Matt from the UES says...

This weekend was action-packed.  On Saturday I went to Belmont
Raceway for a day with the ponies.  Terrific fun.  My friends and I bet
on
races throughout the day while drinking from enormous keg-cans of
Heineken.  My betting performance was middling at best for most of the
races, but then came the big one: "The Belmont."  I am happy to report
that not only did I bet on the winning horse, Rags to Riches (way to
go, girl!)
.... But I hit the trifecta!!  Meaning, I correctly picked the first,
second and
third place horses in order!  So exciting.  Of course I had made a
small $2 bet, so I only won $150 for my efforts (why didn't I bet $10?
Or
$100?  Or $1000!!!  Ah, hindsight...).  But it's really the bragging
rights that count.  Being able to say I hit the trifecta on the Belmont
is way cool, in some circles anyway.  Plus, I'm thrilled that I bet on
the side of history - Rags to Riches was the first filly to win the
Belmont in over a century.  Very cool.

That night, my friends and I retired to the Tavern Room at
Gramercy (a favorite for years), which is operating under a new chef.
For my entree I had a giant meatball, which was stuffed with fontina
cheese
and other sauces and spices.  Quite good, and as I understand from
last week's
NYT dining section, gourmet meatballs are now all the rage.

And speaking of food, that brings us to Sunday.  I met up with some
friends at the annual Big Apple BBQ festival in Madison Square Park.
I've gone the past several years, but this one was clearly the best in
terms of crowd control and access to the chow.  I sampled pulled
pork from Decatur, Alabama and Yazoo, Mississippi, along with a few
ribs
from a local NYC place called Rack & Soul (never heard of them before,
but I will have to check them out - great ribs).  I also tried "fried
pies"
(basically apple fritters) from North Carolina and washed it all down
with an excellent mint julep made with Kentucky bourbon.  Quite a
day of eating.  The pulled pork from Alabama was definitely the best
thing I
sampled - I may need to make a road trip to Decatur for some more.

Finally, the weekend came to a close with the Sopranos season finale.
I know there's a wide variety of opinions on that subject, but as for me,
I was totally disappointed.  Worst series-ending ever, if you ask me.
Well, at least the worst since the Seinfeld finale.

And that was the weekend.