For our last week in Manhattan, we sampled a few new restaurants and took in one more film. We also had the pleasure of taking our granddaughter to pre-school one morning, more afternoon time at the playground plus a Friday night family dinner at Mario Batali’s super kid-friendly restaurant, Otto. They have pizza and pasta dishes to please every palate. Lastly, a visit to the new Whitney Museum. More about that in a future blog.
Eating (A few more West Village spots)
I Sodi. An early entrant on the West Village restaurant scene, this tight small space, bar on one wall and tables on the other, is wildly popular and deservedly so. Their sage and ricotta ravioli were divine and the splayed Cornish hen grilled under a brick straightforwardly good. The orange tart with chocolate gelato was the perfect finish.
Po. A small Italian place, not as cramped as I Sodi, but equally good on the food. Service here is polished and friendly and everything a notch up from some other small restaurants. Duck ragu over long pasta and the linguine con vongole were both superb as was the beautifully presented goat cheese tartuffo over slivered endive and radicchio. Reservations here are accepted 30 days in advance; we got in the same day only because of a phone cancellation moments before! Beginners luck, you might say!
Piadina. Another West Village cozy Italian dining spot with a slight tilt toward seafood. The sole accompanied by broccoli rabe and slivered endive with cherry tomatoes was lovely. Short menu and friendly staff. Cash only.
Malatesta. This became our neighborhood hangout where we ate three times! Crowded, noisy, and very popular, with indoor and sidewalk seating. We liked their homemade pastas and the salads. Go early for a seat inside and remember they too only take cash! Strange to me in this age of cards for everything, but there’s an ATM 2 doors away.
Watching
The Martian. Space movies are not my usual cup of tea, but I was persuaded to see this one and was glad I did. From the opening scenes, I was captivated. We paid the extra for the 3D glasses which put you right in the red Mars scape, but the film would still be good without them.
It is an intelligent film that portrays astronauts who are well trained and who think creatively. Matt Damon, as Mark Watney, dominates the screen with his amazing ingenuity coupled with a nice guyness, a sense of humor and a let’s get on with it can-do attitude. Combined they make his dire situation bearable and engaging for the audience. The crew who unknowingly leave him behind alive are a dedicated and perhaps unbelievably harmonious team. Note that the mission commander is a woman, Capt. Lewis, played by Jessica Chastain. The technology that Watney, the crew, and the ground staff have at their disposal is impressive, but it is still nail biting time as the days pass by and a rescue has not yet happened. As a viewer, I knew what the ending had to be, but it’s a long tense time getting there. See it!
Reading
Not My Father’s Son by Alan Cumming. I have enjoyed watching Cumming as the manipulative Eli Gold on “The Good Wife,” am bemused at his dramatic way of introducing “Masterpiece Mystery,” and had known a bit about his other acting roles and that he performed at Feinstein’s in New York.
I found this, his memoir of his childhood and what he learned about his absent maternal grandfather and his father, a searing read. He is honest and brave and unstinting in his portrayal of his more vulnerable, injured self. Severely abused both physically and emotionally by his father, it’s a testament to his own spirit and to his mother’s love that he was able to emerge in middle age relatively whole and intact. I got so caught up that I read it through in less than a day. And, by the way, Cumming is a very good writer—graceful and nuanced, even when describing awful events.
Header photo: www.kimberlybelle.com
