Busy Weekend

Friday:
Met up for dinner with My Better Half and friends Abby and Josh in the East Village, where MBH and i used to live for a short time. (I love Brooklyn, but i still miss the East Village. Well, until i see someone who manages to look pretentious while riding a skateboard; that can be a buzzkill.) Plan A was Momofuku Ssam Bar, which turned out to be a silly plan -- people were crammed in there like sardines. In light of that, Plan B, Momofuku Noodle Bar, was extra silly. (Each had recently been favorably reviewed in the Times.) Plan C worked out spectacularly, though: Kasadela, Japanese small plates and sake. One highlight was "spicy winter vegetable miso soup", a kind of rich vegetable stew with just enough spiciness to be warming on a cold night. (Thanks to Josh for plans A-C.)

Saturday:
Friends Keith and Beth fired up their go-mobile and we four motored over the bridge to see the LA Art fair. It was mostly "enh", but the fairs tend to be fun, at least for the first hour. Nice dinner (homemade for the first time in what seems like ages) with K&B and their super-lovable dog Lucy.

Sunday:
We met up again with A&J along with friend Shira, this time to see PULSE. In general we liked the work at PULSE more than at LA Art, and we stopped and chatted at Richard Levy Gallery's booth, because they're really nice and represent our friend Teo González. MBH and i picked out a Lia Halloran ink-on-vellum piece that looks something like this one.

Then teamwork happened. MBH applied Josh's Friday Plan A to current conditions and produced Plan Awesome: Momofuku Ssam for lunch! That really made me wish i was back in the East Village.

After lunch, it was back to LA Art; MBH had decided to pull the trigger on a new Kahn & Selesnick photograph we had seen the day before. Like models of art-procurement efficiency we had it wrapped, out the door, and in a taxi before i could grumble about the price.

And then K&B&L were back, this time to watch a DVD: Gotham Fish Tales, which MBH had picked up in a jewelry store in the East Village. Highly recommended if you like fishing, New York City, or quirky little documentaries about interesting people.

Three trips to the little island in one weekend: that's a lot for me these days! (MBH is there all the time now since she got a job over there.)