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Baby food can be expensive
A few months before the Covidiocy started, Mrs. Pessimist and I spent several days in New York City with lifelong friends from childhood. We had traveled with them a few times, but mostly up to their mountain house in North Carolina. We had been to New York far more times than they had and were eager to show them around the town. We got tickets for the latest hits on Broadway and planned a delightful long weekend. We had a wonderful lunch in a local diner with a priest whom we had been friends with for forty years. We walked the Brooklyn Bridge, toured the 911 memorial site, went to the B&H photography store, and did all of the great things you do in New York.
We also arranged to meet other friends who had lived in NY for most of their married lives. They got reservations for a restaurant that they had been eager to visit which was not far from our hotel. It was quiet, well decorated, and though mostly empty, still seemed inviting. As we perused the menu we discovered that it was terribly woke before that word was even in vogue. You can only imagine the preposterous descriptions of their food. We struggled to find anything that might be appetizing. The entire menu was based on tiny pieces of meat or fish surrounded by pureed vegetables. BABY FOOD! Served for over a hundred dollars a plate.
Our New York friends were mortified. Despite the bill, it made for a nice memory, I suppose.
Published in General
LOL, I would’ve been mortified too!
Hopefully the small plates and servings were at least above par (or should that be below par, like a birdie or eagle?) Anyway worthy of your Ben Franklin’s per plate.
I like to cook. I am very fond of my cooking. I am creative, and healthy with my selections, and many are pic worthy.
Occasionally I will Take Mrs. Nohaaj to dinner, and typically, she will comment, “your food is better”. Maybe we are just more familiar with it. There are rare restaurants that clearly excel, and are worthy.
I presume the memories you ay were worth it, were based upon the company, not the baby food samples…
It never occurred to me that visiting B&H would be a tourist thing, but I like the idea.
The discerning tourist.
Sure! Willoughby’s, Camera Barn, Olden’s…a lot of camera stores in that neighborhood.
Camera Barn used to have Saturday morning sales. They had terrific used equipment, too.
I fail to understand haute (sp?) cuisine.
I want something that tastes good.
What do you have against paying $35 for five stalks of asparagus with some red goop* drizzled on it and three “pork” medallions that if poked on the hoof probably would have whinnied instead of oinked? A sommelier that couldn’t tell you the difference between Bordeaux and Bakersfield tops off the experience.
Just do like everybody else does and hit a drive-thru for a cheeseburger on the way home.
* “Strained raspberry compote” according to the menu. Hell if I know.
You know the burger will at least taste good.
People still use cameras? Can you still buy film and get it developed? I have a Kodak in my drawer….
I’d rather go to a dive and have “hunch food” as Guy Feiri calls it.
People don’t go to places like that to eat. They go there to be seen there.
I have a Brownie.
Sitting at the right table, with the right people.
The last time we went to a place like that (celebrating a foodie friend’s birthday – their choice where to eat), Quincy Jones was at the table next to ours.
My daughter took a photography course in college a couple years ago, where they used 35mm black & white film, which they developed themselves in a darkroom. It’s still taught! I was surprised.
I’m in semi-rural north Texas. A nearby town* that was a big resort town in the first half of the 20th century is trying to reestablish that resort town vibe, and so some more high-end, urban-style businesses are opening, including a “foodie” restaurant.
Last week a friend was intrigued that there was a new restaurant, and went out there. But upon looking in on the new “foodie” restaurant, he realized it was one of these places that presents elegantly prepared and delivered dishes with small (but superb tasting) portions, and he decided that the old school diner down the street was probably more appropriate for his style (he was riding his motorcycle). (He is not tech-savvy, so, no, researching it ahead of time on the internet was not on his “do first” list.)
*Mineral Wells, Texas
I spent more money at B&H over about two decades than my parents spent on my college education. At the time I considered the money I spent on the best photography equipment was worth more than my education. Now I use my iPhone. A very long and fast telephoto lens is still necessary for wildlife photography but not for much else.
I still have the used Polaroid I bought at Olden’s in 1971. Cameras used to be beautiful objects, made of high quality metal, with durable leather bellows and straps.
The Los Angeles equivalent is Freestyle, where I was able to admire 35mm movie cameras sold by the Atomic Energy Commission after filming nuclear tests.
I am going to Scotland next week and I am debating whether or not to bring a real camera. The iPhone is fine for scenery and street scenes but I don’t know how to look at the world except through a camera lens. That feels sad to me but it is a reality.
I don’t know anything about it, but film works better for some things. Lomography is really cool, but I think you can do it on a computer if you are trained.
I travel with this camera:
https://www.sony.com/lr/electronics/cyber-shot-compact-cameras/dsc-hx90v
If you’re not taking photos for National Geographic Magazine it is excellent. It has a popup viewfinder that you can use in bright sunlight, unlike a phone. 30x optical zoom with image stabilization. Does video too of course. Fits in a shirt pocket.