Welcome Home Baby Erin

Me and Err-Berr relax in Central Park.





Table for four?


Always travel on a full stomach.

As some Notebook readers may be aware, my dear friend and cousin Erin spent several months
this summer studying in Cairo, Egypt. Ever the world traveler, Ms. Rosner used her time in Cairo to her advantage, taking time for side trips to Mt. Sinai and other regional sites. To celebrate her return to the united states and the near co-occurrence of my own birthday with that of my brother, we gathered in New York for a relaxing long weekend. Having waited, as usual, until the last possible moment to book my flight, I arrived 3 hours before Erin's flight from Cairo. With a stomach full of some particularly foul airport food, and a lingering numbness in my ass, I collected Erin and promptly shoved her in a cab bound for Chelsea.

We spent much of that day recovering from our travel and catching up. Bright and early Saturday we were off in search of what some consider the mecca of all things baked and buttered: Once Upon a Tart. We fell in love with the shop a number of years ago after I purchased their eponymous cookbook, from which I've pilfered nearly all my "famous" recipes. After treating ourselves to a feast of tarts, soups, salads, and madelines, we waddled back out into the streets to explore. (We made a point of stopping back before leaving to be sure we'd tried one of everything).

We spent much of the remainder of that day shopping and touring and eating. Sunday was a real treat. We not only browsed the local flea markets, we trekked to the farmers market to plan the menu for our birthday picnic, to be held the following day on Governor's Island. As luck would have it, the entire day proceeding was waterlogged and grey. Thus, the picnic was turned indoors and we feasted on what seemed like mountains of fresh local produce. Fingerling potatoes with dijon vinagrette and fresh taragon, quinoa salad with pheasant sausage were just two of the taste treats we enjoyed that weekend.

Before leaving, we took advantage of the close proximity of Chelsea Market and scored loads of ice cream and other goodies from Green Table (an entirely local, sustainable, organic restaurant in the Market). I highly recommend trying all their rotating ice cream flavors (our favorites were sweet corn, yes corn, and coffee). The menu is seasonal, so options change rapidly.

The weekend was both a lovely way to celebrate with Graham, and a fun -- if a little over-fed -- re-entry party for Erin. I look forward to the next time she goes away, so that we might all get together to welcome her back.