After baking cookies all day, I went out last night.  My cousin Michele and I went to see Pygmalion on Broadway.  We were both excited to see Claire Danes play Liza Doolittle (This is the stage play written by George Bernard Shaw that the movie My Fair Lady was based on).>>

Quite frankly, I don't think she pulled it off well.  She was trying too hard to be Audrey Hepburn and didn't find her own interpretation of the character.  Now, Pygmalion is Claire Danes' Broadway debut.  Acting on a stage is substantially harder than acting on screen.  Stage performances require far greater presence and skill. 

Claire Danes seemed cold and afraid of her audience.  She didn't connect to the audience and as such, she did not receive a standing ovation.  In fact, I feel the actor playing Henry Higgins, Jefferson Mays out performed her.

Prior to the play, we went for Sushi in a place called Haru in Times Square — now I've eaten there a dozen times or more — their sushi is good and they have these pretty birch trees all around the restaurant.

For those of you that have never been to New York in December – tourists pack the streets of Times Square on a Saturday Night.  We spent 45 minutes in traffic just traveling six blocks from the West Side Highway to Broadway.  The restaurant overflowed with people.  We walked in through a huge crowd hovering at the door.  The host scrambled around checking on tables to try to accommodate everyone.  

As he explained to a party of four that there is a twenty-minute wait for a table, I asked about the sushi bar and he whispered to me, "We are telling everyone twenty to twenty-five minutes but I have several tables about to leave.  Give me your name and we will try to seat you quickly."  

He surprised me with his desire to seat us –in particular – when he had a line of people clamoring to get in during the pre-theater dinner rush.  I gave him my name he sat us and within five minutes at a table along with a couple that walked in at the same time – they sat us next to each other.  

I tipped him for seating us so quickly during such a busy time.  He seamed surprised and gave me that "Oh, you didn't have to do that, but thank you," look.

We ordered relatively light.  We only had 45 minutes to eat and make our way to the theater and told our server as much.  Michele ordered the Agadashi Tofu, a Spider Roll and a Shrimp Tempura Roll.  I ordered a mixture of sushi and sashimi along with a Spider Roll.

We noticed that the couple sitting next to us had already received their salads and their sushi while we were still sipping our green tea. We stopped our server to check on the status of our food.

"It is almost ready, they have cooked the tempura and the crab to order for you," he informed us.  A few moments later, Michele's Agadashi Tofu arrived.  Unlike most run-of-the-mill sushi joints in the U.S. that tempura-fry firm tofu and serve it with veggies in soy sauce, Haru coats soft tofu in a rice-flour batter and deep-fries it, then serves it in a soy-vegetable broth. The tofu melts in your mouth. It is so good.

Worth the wait, our sushi arrived moments later.  The Spider Rolls were outstanding.  The warm, silky centers tasted of fresh soft shell crab and butter, while the fried batter coating it added a contrasting crispiness that married well with the sushi rice and the Tobiko that popped in my mouth.  These were, perhaps, the best Spider Rolls I've ever had.

On to the sushi, I love Unagi.  The eel flesh was flaky, the skin was crispy and the barbecue sauce was just sweet enough to line the top of the fish in a viscous glaze.  

If I know I'm in a good sushi house, I can never pass up Toro, and last night was no exception.  I enjoyed four of the freshest, most outstanding pieces of fish, Tuna, Toro, Salmon and Spanish Mackerel.  The Toro tasted like butter and melted on my tongue.  The Mackerel tasted mild and delicate and the Tamago finished my meal perfectly.

Tamago is a Japanese egg custard that comes as either a sushi or sashimi.  It is the last thing I will eat on my plate, as it can sometimes be sweet.  It is my equivalent of a sushi dessert.

I am sorry I did not take photo of this beautiful restaurant or my fantastic fish.  However, I am certain I will be back there again soon, so I promise to capture it next time.