A Eulogy, in Restaurants

Next week, I'll back to my regularly scheduled restaurant review, but in this post I wanted to pay homage to one of my favorite dining partners: my vivacious grandmother, who just passed away on Thursday at 91 (1917-2009). She is referenced in various posts on this blog.
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Grandma was always happiest when everyone was eating, although she would tell you that she herself ate like a bird. We painted the town red, going to Payard for tea, Sant Ambroeus for lunch, and Teodora for dinner. We hit all the hot spots; last year, my companion and I took her to Quality Meats. We were regulars at Elio’s; this was one of Grandma’s favorite restaurants, because she used to go there with my late grandfather. But no matter where we went, she would always ask, “What are you having? That's all? No appetizer, no salad? Are you enjoying your food?” (She would also mention that Grandpa would have liked what I was eating. He liked to read menus and eat exotic foods just like me.)

I discovered a lot of new foods in Grandma’s kitchen. She introduced me to egg barley, and she made all the Hungarian specialties like nockerl and kaposzta teszta. Grandpa would have all the ingredients for homemade fountain sodas in the fridge, and there was always lots of candy on the coffee table, so their apartment was really a great place for a kid.

As Grandma grew older, she wasn’t as able to cook, so we’d go out to Our Place on 3rd Avenue. One memorable night, we went there with my aunt, my father, and my brother. It was a rather challenging evening; we were all arguing with each other. My aunt had sent her food back twice, and the cook had put peppers in Grandma’s main dish (my aunt wanted to try it but had an allergy to peppers). I had to leave the table and take a deep breath. When I returned, it was time to open the fortune cookies, and Grandma’s said: “Your family is one of nature’s masterpieces.” We all burst out laughing.

Grandma lived through many ups and downs, surgeries, and the passing of my grandfather, whom she was always thinking about. But through it all, she maintained the most positive attitude - even after falling and breaking her arm in three places while in her mid-80's. It really didn’t take her long to recover; soon we were going out to the movies and Etats-Unis.

She appreciated every little thing, an iced coffee, a birthday card, her egg poacher, the smoked fish from Sable's, a short phone call, and the apricot cake from Andre’s Hungarian that I brought her this past Sunday - the last day I saw her.

Rest in peace, Grandma, and I hope there are some good restaurants in heaven.