afternoon with marisa

 my friend marisa and i took a walk along sixth avenue today. she wanted to stop for shea butter at a beauty supply wholesale place on 28th street. it's plain and pure shea butter from ghana. i use a shea butter mixed with lemongrass oil that is sold by a local woman in the whole foods in tribeca. my friend could just add oils to her tub of butter also, for a much better price! i never thought of where shea butter comes from or how it's made. i just found this video (from ghana!) of it online:

 outside of a store selling men's shirts, we talked with a man who had just purchased a green print shirt and matching tie. i wish i had taken a picture of it. it was a fun print with the loveliest shade of green! he was extremely happy with his purchase as he had only paid $15, but he kept saying that the shirts were sold for $200 in other places (i can't remember the specific place . . ).

 marisa wanted to stop and get a picture of the storefront . . 

(you can see us reflected in the door.)

 we finally arrived at coffeemania, korrina's boyfriend's restaurant. (this is the special russian bread that everyone can't get enough of.)

( talking with tsering on the phone about the point work that has been going on for way too long on their building.)

 marisa was so looking forward to this visit. she had heard our stories raving about the place and couldn't wait to try the food. of course brian sent out extra dishes!! i cannot tell you how fun it is knowing a chef in a restaurant! it's the best!! in this photo the dish on the left is a beet salad and the dish on the right has the josper chicken wings (that special hot oven that braises food at an extra hot temperature and whose flames i saw almost engulf brian completely during my last visit).

 we both had the cauliflower soup with garlic chili oil and a poached egg . . and pea tendrils.

 ginger lemongrass tea . . 

we were both too full for dessert! i did have a delicious piccolo coffee, however. i was supposed to switch seats with marisa so she could have a turn facing the window. the restaurant looks out over the beautiful buildings that border bryant park. dusk came while we talked and the lights blinked on . . it was so pretty. i could eat here every night.

at brian's restaurant

on our way after the show to brian's restaurant across from bryant park. it was family and friends night when the cooks cook for . . . family and friends!

private party inside!

 we let korrina order for us since she knew what all the truly special dishes were. the bottom dish in the pic above is "jasper buffalo wings." a jasper is a special grill that can sear meats at a very high temperature. when i walked to the back of the restaurant to use the restroom, i passed the kitchen where i observed brian in front of the jasper where a huge column of fire suddenly flared up in front of him. i suppose he was searing a piece of meat. (i don't remember the name of the dish in the top left corner. it was some kind of raw beef).

 bone marrow and bruschetta with olive oil and spices. it was delicious . . 

it was so delicious that chanda even ate it. she always gives me a hard time about eating bone marrow.

ellen came along and really enjoyed the ambiance of the space and the delcious food.

 brian had been up by zabar's earlier in the day and had picked up flowers for chanda. 

 lamb ragout pappardelle especially created for the menu by brian (it was my favorite of the night).

 we took many food pictures since everything was so beautifully plated.

the high ceiling meant that the murmur of people's voices never became too loud, or maybe they just soundproofed the space well. many manhattan restaurants have terrible acoustics and the cacophony of people's voices is very unpleasant, but this space was mellow and peaceful.

 grilled octopus . . 

 a visit from the sous chef.

 chanda's favorite: black rice risotto. next to it is a pork rib or chop . . with kimchee.

 dessert! my favorite was the panna cotta and the chocolate mousse cake. chanda is taking a picture of the "marzipan."

 un piccolo cafe . . very good coffee and milk.

 chocolate and cognac balls.

korrina filling out the questionaire of what was good and what might be improved. each table filled one out. it was an amazing night. the restaurant was just gorgeous and each dish was beautiful to look at and delicious to eat. we were all so impressed and she felt very happy for brian as he's been working so hard perfecting the dishes, figuring out what would need to be ordered each week for each item and how much each dish cost to make so they could charge appropriately, and overseeing the training of all the line cooks so that they could make each dish blindfolded if need be (his words). now we all hope that when it opens that the reviews will be good. i can't help but think that the public will just love it. there's very good coffee and tea and ginger tisane on the menu, along with vegetarian, gluten free and paleo meat items. it covers everything in a golden warm atmosphere. buon appetito at coffeemania!