Etcetera etcetera

325 West 44th Street
212-399-4141

Last night before going to see Awake and Sing in previews BF1 (theatre person), Jo (professional writer with book deal currently working for national magazine) and myself met for dinner at Etc. The interior designers sensibility was a bit wacky; one wall of stone facing one of highly polished wood made for terrible acoustics once the tables filled up which is ridiculous and unnecessary in a small space. Additionally attached to the stone (or tile, or concrete what ever the hard surface was) wall were a series of ‘sculptures’ of silver metal mesh that I thought for all the world upon entering were wall sconce lighting fixtures which would have been interesting. These were not. Plastic Philippe Starke chairs were comfortable and colorful but all in all the décor is unsuccessful, disjointed, and thoughtless in details such as sound which should be a given.
Service was wonderful. Maitre’d made thoughtful suggestions, our waitress asked if we were going to the theatre so our meal could be appropriately timed and it was. Even the bus staff was attentive and mostly non-invasive which made for a very pleasant dining experience. BF1 started with the paper thin octopus which we could not figure out from its appearance how it was possibly prepared. Turns out the entire creature is put into a special cylinder with weights which smashes it to cylindrical shape and then it’s sliced. Interesting and tasty but I was grateful to get the preparation description after the starters had been cleared. Jo had the Frisee salad which as salads go was perfect and I started with a Casoncelli, stuffed with veal which are one of the chef’s specialties. They were special. Following were an order of Gnocchi for BF1 (not a big fan so did not try but BF1 assured us they were great). The salmon in a pistachio crust which Jo ordered was lovely and I had a Lamb shank that had been cooked till it was fork tender with small gnocchi which I actually enjoyed; hum, maybe I do like Gnocchi after all. As Jo’s upcoming book is on the topic of sweets we could not leave without sampling some of them and so she had the warm chocolate cake and I the warm apple tarte, both served with home made ice cream sitting on lovely lace like cookie confections.
During the course of eating conversation got around to the horrors of dating in NCY, especially for 30 something straight women which was initiated by Jo. “I had this blind date.”
I deadpanned while looking her in the eye, “you’re so adventuresome to go out with a sightless person, I’ve never been out on a date with anyone handicapped.” Ok, not my best material but after looking slightly confused she laughed. BF1 immediately chimed up, “Don’t quit your day job,” with a look of ‘I can’t believe you think that’s funny you ass hole’ on his face. Really I should have added, “Let me clarify; I’ve never dated anyone handicapped until now.” This is the second time he’s put me down in front of friends of mine he’s meeting for the first time and call me crazy but I’m just not finding it endearing. Comments like that always seem like there’s some underlying tension between a couple which is why they find it acceptable to criticize one another in front of others. Which of course (shamefully) does not bring out the best in me as my unspoken response indicates. After the meal the bus staff served cookies with the coffee which BF1 place directly by his cup while exclaiming, “All for me, yum.” Not being able to leave it alone I responded, “Of course they are. They’re always served to the person who’s picking up the check.” He moved the plate across the table to me. Petty on my part and it really gives me no satisfaction to live up to perceptions. IE: ‘you’re an asshole’ so I act like one. I like to think I’m the kind of person who is above displaying unattractive behavior and it always pisses me off when the mirror is held up and I see someone I don’t want to be. It’s amazing to me how fragile our sense of self can be sometimes. I suppose that I’m actually beginning to care about BF1, otherwise I wouldn’t be bothered. Plus I was so constantly and consistently put down by the man I previously lived with for 7 years that anything that smacks of a dig gets my Irish up! I’m beginning to wonder if most of the ‘mines’ that we navigate on the dating field are not actually our own.