Out of the Frying Pan . . .

Sometimes - like this week in NYC - it's too hot for even Cafe Drake to stay in the kitchen. So we wander to shaded parks and air-conditioned galleries to cool off and recharge our damp, culinary batteries. Very recently we crawled through a muggy stretch of 14 blocks at lunchtime to see Michael Ian Black read from his new collection of essays (My Custom Van: and 41 Other Essays Guaranteed to Blow Your Mind All Over Your Face) and field questions from a most cheeky audience of fans.

Along the way Science Diet deposited minimum-waged cat lovers on the broiling corners to offer free samples of their latest kitty gribble, and even our ailing house mascot (Sailor Page) gobbled the entire (LARGE) pack down in one sitting.