Employees Only on Halloween

C, J and I had the brilliant idea of going out for drinks and dinner on Halloween. J and I popped out of the West 4th subway stop and were greeted with throngs of crazy people in bad costumes and lots of disgruntled cops.

I had decided to wear a white pantsuit that day. There was a line of police barricades set up in the middle of the sidewalk in order to direct the flow of traffic. J and I decided that we wanted to head in the opposite directions, which necessitated clambering over the barricade. Other popped nimbly over, but I didn't want anything to touch my pants. How does one explain police barricade stains up one's crotch? Really.

As I gingerly started swinging my leg over the barricade, a policeman started hollering at me that I had better get off. I had to take my sweet time because getting into a fight with a man in blue be darned, I was not going to get dirty. J got all indignant inside her head and sent angry mental brainwaves at the cop saying "She's wearing a white pantsuit for crissakes!" J is a good friend. And a practical one.

Not only did we manage to not get arrested, later we did our best to look extremely cute and nonviolent and managed to get a different police man to escort us across 6th Avenue. I felt super special when we were hovering near the crosswalk and one cop yelled at us that we couldn't be there, and our nice cop shouted back, "They're with me!" Oh yeah, that's right.

Forty minutes later, we managed to make it the five blocks to Employees Only, where the Phantom of the Opera waved us inside. The cocktails are pretty well composed at Employees Only. I started with this Ginger Smash (Muddled Ginger Root & Fresh Cranberries shaken with Plymouth Gin & Berentzen Apple Liqueur served over ice) and chased it with a Pimm's Cup.

J had this, I think it's a Ruby Tuesday (Wild Turkey Rye shaken with Benedictine Lemon Juice & Pureed Black Cherries).

With dinner I had a Kumquat Sangaree (Kumquats Candied with Allspice blended with Mumm Demi-Sec Champagne). It's nice and light, but not as much of a standout compared to the cocktails.

J and C let me convince them to let us order the Serbian Charcuterie Platter. I don't remember all of the cured meats, except that there was lamb and venison involved. The platter taught me that there's a reason pork is king. The other meats were just too lean and had an intense almost smokey flavor. It didn't have the great mouth-feel that the fattiness of cured pork products lends.

For dinner I went with the Juniper Braised Rabbit with the cream polenta and fig and prune compote. This was really an excellent dish. Rabbit is so often dry and unflavorful in my experience, but this was neither. It was perfect for a cold day and the white corn polenta was perfectly cooked, not a mushy mass, which is sometimes the dismal fate of many a polenta.

C went with the Venison Chop.

J ordered the Rib-Eye. It was quite good actually. You could really tell that the meat was of good quality. I didn't notice at the restaurant, but I find it intriguing that they offered lemon and jalapeno as accompaniments.

After dinner, we headed over to Spotted Pig for a drink. I have never been there before, it's got great ambiance, not pretentious at all. We had to leave though when a portly man walked in bare chested dressed as the Devil and attempted to impress us with the fact that he lived in Murray Hill and owned two houses. Like I bloody care. Murray Hill is a place you to go to bide your time until you can upgrade. It's pseudo suburbia below 57th Street. There are some lovely looking condos there, but I'm not weak in the knees about the address.

But the worst thing about being at Spotted Pig? That I had to find out this: Fergus Henderson cooked an offal extravaganza on Sunday. OMG, I can't believe I came so close to glory.

If I had a bottomless stomach and a recession proof wallet, I would have ordered:
- Sweetbreads with Piperade and Mint
- Pressed Pig's Ears
- Ox Tongue and Bread with Green Sauce
- Pot-Roast Bacon, Trotter and Prune
- Pot-Roast Half Pig's Head
- Deep Fried Rabbit
- Devilled Kidney on Toast
- Roast Parsnips in Duck Fat & Mustard

Maybe to cut the fattiness, I would have ordered:
- Pot of Pickles
- Jerusalem Artichoke and Escarole Salad with Hazelnuts
- Beets with Greens

mmm mmm mmm, food I didn't eat, wah wah wah