June 2, 2008

Over the weekend, Lisa (tresdoc) came down for some sisterly fun. And where to go for that fun? New York City of course! Can I just tell you it was fabulous! We had more fun than two girls should be allowed in one day. Just what the doctor ordered to get me out of this slump. (Thanks Lis!)

We started out Saturday at a matinee showing of Spring Awakening. Can’t say enough good things about the musical - one of the best I’ve ever seen, and well deserving of the 8 Tony Awards it received. Excellent ensemble cast. Excellent venue at the O’Neill Theater. Superior musical!

Spring Awakening was originally written back in the late 1800s and, being so controversial, was banned in Germany. Set in 19th century Germany, it’s a vignette of sexual awakening within a circle of friends. While the setting is early 1900s, the music is anything but - with a modern day, rock soundtrack. In fact, the “orchestra” consists of a 5 or 6 piece band that sits on-stage.

I don’t want to give anything away, but get ready for an incredible performance. Leave the kiddies at home, though. The theme is adult-oriented, with strong language and brief nudity.

As I was reading the credits afterwards, I was pleasantly surprised to see the name Duncan Sheik. Do you remember Duncan Sheik? He had a big hit back in the late 90’s with Barely Breathing. Anyway, Duncan and Steve Sater, a dramatist, collaborated together on Spring Awakening. It’s like Lennon and McCartney. Or Elton and Bernie. A great writing team.

Remember this line - blah, blah, blah, blah, blah! And be sure to pick up the soundtrack, too!

Later, we had dinner reservations at Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain. After ordering a bottle of Poonawatta Estate “The Eden” Reisling (2006 Eden Valley, Australia), we started with Shellfish Cocktails for an appetizer.

A trio consisting of: Shrimp-Tomatillo with a smoked chile cocktail sauce, Crab-Mango Coconut with a habanero hot sauce, and Lobster-Avocado. While the crab was delicious, it had a strong afterbite. Wasn’t very fond of the shrimp, but loved the lobster.

For the entry, Lisa ordered skate with smoked chile butter, capers, tarragan, and crispy hominy. To quote Lisa, “it was orgasmic in my mouth.” I had the rack of pork, with Hudson apple chutney, sour mash, and cream corn. This was the most tender pork I’ve ever tasted. The apple chutney spooned over the pork was like a rich apple butter. Delic!

For dessert, Lisa went with the Warm Strawberry cake with vanilla cream cheese sauce and strawberry sorbet. I chose the Blackberry souffle. Good lord - get a doggie bag, but save room for the dessert. You don’t want to miss out on these! The souffle takes about 15 minutes to make; and the preparation/serving alone is an art form. It’s brought out straight from the oven, and the server makes a small hole in the middle from which he pours in the blackberry sauce, followed by a heavy cream. I don’t have words to do it justice. Trust me. Try the blackberry souffle.

Aside from the food, the ambience of the restaurant and the whole dining experience was exquisite. Our server, Mark, was - for the most part - invisible. He knew exactly when we needed something without ever us asking. (Be sure to ask for him if you go!) This is not a place to go for a quiet, romantic dinner. The overall atmosphere was very congenial, allowing you to meet your dining neighbors and strike up a conversation, too. Our dining neighbors were celebrating a birthday, and we shared a toast with them.

As fabulous as the show and dinner had been, the real fun began after we left the restaurant. Despite the intermittent rain, we single-handedly took on the city - okay, there were two of us - so double handedly took on the city and left our mark. Those poor dudes!

BUT! You’ll have to stop back by in the next couple of days for the rest of the story, and pictures involving pretzels, taxis, musicians, and lawn jockeys. Intrigued? You should be.

If you enjoyed this story, please subscribe to the full RSS feed. You can also have it delivered straight to your mailbox. For something different, mosey over to eScapes and check out dKaye's take on life through photos.

|  Printable version | Posted in reels and squeals, simple pleasures, that which amuses me | Tags: entertainment, family, fun, new york city, reels and squeals, restaurants, simple pleasures, that which amuses me.