It's been an incredible weekend! Don't even know where to begin. Let's start with the highlight: Turandot, a scintillating Franco Zeffirelli production at the Met in NYC on Saturday. Wow!
Sumptuous staging; resplendent costumes; and Puccini's accessible music in the hands of talented singers and a fantastic orchestra - of course we were dazzled. And yes, it was an excellent Nessan Dorma! Resounding audience applause for it!
The next highlight would have to be our 3 Michelin star restaurant experience at Per Se, arguably New York's best and most famous restaurant. Their focus on fine vegetarian cuisine aroused our interest. When we found out that we could be seated in their salon section without a reservation and order a la carte we thought, heck, let's check it out. We'd order modestly and if afterwards we were still hungry we'd grab a slice of pizza on the way to Penn Station. So we arrived promptly at 5:30 when doors opened. First, they handed Daryl a black jacket to wear. Chuckle! Chuckle! Then we got seated on an elegant sofa at the best salon table - by a window with fantastic views of Columbus Circle, Central Park, and the lights of midtown Manhattan. Yes, it was pretentious, most notably in the names and descriptions of their fastidiously inventive dishes. But, hey, when you've grown up in poverty in a racist country, there's something very gratifying about being fussed over by overly polite WASPy looking tuxedoed waiters focussed on making you feel indulged. There was a mood present - one of relaxation, and "you are here to have a truly memorable time". They served us two amuse bouches - first, a pastry encased ball of melted gruyere, then a little while later a cornetto filled with beets and creme fraiche. Yum! The arrival of warm, crusty breads arranged in a basket assured us we would not go hungry!
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MASCARPONE ENRICHED BUTTERNUT SQUASH "AGNOLOTTI"
Chestnut "Confit," Crispy Sage and Black Truffle Emulsion
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Presentation of their industriously crafted cuisine is all important. Every dish that landed on our table was a work of art. A clear effort to engage all senses was apparent - lots of textures, colors, fragrances - and yes, it was all magnificent. But most unforgettable was dessert. When Daryl decided to go for the full dessert deal, it meant an elaborate event. One involving several (we lost count) courses of "I must have died and gone to heaven". Each distinct dessert was served on what appeared to be contemporary art - pyramidal layers of plates, then shapely bowls, then flat plates of various sizes and shapes. You just had to take the time to admire every aspect before demolishing the dish. Even though I'd ordered a solitary dessert item - an exquisite chocolate mousse - they brought us both silverware for each of Daryl's dessert courses, forcing me to join him in his decadence. This attitude of "we will accommodate whatever works for you" is beyond pretension! When we thought it was all over, and felt ready for it to be over, a selection of dainties - macaroons, truffles, nougat and toffee appeared. Then a waiter arrived with a big box of house made truffles and described each one to us. We then got to choose whatever and however many we wanted. Overkill? Definitely! Daryl beamed the whole time. Dessert is a religion for him, and this was his Mount Olympus. Thankfully we live on the West Coast!
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| Joshua Bell performs music from the documentary Einstein's Light at IAS. Marija Stroke is the pianist. |
Imagine having the celebrated violinist Joshua Bell come to you to perform? That's exactly what happened on Friday at IAS. In an event that culminated a two day General Relativity at 100 conference, Joshua Bell performed 5 pieces of exquisite music. He was accompanied by the pianist, Marija Stroke, who shared with the audience that she was conceived on the night her father had returned from a meeting with Einstein! The composer of the pieces, Nickolas Barris, was also present and later, in a discussion on the intersection of music and science, he explained how he used Mozart and Bach in the compositions. These pieces were composed for the documentary Einstein's Light, created for this conference, and was later screened for us. In the movie we learned more about Einstein's discoveries and his use of imagination. Music is woven into the story to show an interdependent relationship between the arts and sciences.
The 2 day conference to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Einstein's general theory of relativity created a lot of excitement here on Thursday and Friday. To kick things off there was a live presentation called LIGHT FALLS on Wednesday night. It was presented by the physicist Brian Greene at Princeton University. We were thrilled to be able to attend this very entertaining work which combined acting, animation, narration, and projection techniques to trace Einstein's journey toward his greatest contribution to our knowledge of the universe.
And finally, I should mention that the weather all week was glorious. We started each day with a walk in the woods. The paths are carpeted with leaves and the trees are almost bare.
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