Dinner by Ruske

Briefly consider how lucky is Cafe Drake: when confronted with a serious ailment, friends come out in droves to help us with the pain and isolation and limited food choices. And we're not feeling sorry for ourselves; on the contrary, feeling grateful for compadres who send us soft food recipes, whisk over fresh juices and concoct dinner menus we can happily guest ourselves upon, and most recently, in the case of Ruske, Jen popped into Whole Foods after work and shuttled to our home a three course dinner she not only cooked but cleaned up after (genius for us . . . just as the painkillers and muscle relaxants kicked in).

Adding to our amusement was the presence of dear friend David (soon to depart to the Left Coast) and Cafe Drake buddy (and David's son) Young Julian. On the menu: a firm and ashy goat cheese and Manchego wedge; golden gazpacho with cayenne croutons; peas with shallots and fresh mint; fresh pasta in a cream sauce adorned with monkfish and wild Mexican bay scallops; strawberry milkshakes and wines of every color and variety. Damn! Maybe we should dislocate our jaw more often?