I apologize for the transmission errors that plagued some of you last week. I hope that it all got sorted out eventually.
Saturday, June 27, 2026
I went on a date this evening, dinner and a movie. Fortunately, my young bride was my date. We ate at Long Island Dumplings, 513 Sixth Avenue, a very informal joint that offers a wide variety of dumplings, dim sum and noodles. You can order on an electronic tablet or with a real live human being. Seating is very limited, two four-tops and a counter with four stools.
I had good siu mai, $6 for four cylinders of chopped shrimp and pork, and Crispy Chicken Curry Buns, three for $8 the size of golf balls. They were not particularly crispy and weak on the curry, but passable. I enjoyed one of my better half's steamed vegetable dumplings, six for $8.75. It tasted very fresh, with a delicate wrapper. While Long Island Dumplings is one block west and one-and-a-half blocks north of where I attended law school, unfortunately it appeared about 25 years too late to make it my home away from home.
You are guaranteed not to see a superhero movie at the Quad Cinema, 50 West 13th Street. We went there to see For the Love of a Woman, an Italian production in English set in Israel. It is about a young woman in the late 1970s who reluctantly explores her past as instructed by a letter from her mother delivered after her mother’s death. The woman travels to Israel, which she left as a small child in the 1930s, and learns that her personal history is far more complex than she ever imagined.
The movie often flashes back to Palestine in the 1930s, but never addresses the two overarching issues in modern Israeli life, the conflicts between Jews and Arabs and between secular and observant Jews. And that’s good, because there is enough drama and tension in the lives explored. It might be hard to find, but For the Love of a Woman is worth tracking down.
Sunday, June 28, 2026
Happy Birthday Mel Brooks, 100 years young. We celebrated by going to dinner at Sala Thai, 307 Amsterdam Avenue, which was very busy although he wasn't there. Its capacity is very deceptive. Walking in you barely see a table or two, but the joint keeps going and going further back and opens to a newly added side room. Walls and ceiling are covered by wood panels, giving a warm feeling.
Especially warm was the Kee Mao Beef that I ordered, a version of drunken noodles, broad, flat noodles stir-fried with chili, garlic, mushrooms, oyster sauce and soy sauce ($20). It came very spicy, just at the limit of my tolerance, a drink of water following every bite until I made all gone. I had gotten off to a good start with Duck Roti Bouquet, duck, cucumber, scallion, radish and Hoisin mayonnaise wrapped in a crêpe ($16).
Monday, June 29, 2026
You might have to change your travel plans. The Pekin Noodle Parlor, 117 South Main Street, Butte, Montana, the longest operating Chinese restaurant in the country, has closed after 117 years. The owner is reportedly ill and no one is interested in succeeding him. This loss is apparently of more historic than gastronomic significance. From what I have read, the food was enjoyed only by folks who never left Butte, Montana. https://www.reddit.com/r/
Tuesday, June 30, 2026
There were several reasons to go to Lungi, South Indian & Sri Lankan Restaurant, 1136 First Avenue. It's relatively new; it just received a positive review in the New York Times (June 2, 2026); our companions Eva and Jerry served in Sri Lanka in the Peace Corps. In all, it was a wise choice. We had plenty of good food, somewhat similar but different from other South Asian meals.
We shared just about everything -- Cauliflower 65, cauliflower fritters tossed in a Manchurian sauce ($16), an excellent dish with an undecipherable name; Masala Dosa, big, flat crêpe stuffed with mashed potatoes ($25); Kari Dosa, big, flat crêpe stuffed with minced chicken ($27); Chicken Chettinad, chicken simmered with curry leaves, coconut and freshly ground spices ($32); lamb Kothu, lamb stir-fried with shredded paratha (bread), vegetables, onions and egg ($30). There was more, but I failed to record everything that we ate. You should visit Lungi, with or without your pencil.
Wednesday, July 1, 2026
When I made a lunch date with Irwin Pronin CCNY Student Council President for Life, we agreed to meet at Our New Place Chinese Restaurant, 242 East 79th Street. When I got there, there were two surprises, the name had changed to Cao Tang New Sichuan Cuisine and something broke in the kitchen and they were unable to cook. However, I was early, so I sat in the airconditioned premises and waited for Irwin, prepared to tell him that we had to go somewhere else. Then, fortune intervened, necessary repairs were made and lunch would be served.
We started with Chengdu Cold Noodles, ordered as "mild spicy" delivered as hot, hot ($9.95). Then, we splurged on Peking Duck, 1/2 for $38.95, complete with four pancakes, scallions, cucumbers and Hoisin sauce. It was very good, almost as fat-free as you could expect from duck, but it was no more than 1/2 of 1/2 of a duck. The right size would have warranted a higher price, although a higher price might have deterred us, an issue for economists to ponder.
On the way home, I stopped into the oddly named Salt & Straw, 360 Amsterdam Avenue, to pick up some much better than average ice cream. I bought pints of Birthday Cakes (sic) and Blackberries, "Hunks of birthday cake flecked with rainbow sprinkles folded into salted vanilla ice cream and ribboned with juicy blackberry jam," and chocolate babka w/ hazelnut fudge, $12.50 each. This proved to be a big bargain considering the resulting delight at Palazzo di Gotthelf.
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Speaking of pondering, the other day I explained Jack Benny and his famous slow reaction to the challenge "Your money or your life?" to someone a half century younger. Later, I realized that this alternative applied to the United States Supreme Court's somewhat contradictory rulings the other day on executive power, that is President's Trump's power over independent regulatory agencies. In Trump v. Slaughter, the court overruled the 91-year precedent of Humphrey's Executor v. United States, which limited the grounds for removal of a member of a federal regulatory agency. In this case, the agency was the Federal Trade Commission, which pursues fraud in business and consumer relations. Back-to-back with this decision was Trump v. Cook, where a different majority conditionally protected a Governor of the Federal Reserve System from removal. The real difference, Slaughter's job entailed protecting you and me, while Cook operates in the international finance playground, admission by invitation only.
Friday, July 3, 2026
The Big Apple is the Baked Apple as the temperature reached 100° for the second day.
