Wednesday, May 31, 2006


the out-of-towners

at some point everyone who lives in nyc must deal with the out-of-towners, those relatives who come for the cheap theater tickets and blockbuster museum exhibits. my out-of-towners are very sweet people and i like to see them because they provide me with an excellent excuse to eat at franny's and then visit the chocolate room.

the pizza at franny's is fantastic, of course, partially because they use long-time bccy pals king arthur flour. the crust is thin, soft, and marked with small charred spots from the well-maintained and properly-fired brick oven.

i like this crust a lot; however my husband i think would prefer if the crust surface were a little crunchier when the teeth first met the top. and i do make my regular sunday at-home pizza that way.

i personally might prefer the all-soft franny's myself, however; it reminds me of what you actually find in naples. on the downside of franny's however is the mozzarella.

it seems odd to me. i'm used to using the best mozzarella i can get my hands on -- look, the traditional neapolitan attitude is that mozzarella older than 6 hours total isn't fit for eating by itself.

by the afternoon, natural hand-made mozzarella does stiffen up a tad. that's just its nature.

and so the proper use for left-over morning mozzarella is on evening pizza. even then, the "old" mozzarella is still a brilliant white, and melts into bright snowy puddles.

at franny's the mozzarella seems a tad yellow-ish to me. that might be from the soot of the wood fire, i admit, but still, i wonder. . .

what's undisputed at franny's however are the salads. the salads are fantastic, with the most wonderful greens.

it's amazing how just the best, freshest greens, tip-top quality olive oil, and careful use of herbs can make a salad shine. i'll also sing praises for the deep-fried artichokes with lemon.

again, simple, simple stuff. but a properly, lightly-fried artichoke is a beautiful thing, my friends, and too few restaurants have the discipline and precision to do deep-frying correctly.

the chocolate room's only about 4 blocks from franny's so it's always best to wander down the hill and breeze over to a table. while many claim that the star of the chocolate room is the retro-style chocolate layer cake, i frankly prefer the super-moist flourless chocolate cake.

and of course, joan's chocolat moderne treats -- devoted readers know i'm a huge fan of the apricot bask. . .

now that memorial day is over and everything's relatively back to normal, i can at least look forward to a return to the regular yoga schedule. alas, this means today i face a class that's essentially yogilates, tho' it doesn't use that name per se.

i've done some pilates mat work, so i guess i "get" that. and i've been doing vinyasa for about 7 years now, so maybe i've learned something about a pose or two -- but i don't understand these popular yogilates classes.

the two systems use completely different and contrary breathing, for just one thing.

i do understand from my own experience how some pilates improves your inversion practice, and is certainly helpful with things like kukutasana (rooster pose). but i don't comprehend these classes where you do an opening flow, some standing poses, lay down for what are basically stomach crunches and oblique exercises, and then end up in shalabasana (locust pose) like nothing happened.

it's like you started doing yoga and then were briefly mugged in the middle, you know?

rockstar pose and yogilates, honestly. i can't wait until my local yoga studio installs portable poles with radiant heating so we can do hot-yoga-strip-ilates to brazilian hip-hop in designer g-strings and heels.

at this rate, why not? that should make the cover of time out, i'm sure. . .

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posted by fortune | 8:45 AM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 1 comments