A Speakeasy Pizza Joint

On Wednesday we went to SRO (Standing Room Only), which is a hidden pizza joint. Last year, the Boy and I went to Bohemian, a speakeasy Japanese restaurant, which has amazing decor, a chilled vibe and delicious wagyu beef.

SRO was full of young and trendies, and attached to another pizza place, which was forlornly quiet even though it was about six times the size of SRO. There was a definite pop-up feel to SRO, we all all rammed into a tiny space, with a red curtain separating us, the window and the pavement. The temperature rose quickly, as the place filled, and I'm sure they cranked the music (though this may be because I'm getting old.)

Food-wise, there was fixed menu on offer. The starter was a bit meh - basically a sausage roll with broccoli - and the dessert, a tres leches cake, like a sponge cake that was sodden with milk; surprisingly tastier than it sounds.

The piece de resistance really was the pizza though. We had the Montanara, which is your basic margherita but fried. Oh my Lord it was good. You'd think it was greasy, but it was just the right side of oil. Just moist. Just chewy - but in a good way. Just crunchy. Oh, it was good.

Was it worth the $38 plus three mini wines. Hmmmm. But give me a slice of the pizza for $5 and you have yourself a winner.

A Week Alone

It's been pretty hard without the Boy this week. I've had five terrible nights' sleep. One night, I dreamt that I was in the back seat of a car and there was this crazy animal trying to get into the open window. It was pretty freaky. At the start of the week, I also had trouble with a lack of food in the house, so had to raid the freezer and put together a random dinner one night.

As time goes on, you adapt and you remember how you used to function before you became a couple. I've been a bit more organised and planned a few meals in one shop. I think when there are two of you, there's less to do, as you share chores. I don't normally mind leaving the meal planning to the evening. But everything takes so long when you're by yourself so I've been more organised.

One thing I've struggled with is the amount of cooking. I made enough congee for four tonight - even though the Boy hates congee.

Just four more sleeps before he's back. Roll on Friday...

Christmas Break

I'm ashamed by how little we did over Christmas. I'm rubbish at taking time off to be at home usually, but we've travelled so much in 2014 (brag, brag, brag), we both needed some down time.

So we had 12 days off and we made two excursions: one to see tacky, OTT Christmas decorations in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, and the second up to the Met in the Upper East Side. Aside, from that, we've done very little. And it's been magic.

Dyker Heights was incredible, and I think my father-in-law, who had indulged me in making the hour-long journey, enjoyed it more than he had expected. There were amazing National Lampoon-esque Christmas decorations, complete with a Times Square Elmo, who was charging a dollar to have his picture taken with children in front of the tackiest house.

The Met was the Met. Extremely busy but amazing. How can they transplant so much stuff and house it in one building? A huge Egyptian temple, a room full of armoured soldiers mounted on horses, a panoramic painting of the palace of Versailles (OK, not that impressive for Europeans who have been to the real thing). Quite incredible. But don't go during the holidays. Just don't. You'll want to punch a Spanish-speaking woman with three children... For instance...