I’m off to Buenos Aires! Stay tuned for captivating tales of tango, steak and wine. I wonder what the cheese is like down there…
Cheese, Cheese & More Cheese!
"A cheese may disappoint. It may be dull, it may be naive, it may be over-sophisticated. Yet it remains cheese - milk's leap toward immortality."-- Clifton Fadiman
Welcome to My Lair…
The Cheese Mistress organized a gathering one recent Saturday afternoon to tour the cheese caves at Murray’s Cheese on Bleecker Street. As we descended down into the depths of Murray’s and donned our gauzy little hair bonnets, I experienced an awakening and felt as if the cheesy scales were falling from my eyes. Revelation #1: There are cheese caves under the sidewalk on Bleecker Street?!! Revelation #2: These caves were created with the help of rock star French affineur Hervé Mons! Revelation # 3: Murray’s actually ages some of their cheeses in these caves! Try the sexy and buttery knobs of triple crème Fleur de Lis, created at the Bittersweet Plantation Dairy in Louisiana and aged to perfection right there at Murray’s. Revelation #4: You can sign-up to be a cave intern! How fun would that be? Marie Fromage, cheese cave intern. Has a nice ring to it.
Murray’s: 254 Bleecker St. (between 6th & 7th Ave.); (212) 243.3289.
Cheese cave tours take place on the third Saturday of every month and reservations are a must!
Pasteurize This
Meanwhile, over at The Joy of Cheese, cheese master Martin showed us all that, yes, even pasteurized cheese can taste truly delicious. We’re not talking about the industrialized, homogenized and processed stuff, but artisanal, hand-crafted cheeses that are merely pasteurized, so much of the flavor remains without the very slight risk of illness that may come from eating raw milk cheese. * My favorites included a gorgeous, oozy and delectable Green Hill Camembert that hails from Georgia (of all places); a tangy and assertive Cabot cloth-bound cheddar that is so NOT your daddy’s cheddar; and Pecorino Rosellino, a nutty sheep’s milk cheese that’s lovingly rubbed with tomatoes as it ages.
The next round of tastings at Joy of Cheese will feature cheeses from New York (a proud cheese-making state), New Jersey (really?) and Connecticut (curious). This I gotta taste!
The Joy of Cheese: thejoyofcheese.blogspot.com
* Two recent NY Times articles on the subject of raw milk you may find interesting:
“Should This Milk Be Legal” & “Making Their Case for Raw Milk”
And Now for Some Music
Buckwheat Zydeco
My friend Dr. B and I checked out the king of Cajun music, Buckwheat Zydeco, at a recent gig at B.B. King’s. This is classic party music that makes you want to kick off your shoes and dance barefoot in the grass with a beer on your head. And actually, there were a few people there who were doing just that, except it was the middle of February and we were inside a club on 42nd street with cold hard floors, so it was a little weird. But still, we danced a little too! It’s fun stuff and when he comes to your town I highly recommend you grab some friends and head on over for a rocking good time.
The Adding Machine
My friend Artsy Schmartsy treated me to a performance of an interesting new musical now playing at the Minetta Lane Theater called “Adding Machine”. Written by Joshua Schmidt and Jason Loewith, it is based on the 1923 play by Elmer Rice and tells the story of Mr. Zero, a repressed drone of a man who lives his life for numbers. He then snaps and kills his boss when he is replaced by a mechanical adding machine after 25 years of service to his employer. After being executed for the murder, he is given a second chance at happiness in the afterlife. But does he take it? This isn’t the toe-tapping, feel-good sentimental stuff of the Broadway hit variety, but rather a dissonant, dark, grim and surprisingly funny production whose images have stayed with me long after the music has faded. Amy Warren, who plays Mr. Zero’s lovelorn assistant Daisy, is the standout performance, bringing wit and pathos to Daisy’s sad existence. All in all, it’s a quality night at the theater.
And Finally, A Restaurant for You
Quality Meats
Bones. When I think of Quality Meats, visions of bones dance in my head. Quality Meats is a stylish steakhouse that even the ladies can enjoy, but with caution! Under the direction of Chef Craig Koketsu, every dish is created and presented with lots of love and care, an unusual approach for a steakhouse, a genre of dining in which décor, side dishes and desserts are usually afterthoughts because the meat is the point. Here, the point is excellent food in a sophisticated setting, with meat serving as the focus.
But here’s my beef with the bones (pun intended). I ate here recently with my parents. My father had a courtly and dignified filet mignon, my mom enjoyed a beautiful and tender Wild King salmon. We swooned over the crack-like sides of corn crème brulee, pan roasted crispy potatoes and rosemary, salt-studded Parker House rolls. And then my main dish arrived – a “long rib” which was actually what short ribs look like before they are cut up. Everyone was staring and I gasped when I saw the size of this thing of prehistoric proportions placed in front of me. It was delicious but embarrassing! I returned a few weeks later with Gastro Chic. We’d had a few drinks at the bar by the time we sat down, and with bourbon-fueled bravado ordered the double-rib steak for two. Heads turned as we wailed with horror at the dinosaur-sized bones that were on the platter headed towards our table. We actually couldn’t stop laughing, but seriously, who were we eating with, the Flintstones? Again, it was delicious, but I have to ask Quality Meats – what’s up with the bone thing? Definitely not date food. Ladies, you’ve been warned!
