Renata Adler at The Center for Fiction, Darbar, New York City Ballet & "Hannah Arendt" at Montclair Film Festival - Part 2

In order to round out & fill in this follow-up (and 2nd) portion 

Jerome Robbins

of my most recent post - a synoptic view of a few Metro Area cultural events attended - I'll present and discuss just a few more memorable events ... dance performances (The New York City Ballet ... offering up an all Jerome Robbins program of upbeat, seemingly casual & sophisticated, relatively contemporary balletic theater pieces); more food (Brasilina, featuring a line-up of authentic Brazilian delicacies); and cinema (Margarethe von Trotta's feature film, Hannah Arendt). 

Here goes ...

Morton Gould

A part of Lincoln Center's American Music Festival, the May 4th, Saturday evening all-Robbins program (performed at the David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center Plaza) was assembled, according to the NYC Ballet "official" (Playbill) program, to honor the centennial of the birth of Morton Gould, the Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer who was a long time colleague of both George Balanchine & Jerome Robbins. Thus, two of three ballets performed (and choreographed by Robbins), featured two of Gould's better known musical works for the ballet: Interplay and I'm Old Fashioned.  

Interplay, which had its New York City Ballet Premiere in

Interplay

December,1952, is a bouncy, colorful, upbeat, and playful sequence comprising four unified and unifying movements with titles like "free play" (showcasing the full cast, and the interplay between and among eight quirky but spunky dance personae, 4 male, 4 female); "horseplay" (a single male dancer rhythmically & emphatically just, well, horsing around the stage making his "solo" masculine case and fortified with an ego supported by very strong, sound movements); "byplay" (a light & lyrical, "bluesy" pas de deux); and "team play" involving the interplay, once again, of the full cast ... with lots of rhythmic movement, male-female (or, better, really, girl-boy) pairings, and the kind of quick & intense dancing you might find in a Broadway musical like Oklahoma, but reflecting a more refined, controlled & delicate moment in the "action"). 

Interplay

Apparently, the ballet depicts the interplay of classical and more popular (i.e., "vernacular") choreography and Robbins is said to have "experimented with choreographic patterns and the interactions of [his] dancers in various formations." (Note the photo.) The 3rd section of the ballet, "byplay," the bluesy pas de deux mentioned above, and showcasing Lauren Lovette & Taylor Stanley, reflects a stark contrast - from within Robbins' plan & Gould's score - with the "joyfully competitive spirit of the [whole] ballet." During this performance of Interplay, kudos, it should be noted, must go to the orchestra's solo pianist, Ms. Susan Walters, whose work clearly complemented the production, while accentuating its lyricism. 

I'm Old Fashioned (with music, again, by Morton Gould, after a  Jerome Kern  song, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer) is Robbins' rich &  wonderful tribute to Fred Astaire. The central dance sequence - the glamorous waltzes - constitute the motif throughout the ballet & are reprised almost cinematically leading up toward the finale by the full dance troupe with dancers, male & female, in stunning, sophisticated black garb recalling Mr. Astair and Rita Hayworth who waltz crisply in a projected scene from the film - You Were Never Lovelier - toward the beginning of the ballet and another at the very end. 

The whole ballet, and certainly the last few minutes, is danced in a relatively smooth and slow waltz ... and the whole production takes on a semi-magical, fairy-tale (Hollywood!) aura contrasting the steps of the cast of the New York City Ballet - waltzing slowly - with the larger-than-life figures of Fred Astair & partner projected on the screen, just above center stage.

Fancy Free

Fancy Free is all Robbins & Bernstein - upbeat, lyrical, clever, full of emotional content (affect) ... percolating with lots of rhythm, pseudo-dramatic speech & body language, and balletic pyrotechnics from all three "sailor"-dancers looking for action in a we've-come-

Fancy Free

ashore-in-New-York-City narrative ... and an inspiration for the full-length musical you all know well, On the Town (with Gene Kelly & Frank Sinatra). Fancy Free is a great deal of fun, a fine ensemble piece, with moments of spectacular solo/individual dancing, funny, sad, competitive, naturalistic, whimsical! 

