Russ & Daughters

Smoked fish . . .  oh, smoked fish . . . forgive the Treasure Coast for its ignorance, and spread, spread your bliss!   Spread your bliss like cream cheese (non-whipped, of course) on a toasted split everything (preferably salt) New York bagel!  Fish and fish oil and material smokiness, spread your bliss, spread your bliss!   Oh, family, I will only return if I can spread this bliss, spread ths bliss!  No more time to sing; time to eat!

My first stop after deboarding at LGA on Friday morning was Russ & Daughters.  Check out the photos of their displays, diplays holding treasured goods, even treasured more than the over-looked herring.  This place is a g-dsend.  This will also be the last place I stop at Wednesday so I can spread, spread the bliss amongst mi familia.

Time Lapse Videos

I posted three time lapse videos in posts earlier this week.  I used an app named Lapse It. Next time I will get the professional version because the free one only permits 240 p resolution with very limited special effect.  The default period between photographs is five seconds.  I eventually settled upon 22 frames per second when I rendered the films into mp4 format (abandoning the default of 30 fps).  It was a pain uploading them from my tablet, but I eventually figured it out.

Del Posto Fixed Price Lunch

I discovered this incredible opportunity through my research.  Del Posto offers a $29 three course lunch.  Some of the selections, such as the beef and truffle carpaccio, cost extra ($15), and for $10 you can upgrde to a four course lunch.  That is what Darryn and I decided to do.  Being on vcation, one has to splurge.  Del Posto, if I remember my research, is the first Italian restaurant to receive four stars from the New York Times.  You truly need to experience a four-star restaurant to appreciate the level of service and the quality of the food.  The bitter herb and lettuces with truffle dressing that Darryn ordered for the anitpasti course is the best salad I have ever experienced (thanks, Darryn, for sharing!).  The lettuce ws incredible.  I never imagined that I would be extolling the virtues of a salad on this meat-fueled blog.  It was worthy.  One thing that I observed and commented upon throughout the meal (which lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours) was that every single dish served was at the perfect temperature for immediate enjoyment.   No item required a wait to cool down even slightly; no item needed even the slightest puff of breath to coool it down.  Del Posto served me one of my most memorable meals.  Bravo!

Our menu for Del Posto

Dessert course

I ordered Sfera di Caprino with celery and fig agrodolce and celery sorbet. The goat cheese cheesecake balls were transcedent, as was the palette-cleansing sorbet. Darryn enjoyed Tartufo al Caffe with dark chocolate, sant'Eustachio coffee and candied lemon. This meal was amazing every single step of the way. Oh, did I forget to mention the mini-donuts filled with cream and coated in cnnamon-sugar? Or the Chocolate fudge coated vanilla ice cream mini-lollipops? Or the candied graefruit? Or the heavily chocolate-dusted chocolate truffles, all complimentary? Check out the photos.

Desserts - Intermezzo

Another complimentary mini-course consisting of a small espresso cup filled with two tiny scoops - one of sour apple gelato, the other a cashew gelato. Why? How? Simply perfect. Four-star restaurants should thrill and surprise a diner like Del Posto did me.

Secondi

Orecchiette in lamb neck ragu and Sardinian Lamb with Roman artichokes. Once again, the food was perfect. My pasta was so fresh tasting. Darryn's lamb chops nearly melted within one's mouth.

Primi: Tripe meatball soup & Pasta Puzzone

Pasta e Fagiolo with tripe meatballs and puffed ditalini was my choice. The pureed bean soup was poured over the meatballs an pasta at the table. This is superlative service and pampering presentation, not to mention absolutely delicious. Darryn had thhe tortello puzzone with taleggio dolce and black truffle butter. The cheesy filling for these cousins of the ravioli has to be the creamiest cheese filling I have ever experienced. OMG. I must and can only declare that every single aspect of this meal is simply perfect. And don't forget the price for lunch here. www.delposto.com.

The Ultimate Bread Basket

Bread baked fresh on the premises. Two types, served warm, in the basket, which was accompanied by room-temperture sweet butter and parmesan infused lardo (pork fat!). Service, presentation and quality unsurpassed. I would be a regular for llunch if I livedin Manhattan. That is no hyperbole.

Beef & Truffle Carpaccio and Bitter Herb Salad

Beef and truffle carpaccio with sunchoke spuma, sage grissini (bread), and sunflower (the petals) was my first choice. I never would have guessed that I was eating slices of raw beef sprinkled with truffle. The dish was a subtle medley of flavors, probably due to the many additional ingredients I cannot identify thanks to my igornance of Italian. Yet, another masterpeice.

The antipasto course

Del Posto 4 Course Lunch

Here comes as much posting as I can do during the meal.  This is the amuse bouche, compliments of the kitchen. A pair of paparot, a pair of bisi risi suppli, and two jota panini. Now what does all this yummy Italian mean? I don't know, but it tasted good.

Washington Heights south to Staten Island Time Lapse

This time lapse video, the longest of those I captured this past weekend, offers a grand tour of driving in Manhattan and the views along the way (very quick views).  I am glad something is finally working out for the blog.

 

 

George Washington Bridge Time Lapse Video

This short clip is part of our return trip from Saturday's exploration of hot dogs and sliders in northern Jersey.

Time Lapse Video 1

A time lapse video of our Sunday afternoon drive from Washington Heights to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx.  Arthur Avenue is a fantastic Italian neighborhood with many markets and eateries.  Steve and I went to Zero Otto for some Neapolitan pizza.  I hope this video works - I have been experiencing one technical difficulty after another these past three days.

Dinner with old friends

Bagel and Lox and Sable

Some traditional gaspe nova scotia smoked salmon (lox) and smoked sable.  This is so good.  You just cannot find anything like this on the Treasure Coast.  Ah, to be back in Manhattan!

My First Meal

How Not To Begin Your Vacation

Do not arrive at the airport, go to check-in, open your wallet, and discover that your driver's license is not there.  Fortunately for me, I have a plain old Florida ID card, too, which served nicely as an emergency back-up.  Now I know what I will be doing when I return home next Friday. 

Asus Test

Test of new tablet and blog app