Saturday, July 18, 2009

A gazpacho conversion at Danal

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Early Monday morning after JF and JA's wedding, I made my way, with some effort, to TL's apartment. It had been a hectic weekend: on Friday I had slept only few hours in order to catch the shuttle for my 8am flight from Denver International on Saturday morning; I had spent Saturday afternoon and evening with friends having dinner and partying at the beer garden in Astoria; and I had spent all of Sunday at the wedding, traveling between Hastings, NY and Chelsea for the ceremony, reception, and after-party. By the time Monday rolled around, I had gotten maybe four hours of sleep a night and was feeling dead tired. TL was wiped out too, having just returned from Vancouver that morning on a red-eye flight.

But we had errands to run, such as delivering a special package to FoodMayhem headquarters (more on that later), so before we could take a nap we had to take the train from Astoria to Union Square. After dropping off the goods with JL, we asked if she knew of a good place to get breakfast and she recommended Danal.
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Danal is definitely a restaurant full of charm: the decor is very French parlor, with menus presented in picture frames and all sorts of quaint knick-knacks and decorations around. Our cozy little banquette belonged more to a house in the countryside than to a restaurant in the middle of New York City.

TL went for the poached eggs with chicken-apple sausage and hollandaise on top of an English muffin (pictured at top). I asked for the lunch special of a tomato, mozzarella, and basil sandwich paired with the soup of the day, which that morning was gazpacho. I had always dismissed the cold Spanish soup as being some kind of watered-down salsa, but this version made me completely change my perception. I loved its clean, bright flavor and lightness, and each sip made me feel rejuventated.
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The other half of my lunch special was less exciting. While the sandwich had arrived warm and with marks from a panini press embedded in the bread, sometime between the press and the table the cheese had solidified again mid-ooze. Unremarkable tomatoes and a slightly tough bread didn't help matters, but in the end it wasn't a bad sandwich, just not an amazing one. And it provided just enough fuel to get me back to TL's apartment for a much-needed snooze.

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