Tuesday morning I spent half an hour clicking refresh on my phone trying to get rush tickets for the Portuguese Kid. I was unsuccessful. But then, later in the day I got an email saying I’d won the lottery for free tickets to the first preview of Oedipus El Ray at the Public! An hour later I got another email saying I’d won lottery tickets to Sweeney Todd (I’d been playing the lottery every day since I’d arrived in New York) but alas, we were already engaged.
Months ago Amanda had seen a show at the Public and then had the best Italian meal of her life at Il Buco. It had been brought up many times and was definitely on my New York bucket list. Tonight would be the perfect night. We made reservations for 5:30.
I walked in to the coziest most charming restaurant. I immediately loved the feel of it. The chandeliers poured light from metal teapots (they wouldn’t show up in pictures though) over small intimate wooden tables.
I ordered a glass of lambrusco (my favorite red bubbly wine) and we narrowed down the choices of appetizers. I ordered buratta with figs (so perfectly buttery cheesey slightly sweet). Time slowed while each bite was in my mouth. 
Amanda ordered the Octopus. It was also perfect. 
I chose the freshly made pasta with figs– the figs were really calling out to me.
And Amanda had fresh pasta with peppers and cheese.
This pasta was ridiculous. Every bite was so incredible. It has raised the bar of pasta in New York City. Amanda is very good about lowering my expectations so that I am consequently impressed. This time she built it up and yet I was still overwhelmed by the ecstasy my tastebuds experienced.
We had a chocolate espresso mousse for dessert. It was also incredible.
So that was it– the best Italian food in New York. It was rich in flavor and equally as expensive, yet worth every penny.
We floated around the corner to check out our second show at the Public.
This production took the story of Oedipus and put it in modern Latin Los Angeles. Oedipus gets out of prison and has a hard time getting legitimate work, so he is forced to work in a gang. Oh, and he kills his father and marries his mother without realizing it, and then pokes out his eyes when he finds out. The story of Oedipus asks how much of our fate is divined and how much is in our control. I really enjoyed how this question was applied to newly released prisoners– how much power do they have to break the cycle compared to the power of the system setting them up to be returned to prison? If the show had just been about that without the literal plot points of Oedipus, I think the show would have been much better. I loved the colors and the characters, the way they portrayed a chorus in the prison and the questions they asked. They lost me with the “ugh” of his marriage to his mother, the conversation with the over-the-top seers and the gauging out of eyes. But all in all, it was well performed and I’m glad I got to see it.