dine-out diet: week one

After fully enjoying the inevitable debauchery at the end of 2009, I felt ready to clean up my act. Here is my experiment. Every time I go out to eat for the next three months, I am going to order what I think to be the least caloric and healthiest items on the menu, and report back. At the end of week one, I am feeling slightly lighter—and not at all deprived. I could get used to this. From the top: At the beginning of the week I stopped in at Marc Forgione, in Tribeca. Lucky for me, one of the specials that day was Oyster Shooters, at $3 apiece. I downed that Virginia Olde Salt oyster with jalapeño-pineapple vinegar with delight. For my entree, I chose the Long Island striped bass, with black pepper-meyer lemon emulsion, braised daikon, and James Beard salad (I guess that is the parsley). The sauce was absolutely out of this world. For lunch on Thursday, I met my friend Maya and had the arugula salad with mushrooms, lemon vinaigrette and shaved parmesan at Bar Breton. The portion was quite generous, and the mushrooms added an earthy, smokiness to the salad. Friday night, Bob and I went to Commerce, which was crazily bustling and busy. For my appetizer I ordered the marinated hamachi ceviche with yuzu, tomato, chili and cilantro, which was sliced like sashimi. Excellent. Both Bob and I had the black sea bass with crushed sunchokes, spiced almonds and heirloom apple. The almonds lent a nice crunch into the mix. Tune in next week for more healthy choices. See more pics of the restaurnant's ambiance here.