Weekend Eating Highlights

I’ve decided to start making routine posts – AGAIN. Hopefully it will go better this time.

Friday night’s dinner

Was feeling nostalgic and in the mood for sushi, so met up with a friend at Sushi Samba 7. I was shocked to find that this place was still packed to the gills by the “fake” sushi eating masses at 10:00 pm on a Friday night in 2008 AND that people actually had thought to make reservations. I only went there as a joke, so couldn’t believe how many people were trying to eat there for real. Even though, based upon my best recollections, Sushi Samba 7 didn’t pop up on the grid, or rather below the grid, until the mid to late nineties, it definitely has a distinct American Psycho vibe. I literally expected to see Patrick Bateman come strolling in with some sort of gore stuck to the lapel of his Cerruti suit. Regardless, this is what we ate:

- Samba 7 Roll - crispy lobster, scallion, cucumber, celery & jalapeño with wasabi-chimichurri dipping sauce
- Neo Tokyo Roll - yellowfin tuna, tempura flake & aji panca
- Pacific Roll - king crab, avocado, asian pear, soy paper & wasabi-avocado crema
- Two Kumamoto oysters and one Fanny Bay oyster (I ate these without the help of my friend)
- One piece of mackerel sushi (also a solo job)

Afterward, most likely because I was drunk, I got he idea in my brain that I was still ravenous, so we went to Rare, where I consumed what most would consider a proper dinner, but I categorized it simply as a snack/dessert. After carefully weighing my options, I ordered the M&M Burger, which is flambéed in whiskey, topped with caramelized shallots, cheddar cheese and applewood smoked bacon. Just to be on the safe side, I also ordered a side of truffle butter. In hindsight, I think I was actually very hungry and not just eating my feelings, as I did not feel overly full upon finishing my second dinner.

Saturday evening hors d'œuvres

In honor of her adorable mother’s visit to New York, my friend Dani threw a little party at her apartment on Saturday night. Since I am a one trick pony, I promised to bring oysters and scallops wrapped in bacon (wrapped separately, not together). Since it is my only one, I feel very fortunate that it is such a great trick. Usually I buy my seafood for this exercise at the Citarella on Sixth Avenue and Ninth Street, but didn’t really give myself ample lead time so had to go to Provisions in Fort Greene. Despite eagerly anticipating the opening of the Greene Grape’s bougie grocery last spring, I have been avoiding it due to reports of how ridiculously overpriced everything is. But alas, my hands were tied and I had to pull the trigger on Saturday in order to procure my little fruits de mer.

Too many dollars later, I emerged from my maiden voyage to Provisions with one pound of Mexican dry scallops, a dozen Hurricane Harbor oysters and a pound of lovely d’Artagnan (did you know that this purveyor of fine frenchie meats was based in Newark, NJ?) uncured applewood smoked bacon. While I felt everything was absurdly overpriced, the fact that the butcher who assisted me with my seafood purchases (yes, butcher - apparently the regular fishmonger was off that day) looked like a more handsome, bearded, beefier version of Lukas Haas helped to cushion the blow a little bit. I was vaguely interested in posting a missed connections thingy, something like “You – cute Provisions butcher person with Social Distortiony looking tattoos poking out from under your chef’s coat. Me – short Asian with Huey Lewis pin who enjoys wrapping things in bacon”, but my inherent laziness got the better of me.

Anyway, I was planning on going to the Greene Grape wine shop to pick up a bottle of Prosecco, but felt like I had given them enough of my money for one day, so instead walked up the street to Olivino, where I purchased a nice and inexpensive bottle of Charles de Fère blanc de blanc. I am happy to report that my bacon wrapped deliciousnesses, accompanied by the above referenced sparkling, were very well received by the guest of honor and I hope to delight her with more bacon wrapped concoctions in the not too distant future.