Vacation is Over

We had a most enjoyable break from reality this year, with everything from dining splurges in the city of New York to a snowy owl sighting on the beaches of Assateague.  The reality of vacation, however, is that you can't actually enjoy one unless you have something to "vacate" from!  So, as pleasant a time as we had, work returns to give us a reason for vacation!  ha!

We did our usual eating and drinking - only about a two pound weight gain for me this year, luckily - ranging from high end tasting menus in Manhattan to fried clams in Bethany.  We noticed only one reoccurring trend, and that was mostly in Rehoboth: food and drink served in canning jars.  I am not a big fan of this practice - to me, the idea of consuming anything from a canning jar is akin to drinking out of a crab cup.  You do it if there is nothing else available.  That being said, we saw this a lot, and while I didn't ask to have my water "jar" replaced with a glass, I might the next time.  That's just the way I am.

A few pictures:

It was cold in Manhattan, and we were bundled up for our walk on the High Line.  Fashion note - you don't see a whole lot of hand-knitted hats on the streets of New York, and that is just too bad.

One of the first things I ate was the trout terrine at Lincoln Ristorante, at our meal with Kevin's brother and niece our first night out on the town. It was delicious, and was garnished with a savory cauliflower panna cotta and some crisped marcona almonds.  A great start to the week. 

The little candies they served at the end of the meal were pretty good too!  We had some delicious wine (thanks Tom!) and some great conversation to go along with the food, making the evening remembered as one of our best dining events ever.

Here's the view from our table at Lincoln - wow, we did have some wine, eh?

The absolute best cup of hot chocolate was consumed at LA Burdick.  I kid you not.  This tiny little demitasse of dark hot chocolate was just about more than I could handle.  Kevin had no problem.

A cheery cappuccino was fussed over with a heart, which was par for the course for the New York baristas.  This particular cup was at the Gotham West Market, where Kevin had the best ramen ever. 

One of my photo habits when in Manhattan is to spot the Empire State Building from as many vantage points along our route around town as I can. 

It seems to be everywhere.

As does Freedom Tower.

Lobsters for sale at the Chelsea Market, where if you wish, they will pull one out of the "pound" for you to eat freshly steamed right on site.  These were the pre-steamed ones, some as large as three pounds. 

This is durian fruit, available at a stall in Chinatown.  It is the only place we saw it for sale.  We did not buy any...

We had a most wonderful meal at J U N G S I K in Tribeca.  Above is the ginseng duck, part of the ten course tasting menu.

It also included the crispy oyster, although my picture did not turn out nearly as good as the one on their web site.  The little fried oysters were coated with squid ink panko, so they looked like little black truffles.

Kevin's dessert was a chocolate replica of life in the forest I think, called Jang Dok.  So much fun to eat these crazy dishes, with things on the plate you have never seen, let alone eaten, before.  No wonder I was so exhausted when we got back to the wilds of Kent County!

We had a wonderful time with a long-time customer of ours, recently of Kennedyville, currently of New York City.  Marie met us at La Grenouille where I got my Floating Island fix.  We sat at the table for over three hours, and then wandered over to the King Cole Bar to finish our reunion.  We had such fun!

This display of flowers in Chinatown was a great promise of spring.

The beach aspect of the vacation was much more low-key, in every aspect.  At Assateague, where we saw the snowy owl, dogs are not permitted off-leash, which makes it a bit easier to take Ruby.  Or, let Ruby take us, as the case may be.

And so, we came home well rested, a little heavier around the waist and a lot lighter in our wallets.

Monday's welcoming snow storm erased the image of the spring flowers in no time.  We got back to work Monday mid-morning and this morning we were ready to open for lunch.  A couple of new items on the menus will greet our guests on their return to our dining room, mostly inspired by the more laid back cuisine we experienced in Rehoboth.  No food in a jar though!

Welcome back!