Chinatown in the snow

Last night I met a friend in Chinatown for a wander around Ming Wo (a fabulous kitchen supplies store) and then for dinner at the New Mitzie's.

Heather and I could spend hours in Ming Wo - and I think we did. We looked at and stroked items as diverse as:

frying pans

mixing bowls in lovely colors - red and green and yellow and orange

knives

Emile Henry casseroles (on sale 50% off)

expanding measuring cups (kind of weird) in brilliant primary colors

every possible type of utensil - many of which we had to make up what they were used for

muffin tins

every kind of pot and pan imaginable

We laughed at the tiny ballerinas, clown heads and bride-and-groom toppings for cakes. We drooled over the beautiful wooden salad bowls and complained about the fact that no salad servers are exactly right. Why don't they make them with a slight incline so you can get at the dressing and the tiny bits of veg at the bottom of the bowl?

I bought a gorgeous deep blue paring knife - even the blade was blue - with its own matching sheath. I used it this morning and it's perfect. Now I want to go back and by all the other colors - green and orange and yellow (but not the pink one, okay?).

And then we walked past the Chinatown gate and over to New Mitzie's. It's up a set of stairs and it's pretty much all white inside - with Chinese paintings on the walls. We sat in a white booth overlooking the street and ordered salty and spicy bean curd and prawns with cashews. It's a lovely place to watch the snow melt.

Kate