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Phil Rambles, Phil Price blog.
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pnprice@creekcats.com
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Fri, 24 Oct 2003
Nice place to visit...
We're back from a week in New York City. I've been there a few times in the past decade, for a few days here or there, but this was the longest visit. I spent several days working with my friend Andrew on a statistics problem, and several days of fun, including the wedding of our friends Chad and Sarah.
New York is expensive!
OK, I know it's not really shocking news that Manhattan is a pricey place, but boy, if you haven't visited then you have no idea. Hotel, taxis, restaurants, a show, tips for this and that...wow. Now, it's true that you don't have to do all this stuff, and indeed, on previous trips I've stayed with my friend, cooked in his kitchen, etc., and spent no more than on a typical day at home. This time, though, we got a more typical visit-to-New-York experience, and now I see what people mean when they talk about how expensive it is. It is.
New York is exciting!
Yeah, NYC is expensive, but it's fun too. We went to see a fun, raucous show called "De La Guarda," sort of a cross between Stomp and Cirque du Soleil: lots of people doing acrobatic things, set to music, very visually exciting. The best part, strikingly cool although it's hard to define why, is two women doing a kind of running dance up the side of a wall, suspended sideways by ropes: feet on the wall, heads out towards the audience, sprinting upwards in big swooping arts. I thought the show as a whole could have used some narrative or some kind of theme---it a collection of separate pieces that didn't seem very unified---but it was still a blast.
We also ate some good food. One dish that I really liked, and already (mostly successfully) duplicated was from a restaurant called "Baraonda" on the upper east side, a relaxed but good Italian place with nice (I thought) brightly colored paintings on the wall, painted by some Guatemalan painter I believe. Anyway, the dish was "Sauteed artichoke hearts with pistachios, served on a bed of mache" or something like that, and by treating the description as a recipe I was able to duplicate it pretty well. Here's my version, which is very good but is not as good as their version:
Artichoke hearts with pistachios and parmesan
Ingredients: (1) Two 8-oz jars of artichoke hearts preserved in brine, without vinegar, drained. If they say "marinated", that's not what you want. Better, of course, would be to cook your own fresh artichokes and remove the hearts, but that's a lot of work; (2) About 1/4 cup shelled pistachios. ;(3) Pecorino or parmesan cheese, shaved (not grated); (3) olive oil; (4) salt, pepper, and butter if desired.
Lightly crush the pistachios with a rolling pin (just try to break 'em in half or so, but it's not really necessary), then put them in a small dish and cover them completely with olive oil. Let them soak for an hour or two (or much longer if you prefer, I think there's no harm in it). Dump the pistachios and oil into a hot pan and saute briefly, then add the artichoke hearts (cut 'em in half first, or split them with a spatula once they're in the pan). Saute until the artichoke hearts are nice and soft. I added about a tablespoon of butter at this point to make the dish richer, but it's really not necessary. Add a bit of salt if you like (I skipped it---my artichokes had been soaking in brine). Add plenty of pepper. You may need to add a little more olive oil as the stuff cooks. And guess what, you're done! Spoon the whole thing over a bed of "mache" (or just any ol' mixed greens), and put the shaved parmesan or pecorino on top. Voila! It's really quite good---who knew artichokes and pistachios would go together so well? The good thing is that there's nothing to overwhelm the taste of the artichokes, which in my opinion happens with most artichoke dishes other than good ol' artichokes-and-butter.
So...expensive city, but good food. What else? Central Park is very nice, really well maintained and landscaped, and just generally beautiful. I enjoyed strolling through it every day, and would have found the city oppressive without it. I know lots and lots of New Yorkers spend almost all of their time without a hint of nature, but to me it seems indispensable.
Chad and Sarah's wedding, which took place in the Chelsea Museum, was lots of fun. Nice venue for it, and their friends were very nice and entertaining.