Sorry for the lack of posts recently - I have been swamped with work and travel (can you believe that summer is almost over?) I’m back in New York for the next couple of weeks so I’ll have more time to eat at fabulous restaurants and blog about them for you. One of my upcoming dining experiences that I’m excited to blog about is my meal at per se in the Time Warner Center on September 7th; Chris, Joe, Ariel, and I are celebrating the end of summer with an all-out meal at the Thomas Keller’s restaurant.

To whet my appetite, I’m reading Phoebe Damrosch’s book, Service Included: Four Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter (thanks to a suggestion from a reader, Michelle), going through reviews of per se (Frank Bruni’s and The Amateur Gourmet’s are both great), and looking through my posts about my previous Thomas Keller restaurant experiences at Bouchon Bakery, ad hoc, and The French Laundry.

I’m headed to Florida the day after the meal and I’ll have the opportunity to blog about per se during my flight to Orlando. Hopefully by the end of that week, I’ll have something posted for you guys…until then, I’ll leave you with a photograph of Chris, me, and Thomas Keller:

And a story Thomas Keller told his staff at per se (from Phoebe’s book):

‘If you want to understand commitment, he explained, all you have to do is look at the American breakfast of bacon and eggs. The chicken was involved, but the pig was committed.’

Over the weekend, Chris, David, my dad, and I checked out the Virgin Mobile Festival at the Pimlimco Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. The awesome people at buzzd.com hooked me up with four two-day festival passes and my dad was in town, so I figured it would be fun to take a road trip. Here are some pictures:

We arrived at 2:30, which is exactly when Lupe Fiasco started (I’m surprised that the acts all started exactly on time). Chris and I really wanted to see Lupe Fiasco and Kanye West when they came to New York, but I was out of town when they came to Madison Square Garden and thought I missed out completely. Luckily, I got these tickets and it was on a weekend so I was able to go, but I couldn’t stay for Kanye because I had to be back in the city to catch a flight out bright and early Monday morning. Anyway, we had a blast on Saturday and saw some really awesome acts, including Steve Lawler:

And Chuck Berry:

Chuck Berry is 81 years old and STILL PERFORMING! We also saw The Offspring, The Foo Fighters, Jack Johnson, and a Japanese coverband that was really awesome. The four of us had a great time in Baltimore (which is surprisingly close to the city) and it was awesome to listen to live music (which I haven’t done in such a long time).