Note:  If seeing a ballet performance, or two (or three), at Lincoln Center kindles your taste buds, or, on the other hand, if you feel the need to eat before attending such an event, the Lincoln Square Business Improvement District has now published exactly what you need: its most recent (2012-2013) Restaurant & Bar Guide. Entitled "Where to Eat in Lincoln Square," the guide is free & available at Lincoln Center. It is a compact & rather comprehensive pamphlet listing establishments for food & drink of every kind & category in the immediate area, from "cheap" to "very expensive," even providing you with a street map of the locality & appropriate headings - "American (New & Traditional)," "Cafes, Bakeries & Sweets," "Bars & Lounges," "Quick Casual," "Mediterranean" - for easy reading/scanning and, perhaps, texting or tweeting your favorite dining companions about your final choice!

We selected Brasilina, at 55th & 9th Ave. (836 9th; 212/969-9970) a resto just outside the bounds of the Lincoln Square guide, but just a quick seven-block trot to the David H. Koch Theater & the NYC Ballet. This impressive medium-size quirky resto - producing & purveying a rich selection of Brazilian delicacies - might just hit the spot for you ... especially if you feel like concentrating on "belisquetes" (appetizers/small plates) such as the ceviche de vieiras (scallop ceviche, citrus pickled red onions, bloody Mary "dices" & a side of French baguette toasts, served in 3 individual shot glasses; @ $15); their spunky (somewhat fiery) take on traditional guacamole (@ $6); or the salgados (assorted Brazilian croquettes, including chicken "Cosinha," beef "kibe" & codfish "Bolinho de Bacalhau"; @ $9).

 
To this list of small plates noted above I must add one outstanding entree:  the galeto organico ... an organic free range Cornish hen, plated along with a cup of "creamy" corn & spring rice ... a crispy-skinned tender, juicy & flavorful bird simply grilled to perfection (@ $24). Brasilina offers beer & wines by the glass and they have a very diverse wine list, from which we chose a moderately priced French rose (2010; Estandon, Cotes de Provence, @ $30) ... and did that twice! 

From Haute Cuisine

And, finally, to cinema (as promised up above) and a brief mention of the 2013 Montclair Film Festival (2nd annual, April 29th-May 5th) - presenting more than 80 films in all kinds of categories & genres, with special events, seminars, talks, directorial & critical insights, post-film Q & A sessions, and much more ... with something for just about any taste, orientation or subject matter preference. They've even curated a new category, "Culinary Cinema," offering up, for example, such imports as Haute Cuisine (2012; directed by Christian Vincent; & sold out early!), a comic narrative film inspired by the modest actual "provincial chef who was summoned in the 1980s" to serve as "personal cook for French President Mitterand." Hopefully, the film will open shortly in The NY Metro Area (or, perhaps, already has by now) and we'll have a chance to view it. After all, the provincial chef, Daniele Delpeuch - and the politics & difficulties surrounding her situation in the Elysee Palace kitchens - had been profiled in some depth recently in a "Saturday People" column in The New York Times.

But, among the numerous top-notch films offered at this festival, the one we really wanted to see was Hannah Arendt, a film by Margarethe von Trotta (2012) that presents a fairly comprehensive portrait of Arendt - her ideas (e.g., the "banality of evil" that evolved out of her Eichmann coverage & analysis); her publications; her circle of "expat" friends, lovers, interlocuters & enemies ... in New York, Jerusalem & Germany. 

Arendt at Eichmann Trial

The film events take place primarily during the period of the Eichmann trial which Arendt covered eagerly & relentlessly, beginning in the Jerusalem District Court in April 1961, in a series of in-depth, severe, indiosyncratic, analytical articles for The New Yorker, under assignment by the then editor, William Shawn. She was, it turned out, praised in some quarters for her Eichmann trial articles (& her book-length compilation entitled Eichmann in Jerusalem) and savaged & pilloried in others for purporting to present Holocaust survivors & European Jewish leaders, in general, as not only victims but, in some sense, accessories to, complicit in & masters of, the insidious & horrendous "manufacture" of the death of European Jewry. An enlightening, multi-perspective Q & A took place following the film, featuring various responses by Roger Berkowitz, Academic Director of the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics & Humanities at Bard College in New York's lower Hudson Valley (Annandale-on-Hudson, NY). The film is engrossing throughout, the acting extremely fine & subtle all around ... with kudos, particularly, to Barbara Sukowa (as the brilliant German-Jewish emigree, Hannah Arendt) & to the director, Ms. von Trotta.

