Great meals on the horizon

My newfound financial largesse has spawned two very exciting reservations: one for Momofuku Ko on Tuesday, and another for a cult pinot noir tasting and dinner at Cru on the 24th.

If you're a foodie, you know reservations at Momofuku Ko are nigh-impossible, and designed to be as labor-intensive and as frustrating as possible. There's no phone number, no email, and no walk-ins allowed; instead, you log onto their website at 9:59 AM, click the button frantically at 10 AM, and pray to the restaurant gods that your particular click beats out 49 million other frantic clicks. All available reservations are gone by 10:00:02. They only seat 12, only take reservations one week in advance, and allow no parties bigger than four. Somehow, after many months of haphazard clicking, the restaurant gods allowed me in for this coming Tuesday. And yes, reviews say the food is well worth the hassle of making a reservation.

I've also reserved a spot at Cru's upcoming pinot noir dinner, hosting by Wells Guthrie from the Copain winery in California. For an all-inclusive $295, I get dinner at Cru plus tastings of all these truly great pinot noirs; to wit:

Wells Guthrie’s wines from Copain: 'Cerise' 2006; 'Monument Tree' 2006; 'Wentzel' 2006; and 'Kiser en Haut' 2006

The rare and “cult” Pinot Noirs:
Marcassin 'Marcassin Vineyard' 2002
Kosta Browne 'Russian River Cuvee' 2006
Peter Michael 'Moulin Rouge' 2004
Aubert 'Reuling' 2005

The great domaines of Burgundy, all premier cru from 2002:
Gevrey Chambertin 'Clos St Jacques' Domaine Armand Rousseau 2002
Gevrey Chambertin 'Corbeaux' Domaine Bachelet 2002
Chambolle Musigny ' Les Cras' Domaine Georges Roumier 2002
Chambolle Musigny 'Amoureuses' Domaine JF Mugnier 2002
Vosne Romanée 'Malconsorts' Domaine Cathiard 2002
Vosne Romanée 'Brûlées' Domaine Engel 2002
Volnay 'Mitans' Domaine de Montille 2002
Volnay 'Clos des Chênes' Domaine Michel Lafarge 2002

Many of these bottles cost $400 to $500 per, IF you can find them. I consider $300 all-in to be kind of a deal, actually. It comes brilliantly timed after Eric Asimov's article on pinot noirs in the Times this week. Stay tuned for full details.

In a semi-related but completely random note, I recently discovered I have carnal knowledge of the host of Travel Channel's "Man vs. Food" (although it was so long ago I'm not even sure it counts anymore). How do I get a job like that?