Easy Like Saturday Morning

I'm cozy. I've got a warm laptop on my, well, lap. I've got two monkeys snuggled up to me. I've got a spinach and artichoke souffle from Panera Bread await me to devour it. And I've got the movie, "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte" awaiting me to restart it. I've got a matinee in about 6 hours or so, but it seems so far away that I feel like I have a whole day to go before it comes.

I finished "Service Included" about a waiter's 2 years spent working at the famed Per Se restaurant in the Time Warner Building in Manhattan. I've been devouring food writing lately. (Yes, pun intended) It's comforting, it gives me ideas. I like reading about restaurants I will with almost certainty never step foot in or experience for myself. It gives me a little glimpse into a world that I can experience on a lesser level. A $25 three-course prix fixe dinner at Gabrielle's in Rockville Centre, NY may not be equivalent to the $250 nine-course tasting menu offered by Thomas Keller at Per Se, but for me, it's good enough.

So after finishing a book about truffles, caviar and extravagant menus, I felt it necessary to treat us to a nice breakfast. Panera may not be quail eggs in an omlete, but it's a nice way to celebrate a Saturday morning. Besides, how can you go wrong with a croissant reshaped into a bowl for eggs, spinach and artichokes?