I didn't make anything remarkable this week and by that I mean microwaving a sweet potato was the highlight of my culinary expression. I did have a very good Indian feast at my mother's house on Tuesday that included chicken curry, vegetable biryani, several chutneys, raita, mango lassis and this most incredible pie. My mother said she was making a chocolate pudding pie and in my head I thought "where the hell did she get that idea?" I had a vision of chocolate pudding out of a box, slapped into a frozen pie shell and topped with Cool Whip. Not my thing and definitely not my mother's. So I was blown away by this dessert, appropriately dubbed the dessert of the year by Bon Appetit magazine. The crust was of the chocolate graham cracker variety, the top was a mound of creme fraiche but the inside, oh, the filling!!!! It was like biting into the inside of a truffle; dense and so intensely flavored of chocolate that it almost gave me a headache. But I can handle the pain for the reward, which was so sweet. Marvelous dessert, very bad name. Nothing that amazing should be called a chocolate pudding pie.
Thursday night, we went to North, a restaurant that recently opened in the old and infamous Hotel Lenox. I felt kind of like I was entering a speakeasy after descending a few steps to go through a tiny door. After passing through the bar area, which is large and scattered with booths, we were seated in the back dining room. The company was wonderful and the food, while inexpensive, was not noteworthy. We also received some of the worst service I've had, if not ever, then certainly in a long time. Halfway through the meal, N. remarked that he felt like we were in a David Lynch movie. The decor, the characters, the odd soundtrack, the old-style powder room outside the bathroom, it did all create an interesting ambience. Weirdly, although nobody's meal was particularly good, I'll probably be back, perhaps just to sit in one of the bar booths and eavesdrop on the conversation between the bartender, the pimp and the accountant.
2 comments:
I'm open to suggestions for renaming the "chocolate pudding pie." Yes, it does conjure up visions of instant pudding and cool-whip.
Any ideas? We think it should include the word "truffle" and considered "headache" but don't want to discourage folks from trying this divine confection.
ok.. the david lynch thing was cracking me up here.. and i want that pie recipe! finally, theres nothing wrong with a good, old fashioned pudding pie in my book, as long as the crust and whipped cream are homemade and the pudding is at least warmed on the stove-- yummy!
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