Shariq’s Département

A “Gypsy” virgin, I was bound to be enthralled by the show, its catchy lyrics, melodic numbers and surprising plot turns.  What took me by surprise, however was how amazing the performances were of the two main women in the show: the veteran Patti Lupone as Gypsy’s overbearing mother, and relative newcomer, Laura Benanti as Gypsy.  Both won Tony awards for their performances.  And both performances are sensational.

Patti Lupone seems to be channelling an entirely new being - she embodies the role in every way: in her voice, her movements, her facial expressions.  Her voice soars on every note, quivering at the right moments to express heartfelt emotion.  This is not a very likeable character, but you cannot take your eyes off Lupone.  YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS PERFORMANCE BEFORE IT ENDS!  I have been seeing Broadway shows since my first in 1984 (the original Sunday in the Park with George with Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin), and I can honestly say that this performance by Patti Lupone is one of a kind.  It will become legendary and go down as one of the greats, in the same vein as Marlon Brando’s stage performance in the original production of “A Streetcar Named Desire”.

Laura Benanti, who plays an insipid, timid personality for the first act of the show transforms herself as a performer in the second act, and it is then that we realize what a fantastic actress she is.  She had us fooled so well initially, that we could not possibly believe the transformation she accomplishes.  Of course, the complexity that Laura adds to the performance justifies her Tony.  Her insecure girlish persona in the first act was a reaction to her mother’s dominance, but in a sense her new, aggressive persona in the second act is an attempt to finally get attention from men in a way that she never got from her parents.  What Laura achieves is to evidently display the pathos of the situation.  We applaud her growth, but mourn the loss of her innocence.

One of the themes of the show is that our choices in life have a tendency to be pre-programmed.  We are reacting: a close friend or family member tells us we cannot be a peformer, and we believe them.  Later we choose to be this performer, but we carry it to a seedy, exhibitionist extreme, and even this becomes a reaction to prove this person wrong, who has infiltrated your sense of self. 

An alternative approach, actually embodied by Patti Lupone, Gypsy’s mother, is to say “I believe in myself and my dream and to hell with anyone else”.  Of course, Lupone’s character takes it to the extreme, where she demolishes everyone to get her own way.

A middle ground might be to simply believe in your own truth, your belief in what path is right for you and seek it out, without listening to the doubts others throw your way, and without seeking to convince, dominate or harm others.  You cannot change other people’s opinions, so the best thing to do is to ignore them and believe in your inner self.  So you move out of a sense of “reaction” to one of unemotional “choice”.

The direction by Arthus Laurents is engaging and fun.  You see Lupone wandering backstage during her daughters’ rehearsals, a sight gag for the busybody that she is, generating laughter at the right moments.  The children who act for the first 45 minutes of the show are all excellent. 

And the music enters your body and soul and makes the whole evening just wonderful!

It’s a shame Tabla doesn’t have a Michelin star, because its food is consistently much better than some Michelin-starred restaurants in NYC.

A recent dinner for my sister, S., at Tabla displayed excellent food and service, and what was great was that the menu had changed since the last time we visited, in May.

My hamachi tartare appetizer was ethereally good (picture 1), while S. liked her crabcake (picture 2), a signature dish at Tabla, and P. enjoyed his New Orleans shrimp dish (picture 3).  Before appetizers, we were presented with tangy tomato-based soup amuse-bouche with a small dollop of cream, which got the taste buds flowing!  Also, Tabla alway serves complimentary nans and rotis with the appetizer, accompanied by fresh-made chutneys.  Very nice!

My main (which P. also had) of rice-flaked halibut with wild watercress in a lime and watermelon curry (picture 4) was exceptionally good.  Both P. and I completely wiped our plates clean.  S. also liked her wild striped bass with tomato kachumber (picture 5).

Desserts were a mixed bag.  I like my milk chocolate bar (picture 6) very much, and S. enjoyed the kulfi (picture 7).  P. found the sundae tasty (last picture), but not very sundae-ish!

