The highlight of last week was my 54th birthday. I am not a big birthday person. I don't like people making a fuss, and tend to not be big on doing anything, especially a party. But because I have such a lovely wife, I did do the Transit Museum last week, and on my birthday we went to Le Veau d'Or for dinner—it was lovely!!
They weren't over the top with things, they brought out some special balloons to put in the back of the cow on the table, right next to the bottle of Côtes du Rhône I purchased for the evening, making things a little festive.
I started with my favorite French appetizer, Escargot. I usually have this every time I go to France, and these were probably some of the best snails I've had, with the sauce being probably the 8th or 9th best sauce I've had.
For my entre I had Steak au poivre with fries. It was definitely the best Steak au poivre I have had. I've had a lot of steak and fries in France, but this cut of meat and the sauce was better than anything I've had in France.
My desert was a Floating Island (Île Flottante), with a single birthday candle. It was delicious. I love creme brulee, and this was a nice custardy change for my birthday, since everything else I had was my usual schtick.
Afterward they made me a special cocktail. I'm not a cocktail drinker, but I couldn't refuse their birthday generosity. It was a mint drink that did not taste at all like alcohol, and left me feeling minty fresh. Delicious.
When you walk in and walk out of the restaurant there is a lovely painting of a sleeping calf, Le Veau d'Or, translates to "Golden Calf" (a traditional symbol of earthly temptation), making the sleepy, innocent calf painting an amusing and cozy contrast.
All of the food was lovely, but really what made the place exception was the vibe in there. It was fancy, but not too fancy, and the wait staff was absolutely delightful, funny, and very natural, making it all the best experience possible for my birthday.
Thank you Audrey. <3 <3 <3
Poppy spends a lot of time in the morning laying next to the bike in the office. She is saying in her way that she would like to go ride around the park and patrol for squirrels. She doesn't understand the various reasons why our patrol is delayed each morning.
We've gotten in some amazing rides this week even as things are heating up for the summer. We manage to head out first thing in the morning before it gets too hot, and usually just do two circles around Central Park, but one day we managed to get down to Union Square Park.
I am pretty proud of myself. I'm on my 3rd New Yorker subscription, which usually gets canceled because I'm not reading, but this round I've managed to read a single issue end to end. I am hopeful this will continue because I am prioritizing it over social media in the morning.
We have a Shiba Inu in the building who only has one eye. During our evening "fart walks" we came across another one-eyed Shibu Inu which prompted me to write a piece in Alternate Kin Lane about the Shiba Inu Yakuza in the West End and Hells Kitchen--a story which has prompted us to see Shibu Inu EVERYWHERE. Obviously we put something out into the universe.
When we were riding home the other day I looked up in the back window of the car in front of us and there was a bobble head Shiba Inu hanging from the mirror, and this sticker on the back of the trunk. Clearly they are trying to send us a message.
On Sunday morning Audrey was out volunteering for an Achilles race in Central Park so Poppy and I headed out at 7:00 AM for our usual morning walk in Central Park. Our Sunday routine has morphed into a walk up to 81st on the Upper West Side for the Farmers Market, but since Audrey wouldn't be done until 10:30, we slow rolled it, sitting on a lot of benches doing a whole lot of nothing--which takes a lot of work.
The walk up to 81st on the bridle path is beautiful. Poppy absolutely loves being off leash all the way up. It gave her about 2 full hours of offleash time. It is becoming one of the highlights of our week, and Poppy is really making the most of it.
We ended up sitting on the same bench we sit on each week waiting for the market to open. But this week, we sat there for an hour waiting for Audrey, watching a squirrel in the tree, and talking to several passerbys who stopped to chat about Poppy and NYC.
Once Audrey showed up, we got what we needed, and headed back home along the West Side Parkway. The Farmer's Market has become the crown jewel on the end of our week. I just finished a cherry pie we picked up, after a breakfast of eggs on toast--both of which came from the market. I love crafting meals for the week around what we pick up. It is the best.
"It's almost impossible for me to romaine calm at a farmers market." — Elite Daily
