"I can eat three dozen oysters."Photo: Melissa Hom
Donatella Arpaia
Restaurateur
Friday morning I had coffee and two black-and-white cookies from Westhampton Bakery — the mini ones that are moist and yummy. It was either that or nonfat yogurt.
I had a late business lunch at Ben Benson's, believe it or not. It's a freezer in there — they should turn down the air-conditioning. I had a chopped salad and maybe 10 percent of my prime rib.
On Saturday, for breakfast I met a friend at Viand. I told them to keep it light, but the egg-white omelette with Swiss cheese was dripping with grease and lard. The waiter said, "I saw it with my own eyes. They didn't put any butter," and I said, "I'll have two poached eggs boiled." They made me pay for the greasy omelette.
I ate dinner at my mother's home at Atlantic Beach. She made dandelion greens in a broth, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, and the chicken cutlet I love. My mom gets upset because I like Hellman's mayonnaise on the side. She was born in Apulia, where all they do is olive oil and they don't have butter or cream.
Sunday night I ended up at Blue Ribbon, late night. I ordered matzo soup in honor of my Jewish brethren. The sea urchin in the shell was to die for; unfortunately, they only had one left. My friend ordered the shrimp cocktail — the shrimp was small and a little old, so we didn't touch it.
Monday I was a good girl and had yogurt with grape nuts and almonds for breakfast. I can stay in a size 6 because if I overeat one day, I have a fat-free yogurt the next day and skip dinner. For lunch, I had a ham-and-cheddar Hot Pocket.
Early in the evening, I went with a chef to check out a suffering restaurant on the Upper East Side to scout as potential location. Their chicken soup was fresh but a little gamy. I got the appetizer portion of spaghetti and meatballs, and it was like a scene from Big Night; the meatballs were bombs.
I ended up at Il Mulino. I try to stay away from alcohol, but they make the best bruised dirty martini. I had it with berries and whipped cream since I was starving, but I didn't want to go to bed on a heavy stomach.
For dinner on Tuesday, we had the awesome sliders at P.J. Clarke's with some oysters. I have oysters with everything. They're high protein, no guilt, and sinfully delicious, especially small, milky ones like Kumamotos. I can eat three dozen.
On Wednesday night, I smoked a vanilla Davidoff cigar. I've never been a cigarette smoker, but I like small cigars. It's a social thing, and I do have an oral fixation.
—As told to Daniel Maurer
