I met some friends downtown for dinner and we decided to try the Kitchen Club. I’d never eaten there before, only sake and tasty morsels at Chibi’s Bar next door. The meal was a continuation on the celebratory eating I’ve been doing since Wednesday evening, which I’ll tap about soon but currently am tapping on some pressing deadlines. All of the dishes we ate were delicious. I ordered three small plates—artichoke soup with smoked mussels, tarragon stuffed grilled sardines, and the special Dutch white asparagus with a dressed up mayonnaise. I must return soon to sample the varieties of their homemade dumplings. I had a bite of my friend’s dumpling—yumness.

In the spirit of the Japanese which infuses the Kitchen Club’s menu, they have a spectacular and booming arrangement of sakura on the bar. They kindly let me snap some pics which I post here for you and you and you..

On the hunt for pink sakura, I checked out the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s website. On May 3rd and 4th, BBG will host Sakura Matsuri celebrating Japanese culture with over sixty events—music, dance, taiko drumming, ikebana, manga art, tea ceremonies, craft demonstrations, and workshops. Their official BBG Hanami, or cherry blossom-viewing season begins this week on April 4th and runs through May 11th. You can plot which day you wish to enjoy a sakura stroll by tracking their blooming sakura on the CherryWatch Blossom Status Map. That’s a link worth toolbar-bookmarking, or feel free to come back here and click through. I don’t mind serving as your sakura go between.

Itadakemasu..