Chinese New Year of the Boar

by Celia Sin-Tien Cheng
February 17, 2007

It’s the year of the boar! Don’t ask me what that means, other than that I feel justified being an oinker this year. I don’t know what the new year will bring, but many will agree with me that the piggy will bring us good luck!

As traditional as I am, I’m actually not having a Chinese New Year’s Eve feast tonight (Sunday, 2/18, is Chinese New Year, but the most important meal, of course, takes place on New Year’s Eve) but trying something new. I’ll report on it later.

In the meantime, for those who want to get an idea of what an outstanding Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner may consist of, please check out last year’s amazing feast prepared and hosted by Shida Kuo. The menu and photos alone keep me salivating.

In keeping with the topic of pork, I look forward to some discussion on bacon for our upcoming February feature…

I’ll also be sharing my adventures at Per Se, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Taam-Tov and more. We’ll have new cravings like lahmacun, mini baguettes and a lemon-y/pistachio-y dessert, too.

One last thing to mention is that I just can’t get enough of The Bar at The Modern. I am a slave to all their goodies from bread, slow poached egg “in a jar”, roasted garlic gnocchi, crispy yellowfin tuna to beignets. How consistently pleasant and on-mark can a place be?! After the Manet exhibit, I found an excuse in my perennial inspiration, Paul Klee, to visit again. But I just realized that I’ve missed Doug Aitken’s Sleepwalkers. :( It was just too cold out!

Okay, just one more piggy for the road!