The Breslin and The Northwest

Last night mustv'e been my 10th outing to the Breslin barroom, part of the new Ace Hotel that opened up in the flatiron district. The Breslin is the sister company of The Spotted Pig and part of April Bloomfields Bristishy warmy gastrochic thing she does so well. My friend Idara flew into town for her Aunt's birthday on Long Island and I just happened to have a 5 day hiatus in NYC before Seattle. So we started with a pretty little bag of carmel corn and quickly moved on to a medium lamb burger with thrice baked fries and cumin mayo and then scrumpets, a lightly breaded and fried lamb breast (aka fat) served with a mint and shallot vinagraitte. Onto my favorite of the night-pork belly with root veggie mash. basically its a medallion of smoked pork belly surrounded by a layer of the scored fat all around, with an apple and apple cider reduced salsa lightly drizzled over top. Still some of the best food Ive ever had in NYC.  So I have 2 more days and then I'm off to explore Seattle and the northwest. I'm already planning on doing dinner at my uncle David Pisegnas (Piss-en-yuh). He wouldn't admit it but Davids one of the premiere chefs around Seattle, who is now the Executive Chef at the Swedish Institute. He's already written 2 books, one on confections and his first, 'Food For All Seasons' is a classic homage to Northwest seasonal cuisine. Its been years since Ive visited and I wasnt cooking before so i'm crossign my fingers for a good old fashioned Pisegna cookoff!