Wednesdays with Carol

A Table for Two
Lunch with Tobi
My second free Wednesday dawned beautiful and bright. A lovely, sunny, cool day. Camille arrived on the dot of 11. After showing her the lunch I had prepared for Richard, I was off on the F train bound uptown. Of course, when the train pulled in to the East Broadway station, it was an A train. Dear MTA: Why is there an A train on the F track? So the conductor kept saying, this is an A train via the F line. Until it got to West 4th Street. Then it was just an A train and would veer over to 8th Avenue. I got off.

Taxi time to 23rd and 6th. I was headed to meet my friend, Tobi, for lunch at Giorgio of Gramercy, not to be confused with Sergio of Soho, on 21st Street between Broadway and Park.

On the way to the restaurant, at the corner of Park and 21st, I spied a fun store from Denmark called Flying Tiger. A quick detour took me through it's aisles filled with bright, inexpensive, fun stuff.

 Easter Bunny Stuff.

 Sheep and Bunnies.

Plastic Chick Thingies.

Better than live ones, which the parents

will have to send to a pretend farm

in the country after Easter.

When I reached the restaurant, Tobi had already arrived and claimed a cosy corner table, so I gleefully joined her, ready to indulge in at least an hour of good conversation, good food and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

The waiter took our picture.

Over lunch, Tobi told me about her recent honor of being invited to the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts for a three-day residency. Tobi sat in on several classes and gave a gave a speech entitled: "Lies, Hoaxes and Nonsense: Truth on the Battlefield."

Tobi is a writer and teaches at the Columbia School of Journalism. She was formerly National Writer and Arts Editor of the Associated Press.

I would like to quote the final words of her speech in Massachusetts because the message in so important in our Trump world:

We can stop calling this trend fake news and start calling it what it is: Lies.And we can educate ourselves and others.  It's up to all of us because truth is on the battlefield.  And when we lose truth, we lose our humanity.

A gorgeous display of Forsythia

at Giorgio's.

I had the soup du jour, lobster bisque.

It was delicious, as were the olives,

marinated in olive oil, honey and lemon zest.

After lunch, it was time for a bit

of exuberant mugging at the

barbershop next door.

The revelation of the sky

in Manhattan.

Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street.

The Empire State Building

 We stopped at Maille, the

mustard purveyors depuis 1740.

The sales lady sported a mustard-yellow

scarf as she pointed out

the Maille picnic basket

on the back of a spiffy bike.

Yes, I will take it for a spin to

Madison Square.

Final stop: Marimekko.

This outfit reminds me of  the hippie

look from the sixties,

particularly Portobello Road in London.

Love the flying caftans too.

À Bientôt!

À mercredi prochain.