Tiddler Jinx

Well, children, there comes a time when we must all settle things with those that done us wrong . No, we do not refer to the fool Markowitz. In fact, we are commencing preparations right now for the kick-ass party we will hold on November 8, 2009, when the useless, gutless ward heeler (St Hunter's words on Hubert Humphrey, we must confess) gets term-limited out of office. And you must head over to the 'Nutrament for Miguel's take on the man's bewildering persona.

But we digress, as if you weren't horribly aware of that from the mouth-froth. We wanted to talk about our coming to terms with Minnow. Minnow was of interest to us until recently only as part of this inscrutable plot that removed a perfectly good second-hand record shop from the brownstone floor above it. Such desecrations are, alas, part of the bulldozer that is gentrification, and while we may be sheepish in admitting it, KickAzz restaurants are an acceptable substitute.

Our pupose was twofold: to discover whether moving the fish market from Fulton Street (near Brooklyn) to the Bronx (inhabited by beastly tentacled things, not yet recognised by the Pope) had made any perceptible difference to the quality of the fair Borough's fish. Oh, and to Feed Cutesome. The interior veered towards the casual dining end of things, complete with banquettes of dubious patterning, and a fishtank so as to amuse the maraudiing toddlers. And it smelled of fish. Duh.

It was a Monday, the home of erratic restaurant openings, and we were steered towards the tasting menu - three courses, each with a wine pairing, for $28. Not bad. Cutesome got the oysters, but those make us go all Exorcist, so we went for the tuna sashimi, which proved to a stealth delivery mechanism for cauliflower, but one we very much appreciated. The chardonnay ruled.

For the main we opted for the snapper with couscous crusting in a chowder. It was good, especially with the sweet potato crunchies. Very good for the inner child, all that mopping and sloshing, and it made up for the crusting being very ferocious. Cutesome had the salmon with red beet risotto. No complaints anywhere.

The desert was slated to be a lemon buttermilk sorbet, but was changed at the last moment to a key lime pie, which was, as Cutesome noted, a tad hardcore for the gentle desert wine with which it was paired. It it is possible that it was designed to be all mushy, but the last minute subsitution, combined with the peculiar texture, made us all paranoid. Were there horrendous CRIMES afoot in the kitchen?

We'd go back, maybe even on a regular night, since there appeared to ber very special things going on in the al a carte appetiser squad. Would we use it as an excuse to post "All He Wants To Do Is Fish" by the Replacements? No, that would be childish and redundant. But some other 'Mats? Why not.

The Replacements - "Beer For Breakfast"
Buy "All For Nothing/Nothing For All Here. And stop f***ing whining about the lack of Twin Tone material