FORK PLAY June 15, 2010
Immortality. Hampton Eats. The Brindle Room. Bar Artisanal. Inside Tokyo.
Dear Friends and Family,
The certificate just arrived from my friends at Tribeca Films, a power behind the National September 11 Memorial &  Museum. It seems I bought a cobblestone in the walk that will line the memorial. It won't have my name on it, apparently, but I can locate it at a nearby kiosk. I got a little chill thinking of all those uninscribed cobblestones, how I might one day step on a tiny square of my own immortality.
I've already supported the memorial at Ellis Island by inscribing my father's name on a memorial wall - Nathaniel Robert Greene. I've not been there myself to see it but a friend sent me a photo from her cell phone of herself pointing to it. I also have a tree in Central Park. Or to be more accurate, friends and I joined years ago to have one planted in memory of a young woman who was my roommate. I visited it once a long time ago but now I've forgotten where it is. I hope it survived the recent monster snow that pulled down so many trees. I think she'd be amused if squirrels built a home.
I would like to think my works will linger on after me. But you can't count on anything as ephemeral as a restaurant review or even an erotic novel to survive, certainly not Insatiable, the indiscreet memoir of a minor celebrity. Many of today's food-smitten dilettantes haven't a clue who Craig Claiborne is. I can hope Citymeals-on-Wheels will always have wheels. And I pray no terrorist will ever feel the need to shatter the courtyard with my anonymous cobblestone.
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Fork Play colors today celebrate nectarine golden and strawberry red.
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What's New in the Hamptons
I had time for just one lunch at Navy Beach in Montauk Memorial Day Weekend. The clams with chorizo in butter-tinged broth and the luscious seafood and chips blew me away. But I hope that wasn't just a fake hurricane, churned up by a practiced chef with only two or three tables to feed in a lull before the holiday. The Hamptons summer crush could challenge even a steady hand like chef Paul LaBue's. I can't wait to go back, hope I can get in.
In East Hampton, as insurance for success at the new Grill on Pantigo, the entrepreneurial Krupinskis were fielding top brass from 1770 House on the floor, their celebrated meatloaf for just $14, and veteran Kevin Penner in the kitchen. Race Lane, where The Laundry thrived for years, was still in every-other-night Friends and Family auditions when I stopped in. That was macaroni and cheese three times in three days -- the surest way to get my attention. Click here to read more about the new season in  the Hamptons.
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Comfort to Share
I can't say The Brindle Room is a jewel of the East Village just waiting to be discovered by the city's more adventurous foodiots. But it's welcoming and admirable in a do-it-yourself way - chef-owner Jeremy Spector, formerly of Employees Only and Dogmatic - put it together in a long narrow space once occupied by Persimmon on East 10th near Avenue A. One of our companions chose it, neglecting to mention he'd done work for Spector. We might have been fussed over and indulged anyway, a table for five in a not very busy room.
The point is we liked almost everything we tasted, from the modest line-up of spreads ($6 to $9), smalls ($8 to $15), and larges ($18 to $23) mostly meant to share. A classic steak tartare with potato chips. Dark and serious chicken liver mousse to spread on toast. Fried oysters nested in guacamole. And crispy pork belly in a deep black bowl with fresh young spinach and a poached egg on top. However, I can't imagine what Spector was thinking when he combined chunks of smoked trout and octopus in saffron buerre blanc.
Favas, peas and asparagus celebrate spring on the quite decent black bass. And the spaghetti with fresh tomato, mozzarella and parmesan has that homey air of comfort food that makes The Brindle Room a good fit for the neighborhood. 277 East 10th near Avenue A 212 529 9702.
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On Second Thought, Spanish
Chef Terrance Brennan, master of the Michelin two-star Picholine and cheese world promoter, has been saying his next restaurant would be Spanish. He just needed to find the right space. The shattering of fiscal sanity put grand plans on hold though it seemed easy enough to clone his  midtown Artisanal Brasserie on the Tribeca corner that was briefly Trigo.
Did the new venture suffer from a confused focus? Did it lack soul? Brennan decided it did and this could be the perfect spot to install his Spanish restaurant. Wrapped in floor to ceiling mullioned windows with the subtle distortion of antique glass and a vast European train station feel, the place already had good bones. A splash of paint, a new sound track. It didn't hurt that general manager Louis Andia, late of Pamplona and Pipa, just happened to be the son of a Sevillian bullfighter. (Brad Pitt will play him in the movie.) Check out what I ate before you go.
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How to Speak Sushi
Tokyo is vast and astonishing and private. Expect to feel lost in translation, dizzy from culture shock. Of course you wil l collect good addresses from everyone you know, as we did before we left for three weeks, determined to eat the best of the best in Tokyo, Kyoto, Takayama and Kanazawa.
But I advise you not go without Food Sake Tokyo (The Little Bookroom $29.95) tucked into your tote. Next best to actually having author Yukari Sakamoto, a Japanese-American chef and sommelier, at your side. Digest her preamble on the mysteries of Japanese dining rules and rituals and then following her footsteps to the best places to eat and drink and shop, to snack and splurge. Which stand in which market. Which pub. Which knife shop. Which cracker. Which chocolate. Dipping into her guide has made me want to try Tokyo again. Click here to buy it now from Amazon.
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Photographs
of Navy Beach's seafood and chips, steak tartare and fried oysters at The Brindle Room, and paella at Bar Artisanal may not be used without permission from Steven Richter
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