It's all "About Me"

Haaappy New Year!  We are celebrating with Thai take-out and champagne at home, and I'm happy as a clam!  The black-eyed peas are soaking for tomorrow, and the collards are in the fridge.

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Dinner and a Movie

This is a post about food.  I just want to prepare you.  Yes, it was my birthday on Tuesday.  Yes, I had a wonderful day spending time with Frank, Elsie, and Mom.  Yes, I received beautiful, thoughtful gifts, which for which I am most appreciative.

But the highlight was most certainly dinner at a fairly new restaurant to Asheville.  It's called Curate, pronounced coo-rah-tay, and its an "Authentic Spanish Tapas" bar/restaurant.   The idea of tapas is that you share several small plates of food, ordering as you eat, enjoying many different dishes throughout the meal.  We ate at several tapas places when we were in Barcelona, and our Rehearsal Dinner was at a tapas place, so we were excited to relive those experiences here.

Mom stayed home to babysit, and Frank and I snuck out for a rare date-night.  Curate is located right in the heart of downtown Asheville, near the Vance Memorial.  The place was already bustling when we arrived at 5:30 (we wanted to see a movie at 7).  A long bar dominates most of the restaurant, and the open kitchen is behind that bar.  We love to cook and to watch others cook, so we asked to be seated at the bar where we had a front row seat to the orchestrations of this popular place (it was voted best new restaurant in Asheville and is up for a James Beard award).

We stared off with a cocktail (Rebujito for me) and a selection of ham.  Spain is known for it's ham.  They enjoy ham in the same ways some enjoy wine, comparing subtle flavors, noticing the color and texture, etc.  The most notable ham on our plate was from free-range pigs who eat only acorns.  The flavor was nutty and earthy (it's the one on the far right below).

 

  That blurry piece in the front was a piece of fresh bread, slathered with a tomatoes and olive oil.  Simple, yet divine! Then we enjoyed white asparagus in lemon tarragon vinaigrette with "light as air" mayonnaise.  Wow.  I hate that I forgot to get a photo of that masterpiece.

Next we ordered their famous Sauteed Shrimp and Sliced Garlic.  This dish is rated the number one tapas dish in Asheville, and now I know why!  Again, simple, yet brilliant. 

Behind the shrimp is a sandwich: tuna with roasted red peppers, onions, black olive spread, and a hard-boiled egg.  Yum.

As we were eating and drinking and talking, we watched the cooks rush around.

The station right in front of us was the saute station, and that guy looked hot.  Like temperature hot.

Next up, spinach with apples, raisins, and toasted pine nuts (thank goodness Curate posts their full menu online...I would never be able to remember all of this!)

 And lamb skewers in Moorish spices. 

Our last savory dish was an array of mushrooms sauteed in EVOO (as Rachael Ray would say) and sherry.

As we enjoyed our mushrooms, a cook came to a spot right in front of us and started sifting something onto a cookie sheet.  I wondered what he might be making, and I thought I'd take a photo in case it got interesting.  He stuck the sheet in the oven and walked away.

We ordered dessert, which was rosemary ice cream with almond sponge cake and candied oranges.  Can you tell we like unusual flavor combos?  We could see the cook making our dish.  First he smeared some yummy sauce on the slate plate (he was making two of the same dishes at one time).

Then he placed the sponge cake and candied oranges.

Finally, the rosemary ice cream.

And, voila!

Apparently the sponge cake batter is dispersed into the baking dish with the same device they make foam or whipped cream with, so it was so very light and airy.  The rosemary ice cream was so unique, and went well with the orange and almond flavors. 

We realized the movie would be starting soon, and asked for our check.  Our waiter told us to be sure to wait a few moments, as a special birthday treat was coming out.  (We had told them when we'd made the reservation.)  It turns out, that mixture that was sifted onto the cookie sheet was for me!  He had sifted powdered chocolate onto a paper thin sheet of potato starch.  It was then baked, and the cook had 30 seconds from the time the sheet came out of the oven to create a chocolate "napkin."  He quickly but carefully peeled the chocolate up,

and held it in the air with one hand while the other arranged the bottom part.

 He held it just so for a few more seconds,

 then sprinkled it with some sort of dehydrated berries, and delivered it to us!  Can you see how thin it is at the very top where it curves?  Literally paper thin.

 Fascinating!

What a way to end the meal!  I snapped a few shots of the restaurant right before we left, which was jam packed by now.

 That diamond pattern on the bar is composed of little hex tiles.  I love the look.

And check out this textured wall paper in the ladies room.

Very cool. 

So, we walked across the street to the Fine Arts theater to see the Descendants.

Have you guys seen it?  It's definitely my kind of movie.  Same writer/director as Sideways and Election, other favorites of mine.  We saw a preview for My Week with Marilyn, and I SO want to see it, along with a handful of other movies...The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Artist, War Horse, Young Adult.

What a memorable meal!  Have you guys eaten tapas?  Seen any good movies lately?

Pre-Christmas in NYC

So, a few months ago my father-in-law, Rob, mentioned in conversation that he would like to take us and Frank's brother, Sam, to NYC.  I'm not sure how serious he was at the time, but don't you know I held him to it!  I helped plan and book the trip, and between the two of us, we made it happen.

