vip in the city

More noodles

After a holiday hiatus, we were back in Chinatown for lunch again on Thursday. I didn’t have a specific destination already in mind, so at my friend’s request, we ended up back at Marco Polo Noodle Shop on Baxter. It’s good, but I’m not sure why he’s so obsessed with this place. It has to be the noodles.

We must be regulars now, because our waiter chose this afternoon to initiate more personal interactions. His very first question to me, head gesturing toward my dining companion: “He’s Korean, right?” Haha. (Yes.)

After lunch, we passed these colorful lucky lanterns, set up for the upcoming Chinese New Year on February 7, 2008. The annual celebrations last 15 days, ending with the Lantern Festival on the first full moon of the new lunar year. The lantern-lighting tradition dates to the Han Dynasty, and though its origins are unclear, the most popular legend surrounding the festivities concerns a town’s deliverance from fiery destruction at the vengeful hands of the Jade Emperor of Heaven.

Tags: Chinatown, Chinese New Year, Marco Polo

Extra Virgin territory

One of the venues CL, CSF and I had considered for dinner tonight was the brand new Bar Boulud, but we decided in the end in favor of the more established Extra Virgin. None of us had been yet to this “little gem of a restaurant,” so to borrow a phrase from NBC’s 1990s summer reruns campaign, it was new to us. Bar Boulud’s menu looks interesting, though — charcuterie and cheese, terrines and pâtés — so I hope to make it over there one evening soon.

Executive chef and co-owner Joey Fortunato (formerly of Layla, Scarabee, and the Tonic), together with partner Michele Gaton (former general manager of The Coffee Shop), opened Extra Virgin in the old Titou space in 2004. Their Mediterranean bistro proved so popular with West Village locals and destination diners alike that it expanded into the store next door in 2005, adding an extra 30 seats to the dining room.

Three years later, the restaurant still draws crowds every night, and knowing its reservations policy — none for parties smaller than 6 — we planned an early arrival, and managed to score one of the tightly packed wooden tables with hardly a wait. It was a case of good timing: by the time our food arrived, the dinner rush had set in, with patrons packing the long bar area and spilling onto West 4th Street. Extra Virgin offers the option of a few sidewalk tables: highly coveted in warmer months, but seemingly utilized even on chilly evenings like this one, by the intrepid (or impatient) few.

Under a faux burl wood panel — which CSF remarked, reminded him of his parents’ basement — we dipped our crusty bread slices into a plate of excellent olive oil: extra virgin, no doubt. The warmly appointed room was a charming mix of soothing blues, exposed brick walls, pressed tin ceilings, and oversize, gold-framed mirrors. Flickering candlelight makes for pretty dining companions, but not for good food photography.

No snapshots, then, of our Fritto Misto — a generous platter of hot and crispy calamari, rock shrimp, clams and zucchini, served with a spiced tomato dipping sauce. Very good, even if I accidentally bit into what I thought was a battered round of squash, but which turned out to be a deep-fried lemon slice. (The dining room really was quite dark.)

From the daily-changing “Classics” section of the menu, I chose the Oven Roasted Leg of Lamb with twice baked potatoes and green beans. The meat was hearty yet tender, and arrived medium rare without my specifying so. I’d be interested in sampling some of the other day’s specials, which include a coq au vin on Tuesdays, and Thursday’s whole roasted branzino, a fish which Fresh Direct describes as “a little like a perch, with a similar white, firm flake and a mild sweetness that will remind you of fresh scallops.” (Ooh, scallops.)

Really, though, this evening was more about catching up with old friends than about lingering over food. (The anxiously hovering servers made the latter nearly impossible, anyway.) We paid our tab, and set off into the night.

Tags: Extra Virgin, West Village

Pirates! (No ninjas)

The New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players was formed in 1974 by a group of friends, mostly alumni of the Barnard College Gilbert & Sullivan Society. The troupe’s first performances were held at block parties, street fairs, nursing homes, and in city parks, with costumes, sets and a sound system borrowed from the school. From those humble beginnings, the troupe has grown over the last three decades to become “America’s preeminent professional Gilbert & Sullivan repertory ensemble” with over 2,000 performances of G&S masterpieces throughout the eastern United States and Canada under their belts.

NYGASP’s 2008 New York season includes six productions over four weeks at City Center – two weeks each in January and June. This month features performances of Princess Ida, The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado and Trial by Jury; June’s repertory will include H.M.S. Pinafore, The Gondoliers, The Mikado, and The Pirates of Penzance.

The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty, which J and I were here to see tonight, is one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s enduring “Big Three” comic operas, along with H.M.S. Pinafore, and The Mikado. Even those who have only a passing familiarity with the Victorian-era composing duo’s works are able to identify The Mikado as the faux-Japanese/yellowface operetta (the production of which was the subject of Mike Leigh’s 1999 Academy Award-winning biopic Topsy-Turvy); the other two operettas are perhaps slightly less distinguishable from one another, as I discovered when a couple of different people I spoke with that day conflated the sea-faring works in their recollections.

Buttercup? (No, that’s Pinafore.) “What, never?”/“No, never!”/”What, never?”/“Well, hardly ever!” (Pinafore again.) Pirates is the story of Frederic, a dutiful young man mistakenly apprenticed to a band of tender-hearted, orphaned pirates, who yearns to return to “respectable society” and marry his love Mabel, the daughter of a Major General. The comic opera features a bevy of beautiful, unwed maidens, a team of timid constables, plots and hijinks galore. Cutting edge theatre it’s not, and NYGASP’s production, despite its physical proximity to Broadway is not quite a Broadway-caliber show. What it is, though, is a flagrantly and joyously fey production of painted backdrops, goofy costumes and hokey choreography, which at one point, includes a broadly hammy kickline of pirates shaking sparkly silver hats. I laughed aloud several times: the performers’ unabashed love of Gilbert and Sullivan was downright infectious. Even J, just a day back from his tour of Italy, managed to battle off jetlag through to the end.

Of course, we all sat up in anticipation during the rapid-fire patter-filled Act I showstopper, “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General.” It takes some wit (and quite a bit of gall) to rhyme “lot o’ news” with “hypotenuse.” Check out this clip from the 1983 film version (Kevin Kline as The Pirate King! Linda Ronstadt as Mabel! Angela Lansbury as Frederic’s maid, Ruth!) then watch the same video dubbed over with “Baby Got Back,” G&S-style, by Sirs Gilbert, Sullivan and Mix-a-Lot. (According to the folks at VH1’s Best Week Ever, it’s among the “Top Ten Worst Karaoke Trap Songs.”) Isn’t YouTube great?

Tags: City Center, Gilbert & Sullivan, Pirates of Penzance, theatre