Michelin needs to give this restaurant a star in October.

Chabrol, that French master of sinister characters and situations has created a nasty, insidious movie in “La fille coupee en deux” now playing at the IFC, and I don’t mean that in a bad way.

At the center of the film is our heroine, Gabrielle, an ambitious TV weather woman (reference to Kidman’s “To Die For”?), played by the beautiful Ludivine Sagnier (who was also in “Les Chansons D’Amour”).  But, unlike Kidman, Gabrielle is one of those characters who you want to just shrug out of their stupor.  She is courted by two men, one a famous older man, the other a slightly unhinged millionaire playboy, both of whom are obviously not right for her, yet she makes incessant bad decisions, allowing herself to be used again and again.

This is where the insidious nature of the movie comes in.  It is full of unlikeable characters who use one another.  The playboy, Paul, played by Benoit Magimel (remember him in “The Piano Teacher”) is the more obvious nutcase, with hints of violence from day 1.  But what is unnerving about the movie, is that the learned, elder writer, played by Francois Berleand ends up being even more of a user and abuser, when, near the end of the movie it is revealed what he makes Gabrielle do on her birthday before dumping her later that night by simply changing his locks.

At some level, the movie, aside from being a satire of French social classes and the literary scene, is a commentary on feminine assertion in the context of sexual objectification by men.  Gabrielle knows that men want to sleep with her and she wants to use this to her advantage.  But she allows her feelings to creep in and always wants to please and give up her own needs for the other.  Hence, she opens herself up to being exploited.  There is a lesson here of being on your guard always and putting your own needs first, not those of others. 

I am reminded of another classic movie about female sexual subjugation between two men: “The Piano” starring Holly Hunter, set in Victorian era New Zealand.  Here, a mute woman, totally defenseless, given her position in a foreign, frontier society asserts her needs from the beginning of the movie, both sexually and in terms of her music.  Her will and belief in herself allows her to weather all kinds of challenges.  Gabrielle would do well to look her up and learn from her approach to life.

One reason I keep going back to the bright, airy, Michelin-starred Austrian restaurant “Wallse” in the West Village is that it still produces a delicious, authentic, crisply fried wiener schnitzel with lingonberry sauce and dilled potatoes (picture 1).  This is the main reason to go.

The rest of the food, while pretty looking, was universally judged to be lacking in taste by my party.  The soup (picture 2) was apparently bland, and my salad with a runny egg that is normally an easy dish to prepare was presented with almost a hard-boiled egg - dried up and with no yolk for sauce (picture 3).  The shrimp appetizer was apparently good (picture 4), while the halibut (picture 5) looked pretty, but was proclaimed by P. as not being well seasoned.

Desserts were good - berry torte (picture 6) and cake with sorbet (picture 7); the sides were delicious.  On the wine front, try the Austrian red (Blaufrankisch - Weninger Reserve 2004) I selected - absolutely delicious (picture 9).

If you go, definitely eat the wiener schnitzel - it is the highlight of the menu.

I loved “Boeing Boeing” on Broadway!  The show, a farce about a 3-timer who suddenly has all three girls show up at the same time at their shared home in Paris, has precise comic timing so that the audience is continuously laughing out loud.  The show belongs to Mark Rylance, the British actor, who expertly plays the surprise friend from Wisconsin (in a flawless American midwest accent).  His comic timing, his physicality and pauses set up all the gags.  Accordingly, he was awarded a Tony for Best Actor in the play this year!

The set is devised in a semi-circle, and with all the doors opening and closing in expert comic timing, one feels as if one is on a merry-go-round.  All 3 girls, playing German, American and Italian air hostesses act amazingly well.  Mary McCormack plays the German air hostess, Gretchen, as a German dominatrix with ambiguous sexuality (she kisses a surprisingly subdued Christine Baranski), terrorizing the men around her, but ends up succumbing to the subtle, persistent charms of Mr. Rylance.  She won a Tony as well.  All three girls use their bodies and extreme physical poses to emphasize their sexuality and to further the comedy.  Gina Gershon as the Italian girl looks amazingly young.

