Mamma Mia, Momofoku!

It's my new catch-phrase - momofoku! like many expletives, it's an all-purpose word: momofoku! -exclamation of excitement; momofoKU! -curse word; moMOfoku! - that's mine!; OK, haha I'm making all this up, due to my giddiness over this awesome ramen place in East Village: Momofoku Noodle Bar is the perfect post-show nosh spot, and yes we headed there uttering 'momofoku' in all its variations. It has big steaming bowls of fresh ramen noodles in beef broth & Berkshire pork (a kinda stewed char siu like meat) and pickled vegetables and also these delectable pork buns (the softest buns ever).

The pic is of the Momofoku chef, David Chang, who's got a personality of his own: http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/26568/index.html

The reason for the occasion was the visit of Karen (again - she's fallen in love with NYC) and Clement, another old Queen's friend and a world-famous chef in his own rite (no joke - www.alacuisine.org/) - Clem was here for a weekend, Karen's hanging out for a few more days. Eating is always my top priority, but even more so with this bunch, because to call Clem an obsessive foodie is to put it lightly. and Karen's honed in on something about me - she calls it the 'afternoon tea' syndrome, which as you may remember, alludes to the last time she was here and we had tea at the Met - how I positively light up & my mood takes a 360-degree upswing in the anticipation of good food, hehe

So on Saturday, we managed to get rush standing-room tickets to Mamma Mia! - the ABBA-fueled sensation that I always put off seeing, because I suspected it was really cheesy, and it was really cheesy, but also aware of its own cheesiness, so that halfway through it pretty much descended into a shameless song and dance. but it was really catchy, I mean who can really resist 'Daaaanncing queeeeen, young & sweeeet, only seeeveeeen teeeeen' and 'take a chance on me' and all that goodness. so it was pure unadulterated fun.

We later had a crazy-decadent 6-course lunch at Jean-Georges, a 4-star restaurant in the Trump Tower (at Columbus Circle -- what's with that place?!). It was super-fancy, but also super-good: we got 3 amuse-bouches to start (jerusalem artichoke infused with truffles, dehydrated pineapple foam... y'know, what everyone has for lunch!), gulf shrimp in butternut squash puree, a perfectly sauteed arctic char and venison. They also serve homemade marshmallows and these mini-macaroons. It went on for 2+ hrs - I missed con law, oh well - but it was quite possibly the most fab lunch I've ever had.