Sunday scoff

Did you see that a poor thirty something woman in the UK has been found MURDERED after going on a DATE!! (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/6717761.stm) If I wasn't put off by the whole dating men malarkey before I certainly am now. Ugh!!! Men!!

Jacqui is also off men after discovering that the man she was enjoying a mild flirtation with on Match, and hoping to meet for a face to face date soon, is not 44 at all, but 57. Fifty seven!! What was he thinking shaving 13years off his age like that? Did he think that when she met him she’d be so bowled over by his personality she’d forget the 22year age difference? I don’t think so.

Megan on the other hand is considering prostituting her services to support her culinary education. She quit her junior consulting job last week to fully immerse herself in her efforts to become a pastry chef and won’t be earning any money for the next 4months. She told us that when she does find her first job it will likely be for a pittance of around $20,000; can you IMAGINE!!! I'm guessing her current salary is about $80,000 so a HUGE decrease. Bananas, but I have to admire her for following her dream.

She’s trying not to think about the money side of things, but says she’ll have to move from her $1,500 a month shared apartment in the West Village when her lease is up and find a share in the outer boroughs for under $900. She’s even considering placing an ad on Craigslist offering her culinary services and light cleaning duties in exchange for a free share in a house with a large kitchen. The realistic side of me thinks she must be absolutely bonkers to even consider taking such a risk, what with all the weirdoes out there, but my fairytale side can’t help but think of the romantic possibilities of her somehow meeting a wealthy investment banker, who’ll be seduced by her lovely tarts and they’ll live happily ever after in a brownstone in Park Slope. It has the makings of a romcom for the foodie set; Babette’s Feast meets Pretty Woman.

The three of us had dinner at Perilla last night, the new restaurant opened by the season 1 winner of fabbo foodie reality show, Top Chef, Harold Dieterle. I was THRILLED when Harold himself came out of the kitchen to say hello to the people in the next booth and sign their menus, but of course being a New Yorker I remained nonchalant, upholding my distant and aloof composure, and appearing outwardly unimpressed by his celebrity, although in reality, when I saw him walking through the restaurant I elbowed Megan so hard under the table in excitement she’s probably got a glorious bruise to show for it today.

I wish I’d been as thrilled by the food as I was by the Harold sighting. It was nice, but not amazing, although I think I had one of the better dishes - black bean glazed black cod with spaghetti squash, marcona almonds & snap pea sauce - since both Megan and Jacqui complained their food was over salted - fiddlehead fern ravioli, roast chicken respectively.

The fish was very nice, but I was a little disappointed by the spaghetti squash which was a bit overwhelmed by the snap pea sauce, but then I like my spaghetti squash simple - tossed in olive oil and seasoned with black pepper - so maybe I'm nitpicking. It's a very new place though, so I feel Harold deserves a chance to iron out the kinks. Kudos to pastry chef, Seth Cato, though for his divine lemon fennel donuts. Mmmmmm!!

Have to say, the GM is also VERY attractive in a scruffy, cute, bearded kind of way – sports jacket, shirt, casual trousers and pumas. We were all swooning, but couldn't decide if he was gay since he wore a ring on the third finger of his right hand. Is that the international sign of gay partnerdom? I’m never sure. Miles – a qualified gayer – vehemently denies this is necessarily the case and says I am making sweeping generalizations to assume as such, however all the women I know assume a right handed ring wearer is definitely nestled in the warm glow of gay domesticity. Who knows, he must be spoken for anyway. Next!!

Unfortunately Perilla was the last I’ll be seeing of nice food for a short while as I am having the last of my wisdom teeth out tomorrow. I’m not at all happy about it, given the first time I had a wisdom tooth out, the oral surgeon examined my other wisdom teeth and said he would take out the top two, but not the bottom left one because that one could be 'tricky'!!! Tricky?? I hate it when medical types tell you the truth like that. For God’s sake just lie to me.

In preparation for not being able to easily chomp solid food for a few days I ran down to Myers of Keswick at lunchtime to stock up on suckables: tomato soup, rice pudding and Devonshire custard. It was horrible outside too, we have really heavy rain and it's relatively chilly compared to the 80 degree temperatures we've enjoyed recently, although one of the nice things about working in an ad agency is that I can just wear jeans to work on a miserable day like today – or any day for that matter. I LOVE that, especially when you see all the finance peeps in their mud splashed suits and know they face a hefty dry cleaning bill.

Of course I do make an effort and try to dress up my jeans a bit. Today I have on my new Anthropologie lacy blouse, bargain Satya jewelry from Friday’s sale and cute shoes. I draw the line at too casual, although some in the agency are less bothered. Only last week I saw a woman wearing a tracksuit to the office - and it wasn't even a Friday. Can you believe that, a tracksuit??? I ask you, what's next, pajamas?