adventures in weekending: the day before father's day

The Saturday before Father's Day, you can always find me out and about - somewhat frantically - trying to find a gift for my Dad. After Bob and I walked the High Line from 23rd St. to 14th, we headed to Bowery's Kitchen Supply at the Chelsea Market.

See, my Dad loves to cook. And he's really great at it. So a professional restaurant supply store seemed right up his alley. Surely there must be something he doesn't own already! How wrong I was. The entire store is his kitchen! I walked around with a pair of bamboo utensils used for salad tossing before I set them down and said to myself, a giant bamboo fork and spoon for Father's Day? Maybe not.

And so I headed out the market empty-handed. But not before stopping for Jacques Torres cookies. I needed that consolation.

Speaking of food (and since when am I not talking about food?), we had a terrific lunch at Pipa's. I've had a love affair with jamon Serrano, since I tried it at a Spanish restaurant some months ago. So imagine my delighted surprise when I learned Pipa's served it in a sandwich with melted Manchego, toasted crusty bread and honey aioli - done and done.

You need to go there. Now.

By the way, I ended up getting my Dad this. You just can't go wrong with some good cuts of meat.