I ate lunch today at Almondine, a new bakery in DUMBO. Almondine was opened by Herve Poussot and Jacques Torres. Jacques Torres also owns Jacques Torres Chocolate across the street. In addition to bread, pastries, and other items you would expect at a small bakery, they also sell small sandwiches served on freshly baked bread. I ate a prosciutto, mozzarella, and tomato sandwich served on a thick white bread with a flour-coated crust. Unlike many prosciutto sandwiches I have eaten, this prosciutto was tender and easily eaten; I was able to tear through the meat without pulling an entire piece of prosciutto off the sandwich. After the sandwich, I had a chocolate brownie with walnuts and chocolate icing.
I am meeting Harri and Kristiina shortly for dinner, so I stopped at the chocolate store to buy them some chocolate. Jacques Torres’s chocolates are exquisite. I have to start going there more often. I took my parents there a couple of months ago. My father prefers rich dark chocolate, but even he was blown away by the sharpness and richness of these chocolates. He had six or seven, which made him wired for the rest of the day.
It was damp and quiet today. This morning I could only see half of the Brooklyn Bridge because of the fog. Now, I can’t see the bridge at all. I took a couple of photos from the park at the base of the bridge earlier; hopefully, I will get a chance to post them tomorrow. The park at the base of the bridge is relaxing; you can hear the tide washing in and out, and the boardwalk is calm and peaceful. There is some noise from the cars going over the bridges to Manhattan, but the park is not something you would expect in a city this large.