squid/conch salad, arugula; toasted orecciette, mustards

The antipasto was ‘prepared food’ (prepared by the wife of our local fisherman), with the addition of a bit of greens, and the locally-made pasta that followed only needed a little working, and that too included a bit of greenery, as local as that which had accompanied the sseafood salad.

  • eight ounces of a squid and conch salad (including olive oil, parsley, red pepper, lemon juice) from P.E. & D.D. Seafood in the Union Square Greenmarket, made by Dolores Karlin, the wife of Phil Karlin, the fisherman himself, arranged on a thin bed of arugula from Norwich Meadows Farm, the seasoning of the salad adjusted, including a drizzle of juice from a Chelsea While Foods Market organic lemon
  • leaves of peppery arugula from Norwich Meadows Farm, dressed with a good olive oil, sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a drizzle lemon juice, arranged as a bed for the salad
  • slices of a superb 100% whole wheat bread from the bakery at Runner & Stone

Because both courses were so easily assembled, the water for the pasta could be heated while we were still enjoying the seafood salad, meaning there was no serious interruption before moving on the pasta.

  • a few handfuls of roughly cut purple mustard greens from Lani’s Farm, stirred into a little olive oil inside a large vintage copper pot in which 2 small cloves of sliced ‘music garlic’ from Windfall Farms had been allowed to sweat, seasoned with salt and pepper, and set aside while 8 ounces of a very good Agricola del Sole orecciette di grana arso from Flatiron Eataly had been cooked al dente, the pasta then drained, transferred into the pot with the garlic and greens, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and a pinch of an Eckerton Hill Farm crushed dried hickory smoked Jamaican Scotch bonnet pepper, some of the pasta cooking water added and the mix stirred over a high lame until the liquid had emulsified, then arranged inside shallow bowls and served tossed with some grated Sini Fulvi Pecorino Romano D.O.C. from the Chelsea Whole Foods Market, finishing with a drizzle of olive oil around the edges