Winter Restaurant Week 2017 - lunch #1

Heck, yeah, I'm excited for Restaurant Week to be back!  Time to try new restaurants! Eat three courses!  Make new friends!  Oh, well, I'm not so sure about the new friends part.  I did have a nice conversation with the bartender/host/waiter at yesterday's restaurant, though. Maybe we're friends now...

In the interest of trying different cuisines, I picked an Austrian restaurant for my first lunch:  Freud.  Plus, hello, who doesn't need a little Freud in their life right about now? The world is turned upside down and maybe a little psychotherapy is just the ticket. Along with some lingonberries.  I went down to the Village, just north of Soho, to try Freud and their Restaurant Week lunch menu.

The restaurant is very pleasant - spare in design, with nice wood and a lovely chrome bar. It wasn't full, so I had my pick of tables.  I chose a cozy two-top; when I looked up, I saw a huge mural that looked like something out of dream therapy!  I don't know if it was supposed to be flowers, or abstract, or what, but it was vaguely unsettling and lovely at the same time.  I'll put a photo of it below and you decide.

For my first course, I chose the curried butternut squash soup.  It also had fresno chilies in it, I think, along with a tasty brown butter crouton on top.  I thought the soup was delicious, though by the end, it was a little spicy for me. But the curry and the squash were so warming and delicious, they paired together beautifully.  At first I thought the bowl was perhaps a little, uh, petite, but the soup was very rich and creamy, and not heavy in the least.  It was a very nice starter.

I went back and forth over what I wanted for my main course.  I couldn't decide between the spaetzle and the wiener schnitzel.  I've wanted to try both at other restaurants, but haven't yet.  I finally settled on the wiener schnitzel.  It was the lingonberries that sealed the deal. The schnitzel itself was enormous, with a very yummy and well-seasoned breading.  It also came with a cucumber/yogurt salad, potato salad, some mixed greens and the lingonberries.  It was an extremely filling, and tasty lunch, hitting all the sweet/sour/salty/bitter notes.

Dessert had two choices, tiramisu or apple strudel.  Obviously, I was not going to order tiramisu at an Austrian restaurant. They have sacher torte on their regular menu, so I was a bit disappointed not to be able to try that, but the apple strudel was quite tasty.  The puff pasty maybe was a tad well-done on the bottom, but the apple filling was delicious, not too sweet and nicely studded with cinnamon and raisins.  It came on top of a lovely vanilla sauce and alongside some fresh whipped cream.  I was pretty full by this time, though, so I didn't really finish.  Well, I didn't finish the strudel.  I did finish the whipped cream.  I am a whipped cream fan from way back.

I enjoyed my lunch at Freud - it's not really a workday lunch place, though.  They weren't in any hurry, which was nice, but I was there quite a while.  I got a lot of reading done. I'm fortunate that I can take a lengthy lunch break and not get in too much trouble at work over it.  I guess they figure it's only a few times a year; when it's NOT Restaurant Week, I generally eat at my desk, which isn't good for you either.  But I would definitely go back to Freud and would love to try some of the dishes on their regular menu, especially the spaetzle and the sacher torte.  I'm really looking forward to my upcoming restaurant adventures - stay tuned!

from Freud's website

Review - Jitney

Trying to pay off my remaining debts from my Italian adventure, I'm a little behind in my theatergoing for this year. I'm going to be picking up the pace soon - I did see a show last week (which I may chat about in an upcoming review of another show, so stay tuned) and Restaurant Week has started, and I have a couple of reservations to try new spots.  But last night, I was thrilled to get to see the Broadway debut of August Wilson's Jitney.  You'll have to forgive this review, though, I'm a little out of practice...

Jitney is the last of Wilson's plays from his 'Century Cycle' to be presented on Broadway. Strangely enough, it was the first play he wrote in the cycle.  When Wilson passed away in 2005, I had to write a small piece about him for a work event, so I made sure to read all of his plays before writing it.  I adored reading Jitney and have been waiting all this time to see it (I've seen all the other plays in the cycle). I'm happy to say it was well worth the wait.

