I'm not sure whether I've mentioned it, but my mother has four sisters. Today they all met (and invited me, and my half-cousin* Andrea) for a birthday lunch at Edo's Squid downtown. My mother's birthday is Wednesday, and my aunt Maude's was last week. Friday, maybe? I love their sisterly luncheons. They have impeccable taste in food and they know what things are on a menu. Each is always ready with the (correct) answer to such tricky questions as "what the hell is that?" Not that I'd ask that way, because my aunts are quite proper and would, I think, make a face communicating something along the lines of "I really hadn't thought you were such an idiot."
Edo's Squid, though it has a (sometimes deserved) reputation for bad (read: rude) service and waitstaff, tends to serve food which is little short of divine. I'd like to discuss all of it, but every time I try to think of another dish, my attention grabs hold of the doorjamb and drags itself back to the room with the salad of squid, white beans, and arugula. Let's lay aside for a moment the public love affair I have been carrying on with arugula and the other, private affair I've been having on the side with white beans. I wish I could tell you what else they put in here. There was onion, and there was perfectly cooked squid, and lemon and some kind of oil (very probably olive), but I couldn't name the spices. I could, however, have eaten the stuff all day long.
A shout-out also to the eggplant pasta. Mmmmm.
(And while we're on the subject of consumables, might I interest you in a whole bunch of things related to tea?)
Lastly, I heard about this book today on NPR, and I'd really like to read it. Unfortunately, as it was just released last month, it's still in that "$15" stage that I find so distasteful. I have high hopes though for used bookstore forays in the near future, so I'll see what I can find there to sate my lust for back-to-the-land memoirs.
*She is the daughter of my aunt Maude's husband, from his previous marriage.
I love this post, and your mother & aunties' luncheons. What a treasure, what a pleasure, to have such a circle. Also, you've managed to make me hungry.
ReplyDeleteI also loved your previous post's mention of winter light. I love evening light (though it also makes me feel inexplicably heartbroken on a semi-regular basis), the way the sun pools warm and glowing against the bricks and buildings of my city.
http://emmanyc.blogspot.com/2010/05/light-43010.html
http://emmanyc.blogspot.com/2007/04/hudson-187th-street.html