Keeping Ourselves Amused

Cafe Drake lent a hand to Miki Shimada with wallpapering her living room recently. Miki chose a lovely dafodil-colored toile for her aprtment, and afterwards treated us to a yummy dinner of Spanish-style sauteed squid and a gratin of spinach, potatoes, bacon and onions. A very distinguished Cabernet, cocktails to follow and ginger chocolates from Jacques Torres made for a most memorable meal.


We're loving Mexican marzipan, and who knew such a thing even existed? Crumblier than the European version and with a tiny addition of flour, these "cookies" are divine with coffee or morning tea. Thanks Octavio for bringing them to us, courtesy of a care package from the folks. Lucky we are to have friends who share!


Speaking of generous compadres of Cafe Drake, David Sellers brought us back from his Mexico City sojourn an outstanding bottle of mezcal. Not your average tequila by a long shot, this 100% pure agave distilled spirit is far richer, smokier, and with a smoothness not generally associated with tequila. Try the cocktail below with a high-quality bottle, but use plain ole' Cuervo for the recipe to follow.

Tezón Grenada

Less cloying than a Tequila Sunrise and far superior in taste.

1 oz Tequila Tezón / grapefruit juice /splash of grenadine

Pour the tequila into a highball glass filled with ice. Fill with grapefruit juice. Top with grenadine.


WATERCRESS SALAD WITH TANGERINE-TEQUILA DRESSING

Anyone who's spent anytime at Cafe Drake, either in person or virtually via the web, knows we're partial to salads made from watercress, loving both the peppery flavor and the extreme ease of preparation.

Dressing: 1/4 cup fresh tangerine or orange juice /1/4 cup vegetable oil /2 tbs tequila, preferably gold /2 tbs fresh lime juice /2 tsp honey /1 garlic clove /salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste

Salad: 3 large bunches watercress, tough stems removed /2 tangerines or 1 small orange, sectioned, membranes removed, and sections halved /3/4 cup diced jicama (in most supermarkets, but if you can't find just skip as there is no close substitite /1/2 cup thin-sliced mild red radishes /1/4 cup sliced green onions

1. To make the dressing, combine the ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth. (The dressing can be made a day ahead, but shake well before using.)
   
2. In a serving bowl, toss the watercress with enough dressing to coat well. Toss with the remaining salad ingredients. Serve immediately with additional dressing on the side.

Getting past the unfortunate moniker can be difficult, but the subgenre of dark dance music known as Grime makes a wonderfully bouncy change to the typical cocktail party soundtrack. Shake things up at dinner as well, with Grime's progenitor, Dubstep, similarly noirish but largely instrumental and more soothingly paced for better digestion and table conversations. Start with Burial's self-titled album or any mixes by Plasticman, Mark One or Slaughter Mob.

We shared a late-night snack with Birthday Girl Christine Hart recently at Nolita's Xicala, a tiny tapas bar with a killer wine list and small but well-edited menu of mini-plates. Go for the truly remarkable cheese platter ($18) (especially good was a dense goat cheese and crumbly muy salty sheep-milk cheese) or the chorizo fondanta ($9), a bubbly cauldron of melted queso blanco with chunks of house-prepared spicy sausage. And birthday cheers once again to Ms. Hart, hostess extraordinaire, better half to O. Fenech and pal of Cafe Drake.

Decadent Indian was on the menu as Jen L. joined Cafe Drake for a Restaurant Week 5-course dinner ($29 perperson) at Midtown's Bombay Palace. Drinks first upstairs at the delightfuly kitschy K-Lounge, where an entire wall is dominated by a diorama of an Indian village. Video monitors set into columns feature Hindi musical numbers, with elaborate dance sequences strangely syncopated to the DJ's playlist of 80's New Wave. Platter after platter greeted us one flight down in the chandeliered dining room: lamb vindaloo, chicken tikki massala, lentil broths, chat poori, onion pakoras, fluffy naan, empress dhal and much much more, concluding with ice cream and sweet cheese desserts and colonial-style coffee service. Truly, hats off to the enormous staff of fleet-footed waiters catering to one's every need, and an excellent - if pricey - wine list to boot!