the whole weekend was quirky, busy and relaxing, somehow, but the highlight was on sunday, when jim and mary treated jse and me to brunch at the blue hill farm about 30 minutes outside of the city. four courses (8 rounds of food actually came out), all very gourmet and beautiful, grown or raised right there on john d rockefeller's farm. i've never experienced anything quite like it, and don't know if i ever will again. everything from pine nut butter dressing on mache greens to smoked venison to parsnip soup. we took over two hours to eat but i never wanted it to end.
afterward, we went to the upper west side see about a 19th century steinway concert grand that jim and mary were interested in. the man was small, quirky with a hairstyle of mozart.
piano:
mozart's hair (similar eyes too):
the next night, jse and i met up with a couple of my friends and ate at ssam bar (a momofuku restaurant, whose cookbook i have been diligently working my way through!). in jse's words, it was "ridiculously good". the pork buns i made were actually sort of close!
the next day, mary and i went shopping at bergdorf, barneys and bottega veneta, where we found some amazing pieces for her, including:
cardigan:
harem pants:
leather jacket:
i tried on a couple of things too, but need to pay for a new fence first:
bottega's spring collection is easily one of my favorites, so it was a real treat to be near it and even try it on. after that, a quick lunch at barneys and then i got in a cab to come back. it was a sweet trip, one of my favorite memories so far this year, but it's good to be home.
