The Purple Yam (Cortelyou Rd. Brooklyn, NY)
The Purple Yam is a wonderful little restaurant on Cortelyou Road, which is on the border between Midwood and Flatbush in Brooklyn. They specialize in Filipino cuisine and though I haven't a terribly sophisticated palate when it comes to the Pacific islands, I came away from the experience willing to try it again.
I went with VRaptor and the quiet corner table and attentive staff lent itself to an evening of reunion and fellowship that we'd both been looking forward to. Interestingly, even though it was a Friday, we both skipped the fish entree and ordered hearty meat dishes.
VRaptor had a pot of tea and I ordered a San Miguel beer. I couldn't help thinking how the scene could have been from any one of a dozen dreams I've had these past few years: there's always a scene that takes place in a restaurant and very often the person sitting across from me was some stand-in for VRaptor -- and here I was sitting across from the real deal.
I couldn't get over how relaxed we both were. A quick blessing when the food arrived led to a conversation about St. Michael's and other churches. We were pretty much on the same page as far as what we were looking for, some kind of happy medium between a packed Catholic Mass and the "topicality" of some of the more upscale Protestant churches, and upon reflection afterward, it seemed to me that St. Michael's pretty much fit into that niche.
I was so involved with the ebb and flow of the conversation that it never even occured to me to "excuse" myself for using my fingers in attacking my plateful of barbecued spare ribs. The sauce was a little on the sweet side; not at all spicy. They came with some baked potatos and what I think might have been sliced arugala. It was a nice mix of textures and flavors. The potatos were nice and flaky and retained their warmth long after the spareribs had cooled down; and, the arugala was just the way I like my vegetables, not overcooked or undercooked.
VRaptor ordered the skirt steak which he seemed to relish. The dessert arrived just as LaPasionara did. I think we got the orders mixed. VRaptor and LP shared the chocolate sauce over rice topped with a scoop of coffee ice cream while I had a meringue confection with mango sherbert. It gave me a sugar headache, but, it was worth it.
I went with VRaptor and the quiet corner table and attentive staff lent itself to an evening of reunion and fellowship that we'd both been looking forward to. Interestingly, even though it was a Friday, we both skipped the fish entree and ordered hearty meat dishes.
VRaptor had a pot of tea and I ordered a San Miguel beer. I couldn't help thinking how the scene could have been from any one of a dozen dreams I've had these past few years: there's always a scene that takes place in a restaurant and very often the person sitting across from me was some stand-in for VRaptor -- and here I was sitting across from the real deal.
I couldn't get over how relaxed we both were. A quick blessing when the food arrived led to a conversation about St. Michael's and other churches. We were pretty much on the same page as far as what we were looking for, some kind of happy medium between a packed Catholic Mass and the "topicality" of some of the more upscale Protestant churches, and upon reflection afterward, it seemed to me that St. Michael's pretty much fit into that niche.
I was so involved with the ebb and flow of the conversation that it never even occured to me to "excuse" myself for using my fingers in attacking my plateful of barbecued spare ribs. The sauce was a little on the sweet side; not at all spicy. They came with some baked potatos and what I think might have been sliced arugala. It was a nice mix of textures and flavors. The potatos were nice and flaky and retained their warmth long after the spareribs had cooled down; and, the arugala was just the way I like my vegetables, not overcooked or undercooked.
VRaptor ordered the skirt steak which he seemed to relish. The dessert arrived just as LaPasionara did. I think we got the orders mixed. VRaptor and LP shared the chocolate sauce over rice topped with a scoop of coffee ice cream while I had a meringue confection with mango sherbert. It gave me a sugar headache, but, it was worth it.