at the sign of The Pink Pig

Published every Monday morning: an online magazine of eating, drinking, arts and the city.

More than one hundred restaurant reviews at Wilfrid's A-Z: Eating the Apple - right here.

Tasting Tocqueville

[Pigging by Wilfrid: May 19, 2008]

We are finally easing into that season where restaurant openings are thin on the ground.  We dealt with the rush of new spots in November and December.  Then we dealt with the places intended to open last year which finally got it together in the first quarter of 2008.

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And now some worthy re-visits are in order. Tocqueville, for example.

The Leeks of Spring: Back Forty's Calçotada

[Pigging by Wilfrid: May 19, 2008]

Peter Hoffman estimates he has celebrated eight annual calçotada festivals at his veteran SoHo restaurant Savoy.

I had never hied myself hence to feast on the spring leeks, but now he has Back Forty, the quiet little hit restaurant in my neighborhood, and some good out door grilling space.  Why not?

This Stumbling Season

[New York Peasant by Wilfrid: May 19, 2008]

Rain, shine, rain, and whatever... A stumble bum halfway season when one stays indoors thumbing through dusty old pages and making playlists of Kevin Coyne and Peter Hammill and Black Dice when one ought to be gambolling across Central Park and dining under the grimy stars on the city's makeshift terrazzas.

A Capital Meal In London: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: May 19, 2008]

My Spring trip to London in May 1998 began with a good dinner meal at the Capital Restaurant, not far from Harrod's.

Well, actually it began with a wedding in Holland Park, and - since I hadn't slept on the plane - a thirty-six hour day.

Three Ring Circus: Le Cirque Today

[Pigging by Wilfrid: May 12, 2008]

As Lutèce, La Caravelle, and La Côte Basque - not to mention LCB Brasserie Rachou - fade into memory...

As San Domenico prepares to leave Central Park South, and Cipriani on Fifth Avenue bounces from a "no stars (poor)" Times review to the threatened revocation of its liquor license...

Collagen Cuisine: A Second Look At Hakata Tonton

[Pigging by Wilfrid: May 12, 2008]

Hakata Tonton, the piggy grill in Greenwich Village hardly lends itself to a re-review.

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After all, it serves one thing, about thirty different ways, and it's hardly going to vary with the seasons.

The Largely Boring Whitney Biennial

[New York Peasant by Wilfrid: May 12, 2008]

Is it just me?  Am I done with contemporary conceptual art installations?  But this is unfair; there are some works worth seeing at

There are also an awful lot of works where your main concern is not to tread on or trip over anything.

Home Again: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: May 12, 2008]

Well that was a nice ten days or so on the West Coast, my first ever visit.

I was happy to be home again.  I can tell, because there's a delightful sketch of the Manhattan skyline in my journal.  To paraphrase Klee, I went for a walk with a line.