"A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age. "
--Robert Frost
Don't say you weren't warned. The birthday continued...and continues. Let's just hope the aging process doesn't proceed at the same hectic pace as the celebratory events.
Here's the cake they had for me at work the day after my birthday. Why? you ask, and rightly so. Didn't they just give you that cake with the pink flowers that you posted about on your actual birthday? Are you so special that your workmates simply had to have another cake in your honor?
Well, no. It's just that I have several workplaces. Four, to be exact. And yes, I go to all of them every week. On different days. There are days when I go to two of them. I often have to remind myself where I'm going, and what subway I need to take, especially if it's early in the morning. I drink a lot of coffee; trust me, I need it.
At a couple of my workplaces they probably wouldn't care if I were giving birth in front of them, much less having a birthday. But at one of the public schools where I consult, and at my home base, an education institute at one of the city's colleges, cake was duly provided, along with sincere good wishes. I felt the love, and I have to say, it's nice when people A) remember you and B) celebrate you.
Here's a piece of the glorious chocolate-espresso cake with caffe latte cream made by my friend Ernestine, who is to be found commenting as "Ernie" with some frequency on this blog. The loyalty of friends is a beeyooteeful thing.
This cake was served at my friend Andrea's house on Saturday, where she hosted a dinner at which four of us all cooked different dishes from Nigella's latest book, Feast. Everything, and I mean everything, was delectable. Andrea made Pork Cinghiale, Heather made Maple Parsnips, Ernie made Parma Ham Bundles as well as the cake, and I made Daisy Saatchi's Potato Patties and Green Fattoush Salad -- a fantastic dish, I've made it four times now, gotta blog about that later.
Although there were no candles, Ernie assured me that this "counts" as one of my birthday cakes, and so I'm permitted to post it here. The recipe is of course in Feast, in the "Chocolate Cakes Hall of Fame" section (the book is worth it for that chapter alone). Ernie swears it's dead easy, and I know I'm going to have to give it a shot, because it was absolutely wonderful -- one of those dense-yet-light chocolate cakes, laced with coffee and coffee liquer flavors. I took some home with me, as well as the fabulous caffe latte cream served with it, and plated it all up for your delectation on one of my prized Limoges limited edition Jean Cocteau dessert plates. I tried to make sure that both a good portion of the drawing and Jean's signature were visible. Hence, my food photography suffered a little. But patience, patience, I'm still in the learning stages here.
On Friday, my darling girlfriends Adrienne and Marcela took me out to dinner at Ravagh Persian Grill, my pick. Rumor has it that there's no good Persian food to be had in New York, and judging from my last dinner at Persepolis, I would have agreed. But Ravagh was delightful, both in service and in food. Warm pita bread was brought to the table with a plate of radishes, butter, onions and fresh mint. We had marvelous appetizers (Sanbusek, like samosa stuffed with chick peas, served with coriander chutney; Mirza Ghasemi, a wonderful warm eggplant dip), delicious mains (perfect kebabs; sparklingly fragrant Persian rice and sumptuous Fesenjan, chicken with pomegranate and walnuts), ta-dig upon request (a uniquely Persian delicacy: crisp rice from the bottom of the pot, covered with a savory stew or gravy), and a delectable sort of baklava made of pistachio paste for dessert. (I apologize for the lack of pictures here...but I don't have the moxie to carry a camera into a restaurant and take pics of my food. That will have to wait until for an actual digital camera, since I'm still using G's video camera set for stills. That thing is way too big for nice incognito shots.)
The girls gave me presents and we had laughs, and went out looking for a bar afterward in the bitter, bitter cold. I won't tell you of our misadventures at Dewey's Flatiron, but perhaps it's enough to say that the dominant ethos of the place can be summed up by their phone number, 212-696-BEER. Shortly thereafter we were lucky enough to find ourselves in the neighborhood of the Bread Bar, which is the downstairs of Danny Meyer's lovely restaurant Tabla. (At some point, I'll post about this restaurant at length, since it's one of G's and my absolute favorites in all NYC.) We came in shortly before closing and were nonetheless treated like visiting royalty by the bartender and the line cooks who work the open kitchen behind the bar. The bartender made me a special drink, since I wanted something hot -- chai latte with brandy, which was both comforting and seductive, like a hot spicy milk punch. And when Marcela blurted to one of the flirting chefs that it was my birthday, he gave us a remarkable dessert -- a Jaipuri ginger pudding topped with whipped cream and lots of crunchy, ginger-toasted pistachios. Creamy, spicy, crunchy...all I can say is I'd give a lot to be able to figure out how to make those pistachios. Finally got poured into a taxi, and got home without any mishaps. Nothing like a night out with the girls.
Still to come: Dinner with some more girls, this time for Moroccan food and a special dessert-themed side trip! And dinner with my brother at the Modern, Danny Meyer's new restaurant in the Museum of Modern Art, with chef Gabriel Kreuther at the helm. That one may take a while...I think our rezzie is a little way off, since it's kind of a hot ticket at the moment.
Don't touch that dial.
I'm really enjoying your Birthday Celebration posts, its good reading about good food and good friends, I love that. I just bought "Feast" and am looking forward to trying some of the recipes soon. From what you have told me about some of her recipes, and from what I've tried out for myself, I am becoming a great fan of Nigella's. Anyway, thanks for sharing your birthday. Cheers!
Posted by: Deb | February 22, 2005 at 11:52 AM
I like the look of Ernie's cake, not to mention the vivid description. I have only one obvious question: Where's mine?
Posted by: Joe C | February 22, 2005 at 11:54 AM
Deb, I hope you'll enjoy Nigella. Some folks need her in order to learn how to cook, serve and enjoy real food. I think that others, those like you and I like to think me, find that her natural cooking style and love of good food simply resonates with what they already know, and adds to their pile of good things to make. I have to say that I hated her on sight when I first saw her in the NY Times a couple of years ago. She was just too, too, well, you know, too. But since then I've become a total convert. Got all the books, and there are dishes that have definitely become part of the ongoing dinner rotation...
Oh brother dear...perhaps there's a piece of chocolate espresso cake with your name on it in my fridge...but first...where's MINE?
Posted by: Julie | February 22, 2005 at 05:14 PM
Julie,
My cake on your Cocteau plates, I'm honored.
All teasing aside, it was great to celebrate, looking forward to more adventures in eating !
Posted by: Ernie | February 23, 2005 at 01:00 AM
They are cool plates, though -- thoroughly worthy of your cake. I barely use them coz I'm so afraid of breaking them...
Posted by: Julie | February 23, 2005 at 02:12 AM