Highly recommended.  Will put a smile on your face.  Expert timing and acting is essential to make a farce work.  And this one gets an A+.

Vong, the Michelin-starred Asian food mainstay of Jean Georges’ vast and forever growing restaurant empire, was wonderful as always last week.  Mains remained exemplary, combining proteins with fantastic Asian flavors.  My duck entree with bok choy (picture 1), P.’s black bass (picture 2), A.’s chicken (picture 3) and M.’s cod (picture 4) all elicited sighs of rapture and deep satisfaction.

But I have to retain my highest praise for the most innocuous-sounding item on the menu, a starter of watercress salad with dressing.  I chose it because I know what a great nutritional superstar watercress is: watercress contains four times the calcium of milk.  This plant contains as much vitamin C as the same size of orange, and more iron than spinach.  A full cup is only 4 calories.  Ok - so, nutrition aside, the salad blew me away.  It was actually mixed with tangy onions (picture 5) and was so delicious that I couldn’t stop eating and only jealously allowed others to taste.  Please try it - you won’t be disappointed.

“The Harrison”, the sister Tribeca restaurant of the famous Chelsea institution “The Red Cat” has been a favourite of ours for several years now.  A new chef, recently written up very favourably in the New York Times was an occasion for a revisit.

And the dishes were bursting with clean, crisp flavours.  There was no artifice or butter or cheese or cream here.  Just fantastic ingredients breaking through to express themselves.  Consider my zuchinni carpaccio special appetizer (picture 1), featuring a dress of heirloom tomatoes, olives and exquisite basil oil.  The ingredients seem pedestrian, but I assure you that this is one of the most original and exciting dishes I have had in a long time, elegant and tasty enough to rival any creation in the tradition-weary kitchens of Paris.  A. liked his raviolini appetizer (picture 2), P. was rapturous about the clean flavors in his beet salad appetizer (picture 3) and M. really enjoyed her chicken entree (picture 4).  My main was red snapper, accompanied by eggplant and other vegetables and was very good (picture 5).  Sides include delicious broccolini with garlic (picture 6) and wax beans in basil gravy (outstanding).  The 2001 Rioja was excellent (picture 7) and is very well priced on the wine list.

Heartily recommended.  The essence of summer is distilled in this airy Tribeca restaurant which becomes a trope for breezy, sunny lusciousness as the summer begins to wane towards fall.  Enjoy!

On the positive side: Veritas (which has one Michelin star) has a new French chef, Gregory Pugin, who started last month, and his food is simply sensational.  My foie gras appetizer (picture 1) was perfectly balanced, the creaminess of the liver juxtaposed with a rich marmalade, all coming together on tiny pieces of buttery brioche bread.  The duck a l’orange was perfect in execution: the orange sauce was a mild counterpoint; the true interplay was between the tender, crispy duck and poached fruit: figs, peaches and, yes, orange (picture 2).  Everyone at the table received a wonderful amuse-bouche: heirloom tomatoes stuffed with crab and a basily shooter to accompany it (picture 3).  And the desserts were very high quality (pictures 4 and 5). 

Now here is the unfortunate experience we had.  P. got extremely bad food poisoning which lasted for 2 days and resulted in fever!  It could have been one of the two dishes he had (which he said both tasted good): his appetizer of beets stuffed with seafood (picture 6) or main course of bouillabaisse (picture 7).  I don’t want to put the restaurant down, and it was probably just bad luck, but I would stay away from these two dishes till the summer is over.

All the other 3 people at the dinner were fine and had no ill-effects. 

Veritas, as you might know, has a fantastic, legendary wine list of French Bordeaux and Burgundy varietals - and the prices are stratospheric.  I managed to find a decent value 2000 Bordeaux -Chateau Haut-Bergen, which was excellent, with an extreme depth of flavour and long finish - highly recommended if you are having a problem with the wine list.