I wish there were an article that listed cities with the highest percentage of older folk who are still active and social.
ReplyDelete