We left Austin on an early Thursday morning flight and checked into the Michelangelo at 1:15 PM, with plenty of time to make a 1:30 reservation at Le Bernadin (just across the street from the hotel). It was pretty much what I expected: remarkably fresh fish, raw or barely cooked and exquisitely sauced. We started with some shrimp dumplings and a rich lobster-based bouillabaisse with crab and shrimp. The main dishes were both poached filets -- striped bass with celery, marinated cherry tomatoes, cucumber, apple, and basil; and cobia, a firm-fleshed fish from N. Carolina, with a julienne of zucchini and yellow squash and a taste of lemongrass. Both broths were quite interesting. At this point, I still felt on pace for an 8:30 dinner reservation, but then dessert arrived. Mine was a massive mascarpone mousse with raspberry couli and assorted berries, and Lin needed help with her chocolate ravioli and dark chocolate sorbet. And I can never resist those little cookies.
Dinner was at Canton in Chinatown with the Senyks and Goldblatts. The grilled prawns were my favorite -- the largest I've seen, with heads full of roe. The squab in lettuce leaves was also good, as was a fried whole fish (again, I feasted on the head). Afterwards, we headed uptown for a late cheese reservation at Picholine. We were served two platter containing Eleven cheeses, accompanied by a port and a bordeaux. The first platter was fairly tame, but a Spanish goat cheese (Monte Enebro) stood out, as did a Somerset cheddar. The second platter was more interesting, especially an Alsatian muenster (some found this one offensive, but it reminded me of Liederkrantz, which we used to eat on saltines with ale at McSorley's) and a Spanish bleu called Cabrales. Our good fortune continued as Winkelman, who happened to be in town on business, stopped by in time to pick up the tab.
Friday morning we met up with Matthew and Judy and headed for Barney Greengrass. Matzah ball soup, belly lox (one of the treats that I look forward to all year) with cream cheese, and pickled lox. After some shopping, the girls went off to join Cooky and Joanne for tea at Sarabeth's, and Matthew and I explored some downtown bookstores. Wandering around Chelsea, we discovered a curious little Alsatian place called L'Acajou, and were so intrigued by the menu and wine list that we ended up there for dinner later, along with Shawn and his new girl friend, Mary. This began with some great charcuterie, escargots with cognac and cream in puff pastry, and an onion tart, accompanied by a spicy gewurztraminer. Next, Lin and Judy shared mussels and pommes frites, Shawn ordered the skate meuniere with basil and pine nuts, and the rest of us each had a rack of lamb in black truffle crust with a ragout of cepes, tomato, and flageolets. This was the best meal of the weekend, and I am pleased that we were not deterred by Zagat's lukewarm review.
Saturday afternoon, we split up. I was content to hit some of my favorite hot dog stands and falafel joints while Matthew and Judy visited museums and Lin went shopping with Linda. Munir showed up that evening, and we reconvened to watch the World Series game at our new favorite theater district bar (in the Edison Hotel). Afterwards, we cabbed downtown for an 11:00 reservation at Babbo. I had checked out the menu when I was in the Village that afternoon, and was concerned that it might be a bit too trendy for us. I generally like Batali, but he does tend to get carried away with weird ingredients. Indeed, we rejected his pasta tasting menu, which included some pretty bizarre stuff (stracchino with gingerbread and golden raisins, safran panna cotta with poached quince and quince sorbetto, etc), and designed our own instead. We began with six antipasti: insalata di mare, fresh anchovies, bresaola, prosciutto, soppressata, and steamed cockles. These were followed by seven pastas, which we passed around the table all night. (Of course, this was done without the benefit of http://www.nytimes.com/library/dining/111099sharing-food.html) I don't remember them all, but my favorites were the goose liver ravioli, mint "love letters" with spicy lamb sausage, pappardelle bolognese, and gnocchi with braised oxtail. It was fairly spectacular and the crowd seemed happy with the choice.
Our plane left earlier than I would have liked on Sunday morning, but I managed to stop at the Carnegie Deli on the way out and picked up a corned beef on rye for the plane.