Back to basics

Lots of clouds this morning sent me to the Spin studio instead of the park; but only after lingering in bed a while. Gotta love lazy mornings every now and then. Ate an easy pasta dish with oil and parmigiano for lunch, finishing up the bucatini freschi from Carlino’s. Nothing to photograph, but enjoyed its simple flavors. 

Was talking with Chicco, Joyce’s Italian husband, at Lori’s party tonight, and got all excited about the fall cooking season. Chicco’s been on a kick to make the the classics: vitello tonnato, osso bucco … and rabbit and polenta! Finally! Years after posting a personals ad with the same title, I’ve met a match. (I’d long ago given up on the idea that such a man would actually be available for dating, so the find still excites me.) I invited myself over to dinner, promising to bring the tiramisu, which their two lovely daughters would definitely enjoy. Poor Joyce has no idea that I will be following up on this week after week until it happens. If there’s one thing I’ve learned while working years at one of the most bureaucratic institutions on the planet, it’s tenacity. 

We chatted about other Italian restaurants in the city: L’Angolo, Radicchio and Tre Scalini. Chicco thought they were all good, for different reasons. L’Angolo, for example, took care of his cantankerous father when he was visiting from Italy recently. Ha ha. Curiously absent from all the discussions were any passionate reviews of the food, so I shared my enthusiasm for the newly-“discovered” L’Oca and Le Virtu. Would love to go out for dinner with them, but booking married couples with young children is harder than finding fresh rabbit at the supermarket! More pazienza is what I need…. or some faith that it’ll happen in due time. I mean, I first posted that rabbit and polenta ad 4 years ago. 🙂

Also chatted with Joyce and Chicco about the Paola Navone bed I found, and learned that Chicco too is a maximizer…AND he’s in the furniture business! Lucky for him, he’s got a lovely wife who makes the decisions when he becomes paralyzed in the paradox of choice. Though they report that their new place is scantily furnished, to the outsider, it’s filled with something much more important than a few beautifully designed artifacts of someone else’s creative process. 

Thank you, Lori, for gathering your friends and family in the hurricane! Sorry I contributed to leaving you with a house full of food! Aside from the disappointing taste test of my flattened “puff” pastry tart, I only ate brownies. Loved the Italian lemon soda though! Sometimes all we need to get us back on track is a return to the simplest pleasures. 

I must make saffron pasta tomorrow … and stock my pantry with what I need for a happier week.