Delancey. Orangette. Molly Wizenberg.
These words might mean nothing. They’re words that define and characterize several trends in my life. They also defined my date tonight.
I like reading food blogs. I started using a RSS reader 3 years ago and started trolling for things to read. Now my reader is populated with over 20 food blogs. When I first began, I knew none. I wanted something to read. I wanted to read about food and cooking and dining.
The first blog I started reading was Orangette. It was recommended with a few other local food bloggers. I felt like I was reading something with the story half over. Over this blog, a romance had blossomed, then a marriage, then a restaurant. The draw was photos with recipes and a fun bit of personal life thrown in. I started reading when the restaurant, Delancey, was being built. By this time, regular recipes that had gotten Orangette on the map were replaced with more introspection, restaurant building, and writing opportunities. I had missed the boat a bit.
Soon I found other blogs. Dinner, a Love Story (the best). Smitten Kitchen (young mom in New York)- salted brown butter rice krispie treats and Martha’s mac n’ cheese!
But I discovered that Orangette and it’s stardom was in my neck of the woods. The restaurant being built and sweat over was in Ballard. It was named after a past favorite movie, Delancey with Amy Irving. I had to go. That was my thought 2 years ago. But that thought was not acted upon. Mostly because of access. The place is popular. The place is crowded. You have to be able to show up at opening (5pm ish) on a weekday. This is not something accessible to the babysitting/pno crowd (us) who do things on Fri/Sat, usually after 6pm.
In the meantime, I got the book and read a Homemade Life. I read it on my iPhone. It was the beginning into my foray into ebooks this Xmas. With it, I proved I could finish an ebook on my iPhone. I’m now transitioning to more ebooks.
Tonight, I felt led to Delancey. It had been too long. So an idea took fruition. My friend, Darcy, suggested arriving and then waiting at Tarasco for a table. We walked to Delancey. It was the first time we had really exercised or walked all weekend. There was a 30 min wait. We walked into Tarasco, the bar across the street. It was empty. We had a super pleasant chat with the bartender, enjoyed drinks, and had a great time, FOR AN HOUR! I walked across the street to discover they had written our number down wrong. Ooops.
That made Wayne grumpy. We got called quickly after that. Finally, we got seated.
The appetizer, pork belly on leeks and a farm poached egg, delighted Wayne. The pizza, sausage with cremini mushrooms and thyme, did not wow me as much as I expected. I liked it, but expected it to be better. The crust was spot on.
The desert was what I will dream about. It was a chocolate chip cookie. Not impressed? It was the best cookie I’ve had. The chocolate seeped through the entire cookie. It was all ooey gooey. It was crusted with sea salt to make it even better. It’s a good replacement for the late Madame K’s cookie desert.
Despite my dreams, I will not be gracing Delancey’s doors for a long while. It’s just too hard. I watched a steady stream of folks waiting on a Sunday evening! After 8pm! That’s just too difficult to contend with. The pizza, the main thing, wasn’t enough to make it worth it. I can get the peanut crunch desert I dream of from Bastille more easily. Oh well. It is fun to dream and try new things. It was a great date.