Overdue Cafe Drake Dinner with Jen Lazzaro

What's Up, Auntie Jen?

Bangers and Mash, Cafe Drake style: organic and grass-fed lamb herb and pork chorizo sausages (from Kingston, NY's premier butchers Fleischers Free Range Meats) atop mashed rutabagas.

Without the need any longer for pumping A/C, Cafe Drake is once again entertaining parties of two in our home office/computer room/den.

Celebrating the holiday season with a festive and retro tabletop.

If we could humbly offer one piece of advice for dinner party perfection it would be to use, if not entirely, at least 75% candle light for illumination. No one wants to eat underneath overhead lighting.

Sides to the sausages and mashed rutabagas included quick-pickled daikon radish and the herb salad above of fresh dill and parsley, onions, garlic, chives, tomatoes and Sicilian olive oil.

What can we say? We're in the holiday spirit!

In the two photos above, Jen Lazzaro enjoys an evening at Cafe Drake while sporting a chic new pixie hairdo. Spirits (no pun intended, honestly) were high (again, ditto) after (1) many Kir Royale aperitifs, (2) a bottle of delicious red Bordeaux courtesy of Jen and (3) digestifs (consumed with a 2-course dessert featuring Sprout Creek Farm sheep milk cheese and pear-cardamom chutney and soon following, chocolate truffles) of reserve Calvados and Grappino.