left brain

GOD is Brasilian

Champagne Thursdays

Thursday night after a fantastic episode of the OC which was OMG, I joined in on....
CHAMPAGNE THURSDAYS which is BRad's way of getting over the shitty week, which fits well with sitting on the couch with Seth and Voichok, lol!  It also felt much nicer having finished a bottle of something special and nice.  But no, it wasn't Veuve. 

So, okay.. my thoughts on the OC:
OMG!  (ha I feel very millenial generation right now with what I am talking about, and the whole using OMG every five words, and well lol).   Next weeks episode looks even better but this weeks was showing much improvement from the last few, though I did really like the episode where they went to RHODE ISLAND (my place of birth!)  The whole prom thing was touching, that sweet girl song was touching, and everyone ending up unhappy nearly made me cry again.  Especiall when Ryan was there for Marissa as her hot surfer was slutting around.   The whole fight at the end between Ryan and Voichok which was just stupid and so typical of the show was fine but I have a feeling that Ryan is going back to jail which would be a good lil twist, and Seth seems to be going to jail as well, and maybe the father.  Oh MY GOD.  But poor Voichok and his "oh so was hot" broken nose and unconscious body, lol.

Previous Top

The last blog top was a photo taken in D.U.M.B.O, an up and coming, artsy, trendy but still grungy rough and hot part of Brooklyn  which I imagine might be my future home.  Obviously the bridge is the Brooklyn bridge but the entire photo has been distorted by pulling it to the top and bottom right corners, one at a time.  The photo was taken on an amazingly spring like day back in January when I was in Manhattan visting friends.  Throw in some funky font and well, there you go.

Hot BOY Friday

Counting down the WEEKEND

My weekend is going to be ultra chilled, ultra not planned or last minute (which is a very 24yo thing to do), and ultra stress relieving.  It is also going to involve some tequila shots at one point and possibly something else at another.  So, yah...I am basically counting down the minutes until 6pm Friday afternoon.  This week has been a whirlwind of emotions left over from last week along with an entirely new mess I created.  So, cleaning my apartment to tip top shape Saturday morning after waking up late and cracking myself out with coffee before a day of painting, reading, movie watching or something outside if it is nice but I never bet on that, and then a super big dooper (LMAO) night of DANCING.  Yes, it is time.  Not only has the gym been paying off but there is some fantastic DJ from London coming to Rise (Boston's only alternative for great dancing at this point) by the name of Tom Stephan.  He sometimes go by Superchumbo but needless to say he is awesome.  Super high energy international house in the style of Vasquez but just better.  Like The Beat Is and Irresistable.  Yah, I thought you would recognize them.  So, yah.. I am psyched. And he is hot, too ;)

Deep Breath

Things are a lil bumpy lately ... feeling like I am being tested in my life by the higher divine up there or something. Super scary, and sad, and weird, and trying, and frank. Posting soon, once I can actually breath. Thankfully Hardcore Zen is helping.

inspiration

NEW PAINTING, Brasilia

And some close ups :

A Culinary Dream

Los Angeles is for people who sleep. Boston or London baby you can keep. Baby you can keep. Baby you can keep, baby you can keep. Baby you can keep baby you can keep baby you can keep baby you can keep baby you can keep. Other cities make me sad. Well, that pretty much sums it up. After this weekend, it is nearly confirmed. My move to NYC is inevitable. In fact, it is near. I am moving the date up to June 1. But lets go backwards to Thursday night. I’ll skip the whole getting to NYC thing via Jetblue and the whole little ride into Manhattan though the view of NYC from the bridge we took in was incredible. Some Mexicana Mama’s, which just turned out to be the local Mexican joint (it is the best in Manhattan) and M and I watched this week’s episode of 24 since it was pretty late.

The next morning I awoke alone to one of my first ever moments in Manhattan where I was alone in the morning. ha. Pretty dreamy especially after I made some home brewed espresso, glanced through the French mag Tatu, and headed out into the beautiful Friday sun down to Soho where I did a little shopping (mostly at Apple) before meeting M at Jerry’s for lunch. Per typical, everyone in Manhattan looks better. They actually pay attention to themselves (like looking in the mirror) before leaving the house in the morning. lol. Anyways, after a brief little lunch (a surprise dinner was happening within 5 hours), we headed to a secret tattoo parlor in the lower East Side where I had a discussion and put down a down payment, haha, for a tattoo to be inked into the middle of my back. We then walked the entire width of Manhattan back to the pier underneath the Richard Meier buildings to chat and look out to the statue of liberty and to the Goldman building in NJ, lol. A short nap and we walked through the Meatpacking district to Del Posto, the near newest Babbo restaurant where even though we were the pre-show crowd, we had a spectacular meal. All three restaurants (two of which have 3 stars from Michelin) have one thing in common; they have a staff of hundreds, very France! Del Posto was an large scale space reminiscent of most restaurants in LA, and had a cart like those in France stuffed with house made sweets for after your dessert and your after dessert dessert, lol.
I had a sweet carrot sfumato, we split morel risotto and my main course was a burnt caramel cod. We skipped dessert given our “fasting” and preperation for our culinary heaven the next day. We then were run up to midtown to see Sweeny Todd, which was one of the main reasons why M knew he was going to live in Manhattan. It turns out not to be mine but it was spectacularly dark, evil, and macabre. One of the stars, whose name I have no idea is a total rock star in the world of Broadway or so I heard, and could easily distinguish. I wanted to be her best friend. She was awesome as was the show. And we were in the third row, which always helps. If you are going to do something, you should go over the top. It is a good theory in life, I think.

