blackbird : take two

i think nora's intention with the blackbird gift certificate she sent to me was that i use it on my scheduled trip there the first time i went, but it arrived just a day later than that. at any rate, i was very happy to have tried the restaurant again. upon returning, i found it much better than the first time, for a variety of reasons.

i was by myself again; i had made a reservation for 7pm on a tuesday night. blackbird is always full, it seems, and tuesday was no exception - i arrived in time to see the first seating leave and the second seating start eating. i was seated in a better place this time, just in terms of my preference - in the back half of the room, facing a bunch of other tables, and with a view of the kitchen. it was probably the ideal location, actually. dining solo gives one unprecedented license to stare - because it's "observing," in this case, not staring. i was slightly neglected while i looked at the menu, but the service besides that was great. the waitstaff was much less silent this time. i think that i have also settled into being a solo diner, in terms of being comfortable by myself, and my boldness in staring (because, after all, it really is staring).

this time, i went when i was hungry, and i think i chose a better selection of dishes than i did last time. i had:

i : tomato gazpacho with smoked crab - an amuse-bouche that was really great. the mug it was served in was too big, but it was really wonderfully tomato-y with scallions. unfortunately the tomatoes and scallions utterly consumed the smoked crab flavor, so it became a different texture more than anything else.

1 : salad of endives, crispy potatoes, basil, dijon, pancetta and poached egg - this would be great if it got mixed better. the crispy potatoes are formed into a cylinder that holds the rest of the salad, and when it's served the waiter cuts it up for you. i appreciate the creative gesture but i think it's a bit weird to have someone cutting your food for you. i'd rather do it myself. the potatoes were great, and everything together was good - basically it was a caesar salad, deconstructed - but it didn't mix together well enough to be consistently good.

2 : grilled california sturgeon and braised oxtail with sweet corn pancakes, chicories, and chanterelles - this was probably the high point of the meal. it was done really well, and sturgeon is a great firm white fish in general. it was perfect with the corn pancakes and the chicories. the chanterelles i could have done without. the fish was, in my opinion, perfectly done.

3 : selection of five cheeses (swan creek farm fresh goat cheese with sungold tomatoes, munster gerome cow's milk with roasted beets and hazelnuts, fiumorbu brebis sheep's milk with toasted onion bread and caperberries, comte raw cow's milk with dates, and berkshire blue cow's milk with dried cherries) - i wanted to have a cheese course so i did that instead of wine. i think it was good in terms of pacing of the meal, but i was disappointed with most of the pairings. the beets, tomatoes, and cherries were really good pairings, but i wasn't a fan of the dates, and especially of the caperberries. the caperberries were just too strong - think capers, with the flavor multiplied by a lot.

4 : avocado panna cotta with blackberry coulis, blackberries, peaches, and doughnut holes - this was pretty good. i liked that it was an interesting pairing - it's a modification of what this used to be, which is a dessert of three doughnuts. the doughnut holes were really excellent - they used a yeasted dough - but the panna cotta was more like key lime pie than anything else. the blackberries went with the dessert really well, but not so much the peaches, which tasted a little unripe.

so you might think that i didn't enjoy my meal. well, it was good, but not great - i much prefer craigie street bistrot. however, the atmosphere here is great for solo dining - there's a lot to watch. across the room there was a couple that, at the end of their meal/date, were holding hands. to my left there was a european couple (eastern european?); the girl was wearing purple zebra-print tight pants, with a sparkly waistband - they could only have been european. in a show of bad taste the guy started talking on his cellphone while his date was sitting there in front of him; she gave up after a while and went to the bathroom. the couple at the table to my right was on a date, and he was one of those crochety, stodgy old fellows who must say everything loudly and thinks he knows everything, and wants to be seen as worldly and sophisticated. his progression of comments about the bread pudding they shared: "this is so big for two people!", then "well, actually, i think this is just right for two people", then "this is really good." i believe that the man would have said anything was good, just to appear to be well-bred. people in this restaurant are always so...self-conscious, i guess - the self-consciousness that comes with going to a hip restaurant, where one is always wondering "am i hip enough? i'll just pretend i am as i walk by everyone else."

in short, i think i like solo dining a lot. i've yet to find a place where the waitstaff will pause to talk to me, but it's a lot of fun to people-watch - and restaurants are really a great place to people-watch. i think my next quest, once i can afford it, is to become a regular somewhere.