Spoon #38: Sapthagiri

The diet is over!  Let the swapping resume!

Just this past week, Ms. Dish and I were visited by our friends from the West, Lefty and Righty.  Since L&R are vegetarians, we decided to take them to India Square in Jersey City for some vegetarian Indian food.  We found ourselves at Sapthagiri:

I really like Sapthagiri in that it is exotic to a guy like me, but still very welcoming.  It certainly did not hurt that on this trip we had Righty with us, who knows his way around an Indian menu.  He went to work ordering and as dish after dish came out from the kitchen each seemed progressively more delicious.  I hate to even bring it up, but the most surprising part of the night may have been the check which was about half of what we were expecting! 

If you're like me, you may be wondering what "Sapthagiri" means.  According to The Internet, it is a hill in Tirumala, India consisting of seven peaks.  The peaks are taken to represent the seven heads of the deity Adisesha. 
 

Aside from being a vegetarian's paradise, Sapthagiri is also a spoon-swappers paradise, as each dish comes with its own spoon.  Here is our new Spoon number 38:

Marked "Winco Stainless 18-0", this looks like a Winco "Dots" spoon, just like #35.  38 is just a little different in that the "Mysterious Winco 8" at the bowl is not in a circle.

Stay tuned Spoon-swappers, as Ms. Dish and I have a bit of a road trip planned!  

Spoon #37: The Odeon

Well not long after Ms. Dish and I went on our new diet, we decided to break our diet, visiting The Odeon in TriBeCa.  Ordinarily we would have felt very guilty about doing so, but we both agreed this was one of the best meals we'd ever had.

Initially attracted by their classy neon sign, we had no idea that The Odeon is apparently something of a legend among the hip.  This was surprising as the place was not "hip" but just classy and unpretentious, not to mention an incredibly satisfying place to break your diet.

And here's a surprise - Spoon #37 is a new make!

Marked with the exotic name "Arcoroc" and "18-10", Spoon Thirty-Seven appears to be from the Vesca collection:

Arcoroc, it turns out, is a division of Arc International, a French manufacturer that dates back to 1825.  The company was founded as a glass-making outfit and is still well known for their glassware.  According to Wikipedia, Arc re-invests 3% of their turnover into Research & Development.  To the layman you might wonder what is left to R&D regarding glassware, but check out their "Effervescence Plus" concept - champagne flutes that make the bubbles last longer!  Or how about "Slide Control" - glasses with silicone seals on the bottom so they don't slide off your tray!  What a time to be alive! 

Spoon #36: South's

Well Spoon Swappers, I know this 'blog has been cold the past few weeks.  In fact, this swap happened well over a month ago!  The reason swaps have been few and far between lately is that Ms. Dish and I are on a diet!  Yes, the high life of dining and swapping is mighty fine, but every once in a while we all need to take a step back to re-fresh.  More swaps to come though - I promise!

Spoon 36 was swapped at Souths in TriBeCa.  A pressing downpour caused us to once again completely forget to take a picture for our records, so we must settle for a Street-View.

Ducking in from the rain, we found Souths to be the perfect refuge on a nasty Spring evening.  Cold beer, great food and a friendly atmosphere - who could ask for more?

This swap almost didn't happen as Spoon 36 was on the verge of being "too big".  I believe it came in a bowl of French Onion soup.  We were desperate, however, and made our move.  Here we have it:

Spoon 36 is only includes the markings "STAINLESS STEEL CHINA", so although we know what it's made of and what country it came from, that's about it! We'll have to toss it in the "Unidentified" bin.

Things to Do with a Spoon: Balance it on Your Nose!

Here is an excellent tutorial on a skill that every spoon-swapper should possess:

 

"How to Hang a Spoon on your Nose" via wikiHow.

Spoon #35: The Diner

The Diner:

Its name says it all!  And so last week when Ms. Dish and I found ourselves in the uber-trendy Meatpacking District, we got exactly what we expected at The Diner, and some fine people-watching to boot!

Here we have our new spoon, which I believe came with a slice of apple pie a la mode:

Marked "Winco Stainless 18-0" with the Winco "circle 8" at the bowl, this is a Winco spoon we have not seen before.  The internet reveals that it is from Winco's "Dots" collection:

Finally a spoon name that makes some sense!  Just as "The Diner" perfectly describes the restaurant, "Dots" perfectly describes this spoon!  

Oneida: The Band

Hey, did you know there's a band out there called Oneida?  You probably did because you are more hip than I!  Yes, it was maybe a year ago that I stumbled into a local record store, and among the other cards with band names that I have ignored or not noticed countless times, there is was: Oneida!  "Ah, a spoon band!" I thought to myself, and promptly looked them up when I got home.  I am pleased to announce that Oneida the band produce beautiful noise:

And live too!

Spoon #34: Freemans Restaurant

Just off Rivington Street is Freeman's Alley:

And hidden away at the end of Freeman's Alley is Freemans Restaurant:

On a mysterious tip, Ms. Dish and I decided to sneak in for dinner not too long ago.  As the website says, "the idea of the restaurant was to make rugged clandestine colonial American tavern" and well, that's about as good a description of Freemans as any! The motif seems to be "hip backwoods cabin" from the pewter bar to the collection of animal heads/antlers.

If you stop in I would have to recommend, as was recommended to us, that you try the artichoke dip and the "devils on horseback".  These seem to be some of the most popular dishes, as we saw several walk past our table.  Our anonymous tipster was correct - everything was de-licious!

Now what type of spoon do you suspect we swapped at Freemans?  Well, here it is:

The popular Winco Continental!  Not too much to say about this one - simply marked "Winco Stainless 18-0" with the "mysterious circle-8" toward the bowl.  Like running into an old friend in an exotic location.