Matter in General

Brunch was at The Rabbit Hole, which is the other eating place across the street from us. My goat cheese and lox omelet was delightful. I had requested fruit instead of a side salad from the waiter at the counter, and asked if that was possible. He said he would check. I heard nothing more and the dish came out with a beautiful arrangement of currants on top of banana and apple. A few minutes later, the woman who was working in the back came out to let me know that they don't normally do this sort of thing, and not in a nice "you're special" way. She told me not to expect this, nor to let anyone else expect this. I assured her I did not live in the area and she did not need to worry about me abusing the brunch substitutions. Nonetheless, the food was good.

We then headed to Astoria and to Socrates Sculpture Park to watch the sun set over Manhattan. According to our friend Erin, it was one of two days out of the year when the sun sets directly between the buildings along the grid of the city. We picked up some snacks to tide us over from Bakeway. I got a surprisingly good mix of thick plain yogurt with berries on top of granola, which I ate with my reusable spork. We enjoyed the sunset, sculptures, snacks, and a bottle of cheap champagne. We also enjoyed the sculpture that was just a sign that said "Matter in General: 937. Deep Fried in Oil, 938. On a Stick". Damian and I have often talked about how things on a stick are the universal food. I bet deep frying is pretty high up there too.

Dinner was at Philoxenia. The first thing I noticed were the candles. They were short and thick, like many restaurant candles, and they were made of wax. But the light was coming from a battery-powered source somewhere inside the candle itself. It looked very authentic until you looked at the wick and saw it wasn't burning. Food-wise, the best part was the beets with pureed potato and garlic, a mixture called skordalia. It was a delicious combination I would not have thought of, despite loving both beets and mashed potatoes (when asked on my college application if I wanted to include any additional information, I wrote that mashed potatoes was one of my favorite foods). The other highlight was the olive dip for the pita - very flavorful and a rich purple color. We definitely asked for seconds.

The bamboo spork makes another appearance:

Sculpture on a stick:

Philoxenia: