nyc + art + more Ethiopian food

Well I had planned on posting a big thing on the PA Energy Fest last weekend, and the Celtic Classic Fest this weekend, unfortunately last weekend I was too busy working the Balasia stand to really see anything worthy of mention, and today it is raining, so that’s the end of that plan. I did take a 30 second break at the Energy Fest to take a few random pictures:

Doesn’t this look like a good time?! It was fun, the food was awesome (in our stand anyway, I didn’t try anyone else’s food) and the biodegradable utensils were made out of corn. Which I thought was pretty cool.

I spent yesterday in NYC, getting my art fix and much-needed Ethiopian food fix.

James Cohan Gallery

Jaume Plensa’s “In the Midst of Dreams” at Galerie Lelong

Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery

this isn’t art, it’s a cool iphone application that makes pictures look like polaroids. But I guess some would call this graffiti art. I’d call it an interesting backdrop.

We stopped in Chelsea Market on our way to dinner

and I attempted to spoil my appetite with a caramel Fat Witch brownie. My appetite, however, refused to be spoiled (it was a really good brownie though)

After a loooong walk and one short cab ride, we finally made it to the restaurant.  Meskerem is located at 124 MacDougal St in Greenwich Village; it’s a cute little hole in the wall (or I guess in this case, ground) tucked down below eye-level. It seats maybe 30 people, and if you’re going as a party of two, be prepared to get intimately aquatinted with the people sitting next to you, as the tables literally sit mere inches from each other.

We both ordered the Vegetarian Combo.  The food was fantastic; I found the portions a bit small, but at the same time, our entrees came out to only about $14 each. The vegetables were cooked to a tender perfection (still with a bit of bite though), and the bean purees were spicy and comforting.  The yellow split peas remain my favorite dish, with the sauteed cabbage coming in at a close second. It all tasted very traditional, but I have yet to see a freaking mesob anywhere in any American Ethiopian restaurants. Anyway, Meskerem was a fantastic experience, delicious food, no wait at all, and cheap!

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NYC: an art-and-Indian-food overload in Chelsea

I met up with my awesome friend Denise on Saturday for the beloved Gallery Walk throughout the West 20’s Streets in Manhattan’s art district, Chelsea. We spent all day looking at amazing art, and working up an appetite which we really needed for our reservation at Vatan. But more on that later.

This was part of David Malijkovic’s exhibition “Retired Compositions” in the Metro Pictures Gallery. The entire exhibit involved films, collages and sculptures relating to the history of modernistic projects in Croatia. It had a very Star Trek feel to it.

Eric Fertman’s exhibit at the Susan Inglett Gallery. Taken directly from the press release:

“Drawing upon the Russian Suprematists and Philip Guston, film noir and the Sunday comics, the work gallops through time on Olive Oyl’s oversized shoes. Seamlessly mixing high and low culture, the artist assigns equal value to Malevich as to Raymond Chandler. Working in wood and metal, Fertman inflects these inert materials with humor and humanity, charming both object and viewer in the process.”

Martin C. Herbst: part of the “Ariodante” exhibit in the Mike Weiss Gallery

I don’t remember the name of this gallery or the artist… but it reminded me of a toy store on acid.

the EYE!

This bonze sculpture, Contemporary Terra Cotta Warriors, by Yue Minjun was featured in the lower level of the Max Protetch Gallery along with a ton of Chinese art and photography.

Now since I do share this blog with three other people, I’m not going to overload it with pictures.  For more gallery pictures and a bit more detailed descriptions check out http://www.carolyndesign.net/blog.html

And now on to dinner! (and our only meal of the day by the way). We ate at Vatan, Gujarati vegetarian food, located on 3rd Ave between 28th & 29th. The deal here is, it’s a fixed-price menu AND all you can eat. They bring you about 50 tiny portions of different things, then anything you want more of, just say the word and it appears.

Above is the appetizer course. For one person. The top right cauliflower concoction was amazing, and the only thing all night that I ordered seconds of. Don’t get me wrong, I probably would have ordered more of everything if I had room. But I literally left the restaurant in pain, I was so full. The mini somosas (top and center) were interesting, I think they used phyllo instead of a puff pastry, and it worked. They were perfect little crispy bites. But honestly, if anything is bite-sized, chances are I’ll like it. The top left was some sort of dal/potato ball, under that a yogurt dish, and the bottom right was cold lentil/raw onion ordeal. The center featured a fried hot pepper, a rice cake and 2 fried potato balls. The chutneys off to the left of the table need mentioning too, they were fantastic. Included was the standard cilantro, tamarind, and a sweet pickled something chutney.

Then the main course came. Here you see (clockwise from the bottom right) a smooth and creamy lentil soup, an incredibly fragrant (I’m guessing cardamom) rice pudding, chickpeas, cauliflower, spinach and corn, and a thick potato stew of sorts. Everything was amazing.  Even the puff bread and the papadams were stand-out good.  We were also served two kinds of rice and an insane yogurt stew.  The yogurt stew wasn’t the greatest thing I’ve ever eaten, but the yellow lentil rice was outstanding.  We also received mango sorbet and a cardamom chai tea for dessert, but apparently I was too focused on eating to get a picture of that.  Dinner at Vatan is one of those dining experiences that I will be (and have been) thinking about for days.  If I didn’t have such a long list of “Restaurants to try in NYC” I’d be back at Vatan in a heartbeat.

-Carolyn

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