After visiting the Biennial at the Whitney where I (I am amazed by this) got yelled at TWICE from a security guard for two stupid reasons, lol, we walked across the park to my second surprise for the weekend. Peter Doig, Kelley Walker, some photographer, and Dash Snow (I blogged about him here) stood out to me. Everyone else has basically become a blur. Expected supposedly.

But back to my second surprise. Per Se. I have talked once or twice about Per Se on here, more about Bouchon and French Laundry it seems, but I have nearly talked nonstop about it to people I know. It turns out having now eaten there that it needs to be talked about non-stop, 24-7, 7 day a week. It was by far the best meal I have ever had in this country. And not only was it an incredible meal but it sits in the Time Warner building on the fourth floor which is just high enough to let you see the brilliant spring greens of Central Park and the skyscrapers on the Upper East Side without any of the crap on the streets or for that matter the tree trunks themselves. Each of the 12 or so tables looks out the window into the park which you can only see after you are awe struck by the wine storage bunker that is built near the fabulously French entrance. Each material in the restaurant has been noticeably chosen with care and precision and only when you get to the amuse bouche do you actually begin to understand that this is a temple to food, like Masa which (gulp) turned out to be my dinner hours later. It was exactly like dining in Michelin France. The attention to every mouth-watering detail is spectacular. We had the tasting menu, which is what the chef feels like cooking for that day with materials that are freshly flown in that morning. One more delightful than the next. Like France, the waitstaff is nearly National Guard sized and the service is impeccable. Dishes arrive together and are sat in front of you at exactly the same time. haha. The tasting menu, which I asked for, is as follows:

Cauliflower “Panna Cotta” with Oyster Glaze and Russian Sevruga Caviar

Torchon of Moulard Duck “Foie Gras.” Poached Washington State Rhubarb, Spiced Shortbread, Field Mizuna, Rhubarb Mignonnette, and Toasted Tellicherry Pepper Brioche

Grilled Fillet of Gulf Coast Pompano. “Ragout” of Fava beans, Roasted Holland Peppers and Parsley with “Sauce Piperade.”

Scottish Langoustines “A La Plancha” “Confiture” of Meiwa Kumquats, Pickled Ramps, Green Almonds, and Kumquat “Coulis”

All-Day Braised Four Story Hill Farm’s Pork Belly. White Wine Poached Granny Smith Apples, Celery Salad, Apple Butter and Truffle-Pork Sauce

Elysian Fields Farm “Cote d’Agneau” “Panisse Batons”, Wilted Swiss Chard, San Marzano Tomato Marmalade, and Nicoise Olive Lamb “Jus”

Vacherin Fribourgeois. Per Se Coleslaw, Mustard Seed Melba and Young Mustard Greens with “Moutarde Violette”

Apricot Sorbet. Yogurt “Bavarois”, Graham Cracker “Dust” and Pistachio “Puree”

“Tentation au Chocolat, Noisette Et Lait.” Milk chocolate “Cremeux”, Hazelnut “Streusel”, Condensed Milk Sorbet, “Pain au Lait” Emulsion and Sweetened Salty Hazelnuts

To the foodie, who I am now realizing I fully am, this meal was incredible. Just the menu itself was incredible. I fully realize that if the whole art thing I have going on wasn’t happening as hot as it is … I should have been a chef. It at this point is as much me as art is. So after a brief brake where we walked in the cold raw rain to AF on Fifth Avenue to gawk at boys in flip flops, we ended up back at the Time Warner Center for dinner, lol, at nine pm. Nearly six hours after Per Se, lol.

Masa, if one is still in debate after viewing my blog, is the best sushi temple in this country and possible outside of Japan. But other than the impressive carved wooden door you enter from, and the orange billowing curtains you walk through, the place is un-descript and tame. It is for sure meant to be understated because the focus is entirely on the food. And the food, OMG, was incredible. Sushi that melts in your mouth in more colors than one ever imagined possible for fish. Sushi arrived that looked like wood, seriously. Various courses arrived before the miso soup but once you get miso, sushi is next. And so is green tea. All three go together, clearly. The sushi is so fantastic that touching it with fucking chopsticks or dipping it into soy sauce would make you the obnoxious American, and they basically tell you so. “No soy for this!” But the presentation of the sake we ordered was nearly like a dream. It sits in what looks like a conch shell on top of a bed of ice in a boulder of a rock, lol. The service was amazing, military-like almost. As soon as you were done with a plate, it was whisked away within seconds. If you had a question about something, they knew more than you wanted to hear. “What type of fish is this?” “Well, it is from this river in Hungary flowing upstream and having never touched the hands of a human, or god, it is unsalted and flash frozen and blabby blah blah.” Seriously, the waitress knew that much about one single piece of fish that arrived in Manhattan that morning on a plane from somewhere. There are no menus at Masa, your meal is all a whim from the chef who is (unlike Kelleher or JeanGeorge) actually cooking you dinner. His two assistants though, who are so skilled with a knife that I thought I was in KillBill for a few seconds, are equally as talented in preparing the heaven you are about to taste. Surprisingly, and for the first time ever, one of the two assistants to the main sushi master and owner, was a hot American boy who had to have studied in Japan because his talents were so stupendous enough that he is working alongside the Master of Sushi at Masa, lol. Two and a half hours later, we were again whisked down to the meatpacking district.

Sunday morning was a time for rest, digesting before brunch, expanding my Latin and classical music section in my iTunes (yay, 700 new songs!) and a walk through Chelsea, part of the W.Village, and the Meatpacking district where well luxury condos are taking over the world. It was an incredible trip to Manhattan to see the truly spectacular world of a truly spectacular man.

Hot BOY Friday