Three pounds heavier and substantially better nourrished than the week previous, I am officially done another week at Sinai. The gustatory offerings this week were courtesy of various sources (Relatives, Pfizer, Stipend, etc) and it would be a shame not to list them out, considering I haven't had enough of a "break" to truly reflect on what I've eaten. Here we go:

Sunday Night: Balthazar's
No appetizer
'Le Balthazar' - a three tiered behemoth containing cold steamed fruits of the sea of all different sorts
The Balthazar strip steak - It is of note that the steak was bullshit because it was TOUGH. obviously cooked far too 'early' relative to my intended consumption time, it probably sat under the heating lamp becoming a piece of leather. Assholes, proper protocol is to THROW OUT the plate once it has sat under the heating lamps for five minutes. Thomas Keller does, so should you.

Monday Night: Lupa
Prosciutto di Parma Grand Reserva, monster portion - absofuckinglutely deliscious. None of the mishandling during the shipping of it to the US (improper fridge temperatures cause condensation within the meat which a) makes it much tougher than it should be and b) makes it considerably saltier in taste than complex. It was perfect, the best I've had. Ever.
Oxtail and Mixed Greens - I'm sure it had a name but the perfectly cooked paper thin oxtail in a tangy port sauce coupled with some good ol' veggies was very good.
Pork shoulder ragu tagliatelle - Fresh, eggy and not drowned in the appropriately spiced sauce. The mushrooms were nice but not necessary.
Pork Ossobuco - Interesting! It was not covered in the gross brown sauce that most places cover the otherwise crispy, thin, tender filet of meat in (traditionally veal), but it was a very nice variation on a theme. The bok choy on the side that it was served with was a little suspect...
Pork Shoulder - Melt in your mouth fatty goodness which I swear was responsible for at least half a pound of weight gain alone. The sweet yet sharp glazing over the crisp outer which hid the fork-tender threads of meat and fat was original and very interesting. I normally don't like sweet meat, but this was fabulous.

Tuesday Night: A break, mercifully.

Wednesday Afternoon: Hokkaido
Shrimp Tempura bento box - everything was of very high quality given the price (9 bucks or so) and really, it was worth listening to a little schpiel on Aricept for. I would write more about it but it was neither terrible nor particularly memorable, so blah.

Wednesday Night: Churasscaria Tribeca
Every fucking thing in the restaurant - It was a veritable feast and honestly every single thing in the restaurant was of extremely high quality except the Sushi. But i mean who the hell goes to a Brazilian steak house for Sushi? It was Excellent all around and I will be sure to go there with the boy when he comes back in September. This most definitely rivals even the "best" establishments in the city for steak, and dare I say challenges Peter Luger's (though the two are very different, I admit). Definitely worth the money/person, unlike Nobu, the overpriced junkyard a few blocks away.

Thursday Night: Mark's Restaurant (the Mark Hotel)
Mozarella and Tomato Salad - Nothing special, nothing terrible
Lobster and Crab Squid Ink dyed Raviolo - Good, very good even. Fairly satisfying on the whole, nothing I would pay an excess of what we did ($35 prix fixe) for.
Lemongrass Creme Brule - The Creme Brule was neither crispy nor free from graininess though it DID taste like a hint of lemongrass. Mediocre at best.

And now it is Friday and it is the Sabbath. So i did not go out to eat (no, I don't actually observe the Sabbath, but I thought it was a fitting end to an incredible week).