Red Is Life

Makes Sense

Railing in the past over Morton's being too packaged - seen one - seen 'em all - not worth the price - had a surprisingly excellent experience the other night in Great Neck - several factors prompt me to pick up the pen -

It Used To Be Fun

It used to be that the night before Thanksgiving - Macy's blew up their balloons on several temporarily flood lit  neighborhood streets - dedicated workers pumped helium into Mighty Mouse and his compatriots  - local residents took breaks from Thanksgiving Dinner cooking -  walking by for a look see - or - singles gathered for all night parties at their favorite bars with 24 hour permits issued for this one night tradition -  sometimes joined by the parade workers - finishing their "work" at 5:00 AM - looking to catch a "nip" before marking down Central Park West and Broadway - its was a party - 

TLC Paninni

You can order ham & cheese on rye - ham & cheese on rye toast - grilled ham & cheese on white or rye - in practically ever deli - on any street - in practically every New York neighborhood -

Now - add to that sameness - the Paninni (ham & cheese - of course) -

So when the Chef d Cuisine at Barbuto suggested a Paninni for lunch - my acceptance was less than enthusiastic - was I in for a surprise -

Anything It Doesn't Do

Resveratrol - stops aging - prevents obesity - cures arthritis - prevents stroke - doubles endurance (in mice) - firms human breasts (More Than Drinkability - July '04)

The latest finding - Resveratrol Improves Mitochondrial Function and Protects against Metabolic Disease by Activating SIRT1 and PGC-1a (Cell Magazine - Nov 16, 2004) - talks about mice that can normally run a kilometer on a treadmill - when given large doses of Resveratrol extract - suddenly are able to run two kilometers -

The only problem translating the dosage into human terms - i.e. - if a tiny mouse takes a massive dosage - how large must the dosage be - for a human to see a difference - bottom line - stay tune for further research -

The first post on this site - What This Is All About (June '04) - stated -

There is spirituality when drinking Red Wine

Based on scientific news since that posting - amend that to read -

There is prolonged - better - healthier life and spirituality when drinking Red Wine

 

Food & Wine

Elaborate - over the top - private event dinner - at the Mandarin Oriental in DC

Cocktails - first course - second course - - - - right through the cheese course and dessert - with wines to match -

Top of Manhattan

21 floors above Manhattan - celebrated our friends new apartment - complete with 180 degree wrap around terrace - indoor and outdoor fireplaces - missing only a piano with Gershwin at the keyboard - our host opened a few bottles -

NOLA Redux II

Terpischore Street was sprinkled with potholes that matched the "best" the northeast would serve up by winter's end - ahead - beyond a stop light that still didn't work - a quite park - surrounded by scores of homes - some "New Orleans" picture perfect - some encased in scaffolding as they were being repaired - several in apparent abandon - survivors and victims of Katrina -

In the middle of the park - fresh cut grass encircling a fountain spewing dozens of water streams upward towards the sky - two or three people sat on the fountain's edge - 20 yards to the right - a lone artist had set up his easel - on the canvas - an image of the fountain amidst a backdrop of lush green grass - dark leafy trees - bright blue sky -

Returning to New Orleans - 60 days after our daughter started at Tulane - 60 days after the one year anniversary of Katrina - 60 days after writing my first - New Orleans Redux - things had changed -

1.99 9/10

Its not red - its gasoline - 1.99 9/10 per gallon - New Orleans - weekend of 10/28/06

There is a message somewhere in there -

Its Just Different

Dinner with ten at Ralph and Kacoos -

Its been voted best seafood in New Orleans - its large (seats 600) - its a chain (one of five) - its in the French Quarter - its a limited wine list - its a great wait-staff - its good for what it is - i.e.. - its just different -

Garlic & Cash

You exit the back end of New Orleans - over the Huey Long Bridge - traveling 6.6 miles to a Mosca's  - sitting amidst a field of grass surrounded by the parked cars of patrons who have journeyed - or as in the case of the party of 15 next to us - made their annual pilgrimage -

Map-Quest is essential -