Come into my parlor...

...said the spider to the fly. i had no trouble, though, willingly walking into the Parlor steakhouse on the corner of 90th street and 3rd avenue, and i've been back several times. that's no surprise since i'm known for willingly walking into trouble when cajoled by a spider. there was no trouble here though, and fortunately for me, my folks didn't think so either. my mom, luis and my grandmother joined me and john for a brunch this past sunday and we all walked out happy and full. it's not any small feat to entice my grandmother into public eateries. whereas i'm happy to try anyplace for the sake of the experience, she's of the mind that there can't be anything better than home cooked food and her standards are high. at Parlor the decor is spartan, clean and sleek; but the food and service are lavish, and satisfying; a pleasure to the eyes and the palate. as always with repeat visits to restaurants i like trying something different so this time it was the lobster roll. it could have been a little bigger for the price; but not better for sure. the kumamoto oysters i had for appetizers were the star here though. beautiful, small cupped shells, plump and only slightly briny meat. i'm always fascinated by oysters because they are so beautifully ugly on the outside; and so luscious and opalescent on the inside. highly sculpted, fluted shells, crusted and rough. their insides adorned with gorgeous mother-of-pearl. and the pearls! its so amazing the perfect gem that an irritating grain of sand can produce. its testimony to the fact that bitterness and adversity in life can lead to beautiful, priceless creations. so much lovely art, memorable books, acts of valor and genius are the products of lives of misery and misfortune, strife and toiling against unimaginable odds. so be an oyster babies! take your lemons and make lemonade! if someone leaves a cow in your living room, milk it and sell the milk and cheese! turn your life's irritation into gems!