in winter: spun gold

last night: made traditional spaghetti carbonara.


weaving spider silk.


scotch. neat.


preserved lemons.

Le Bernardin.

12.18.2009
----------
Amuse-bouche: Bay Scallops with Creamy Leek Sauce
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Raw
*1.
Progressive Tasting of Kumamoto Oyster “en gelee”; From Light and Refreshing to Complex and Spicy
*2.
Sea Urchin Roe on a Bed of Jalapeno-Wasabi Jam; Seaweed Salt; Wakame-Orange Scented Broth
----------
Almost Raw
*1.
Seared Langoustine, Mache, Wild Mushroom Salad, shaved Foie Gras; White Balsamic Vinaigrette
*2.
Charred Octopus; Fermented Black Bean-Pear Sauce Vierge; Ink-Miso Vinaigrette; Purple Basil
----------
Barely Touched
*1.
Baked Lobster on a Bed of Truffled Foie Gras Stuffing: Brandy-Red Wine Sauce
*2.
Escolar and Seared Kobe Beef; Sea Bean Salad and Eggplant Fries; Mr Kaufman’s Pesto and Anchovy Sauce
----------
Dessert
*1.
Dark Chocolate Cremeux, Cocoa Pain de Genes, “Burnt Orange Meringue”, Chicory Ice Cream
*2.
Cinnamon Caramel Parfait, Liquid Pear, Smoked Sea Salt, Fromage Blanc Sorbet

Wine: Dusky Goose (an Oregon Pinot Noir)
Progressive Dessert Tasting: Green Tea, Hazelnut, Beignet, Pomegranate and Nectarine Gel
Coffee: Double Espresso

Slava Zaitsev.

Margaret Mead Film Festival Opening Night.

Ako Sa Varia Dejiny, Cooking History, dir. Péter Kerekes (2009)

Imagine Science Film Festival 2009.

Of all the short films we saw last night, our hands-down favorite was Naming Pluto. This little ditty (starring, among others Dr. Allan Chapman, from my Oxford days!) explores the events leading to the naming of the planet Pluto. At age 11, Venetia Phair suggested the name. On her 89th birthday (in 2007), 77 years after Pluto's discovery, she views the planet for the first time. Her response, "I can't say that i was dazzled."

"Imagine Science Film Festival"

R.I.P. Nancy Spero

Have, Want, Need, vol. XVIII

Pair of Ladies Shoes (printed silk fabric & leather), c. 1914. Wiener Werkstätte

Tragedy: Condé Nast to Close Gourmet

Condé Nast announced just a couple of hours ago that it will shutter its food Bible, Gourmet, which has been published for the past 69 years.

And you should all pick up October's issue of Gourmet, with a charming poll of how the editors would spend a theoretical $1000 on food in their hometowns, a brief but sweet piece on salt & pepper shakers at Chicago's Alinea, and the 126 American restaurants worth the money (Grammercy Tavern, DBGB, & Le Bernadin get shout outs).

women, pt. II

"To begin with, some images [...] I have kept only the images which enthrall me, without my knowing why (such an ignorance is the very nature of fascination, and what I shall say about each image will never be anything but...imaginary)."
- Roland Barthes, 1975


lee radziwill.


sherilyn fenn as audrey horne (twin peaks, 1990).


lee krasner.


setsuko hara as noriko (tokyo story, 1953).


simone weil.


jolanta umecka as krystyna (knife in the water, 1962).


miuccia prada.

women, pt. I

east hampton highlights.

departures: the city


on the way to dinner in montauk.


Read My Spine illuminated by calder, preparing to cook.




making pasta.


knocking out the nytimes crossword by the pool.

more sophisticated in the east.

[current music: jim o'rourke: through the night softly]

have, want, need, vol. XVIII

reading natalie

she writes:
"It's so much better to desire than to have."
Thus spoke Anouk Aimée(b.1937), French luminary, actress, objet du désir.
An owned object ceases being desired the moment it is possessed. Although I agree with Ms. Aimée, I am also of the opinion that one can possess beautiful things that generate beauty, desire and intrigue. I've prepared a dreamlist of sorts, a constellation of things I love, things with soul, my sheetof "haves" and "desires". I leave it to you to discern the former from the latter.


the obvious, and only intersection.


any interior in which my reading chair finds itself.


my well-loved copy of illuminations. though there are SO many problems in this edition (down to the misspelling of the translators name), it remains dear.


my giant ammonite fossil ring. perhaps the only thing i bought myself while living in oxford.


kate bush. hounds of love. 1985.


my bloody valentine. loveless. 1991.


brian eno. another green world. 1975.



etro wraps. every day in fall, winter, spring, i adorn myself.


spectacles.



LePen. 0.3 MM porus point.


leather & paper journal from Cartoleria Pantheon (Roma).