Well... I had my most expensive day in New York on Monday. In the evening I went to "Cafe des Artistes" on West 67th Street. Very plush, and very expensive. I was attracted to the name, and I was curious about whether expensive food tastes better than cheape food. I hope you all appreciate the great financial sacrifice I've made in order to share with you my experience of this restaurant, so that others after me will not have to bare the same financial burden...

Anyway, so the place was located in the "Hotel des Artistes", which has been operating since 1917. It was a small place. Fairly quiet. There weren't many people there, possibly because it was a Monday night. I ordered a glass of Merlot - some French brand, "Chateau de something something..." and some steak served with some mixture of wilted spinach and cheese, and... "pommes des frites". I should have realized what this was from my high school french. It's the posh way of saying "french fries". I'm still not used to the idea that chips are served with an expensive high-brow meal. Seems a bit out of place. The same thing happened when I had the duck confit at Cafe Mogador; it was served with a bowl of chips. Just seems odd. I guess the Americans really like their fries.

The main course was lovely, although I don't know if was particularly mindblowing, which I would expect for $39. The dessert, on the other hand, was much better value. It was recommended to me by one of the very friendly waiters (and who wouldn't be friendly when you're expecting a nice big tip, which is directly proportional to the cost of the food and drink). It was called "Hot Fudge 'Napoleon'", and consisted of two flat, oblong pieces of pastry sandwiching some icecream, with a blob of cream on top, garnished with strawberries and blueberries, and latticed with hot fudge. It would have to have been the best dessert I've ever had!

So after dinner, I headed to the Iridium Jazz Club in Midtown, where I saw Les Paul and his trio perform. He had a number of other performers come out, like a jazz violinist, a tap dancer, and a singer. Steve Miller was also in the audience (famous for some big band I think) and got up and performed. And... our very own Olivia Newton-John was also in the audience, and she got up and sung "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". So all in all, I had a very good night!!