Ok, ok, here I am. Did you all email each other and decide to inundate me with emails about my not posting for weeks and weeks? It was very touching to get so many emails in the last few days asking where I was and if I was alright. Thanks, I'm fine...its just winter here and there are projects to get done. Greg and I were in New York for a week and made dinner at home just one night...meaning that there is a lot to discuss...now if I could just remember the names of the restaurants!

The first night we were in New York, our friend Joan, of Joan and David, which is how she introduces herself, took us to this marvelous Greek restaurant called Pilos. It is down in alphabet city on 7th between 1st and A, an area where I used to live when I was just out of college and interning at a museum in NYC. Well let me tell you, that neighborhood has changed a bit. Its very swank now, the chic hip urban place to live...yuck.
The restaurant's entrance is very unassuming. When you walk in, you are enveloped by the warmth of the place. The owners comissioned a local potter to make hundred and hundreds of terra cotta vessels which they hung from the ceiling all tight together. Some have light fixtures installed inside the jugs and vases. The tables are close together and I was struck by the fact that there were two greek couples eating at the table next to us. The food was incredible. We ordered a bunch of appetizers, including stewed fava beans, broiled cheese, marinated, grilled prawns, hearty meatballs in savory sauce and a grilled vegetable platter. It was enough food to feed an army. We were completely sated and rolled ourselves into a cab after dropping Joan off at her place.
For any reader who might remember wearing Joan and David shoes or clothes, know that Joan is well and is now a professor at Columbia School of International Business. As she likes to tell it, she picked me up at Sotheby's one afternoon several years ago when I had my head under a chest of drawers. She came over to inquire why the chest had such a bold auction estimate. We ended up having lunch and have been great friends ever since.

Enjoy,
Seth