I had a nice supper of crab legs at home with good friends and watched the ball drop. Could hear the fireworks banging away over in Central Park. Happy 2011!
On Thursday John Gallagher and I continued a tradition begun last year of going out on New Year's Eve eve. We ate dinner on the Lower East Side at
Mary Queen of Scots and celebrated an early
Hogmanay. It was the perfect place to bestow the last of my Edinburgh purchases on a friend: a lamb's wool tartan scarf bought on the Royal Mile.
John gave me a tiny Gumby sitting on a blue horse and a fun book called "Lexicon of Musical Invective," a compilation of horrible reviews given to famous composers.
We ate a hearty winter dinner of cassoulet, boudin noir, Scotch salmon salad, pork belly, chips with curry sauce and fried Brussels sprouts, washed down with a gin cocktail, good red wine and a Smuttynose IPA lager. Dessert was Scotch ice cream made with Laphroaig. Yum!
Next we walked a few blocks uptown and had Australian coffee at the
Tuck Shop, a great little hole-in-the-wall that specializes in meat pies. Our Swedes have visited there, too, as has oilgun.
We finished up, as we did last year, with a stop at
Cafe Mogador. John had port wine and I had Moroccan mint tea and orange almond cake. We parted at the L train station around midnight. Thanks, dear friend, for another great Gallagher-esque evening!
