Alvin Langdon Coburn The Octopus 1912

• Sicilian oil-cured olives and Roberto’s grissini
• Italian-packaged Carpaccio de Piovra (pressed and thinly-sliced octopus) purchased packaged from The Lobster Place in Chelsea Market, on a Salmoriglio-type sauce of salt, lemon juice, dijon mustard, pepper, balsamic vinegar and oil, some of the sauce sprinkled on a mixture of radicchio and dandelion leaves;  accompanied by slices of Sullivan Street Bakery Ciabatta from Garden of Eden
• Bucatini all’Amatriciana, using smoked pork cheek from Marlow & Daughters, the pasta also purchased, loose from a bucket, at that excellent Williamsburg shop
• wine:  Sicilian Bombino Bianco, Marese 2008 Rivera Castel del Monte Rivera DOC from Vino
• Sweet Sam’s Bronx pound cake from Garden of Eden, topped with a dollop of Ronnybrook Farm Dairy ginger creme brulee ice cream
• wine:  Stein Bremmer Calmot Riesling Auslese 2002, a generous gift from a friend

[image from the Metropolitan Museum]