slainte

I'm nowhere near Irish, half English in fact, so St. Patrick's Day doesn't hold much meaning for me, outside of the fact I grew up in New York City, attended a very Irish Catholic college and have been to Ireland. OK so maybe a little Irish has rubbed off on me.

I do also have a strong interest in culinary culture, so to kick off the weekend we attended a cheese class at Artisanal Cheese Center entitled Erin Go Braugh: Irish Cheese for St Patrick's, which featured a delicious selection of cheese paired with the spirits of Ireland. Think Cashel Blue meets Magners Cider.

My favorite of the bunch was definitely the Ardrahan, a washed-rind cow's milk cheese hailing from County Cork. It was fantastically pungent with a nice earthy, mushroomy flavor (flavor, not texture). Delicious.

As for the 17th proper, we had very un-Irish plans to meet up with some friends for an evening of BBQ and bowling, which we kicked off with a stop in what we thought would be the equally un-Irish St. Andrews, a Scottish pub on 44th St, only to find it packed with people oblivious to this fact. Nevertheless we ordered our Belhavens and Innis & Gunns and then headed to dinner.

Now, I had my doubts about Spanky's, mostly because I tend to doubt the quality of any restaurant in the Times Square vicinity, let alone barbecue (see Virgil's). I was pleasantly surprised. We started with the appetizer sampler, the highlight being the Southern Fried Dill Pickle Spears. Like the menu says, once you taste 'em you'll be a true believer.

I followed that with the Country Style Beef Rib. Yes, single "rib". The thing, no joke, was the size of my forearm. This photo does not do it justice. Think GIANT shortrib, meat falling off the bone, served with basmati rice and a corn salsa. Delicious.

Overall a good weekend. We managed to avoid most of the green-clad drunken masses, sample a little Irish culture, and generally have a great time. In midtown. On St Patrick's Day. Who knew?

my ticketmaster purchase history

03/08/07 28-22747/NY1 Mew Irving Plaza,New York,NY 03/22/07
10/27/06 47-56602/NY5 Justin Timberlake Madison Square Garden,New York,NY 02/07/07
08/23/06 8-19656/NY1 Placebo, She Wants Revenge Nokia Theatre Times Square,New York,NY 11/07/06
04/29/06 31-39990/NY1 Taking Back Sunday and Angels & Airwaves Six Flags Great Adventure,Jackson,NJ 06/22/06
04/10/06 9-33361/NY5 Madonna Madison Square Garden,New York,NY 07/03/06
03/06/06 9-14587/NY5 Freestyle Extravaganza: Lisa Lisa, the Cover Girls, Tka, Stevie Madison Square Garden,New York,NY
10/10/05 2-40515/NY5 Depeche Mode Madison Square Garden,New York,NY N/A
08/12/05 17-15014/NY1 Bauhaus Nokia Theatre Times Square,New York,NY N/A
08/12/05 17-14925/NY1 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Irving Plaza,New York,NY N/A
08/12/05 27-57738/NY1 Across the Narrows:Pixies, Gang of Four, Built To Spill, Rilo Kiley Keyspan Park,Brooklyn,NY N/A
07/16/05 24-46926/NY5 Nine Inch Nails Madison Square Garden,New York,NY N/A
03/31/05 18-26600/NY1 New Order Hammerstein Ballroom,New York,NY N/A
03/31/05 18-26587/NY1 New Order Hammerstein Ballroom,New York,NY N/A
03/11/05 27-57718/NY1 Gang of Four Irving Plaza,New York,NY N/A
01/14/05 25-40997/NY1 Erasure Irving Plaza,New York,NY N/A
08/25/04 7-22679/NY1 The Killers Irving Plaza,New York,NY N/A
08/13/04 8-35890/NY1 The Pixies Hammerstein Ballroom,New York,NY N/A
06/11/04 22-15113/NY1 The Streets Irving Plaza,New York,NY N/A
06/09/04 12-20353/NY1 Curiosa Festival: the Cure, Interpol, the Rapture, Mogwai Randalls Island,New York,NY N/A
05/17/04 30-15305/NY1 Lollapalooza-2 Day Pass Randalls Island,New York,NY 06/23/04
02/17/04 23-52874/NY5 David Bowie Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theater,Wantagh,NY N/A
09/15/03 6-35703/NY5 David Bowie W/Special Guest Macy Gray Madison Square Garden,New York,NY N/A
07/19/03 10-22110/FLO Miami Dolphins vs. New York Jets Dolphin Stadium Miami Dolphins,Miami,FL N/A

(found perusing my account archives..)

dink

We spent an unseasonably balmy Saturday afternoon at the tax office, a depressing appointment concluding with the realization that we are basically penalized for our lifestyle choices. Married, no kids, no property -- in the eyes of the government, living "high on the hog" with no responsibilities. Nice to know paying off my car loan doesn't count, nor the fact that we're still paying off student loans and other personal debt, or that I help out my family. No I guess I have to justify my income by incurring even more debt in the form of a mortgage, or putting further drain on the city's infrastructure by spitting out some kids. In the meantime we owe State and Federal.

Angry and disgusted, we met Tim and Michele for lunch, where I ordered a beer to wash down my salad, breaking detox, and at the time not really caring. After lunch we met up with Vic for coffee at Cocoa Bar, and while I resisted ordering any chocolate myself, enjoyed a bite of peanut butter cluster. It was delicious.

Feeling better and worse at the same time, and in no rush to leave Park Slope, we left Cocoa Bar to find Alchemy, a newly opened gastropub. And so we did, 45 minutes later, walking the wrong way up 5th Ave before looking up the address.

Alchemy looks exactly how you would expect it to, complete with dark wood, antique fixtures and lit by the requisite Edison bulbs. I found it aesthetically pleasing, reminding me somewhat of a scaled-down version of The Alembic in San Francisco. With only two beers on tap, neither of which appealed to me, I ordered a red wine and snacked on toasted chickpeas. The menu featured elevated versions of pub fare like fish and chips, but we didn't order anything and soon left.

We concluded the day with dinner at Sette, drove home and immediately went to bed. Overall it was a good day, and I don't feel too badly about breaking detox, though I did wake up in the middle of the night in a slight panic, partly from the tax experience, and partly from guilt.

I'm back on today, and I'll get through the week again, and next Saturday we'll see what the day brings.