Easter Sunday Dinner with friends Antonio and Marili.

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Impressive table setting featuring beautiful tulips from the garden.

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I loved the Easter bunny.

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Of course there have to be Easter Get Cracking

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The evening started with one of Marili’s wonderful cocktails. She’s a well known mixologist and her creations are always different and scrumptious. I was particularly fascinated by the ‘Guarapo de Piña’, a very refreshing drink made in this special vessel from fermented pineapple peel. It was delicious and very refreshing. In this case bourbon was also added. Yummy! The only problem was that it was so light and refreshing that you wanted to have more.

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The pièce de résistance: Venezuelan Polvorosa de Pollo. The chef described it as: “This is the most amazing chicken pie you will ever taste. It’s a classic Venezuelan dish that dates back to colonial times. It has over 20 ingredients. And the dough is like a short bread. This was a two day event on my part, and we will be having it for the week. I followed the recipe of Armando Scannone the dean of Venezuelan cuisine, in his classic cookbook “Mi Cocina”. Delicious.

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Another view of the Polvorosa de Pollo with its top crust on.

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Polvorosa de Pollo with beans, eggs and plantains.

Taken with Apple iPhone 8II

A Unexpected Dessert Discovery

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I was in Briarcliff Manor village the other day when I noticed that one of my favorite lunchtime haunts had its tables back outside. Today was a very pleasant day: sunny, but not too hot so I decided to pop over and have a bite to eat. I had a Greek salad and afterwards decided to have some dessert. I asked the server what they had for dessert and he mentioned carrot cake, cheese cake, tiramisu etc. But then he also said that there was something else, but he couldn’t quite remember the name. Off he went returning with a dessert menu, which he handed to me. Imagine my surprise when I saw that the mystery item was Sticky Toffee Pudding.
For anyone who doesn’t know what it is: Sticky Toffee Pudding is a classic British dessert made of soft and sweet date cakes soaked in a warm toffee sauce. The cakes are served with whipped cream, ice cream, heavy cream, or custard. As you can see from the picture mine had Vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.

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Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XF 35mm f1.4 R

In New York City – Bar Boulud

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This is where we had lunch. New York Magazine described it as follows:

Daniel Boulud’s foray into the ubiquitous semi-casual-dining model is filled with solid renditions of the familiar Boulud-bistro cannon designed to be enjoyed as an early dinner before your evening (or afternoon) show at Lincoln Center, or while enjoying several glasses of Champagne after the curtain goes down. If you don’t want to doze off during the show, you might want to save the rib-sticking Lyonnaise specialties (truffled pork or blood sausages, veal’s head with sauce gribiche) for a post-theater visit, but the superb selection of charcuterie, flown in from the Paris kitchens of the great Gilles Vérot, is worth investigating any time of the day or night.

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Taken with a Fuji X-E1 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II