chair malfunction

little giant orchard & broome

little giant is one of those restaurants that everyone's talking about, or maybe its just that i keep talking about, but havent had an opportunity to actually try it. i'd sent aviva there, for instance, assuring her that its the place to be.

aviva tells me that she had a food coma that night. i had to check it out for myself.

jenny and i shared the cockles, followed by the homemade sausage sampler, then shared the bass. the apps were tasty, well prepared, not particularly memorable. the broth in which the cockles came in was superb. food writers often talk about "sopping up the broth with crusty loaf' yadda-yadda, but often the broth is too gray, too garlicky, too parsley-y, or just plain has too much sand, that you dare not dip anything.

this is also one of the few instances that the entrees were actually adventurous and more flavorful than the palate teasing apps. apps are usually more adventurous - smaller portions, and the eater is hungry - anything will taste good. here, the bass was smoky, complex, rich, earthy. the fish was a counter point texture to the round things, the smoky things, the pebble-y things, rich things, the slimy things, the gooey things, the soft things. the bass filet retained its bassness and stood up to the very strong flavors and textures. this bass has class.

the food was delicious. but most of the time, i walk away remembering something else about a restaurant, like the scent of the soap in the dispenser, the hexagonal tiles in the bathroom, the comfort factor of the chairs, the lighting, an annoying waitperson. to my right was a table of 4 fabulous gay men in the fashion business, recapping fashion week, talking about all the other "it" new york restaurants, in their english accents. to my left was a couple; the guy was trying to convince the girl to go home with him. the girl was so put off by this, that she was trying to pay 1/2 her dinner bill, possibly to make it less date-like. and across the way, a man shifted his weight on a wobbly chair, and fell flat on his ass.

the service in the resto was not the same after that.