WE'RE ALMOST READY.....

Yes, I said I would be writing about our time off, but I didn’t. And here it is April 5^th and  we’re not open yet and people are starting to

send me emails to wake us from what they imagine has been a long winters nap. 

Yes, I have been trying not to turn the pages on the Wegman 2005 calendar, but at the same time I am  wondering what all our Red Barn friends have been doing. We haven’t been napping, but let me assure you, we’ve been enjoying ourselves.

To recap, it snowed every weekend in January and Bert could be heard to mumble the word, “vindicated” as he slipped back into bed on at least three Saturday mornings when the snow was piling up. No worrying about who would come, how the driveway would be plowed in time, and other profit and loss questions. But don’t get the impression we were in hibernation, we had lots to accomplish in our downtime. 

January we activated the long forgotten expression” if you won’t wear it, get rid of it”.

And blew through bags of ancient -trendy items like long deceased Uncle Al’s cashmere camel coat that made Bert look like a preppy Soprano and my blue and red Sargent Pepper-style band jacket that hadn’t been out of the closet since the 70’s.  We also painted the entire apartment covering a red living room and Hannah’s lavender bedroom with the best primer around.  But it wasn’t all work, we went to movies, the theater and had some great dinners out in the city, and of course, went to our other jobs.

February! Hannah was waiting nervously to hear from colleges. We spent lots of time pumping her up about why she was about to hear good news and calming her down when there weren’t any letters in the mail. Luckily, she has been accepted to many schools and might now have trouble deciding which one to attend.  We went to the opening of the Gates and happened to be standing in a place that Cristo and Jean Claude decided was the best “gates” place to give interviews so we got to see how excited and pooped out they were with only half the gates unfurled.  We wandered around many paths with our dogs while the Gates were up, enjoying the good feelings and loving the attention that the most beautiful park got in its least beautiful season. Bert had a birthday and skipped having a cake.

March!  Hmm. Bad weather comes to mind.  I’m worrying now about how I’m going to put back on my clogs and apron on the weekends since I’m now used to not having to do so.

To take my mind off this kind of thinking, Bert decides that we need to do some research.  We had several wonderful meals at Brasserie LCB, formerly La Cote Basque, the former A tiny little dollhouse with a few seats on ground level and more up a steep staircase. The list of oysters was only slightly less amazing than the oyster sampler that we had.  The Luxury part might be all the tabletop accessories that enliven the experience.  Antique silver toast caddies, pearlized knives and oyster forks, red crystal goblets and pretty little champagne flutes.  They must have a very special dishwasher.  A finely dressed gentleman came over to us as we finished with a black and white photo of a French Bulldog named Jack and told us all about how the restaurant got it’s name.  But after oysters and champagne, who can remember? 

Palace of Gaelic Haute cuisine and known as the kitchen where all of America’s celebrity chef’s first trained.  Chef Jean-Jacques Rachou, has completely re-orchestrated the restaurant but is playing the same flavorful tunes including Quenelles with classic lobster sauce, Pigs trotters (feet!)Roast Duck with sour cherrys, Frisee salad with warm lardons, and a poached egg  and steak Frittes.  Everything was so tasty, served with great silver plate cover-pulling fanfare in a belle époque room that made you believe you were in Paris. A tiny negative were the frittes, not up to Red Barn standards, which were skinny and limp.  Near the Ides of March we had an amazing experience at Jacks Luxury Oyster House on East 5^th Street owned by the same team that owns Jewel Bako.

We also went to our friend Jacques Torres and Kris Kruid’s Chocolate Haven Factory opening party.  It’s a cross between Willy Wonka meets Steve Jobs,  located  at 350 Hudson at King Street.There were lots of chocolate lovers, friends and culinary luminaries celebrating in their big space surrounded by chocolate Easter bunnies of all sizes and big equipment  that heats, rotates and otherwise makes cocoa beans into chocolate just like magic.

And here we are at April.  We’re almost ready to come back and make our fifth season of the Red Barn a better dining experience with some new tricks up our sleeves. We’re finishing some work on the kitchen, will dust up the dining room, and then we’re ready. We will be opening up on (gasp!) Friday, May 13^th for dinner at 6pm.  Making a reservation is a good idea, if you’ll be joining us on the opening weekend. We hope that you’ll come for dinner soon and bring tales of your winter to share. We missed you.