A New York Thing To Do

Yesterday I went to a New York Philharmonics concert at the Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center, and had a pre-show dinner at Boulud Sud, which is directly across the street of Lincoln Center. Very convenient. Also quite luxurious and lovely. The restaurant was amazing, and the so was the concert. 

Boulud Sud is a pretty well known New York restaurant, and belongs to the Daniel Boulud restaurant empire. 


Here is the Zagat description of Boulud Sud: 
Whether or not you're "hitting Lincoln Center", Daniel Boulud's "civilized" "masterpiece" adjacent to Bar Boulud is "prized" for "sumptuous" "twists on Mediterranean cuisine" and "deft" service in "a bright, sophisticated" room; for its "well-heeled" habitués, the "pristine" performance is "completely worth the significant tab."

I had octopus for appetizer, and it was out of this world. Seriously the best octopus that I've ever had! Possibly one of the best dishes I've ever eaten anywhere, period. 

For the main course we both had the New York strip steak, and it was good, but I enjoyed the stuff that came with it more than the actual steak, a little piece of Greek Saganaki cheese, a fluffy potato bake and black olive tapenade. 

My friend loved her dessert, the cannolo and raved about it. My dessert had one tiny piece that was heaven, and the rest was meh...but at that point I was so full that it the little piece was enough to satisfy. The wines were also very good, we both had white with the appetizers, and red with the steak, and just took whatever our waiter recommended based on what we like. The service was also very good, if our waiter hadn't kept time we would have been late to the concert. 

And then the concert - it was New York Philharmonics playing Gershwin and Bernstein, with Alan Gilbert leading, and as a special guest, Makoto Ozone, a jazz pianist, who played Rhapsody in Blue, and improvised here and there with an amazing and beautiful skill. 

Being able to do these things and enjoying the quality of food, and music as an art form, just really made me realize how incredibly lucky I am. Life is beautiful. 

The best is here and now.