Renata Adler at The Center for Fiction, Darbar, New York City Ballet & "Hannah Arendt" at Montclair Film Festival - Part 1

During the past few weeks we've attended a batch of noteworthy events - both large scale & small format - that we'd just like to single out (below) in this synoptic overview ... just a few events, that is, out of numerous readings/presentations, dance performances & films seen in and around the New York Metro area.

Renata Adler

Center for Fiction

On April 16th, a petite, rather thin,75-year-old Renata Adler - idiosyncratic journalist, novelist &, well, tendentious film critic - appeared at The Center for Fiction to a standing-room-only crowd in conjunction with the reissue by NYRB  "Classics," the book-publishing arm of The New York Review of Books, of her only two published (short) novels: Speedboat (1976; winner of the Ernest Hemingway Award for Best First Novel) and Pitch Dark (1983). Typically, during these sorts of events, Ms. Adler  read from her two most celebrated novelistic works, and from other sources (a new novel, some reviews) ... and generously answered questions, both of a personal and professional nature. Still quite the character, Adler also submitted to a lengthy interview, posted online at The Center web site where she spoke of "creating sentences, weathering controversy, dealing with the necessary annoyance[s] of computers," as well as admitting to her feelings of awe when facing the likes of master fiction writers such as Isaac Babel & Henry James - and, surprisingly, in facing Oprah.

According to The Center for Fiction event handout & thorough online publicity, Ms. Adler was born in Milan and raised in Connecticut. She received a B.A. from Bryn Mawr; an M.A. in Comparative Literature from Harvard (working under I.A. Richards & Roman Jakobson); a doctorate from the Sorbonne where she studied philosophy, structuralism & linguistics under the tutelage of Claude Levi-Strauss; and a J.D. from Yale Law School, along with an LL.D. (honorary) from Georgetown. Adler became a staff writer at The New Yorker in 1963 and, except for a year as the chief film critic of The New York Times, remained at The New Yorker for the next four decades. Her books, in addition to the two reissued novels mentioned above, include A Year in the Dark (1969); Toward a Radical Middle (1970); Reckless Disregard: Westmoreland v. CBS et al., Sharon v. Time (1986); Canaries in the Mineshaft (2001); Gone: The Last Days of The New Yorker (1999); and Irreparable Harm: The U.S. Supreme Court and The Decision That Made George W. Bush President (2004). 

The reading/presentation proved interesting, even galvanizing in spots, and Ms. Adler's face & her voice will be etched in our collective memories for some time to come. She graciously signed the colorful new NYRB paperback editions of Speedboat  ("a novel, a memoir, a lyric essay?") & Pitch Dark ("a book of questions, questions that bedevil" the protagonist, Kate Ennis ... which adds up to [according to The Boston Globe] "a moving, infuriating, tantalizing book") amidst enthusiastic guests, with their cups of wine, who had just composed the rather full & involved audience.

Just so you know, The Center for Fiction, located at 17 East 47th, between 5th and Madison (tel. 212/755-6710), offers numerous programs, focusing on writers (short story writers, memoir writers); writing processes; seminars & master classes; literary fiction writing, crime fiction, novels, novelists ... and many of the events are free.  Do check out  their web site and you will find, for example, that the celebrated novelist, James Salter, will be reading from (and signing) his new novel, All That Is, on the evening of May 15th at 7:00.  Might not be too late to reserve tickets & attend!

 

If you do check out their web site, you will find out immediately that The Center for Fiction - which was founded in 1820 as the Mercantile Library - "is the only organization in the United States devoted solely to the vital art of fiction." The Center's stated mission consists in encouraging "people to read and value fiction and to support and celebrate its creation and enjoyment."  They go on to state that ...

   With all our resources, including our exceptional book collection, our beautiful  
     reading room, our expanding website, and our ever-growing array of creative 
     programs, we seek  to serve the reading public, to build a larger audience for    
     fiction, and to create a place where readers and writers can share their passion for 
     literature.

The Center for fiction is the only not-for-profit literary organization in the U.S. exclusively dedicated to "celebrating fiction" ...  working "every day to connect readers and writers." And, The Center is clearly growing, cultivating an audience for its varied & various programs and, in my view, is indeed succeeding in creating a nexus where writers & readers can share their passion for literature! 

The Center - Bookshop

Finally, it might be to your advantage to visit The Center Bookshop, on the ground floor of their historic building (again, at 17 East 47th St.) to witness the large selection of new and used volumes and "gifts for readers at great prices." The Center reminds us that beyond the web-based  bookstore, "we still maintain an old-fashioned bookshop where visitors can find exciting new voices, undiscovered gems, beloved classics and books signed by many of the leading writers who are appearing at The Center, along with lit t-shirts, note cards and more! We stock all reading group books, and all of our stock is 25% off the cover price, with an additional 10% off for members. Used books start at just $2!"

M. Proust

I look forward to becoming acquainted with fellow fiction enthusiasts at The Center where we can chat about, listen to - and indulge in - the work of such varied writers as Claire Messud, Jim Shepard, Jamie Quatro, James Salter, Sam Lipsyte, Rivka Galchen, Don DeLillo, Louis Begley, Roxana Robinson, Luis Alberto Urrea,  William H. Gass, even Marcel Proust ... and many, many more!

If you plan on attending an event at The Center for Fiction, I'd suggest a visit to nearby Darbar (for lunch or dinner; at 152 E. 46 St., Tel. 212/681-4500), an Indian resto & lounge, with friendly service that is, according to Zagat, "dependably delicious as well as affordable."  It is, indeed, a friendly spot, with an attentive & helpful wait staff delivering "the goods" from a kitchen adept at preparing extremely tasty Indian delicacies - from appetizers to Tandoori breads, Tandoori entrees to chicken, lamb & goat mains, as well as fish courses and succulent vegetable main plates, like Eggplant Korma (cubed eggplant prepared in a creamy sauce; @ $11.) or Eggplant Bhartha (baked eggplant sauteed with onions & tomatoes; @ $11).   

On this particular visit, three of us ate quite a lot of food - a few appetizer plates, an entree each, an order of Garlic Naan, coupled with plentiful Basmati rice, a few glasses of cold Indian beer, and a glass or two of Malbec) - all adding up to a small feast for less than $30. per person!  The best dishes proved to be the Chicken La Jawab (or chicken cooked with ginger, garlic, tomatoes & chilies and sprinkled with fresh herbs, ginger & spices; @ $13) ... and the Chef's Special Chicken Malai (chicken simmered with aromatic spices in a cream sauce; @ $13).  

Garlic Naan Bread

Two of the appetizers proved superbly tasty:  the Crab Cake (a chunk of Maine crab flavored with curry leaves & ginger; @ $10) and the Gobi Manchurian (cauliflowers sauteed with ginger, garlic & soy sauce; also $10).  Indeed, there is much on the rich Darbar menu to explore upon a return trip!

On & Along West 45th Street -- Orphans & the Ember Room

www.playbill.com

Lyle Kessler's darkly comic 1983 drama, Orphans, is back on a New York City stage ... and just now (April 18th) about to open on Broadway at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (236 West 45th St) following a few weeks of previews and directorial revisions.  In addition, there has even been a relatively last-minute actor replacement -- with Ben Foster (in the role of Treat, the older "orphan"-brother) -- who has joined this talented trio of actors, comprising Alec Baldwin (dominating  much of the proceedings as the notorious Chicago gangster, Harold) & Tom Sturridge (a British import who plays Phillip, the younger brother). And, indeed, a fine ensemble these three men make on stage in this extremely harrowing play with emphatically delivered lines, in, predominantly, four closely drawn shades of ... bilious, bellicose, tortuous & tortured ... all around.

Cast Photo / Joan Marcus

You might know the O. Henry short story entitled "The Ransom of Red Chief, " a genuinely ironic, utterly comical-farcical version of a kidnapping situation gone haywire every step of the way. The two kidnappers end up paying a few hundred dollars back to the kidnapped boy's father (the "Red Chief" of the title is the only child of one Ebenezer Dorset, "a prominent citizen" of Summit, a small southern town seemingly perfect for their scheme). Dorset will, in fact, not pay a ransom; if Dorset agrees to take the boy back it will be on his terms ... there will be no big win for Bill & Sam in having snatched the loathsome boy to begin with; not the $2,000. they had insisted on in their ransom note, not the $1,000. they might have settled for, but just a payment they are forced to make to the banker father in order to get rid of a troublesome, sometimes treacherous, belligerent, impossible kid ... for good, for sure, for ever ... and escape (alive and in tact) from Summit & from possible prosecution!

Orphans is also rich in irony, but the irony here is dark & bittersweet and sometimes just simply brutal & bitter, and considerably more complex and subtle. The ostensible "kidnappers" are the sociopathic Treat (the older brother: a thug, a petty criminal, a loudmouth & a bully) and the intellectually stunted & emotionally occluded Phillip, a boy-man who can't read, can't figure things out, can't even tie his own shoes ... and can't leave the North Philadelphia tenement-like row house in which they grew up with their mother (who died or departed) and where (now confined) he simply watches old movies (he seems to know every Errol Flynn flick, for example) every day for fear that, if, against his brother's dictate, he goes out into the street, he will not be able to breath the external air, day or night, and he will faint or ooze oral or nasal secretions, or suffocate & die.

Photo / Joan Marcus

But soon, Treat brings home Harold who he has, he thinks, kidnapped and who appears to be a rich businessman with lots of accoutrements, lots of ready cash ... a prize middle-aged male specimen who Treat intends to, if necessary, brutally shake down. But Treat doesn't know Harold, at all; he doesn't know that Harold was (and still is) a big-time Chicago-based gangster with lots of old (real) enemies and  who was, himself, an orphan living among orphans. 

And thus, there will be no money exchanged for Harold -- everyone from Chicago is looking for him and wants to take him down ... to kill him but not buy him his freedom.  And Harold is no "Red Chief"; rather, Harold wants to change these two boys; tame them; help them; pay them well; and ensure them that he will have them working for him after a certain period of time -- of change, of growth, of motivation, of "training" (of sorts) in anger-management, and "civilizing" them (in terms of their conversation, clothes & food; and, also, in living in a more carefully re-organized, respectable & newly appointed apartment. 

The orphan brothers, having had Harold enter their lives, will , indeed, be changed for ever.  They will have a "father" and he will have "sons."  Phillip will become a friend & son to Harold and will be motivated by him in all respects  ... even navigating his way around Philadelphia with a map (he has rarely before been out of the house; he has never seen a city map!) that Harold teaches him to read & negotiate. Treat learns to work for Harold and, under his guidance becomes, well, what might be termed a "bag" man for him ... now that he is slowly becoming suitable for "serious" outside work on Harold's behalf. While Phillip seems to get on well & easily with this father figure, Treat remains somewhat angry & edgy and uncomfortable in his new role -- even with new suits & new shoes & the use of Harold's credit card -- and slow to adapt to Harold's "rules," manners, ideas, and work ethic, if we can call it that.

But this new "family" seems to be getting on a bit too comfortably to be believed & fully supported by Treat; he soon has a few  major "professional" & personal-emotional lapses that upset Harold ... and presently Treat will leave the apartment stormily because he feels he is being suffocated & subsumed under Harold's rule and Harold's business ... Harold's "plans" for him. To where, exactly, he goes, we are not privy ... but he returns after a while to sniff around the apartment and to find out what's been transpiring. But Harold is not to be found at home ... he is downtown ... and when he returns, well, the boys will be grieving once again over their new orphan status.

Orphans is well acted and directed competently by the seemingly indefatigable & omnipresent Daniel Sullivan.  The ensemble works seemlessly during the play's two acts.  Kudos especially go to Alec Baldwin for his fine performance as the Irish gangster, Harold.  But Mr. Foster and Mr. Sturridge must also be praised for their idiosyncratic & consistent character delineation as they each wend their way throughout the proceedings.

Orphans is hardly what you might consider an upbeat play & a happy theater experience; it is, most fundamentally, a dreary, depressing & bleak play, with some high notes in various spots -- e.g., within certain sections of Harold's speeches. These characters are not loveable; perhaps, with the exception of Harold, not even likeable; you don't identify with them. And the play itself -- as a whole work, unified & full circle -- leaves us a little empty, a little annoyed, with only minimal feelings of pathos, a bit upset, emotionally confused, shaken & off-balance. But don't take my word:  Experience this bitter comedy-drama for yourself when it opens ...  The play is scheduled for a limited Broadway run (through June 30th).

Ember Room - Exterior

In the very same mid-town Manhattan area -- just walk west a block or so on 45th St. from the Schoenfeld Theatre to 647 9th Avenue (between 45th & 46th; tel. 212/245-8880) -- you can dine reasonably & exceedingly well in the Ember Room, a "trendy Thai" resto specializing in what has come to be known in Bangkok as "Thai comfort food." The very talented chef, Ian Chalermkittichai seemlessly adapts a wide variety of "seductive ingredients" from "other culinary cultures" (notably Italy, Belgium, France, Japan & the USA) to those traditionally found in the Thai kitchen ... and the results that are offered here are luscious & delectable across the board.   

Ember Room - Interior

As one might anticipate, the menu is full of interesting appetizers, noodle dishes, soups, small plates,and entrees reflecting a great variety of surprisingly well-blended tastes, textures, and tidbits. One of Mr. Chalermkittichai's signature fusion dishes, for example (which we did not sample) consists in his own version of baby-backed ribs grilled with an almost "irresistible"  (according to our waiter) BBQ-smoked Belgian chocolate sauce (@ $7). Another special dish, a substantial appetizer, featured a succulently grilled Japanese eggplant, prepared with smoked salt, cilantro & red miso glaze (which we did, indeed, sample; @ $6). All four of us agreed that the grilled eggplant proved to be just, well, a singular item ... scrumptious, indeed!

Red Chili Sea Bass

Green Curry Lasagna

We sampled several other dishes -- small plate & entree size -- not to mention a side/ appetizer (twice) of the crispy chili-crusted 7-spice fries, with "ember" mayo ($5).  For dinner, specifically, we shared a few small plates and each of us chose individual ("entree") items for our mains. The appetizers we ordered included the grilled Japanese eggplant (see description above), the ember room spring roll (filled with vermicelli noodles, shitake mushroom, shredded cabbage, mozzarella & accompanied by a dipping sauce of spicy mayo; @ $6), and the 7-spice fries (also described above). One member of our party ordered -- and thoroughly enjoyed -- the green curry lasagna bolognese, with fresh mozzarella, parmesan & ground beef; @ $14). Two others at our table settled on the sea bass, though prepared behind two different culinary interpretations -- one (my wife) chose the crispy whole striped bass ... a whole fish with sweet/sour/spicy sauce & crispy basil (@ $22); a friend selected the waiter-prescribed red chili-glazed sea bass ($24), freshly baked, and featuring a sweet & spiced glaze, celery root puree & gailan (or Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce) ... a very tender chunk of sea bass which all of us designated outstanding!  I selected something I thought unique, or, at least, unusual: the Heritage pork belly ($19), a braised "block" of tender, juicy, sweet (fatty) pork belly resting in a shallow bowl of Chaing Mai (Thailand) spices, with root vegetables, Asian herbs & finished with fresh ginger. 

Heritage Pork Belly

All of these plates proved consistently fresh, unusually tasty & wholly seductive to our quartet of palates!

Citrus Layered Crepe Cake

We finished up with coffee (@ $3) and, as we were all pretty agreeably full, we decided to share a single dessert: a large slice of the Meyer lemon layered crepe cake, with lemon inflected gelato on the side ($7). Just enough lemony flavor to tingle the taste buds, and sufficiently intriguing (a bit of silky perfection with the coffee), to end a very pleasant meal & to cite the discovery of a new -- from our coign of vantage -- culinary gem.

Thai Style Meatballs

There were simply too many luscious sounding items (large & small) we couldn't even attempt to try, and that irrefutably piqued our palates, so we figure we'll return the next time we're hungry (and in the vicinity of West 45th & 9th) ... to sample a few more of Mr. Chalermkittichai's creations -- the Thai pastrami meatballs ($9); the Thai tacos (filled with shredded chicken, bean sprouts, chives, tofu, coconut & sweet chili sauce; @ $8); the red curry crispy duck (with lychee, pineapple, cherry tomato & eggplant; @ $18); the steamed "icy blue" canadian mussels (replete with lemongrass, spicy & sour bouillon & garlic bread; $10); the Thai chili mac & cheese (encompassing an unusual mix of thai chili jam, smoked bacon, onion, fresh mozzarella, parmesan & house-made breadcrumbs ($8) ... and much, much MORE!  

Hope to see you all some time in the not-too-distant future enjoying the unique Thai fusion cuisine at the Ember Room!