Eating Manhattan, Part 2/by Pamela Hinkley, TDR CEO
New York on 20,000 calories a day:
Saturday night’s dinner reservations were at Commerce, a tastefully restored Greenwich Village hot spot, but there was sheer chaos and no chance of being seated anywhere close to our reservation time. So we googled our way to nearby Blue Hill where Barack took Michelle on their romantic date away from the White House. We got a bit lost, but they graciously kept the kitchen open for us. Calm and elegant space and superior, gracious, but friendly service. Beet sliders as amuse, butternut squash soup and mackerel with a sprightly green dressing followed by bass and veal dishes. A deconstructed quince sponge cake stole the show, along with our server. You probably know Dan Barber for his great food writing, but he is also a passionate farm to table guy who is also involved in a great property upstate.
Sunday- We would have gone to some steamy jazz club Saturday night, but we had to meet Marjorie Fuller from Spring Hill for brunch Sunday morning. She suggested Robert DeNiro’s new joint in Tribeca, Locanda Verde, inside the Greenwich Hotel. I am going to save up to stay there next time! A beautiful interior courtyard and sumptuous swimming pool. Everything the four of us ate was yummy, and the Illy coffee was strong- which was a great relief. The coffee scene in Manhattan is pretty dismal. One insider said it is because roasting is not permitted in Manhattan, and the coffee shop culture is not as rich as it is here in Seattle, but Stumptown is starting to make some inroads in distribution.
We were in town on a mission to understand the allure of smoked fish, so we trundled over to the mecca, Russ and Daughters. What a glorious scene, cases filled with volumes of salmon, white fish, herring, chopped liver, and hundreds of pickled delights. I was hankering for their homemade potato latkes with creme fraiche and homemade applesauce or the Swedish style beet, herring and apple salad, but could not push my way through the experienced shoppers. The mob scene prevented us from being able to chat with anyone, but to get a feel for the place, read an article in a great new book Tom lent me, Gastropolis. The article is by one of the grandsons of the founder of Russ and Daughters, and the title is “The Soul of a Store.” It is a great tale of legacy and customer appreciation.
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