The shock absorbers in the cook’s left knee seem to have torn, reducing his mobility. For a while the ingredients in these meals will be sourced less from local producers, and more from local retailers. This means that instead of buying from local farmers in the Union Square Greenmarket, he will be visiting the shops that are nearest to his kitchen. He’ll also be able to lean on the most over-qualified kitchen helper, ever.

So this meal was transitional.

• three cloves of roughly-sliced Rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm heated with a tablespoon or more of olive oil inside a large tin-lined high-sided pot until softened, then 2 shallots and a bit of crushed dried golden/orange habanada pepper added, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, 8 or 10 pitted oil-cured olives from Buon Italia stirred in, and 16 ounces of gently-cooked eggplant-filled ravioli from Citarella (no cheese inside) added, followed by some reserved pasta cooking water, in small amounts, stirred with the mix until the liquid had emulsified, the sauced ravioli served in shallow bowls, sprinkled with a Parmigiano Reggiano Hombre from Whole Foods Market, garnished with pea sprouts from Windfall Farms, finished with a final drizzle of olive oil around the edges
• the wine was an Italian (Tuscany) red, Farnetella, Chianti Colli Senesi 2015, from Flatiron Wines
• the music was Bruckner’s Symphony No. 0 (Linz Version, 1865-66), Georg Solti conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra