upper west side

The first time I had been to Lincoln Center was at a performance at the Metropolitan Opera House during Christmastime. Our son was visiting from Florida, where was working at the time, and we took he and his sister to see Hansel and Gretel.  The opera house is impressive in its grandeur and elegant chandeliers. On the back of the seats there is a digital screen that provides translation in several languages of the opera. Since then, my husband and I have seen Madame Butterfly, La Boheme and La Traviata to name a few. This past spring, we saw Rigoletto. This version was updated taking place in Las Vegas in 1960’s.  It had colorful staging with lots of neon lights, costumes and even colorful characters.

We have also been to Lincoln Center Theater. The theater is designed so that the seating is almost in the round. The stage doesn’t seem as high as other theaters, so the audience feels closer to the performance. We have seen War Horse, South Pacific and recently the revival of My Fair Lady starring Laura Benanti and Harry Hadden-Paton. Following the Sunday matinee show, we went to Bar Boulud for dinner. Bar Boulud is a short walk from Lincoln Center at Broadway and 64th Street. We had previously had lunch there in late winter prior to seeing Rigoletto. 

​Bar Boulud, which is owned by the fame chef Daniel Boulud, serves seasonal French cuisine. During our visit this time, our daughter joined us as she was working in Manhattan on this particular Sunday. We all selected the price fixe dinner of two courses for $42. You also have the option of three courses for $52. My husband and daughter started off with a spring salad that included snap peas, sugar snap, favs beans, mesclun greens, goat cheese, radish drizzled with a lemon vinaigrette. I selected the pate du jour which was chicken liver mousse with cognac. It was luscious. The pate was served with frisée salad, fig jam and crusty French bread on which to spread the pate; it was divine.
 
For our entrees my daughter and I had the Lamb Navarin that was served with turnip, carrot, comes chateau and pearl onion. The lamb was fork tender and came with a lovely sauce. My husband opted for the housemade cavatelli that came with asparagus, hen of the woods, green garlic and Parmesan. He thoroughly enjoyed his pasta.
 
We passed on dessert. However, on our way back to the train, we stopped at Breads Bakery. I had seen a food show on PBS were the host visited Breads Bakery. What caught my attention during the show was the chocolate babka. How can you go wrong, bread and chocolate combined together! When we were home, my husband and I sampled a slice. It was heavenly. Babka is made by forming the dough into rolls then they are braided together. Although we were only to sample the bread then freeze it, it never made it past day two. Now when I go to Manhattan not only do I have to go to Madison-Kayser for my almond croissant, but I have to search out a branch of Breads Bakery for chocolate babka!