Frank, Elsie and I met Rob and Sam at the airport in Charlotte on Sunday.  The Bean did pretty well on her first flight.  She napped a bit and squeaked a lot...to be expected for a 9 month old. 

We were in the city by 3pm.   We stayed at the Affinia Manhattan, and our suite was fab.   Check out the views.

That evening Grandad stayed in with EB, and Sam, Frank and I met up with Cousin Drew at Birreria.  It's the restaurant on the rooftop of Eataly, and Sam picked it for the great beer selection.   There was a retractable ceiling in place when we were there, but I can only imagine how sweet it would be in warmer months, al fresco. 

 Drew and Sam:

 The food was divine!  Here's Sam displaying how uber thin the proscuitto was.

 So, we had heard that one of the owner's would be playing live music with his band, and sure enough Joe Bastianich was the lead.  I recognized him from various reality TV chef shows. 

 Then we saw a flash of blond hair we couldn't miss.  It was Anne Burrell!  Most recently she's been on Top Chef Masters.   This was the best shot I got of her.  I was trying to be discreet.  Ha. 

 When last call had been...well, called, a large group that had been seated together began to stand up and disperse.  I caught a glimpse of another familiar face...Lidia Bastianich (Joe's mom, part owner of the restaurant, and also a celebrity chef).  Sam decided to ask her for a proper photo, but at the time none of us could remember her name.  We struggled to decide on an opening line for him, but came up with a dish we figured she must have published a recipe on at some point.   So she walked by, Sam asked her for a photo, and while I snapped he mumbled something about loving her bolognese recipe.   Just this moment I looked on her site to see if we were right, and sure enough there is one. 

 

 On Monday Rob, Elsie and I hit up Macy's for the Santaland experience.  I'm so impressed by how well they have it all worked out!  We did wait in line for about 20 minutes, but almost the whole time we were slowly moving through this winter wonderland, full of fun stuff to look at. 

Elsie was quite tired by the time we reached Santa, but she hung in there and just kind of stared blankly.

 

Macy's was crazy busy.  This was December 19th.  

After a nap at the hotel, we journeyed out again this time to FAO Schwartz.  B.U.S.Y!

 Then over to the Plaza. 

I had this recollection of hearing about good hot chocolate here, and when I asked, we were directed down to a little chocolate shop in the shopping area of the hotel.  This is what we found:

 And this:

 And this:

And this is how it tasted:

You guys.  This hot chocolate was like nothing I've ever tasted.  I think they just melted some really good milk chocolate and added a splash of cream.  It was so decadent!  Rob and I both have an affinity for really rich foods, and we were smitten!

Next up: Carriage ride in Central Park.

Then a quick stop at the Rockefeller Tree.

 And a peak at the ice skaters.

 The crowd was thick, and you had to wait just to look down on the ice rink!

EB had her first subway ride back to the hotel.

 Look at those tired eyes!  She was ready to crash.  It was about 6:45 at this point.

There was a great band playing in the subway.  It's so cool when you can hear them throughout the underground, and it gets louder and louder as you approach.  There were several horns, a guitar, bass, and drums here.   What a treat to hear good live music, unexpectedly. 

Cousin Gussie came over to babysit that night (thanks Gussie!), and we went for dinner in the Village at Perilla.

 This was a tiny restaurant Sam picked, and I'm so glad he did!  I only wish I had taken photos of the menu items we ordered, as I can't remember the details.  I'll tell you we started with duck fat popcorn, to give you an idea of how wonderful this food was.

We came "home" to the hotel and crashed. 

This is what happens when your baby wakes at 6am, and everyone else is sleeping for another hour or two.

Many readings of Pat the Bunny.   Anyway, Tuesday wasn't nearly as busy as Monday had been.  We shopped around a bit.  I stumbled on more musicians.  This time it was two Salvation Army collection folks, dancing and singing to the beat of their bells.  Too cute!

I also fulfilled a little dream of mine that afternoon:

I love me some Project Runway, y'all, and I've always wanted to go to Mood.  I'll shop a fabric store anywhere, and this one did not disappoint.  I can't imagine not finding whatever your little heart desires in the world of fabric here.  They have everything!

That night we got all dressed up.   Some friends came over  to visit, then babysit (woot woot Jess and Kenny!).  We walked up to Broadway to see a show.  Below Frank and Rob are proudly modeling pants that Sam helped design.  Pretty hot, yes?

Then we walked up to Quality Meats for a late night dinner.  This restaurant was recommended to us by Drew, and it carried our delicious-food-in-NYC high.  Outstanding steaks!  Creamed corn creme brulee.  I mean, how can you go wrong?  And our waiter made the steak sauce right at our table with a mortar and pestle.

House made "donuts and coffee ice cream" for dessert.  Wow. What a meal.

What a fantabulous trip it was!  I have always hoped to experience the magic of the city at Chritmastime, and feel so blessed to have done so.  Having EB there made it even more magical.  Have you guys been?  Did anyone do pre-holiday traveling?  The airports weren't too bad, and our flights were on time.  Yours?