I believe I've mentioned many times before that I love August Wilson's plays.  I love the language and the magic.  I love the specificity of the characters, yet the universality of the humanity.  I love the low-down humor and the high-brow Shakespearean monologues. I love it all and I can't believe I've had to wait since 2013 to see one of his plays (the production of The Piano Lesson at the Signature Theater that year was one of my theatrical highlights). Revivals of August Wilson plays should be as frequent as revivals of Shakespeare or Arthur Miller, in my humble opinion.  I just can't get enough.

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

Although I'm basically a plot girl, I loved watching Jitney unfold. There is a plot, of course, but it's not really the driving force of the play.  The characters and their relationships are what is special. After only a couple of minutes, I felt like I knew all of these characters and I could've spent all day and all night with them, hearing their stories, and watching their interactions with each other.  The delight the characters took in each other (or the antagonism) was fantastic, as was the delight the actors took in each other. There was a palpable chemistry, and a crackling energy, to the entire cast which extended even into the curtain call.  It was quite lovely.

photo credit: Joan Marcus

Jitney takes place in a storefront car service company in a rundown Pittsburgh neighborhood.  Each of the employees/drivers come in and out of the shop with stories to tell and unique lives to live. The actors are all perfectly cast, and give such full and rich performances, it is amazing. There was the neighborhood gossip, who was funny and witty, but who had a mean and desperate streak underneath; the young Vietnam vet who is obviously hiding something, but what he's hiding is not what anyone expects; the bon vivant who runs numbers from the storefront's phone; the old-timer who just can't get himself out of the bottle; and the car service's head man, a retired mill worker who is the glue of the community.  Ratched-up dramatic tension is presented when his son is released from prison after serving a 20-year sentence for murder.

photo credit: Joan Marcus

There were layers upon layers upon layers of storytelling in the characters' dialogue - there weren't a lot of the majestic monologues that Wilson's plays are known for, but the ones that were in Jitney were stupendous. First among equals were the speeches in the scene between the father and son at the end of the first act - the father never visited the son during his 20 years in prison and the son has come back for reconciliation and remembrance.  How they each handle the reunion is truly breathtaking and heartbreaking.  John Douglas Thompson and Brandon J. Dirden were spectacular.  They were even more tragic in their following scene. Needless to say, I was a sobbing mess by the end of the play.

I also laughed.  A LOT.  The young woman's monologue about buying a house was hysterical, and the neighborhood gossip, Turnbo, was a riot when he wasn't scaring me. And we only see the hotel doorman, Philmore, a couple of times, but my goodness, was he funny and sad all at the same time.  The whole play was funny and sad all at the same time.  Just like life.  That's what I love about August Wilson's plays - no matter how fantastical they can sometimes be, they're just like life.  No person is just one thing, and no decision has just one outcome.  I feel like I'm eavesdropping on fascinating lives, and real people, when I'm watching his plays come to life, and I love that.  I cried at the end of the play for the characters and also for the fact that I don't get to live in his worlds often enough.  That really has to change.  Not only are the plays superior drama, but they're also so timely right now.  Jitney takes place in the 1970s, but much of what the characters are going through is what African-Americans are going through now.  Still. Again.  We need our artists to tell these stories now and there's no one better at telling the stories than August Wilson.  Even if he isn't here, his words and love for humanity still is, inside his plays.  Please, everyone, go see Jitney.  It's fantastic, plus, we need to show producers that we want, we NEED, to see August Wilson's 'Century Cycle'!  Right?!  

Happy New Year!

Hello, internet friends, happy 2017!  I hope everyone's holiday was a safe, happy and warm one.  Mine had its ups and downs, but being with family (well, most of them) is always a treat.  I don't have much planned for the near future, though Restaurant Week is just around the corner and I do have tickets to a couple of shows starting in early February.  But I did kick my year off with a bang last weekend - I headed out to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for some tennis!

