Nico
Muhly,

One of my favorite dishes available in the world is a deep-fried nugget of gristle that surrounds a squid’s brain. In my neighborhood you can buy it in vats; in sake bars you can get it deep-fat fried with a spicy Japanese mayonnaise that is a restorative and wonderful late-night snack. Now, dear readers, I have occasionally been known to joke that women in my neighborhood are constantly trying to sell me squid vagina; this is an exaggeration. That having been said, last night I took my publisher Z”” to Le Bernardin for a meal thanking her for having put up with a lot of shit these last six months. The first course arrived, and I offer you my undoctored iPhone photo, below.

Damn. Also worth noting is on the Le Bernardin site, linked above, how once you click through the horrific Buddha-Bar-ass music at the beginning, you get to this wonderful section filled with the ambient noise of a busy restaurant. Click on “cuisine” and you can hear the noises of people in the kitchen, including the aboyeur shouting out the orders for Halibut and Turbot etc. ““ a great site.