28th Birthday! and a beautiful night at Degustation

Monday, July 2nd, was my official 28th birthday. I say "official" because I have been blessed to have been celebrating my birthday since Friday, June 29th, when Eleanor and Michael had a birthday dinner party for me, David, Michael, Fran and Jordie (Eleanor's sister and brother in-law), Robin and James Powell, our director who was in New York for casting purposes. And on Saturday, June 30th, James generously took me and David out for a birthday brunch at Balthazar. So by the time my official date of birth came along on Monday, I'd been toasting and toasted champagne many times over.

Couple of weeks ago, David decided he'd prefer to take me to a more formal birthday dinner on Friday instead (July 6, thereby extending my birthday celebration yet further), since Monday is the start of the week and not exactly the most romantic or partying-conducive day of the week (READ: hangovers do not go over as well). On July 2nd, my birthday proper, then, I requested that we go to a mellower dinner at Degustation, an intimate and wonderful restaurant in the East Village we have come to love (and about which I have wanted to blog for some time). Degustation is an innovative "Franco-Spanish-inspired small plates" restaurant, whose chef is young and extremely talented -- Wesley Genovart is 27-years old, but has already worked at top-rated restaurants in Spain as well as New York. Wesley is also a lovely, lovely guy, who works hard and is neurotically passionate about his food. We have come to be friendly with him, in part because his restaurant is great for striking up a friendship with the chef: the restaurant seats 18 or 19 people, counter-style, around the kitchen, where he cooks every night. He recognized us the second time we came in (we tend to be recognizable as a couple, I suppose), and since then, we have had a good rapport with him. We talk to him about our work and our travels, and he talks to us about his new dishes or restaurant experiences. Through our conversations we have discovered that there are many similarities between putting up a theater production and running a restaurant, and we enjoy sharing our ideas and thoughts. And it doesn't hurt that we love his food. He is a phenomenal talent, humble and candid (he readily tells us where to go to buy wines we love at his restaurant, cheaply), and truly wants people to eat delicious and inspired dishes. And the wine list at his restaurant is superb, and everyone else at the restaurant also friendly and lovely. (So basically, you need to get yourself there if you can.)


My birthday dinner at Degustation was superb. The restaurant made us feel like VIP's, with everyone from Jack Lamb (the owner) to the waiters wishing me a happy birthday. We had a fabulous time, and the food was, as usual, excellent. We hadn't been back to Degustation for a while as we've been out of New York, and so there were several dishes on the menu that were completely new to us.

(Amazing rare grilled tuna with dried black olives...)

(David expressing his delight by pretending to be a...bunny...over a dish of soft shell crab.)

(David smelling the most incredible "cheese steak" ever... rare roasted beef, thinly sliced, piled on top of grilled bread -- bruschetta-style -- with red peppers, etc. and drizzled with some sort of Spanish cheese...genius!)

(Blowing out candles in the dessert... a nice woman sitting next to David took this candle-blowing action photo for us.)

(The freshest, fruitiest version of the "millefeuille"... this one's Spanish, called "mil hojas," or "thousand leaves.")

(A glamor/arty shot of me, by David.)

It was the perfect restaurant to celebrate my birthday proper. We loved sharing each of the dishes, meticulously plated and artfully presented, full of flavor and texture. Degustation is a brilliant restaurant and we always have a gorgeous time there, full of laughter and merriment as we share food as well as thoughts and stories, and my birthday (proper) dinner did not disappoint.

TM

On How Infused Vodka is Our New Shochu

We went to Public last night for the first time, for dinner. We will write in more detail about the virtues of the meal we had when we have fully recovered from the weekend and find a moment to reflect more contemplatively (and without headaches) about it all.

We do feel compelled to note, before we can responsibly begin and go about our Sunday, that Public has some of the most gorgeous infused vodkas we have drunk to date. We drank the flavors offered simply on the rocks. My favorite was the Spicy Pumpkin: think liquid pumpkin pie filling with less sugar and with a more grown-up punch of cinnamon, which goes down like a nice smooth shochu -- not too strong, but with sensational impact. David's favorite was the Mango-Yuzu-Red Chili, which was smooth and delicate, with well-balanced flavors that kicked slightly on the aftertaste. The Fig-Fennel was, to put it simply, sexy yet almost too overwhelming to drink with dinner -- it paired perfectly with a trio of gorgeous desserts at the end.

When we were in London, we became quite involved with infused shochu at the the Shochu Lounge under one of our favorite restaurants in the city, Roka. Since then, we've wondered why shochu bars have not popped up in the New York City nightlife. For the time being, though, we feel we have found perfectly acceptable substitutes when our mood strikes for shochu: infused vodkas at Public.

(Next time at Public we should, of course, look at its extensive wine list... but it will be difficult to keep away from the vodkas, for sure.)

TM