0 Brick Cafe Astoria

Last night I went out searching for my inner mussel. Luckily I live nearby the Brick Cafe Astoria.

Not only is Brick loaded with bistro-esque Frenchie touches.

But the Michelin guide saw fit to give them 1-star!

And they serve a mean moules/mussels marinere with THREE different sauces. Natch I went for traditional white wine with a touch of parsley and basil, since my illustration assignment calls for it.

It occured to me, why not grab a few shells, toss them in my bag for preparatory sketching later on at home.
Naturally just then the owner comes by, catches me red handed and asks,

"Is there anything WE can help you with?"

(Like stuffing your bag full of OUR mussel shells..ahem)
Oh s---!

I mumbled something unintellagable.

Ta-Da!

BTW this was so good I practically licked the plate. I may return for more research tonight. I should of grabbed a few shells with the mussels still in them. What was I thinking?

For some unknown reason I always end up at the rather so-so Belgian chain, Chez Leon's in Paris for their moules marineres - not nearly as good as The Brick except the for the Belgian mussels being tastier and more plentiful.

I do love their pitcher of water and glasses but is that reason enough?

Studying the construction of a mussel.

I got to thinking it looks a lot like a macaron. Non?

THANKS for all your GREAT suggestions yesterday PBers!!

Huff came up with a near perfect solution - the iPod Touch (4th generation - 8 gigs) I can get all the Paris Metro maps and more and. Well what do you think?

Cheers and may you be living on higher ground.

BONJOUR THE BRICK CAFE!

0 Kindle Your Friendships

Photo by Flora Rocco

My friend Sardi gave me this photo because she thinks I'm consumed with pastry... I really should put it in a frame... Instead of sticking it on top of my stacks of book...

I have more books than you could shake a stick at. That's what I'm consumed with is BOOKS!

Books support me in so many ways. They even support my laptop... But though books are my best friends, I'm not nice to them. I chopp them up like coleslaw. I blow them up at the copy shop. I write in them with yellow markers. I have to. As an artist/illustrator, I'm constantly researching pictures of whatever I'm painting at the moment and my dear friends, books, hold the answers.

I'm not alone in this act of battering books you know. The NY Public Library used to do it. You could visit The Picture Collection to search for reference shots. You would see all your other illustrator friends pouring over mounted pictures (some ripped out of the finest books). It was a social event to go look at torn-out pictures. But that's changed. The NY Picture Collection is online, so no more chit chat with fellow artist. Quelle dommage. And there's Google bien sur. I needed pictures of a Roasted Shallot Tart Tatin yesterday et voila! Easy as pie/tarte.

I'm working on Maison Blanc's Fall Menu and I needed tarte au citron reference too.

That was a whole lot easier to solve than the shallot tarte. I just headed down to Payard Bakery. Course if I was in Paris I'd be falling over tarte citrons on every corner. They're common as lamposts...

If I was in Paris I wouldn't have to bring my own supply of lemon zest for the shot either. Just head over to M. Pierre Herme for super zesty lemon tarts. Back to my dear friends books. I'm wondering if I should break down and finally get a reader..?

I've been flirting with one for quite some time.

Do you LOVE your Kindle?

Wasn't it clever of Amazon to call it the 'Kindle' like you're curling up at a friendly, homey hearth? If I had a Kindle I could curl up too...

Along with not having a Kindle, I don't have an iPhone either. Shhh, I don't even have a cell/portable(!!!)

I'm probably the only one on the planet, but after seeing David Lebovitz post on iPhone Paris Apps I'm rethinking. Could I get an iPhone just for Apps? I'm in love with the Paris Metro App. It could be my new best friend, and I promise to be really, really nice. No chopping or blowing up or two-timing I swear.

Should I or shouldn't I??

Do tell all PBers. Do you have one? Do you love it?

Bonjour Post-Earthquake!

0 BLACK AND WHITE WEDNESDAY #7

~ Purity ~

~ Vintage Reverie ~

This picture was submitted to "Black & White Wednesday", an event created by Susan at "The Well-Seasoned Cook".

~Texture Love ~

0 Luke's Lobster

Lobster Shake, watercolor, 9" x 11"

I was painting this lobster when the earth shook at 1:59 or so.

I picked him up by accident on Saturday. You know how these things go. He was in good company. I could have chosen any of his friends nearby.
All so attractive. But no, I fell hard, as usual/comme habitude. Lobsters are a favorite of mine from way back. It was my ritual birthday dinner since I was 5, so what do you expect?

Last night I headed to Staples and more lobsters stopped me in my tracks. Direct from Maine no less.

I'd heard a lot of talk about Luke. His reputations preceeds him. This guy is famous for being fresh, but sometimes a girl has to take a chance anyway.

I studied his street creds carefully.

Whoa $16 bucks for a lobster sandwich? I'd bought a cooked lobster at Union Sq Market for half that.

This guy has to be something!

A girl came by with her boyfriend. I heard her say,
"I don't care. I'm getting one and you can't have any"

"Oh..OK?

I started having second thoughts...that good?

I decided to show some restraint and ordered only half lobster sandwich. This better be good I'm thinking. At least the little box can be reused to carry macarons.

PBers, I'm here to tell you this is the BEST lobster roll I've ever eaten. Certainly far better than that precooked lobbie I ate Saturday. Who knew? This guy, Luke does it right! I'll be back for more. Big FRESH chunks of lobster straight from Maine. No mayo in sight. Just a tiny, drizzle of butter on a nicely toasted bun. Heavens PBers, I'm telling you. If this guy went to Paris, he'd make out like a bandit and I'd be 1st in line. Well worth every penny.

Luke's Lobster can be found in Union Square several days a week in front of Staples. If you live out of town high tail it over here right now, even if we do have the occasional earthquake or so.

BONJOUR LUKE'S LOBSTER!

0 Fraise Knock Out!

I hope you didn't spend your weekend arm wrestling a jar of strawberry jam like I did...

I wasn't thrilled with last Friday's watercolor - the reds were...just too red!

Off I marched to Union Square Farmers Market...

Ringside the Day-neutral berries were just waiting for me to show up...

Across the aisle the strawberry jams were aiming to hit hard...

Mon dieu! But at $8 bucks a jar I hesitated...

To the left the $8 dollar ready-to-eat lobsters were yelling out,

"Take us home and paint us!"

I asked Beth's Farm Kitchen,

Do you have something for a little less?

Beth's:Not really, unless you want the jar that didn't jell for $4?

Me:I'll take it!

Me:Do you always have something on sale every week?

Beth's:Never! We've been making jam for 30 years!

Me:Oh...ooops

I grabed the strawbs, jam AND the lobster and headed home...

Time to duke it out with some pencil 'thumbnails'

Then a slugfest with the red pigments...

Second entree into the ring wasn't so bad, but the berries got the upper hand...

Parisian pastry chefs always keep the upper hand with their strawberries. You can't walk a block without bumping into one or two strawberry tartes in Paris... I found out from Relais Desserts that strawberries are not even a fruit. Who knew? It's those little yellow seeds, the 'achenes' that are the actual fruit. Louis XIV sent Amedee Francois Frezier (is that where le fraisier got it's name?) off to South America. He brought back many new varieties. Now there are at least 600 kinds of berries to put in your tarte, though the Plougastel, the gariguette and the mara des bois are the most popular. I was chastised in Monoprix for buying berries from Spain - mechante/naughty

Et voila

Have a BERRY Good Day PBers!