It rained steadily all day Friday. Barbara Gelb was under the weather; she and Arthur would not be meeting us for dinner. We cancelled our lunch reservation at Perla, a long wet walk or frustrating taxi ride away in the Village, and took a shorter wet walk to lunch at Fig & Olive on 52nd near 5th. Fig & Olive has five New York locations; we've eaten at two of them. It's become one of our go to places for a lighter meal. We were seated by the window, which gave us room for our raincoats and umbrellas, and dried out with glasses of wine.
According to their website, Fig & Olive is about "passion for the best olive oils, flavors and cuisine from the Riviera & Coastal regions of the South of France, Italy and Spain." Their olive oils may or may not be the best, but they're very good. Three different oils are always on the table, along with delicious focaccia.
We shared two courses; we started with the PROVENCE VEGETABLES & BURRATA and finished with the PAELLA DEL MAR.
Burrata, heirloom tomato, zucchini, ricotta basil pesto, basil infused olive oil The burrata cheese seems to always be on the menu at Fig & Olive and we always order it. It's rich and creamy and delicious. The ricotta basil pesto was a close second, and both went well with the heirloom tomatoes, which at this point in our eating marathon, hit the spot.
The paella had lots of nice fish; Marlene and I had no problem getting our shares. The saffron rice was light, unsticky, and didn't overpower. After lunch, we shopped in the rain, split up, and then met at the apartment to prepare for our evening activities. Since we no longer had dinner with the Gelbs on our schedule, we had made other plans. At 7:00 we headed out in the now heavy rain. It's almost impossible to get a taxi when it's raining in Manhattan, particularly during rush hour. The streets are crowded with New Yorkers walking with umbrellas and, for this week, we were New Yorkers. We arrived at our destination, cold and soggy, but we weren't deterred — we had magic to do.
We had filled our open Friday night with the revival of "Pippin" and it was indeed magical. We had seen the original 1972 production with Ben Vereen, John Rubinstein and Irene Ryan, and this production was every bit as good. The truly magical score by Stephen Schwartz transcended both generations. The circus-like production, which we were afraid would be too Cirque du Soleil, created the perfect spell. Patina Miller, cast as a female Leading Player, was sexy and spellbinding; she made moves Ben Vereen could never have made. We sang along with Andrea Martin's updated version of "No Time at All." And we sang as we left the theatre, our only regret that the magic had ended and we might have to wait another forty years for more. Still walking in a heavy rain, we sloshed through the puddles to Orso, only a few blocks away. Orso, a hot spot for theatre goers for many years, offers a basic Italian menu which is reasonably priced. After checking our raincoats and umbrellas, we were seated and ordered a nice Barbera D'Alba. The bottle was opened and set on our table for us to pour ourselves — an Orso shtick.
We shared three courses of Italian comfort food — the Rucola Salad, the Pizza Orso, and the Pappardelle alla Bolognese.
Arugula, shaved parmesan, lemon, olive oil
Sweet Italian sausage, tomatoes, mozzarella, parmesan
Pappardelle, meat sauce, parmesan There was nothing unique about these dishes; they were familiar and satisfying. We ate every bite. We donned our raincoats and went out into the still heavy rain, prepared for a long unpleasant walk. But after sloshing a half block to 8th Avenue, we found an empty taxi waiting. "Join us . . . we have magic to do . . . just for you." Copyright © 2012 TwoForTheTable.com |
