Sam I am

For my birthday, Larry took me to Veritas. Thank you Larry! It was very nice and tasty. At the end of the meal, they delivered some cookies with the check. They also found out it was my birthday, so they put a candle on the cake. The service at Veritas is so nice, and it is such an elegant dining room.

A friend of mine from work also had a birthday recently. To celebrate, we went to Le Bernardin for an early dinner. Le Bernardin is one of the few New York Times four-star rated restaurants. Dinner was amazing. It started with a lobster bisque as an amuse-bouce. I followed with a tuna and foie gras dish as a first course and a langoustine sambal as a second course. For my main course, I had a perfectly cooked piece of black bass with an smooth and rich cardamom broth. Finally, I finished with a dessert of corn and chocolate concoctions. Corn may sound weird for a dessert, but eating the corn ice cream was reminiscent of eating a fresh piece of corn on a hot summer day. It’s a beautiful restaurant with friendly and professional service, and I wish I could go there more frequently. That being said, it really seems like the web site was hit with the ugly stick; someone should redesign their site for them.

Finally, a couple of days ago, Larry and I went to Stone Park Cafe in Park Slope for dinner. As you go through the dishes, you realize that the food is both hearty and heartening. I was reminded again and again of comfort food, even though the presentation is neither rustic nor simple. The “don’t miss” dish, in my opinion, is their signature “Short Rib ‘Sandwich.'” It is a the diameter of a slider, with a thick short rib sandwiched between two soft, large potato rolls. The sandwich is served open-faced and topped with a friend quail egg. Adding extra richness and nutrition to the dish is a layer of creamed spinach sitting just below the short rib. It’s an excellent sandwich. I will certainly try to get back here.