Best My Country Cousins Came to Visit (Last Week Brooklyn Adventure #1)

Sandy counts as Country, right?

Last week Uncle Duke and Aunt Teresa came to New York and brought all of their posterity. I saw them for a minute Tuesday night, they were staying at a hotel across from the Parker Meridian. It was 10pm and they were hungry and I was hungry. Took .0001 seconds for me to suggest the Burger Joint and .001 seconds for them to agree. I don't think I'd been there in nearly two years (how did that happen?). Still delicious, it turns out. Fry bags are a lot bigger than I remembered.

This is not all of the Edwards.

Then Wednesday night we got serious. The Edwards were bummed because they couldn't get a table at the Tavern on the Green, but I knew we could do better.

I took them to Dumont in Williamsburg. I don't think I'd been to Dumont in nearly two years, either. That night's meal was one of the best I've ever had there. That place still knows its job real well: being delicious.

Appetizers! Spencer and I shared the crispy artichoke salad, it was excellent and to me it did for artichokes what Momofuku did for Brussels sprouts for me. (I tried and tried to make that sentence work but eventually had to give up) Totally great dish, consider it a must order. In the background Duke had the heirloom tomato salad, very good. Everything on the table that night was real good, no misses whatsoever.

Teresa had the crab cake, they've changed the preparation. Very vegetabley now. In general the menu seemed to have a lot more going on in the vegetable department then I remember from before. One could have constructed a home run of meatless dining that night were they inclined to, and we didn't even try the ricotta and mint ravioli in pea broth.

Mains: Spencer had and loved the hanger steak, Jeff in the background the strip. His peppercorn sauce would wind up spilled across the table but that doesn't mean it can't be used for dipping anymore.

I had the skate, which has been on the Dumont menu for the 5 years that I've known the restaurant and I finally got it. So good. And I felt a little like I was avenging Steve Irwin. A little.

Rachel and Teresa had the macaroni and cheese. Fittingly, Rachel introduced me to Kraft Easy Mac 6 years ago. Thank you, Rachel, for changing my life. (for the better)

Cousin-in-law Patty had the gnocci. Great gnocci. (Husband Dave stayed home with the baby)

Here's the funny thing that happened during dinner: We were sitting outside, under the windows to someones apartment. Towards the end of the meal a little curly haired girl (no older than 4) started dropping wads of toilet paper on us, mostly hitting Rachel and Teresa. Good thing there was nothing gross about the toilet paper.

And then we took the L back to the city and I took pictures. Pictures, pictures, pictures. Stop reading now if you don't want to just see pictures of the Edwards.

Patty, Rachel, Teresa, Duke, Murray.

Jeff.








It was fun and great seeing all the Edwards last week. Last I heard they were headed to Wicked Thursday night DC Friday morning. I hope it all went marvelously for them.