I hadn't been planning to get tickets to the PowerShares QQQ Cup, but when a steep discount (thanks to my USTA membership) came my way at about the same time as my delightful year-end bonus, I decided 'what the heck'! I've never been to the Barclays Center before and I've never seen a tournament on the seniors tennis tour before, either. I was especially keen to see John McEnroe and Jim Courier play, both of whom were favorites of mine but I never got to see them play at the US Open.  So, all signs pointed to a good time.


Of course, knowing my luck, I wasn't surprised to see that the first blizzard of 2017 was happening on the day of the tournament.  I didn't really want to go out into the blizzard, especially since I haven't gotten my nice snow boots repaired yet, but I also didn't want to miss the tennis.  Then I remembered that the subway stop is just across from the Barclays Center entrance (I'd noticed it before when going to BAM), so how bad could the commute be?  Well, not bad at all, I'm happy to say!  It did take me an hour to get there, but at least there were no weather delays and the entrance to the arena was well-lit and pretty snow-free.  I exited a block away from the arena instead of across from the entrance, but it wasn't so bad. After an hour on the subway, it was good to stretch my legs for a minute.

There was practically no line at the security entrance, and very few people in the arena itself.  I had done a little research on the concessions at the Barclays Center and was disappointed to see that most of them were closed.  I did finally find one open stand and it was busy-ish, but not too bad.  I picked up a bottle of water and some bagel chips and went to find my seat.  Which was SO close, I was shocked!  The arena is much smaller than I expected - none of the seats were very far from the court.  But I loved being so close.  The arena was about half-empty, I'm sorry to say, and it was hard to get much excitement going with so much dead air, but the crowd certainly perked up for the second match.

The first 'semifinal' was between James Blake and Andy Roddick. You may remember I wasn't a huge fan of Roddick's during his career, but I do admire how he's handled his life post-tennis.  I was, however, a huge fan of Blake's.  I always enjoyed watching him play, and I think he's a great ambassador for sport.  His habit of hurridly fitting in 400 words a sentence, when maybe ten words would suffice, always makes me giggle.  I have to admit to feeling a little depressed that these two guys, playing on the 'seniors' tour, are young enough to be my son.  Sigh.  Moving on.

It was a pretty well-played set, with still potent serving from Roddick and still-powerful forehands from Blake.  Blake moved to the net more during this set than he did during his entire career, I think.  If he had been as willing to move forward when he was playing, he might've done more damage.  Maybe.  Anyway, the match was pretty even, with some really good rallies, but Blake unexpectedly broke Roddick's serve in the final game and won the set. The crowd liked that, since Blake is a New Yorker, and they appreciated the effort of both guys.

After the first set, there was a contest for regular joes to try to return Roddick's serve. That was pretty funny.  I'm sure these guys all thought, I bet I can do it! And they all completely whiffed.  Ah, guys. After that little bit of entertainment, then the second 'semifinal' got underway - Jim Courier v John McEnroe.  Of course McEnroe was the heavy crowd favorite, being a big NY icon and also just a colorful character. McEnroe was on fire during this match, Courier kept getting frustrated and at one point dropped his racket and screamed 'what is going on?!'  McEnroe just wasn't missing a thing and he served great.  He still has such quick reflexes and soft hands at the net, his volleys were gorgeous.  I kept trying to capture them in a photo, but never really did.  But I was just captivated by his elegance on the court.

The crowd was thrilled that McEnroe held on to win his match against Courier and would play Blake in the final deciding set.  Now, even though the crowd was sparse, there was some noise happening.  I'm guessing that all the beer that some of the crowd consumed had a little something to do with it, too.

The final match was also good, with some terrific rallies, but Blake was just that.much.better (and younger, but, hey).  He had one return, I think on break point, that was amazing!  Even McEnroe had to clap.  McEnroe may have been the slightest bit tired by the end, but he acquitted himself well against a much younger guy.

Even with the sparse crowds and the lack of concessions, I had a grand time at the event and I'm ever so glad I decided to brave the weather and go.  I would totally go to another event at the Barclays Center again, since the size is really perfect, and I'd love to see another seniors tour tennis event, too!  My new year is off to a great start - let's keep it going!