We arrived in NYC late afternoon this past Sunday. We checked into the newly opened Fashion 26 hotel at 7th Ave. and 26th St. right across from the Fashion Institute of Technology. It's a nice modern hotel with decent size rooms for NYC. The picture above is the view we had from our hotel window on the 20th floor.
After Brian made some calls and did a bit of work to prepare for his following work day, we headed out to Grand Central Station to have dinner at the Oyster Bar Restaurant. This restaurant is noted within the city as a favorite stop for fresh seafood. To our disappointment, they were closed on Sundays. Not a big deal, I would make a reservation for dinner the following night. We ventured out into Midtown Manhattan in search of another place to eat. As we walked block after block and found ourselves further downtown, Brian said he felt like just sitting in some quiet little pub eating a burger.
We came across Jack Dempsey's. It was the perfect little Irish Pub. Brian ordered a burger and fries and I had an Asian chicken salad with a peanut dressing. Both were pretty tasty.
We headed back to the hotel but not before a stop into the Garden of Eden near the hotel. I love this store. This is a local "chain" of about 6 stores based out of NYC. This is NYC's answer to Whole Foods. They're not overwhelming, reasonably priced and has the feel of a mom and pop business. I always say if I lived here this is where I would be shopping.
Monday morning after a quick breakfast at the Malibu Diner on 23rd st., Brian headed off to work and I hit the streets. My first stop was down into the subway where I purchased a pass so I could jump on and off the train to get me around the city at my convenience. I headed over to Macy's since the forcast was for rain and I wasn't about to let the weather manipulate my plans. I picked up an umbrella.
I took the train up to the upper west side and strolled around 72nd street and watched and listened to crowds of tourists outside the Dakota building where John Lennon lived and was murdered. I stood across the street and peered into the gated arched breezeway where his demise was met. I walked into Central Park and into Strawberry Fields dedicated to his memory. The pathway leading to the grassy field brings you to a mosaic embedded into the pavement with "Imagine" stamped into it. The day was overcast and somber but very calming. I found this private little spot near a lake in the park and sat for a while listening to the birds and realizing the sounds of the city had disappeared. I saw a man across the lake with a fishing line cast into the lake and I thought how nice that this vast chunk of land in the middle of Manhattan was dedicated for all people living and visiting to escape from the city and "imagine" they're somewhere else.
As I was heading back to Central Park West to catch the train, Brian called and said that he had to go to Philadelphia and would be leaving in about 2 hours and not be back until later that evening (which ended up being about 4am). I was on my own for dinner. Oh well. He did come here to pull off this project that had been problems from the beginning, not to play tourist with me.
My plans included having lunch at Joe's Shanghai in Midtown. The original Joe's is in Chinatown but I just didn't want to go all that way. This was closer and the food is the same, which is wonderful. Joe's started the soup dumpling craze a while back and although I've never had them anywhere else I'm sure these are the best. These doughy buns are filled with a zesty broth and a pork meatball and steamed, served in a bamboo steamer basket nestled on a bed of shredded iceberg lettuce and served with a ginger sauce for dipping. Biting into the side of the dumpling opens a hole where you can sip out the broth before devouring the dumpling. I think this has to be my favorite asian delicacy. After I have scarfed down the dumplings I place the lettuce onto my plate and use the dipping sauce as a dressing for a little salad.......absolutely yummy!
Since Brian was not having dinner with me I still went with the plan of having dinner at the Oyster House. Instead of sitting in the dining room I grabbed a stool at the U-shaped counter where people on the go and commuters hurrying to catch their train will sit. Besides, it's a perfect people watching area. The menu offers everything seafood. I kept going over and over trying to decide how much I could possibly order and eat. I wanted everything.
I started off with a 1/2 dozen of Bluepoint Oysters ( my new favorite ......maybe everyone else's since the oil spill will affect the production of gulf oysters), followed by a bowl of New England clam chowder (which their noted for........excellent by the way, and finally pan fried soft shell crab. These are in season now and the restaurant only serves them fresh while in season. They only serve them pan fried not deep fried like I have always eaten them. For some reason I have shyed away from any preparation other than deep fried. Have I been missing out! These were incredible and I'm sure alot healthier since they weren't breaded and cooked in a pool of oil.
For dessert I had a classic vanilla cupcake with chocolate cream frosting from Magnolia Bakery. This is the bakery that made famous the cupcake craze and was featured in a few episodes of "Sex And the City". I have to say it was pretty good. I was so excited when I stumbled upon this in Grand Central Station after dinner. After eating my cupcake, I sat in the "urban living room" in Grand Central and people watched for about an hour or so. It's just so much more interesting than watching television. I was finding alot of entertainment doing this and envisioning people's current state or life just by watching their actions.
Wed. morning I headed out with Brian. He got in about 4am and had to be back at work at 8:30am. He asked me if we could eat at this little Italian restaurant tonight just a few doors down from the hotel since it had been recommended to him by his vendor he was working with in NYC. Of course we can.
I spent Wed. morning in Greenwhich Village. I think this is my favorite neighborhood in NYC. It's quaint, homey and is filled with little cafes and boutiques. It's tree lined streets give it that pleasant comforting village feel.
Murray's on Bleeker St. in the Village is the best cheese shop ever.......or so far. They have every kind of cheese you can imagine. I walked through the shop and found myself fortunate that I could not buy any cheeses to take home with me otherwise I would have over done the spending. I did buy the Murray's Cheese Handbook. This is a little paperback they published as a guide for those ignorant about cheeses. I snatched it up and will start another food quest of cheeses I read about in this book.
Around 11am, Brian called me and said he was done with work until further notice. He said he wanted to get some lunch and relax afterwards. I met him back at the hotel and then we headed down to the lower east side to have a sandwich at Katz's. This Jewish deli is famous for their pastrami and corned beef they make in house. I couldn't wait to try it. I was told that the sandwiches are huge so we ordered one to split. OMG! This was the best corned beef ever! I mean ever! I don't know how they do it but this corned beef was so tender it just melted in your mouth, served on rye bread with mustard and a side of homemade potato salad with 2 halves each of their sour pickles and half-sour pickles. The setting is nothing special but the place was packed.
The Italian restaurant we ate that night , Tres Dici, was superb. We both had pasta. I had the tagliatelle with crabmeat and a white wine sauce. I could pick up a hint of fennel in there as well. Brian has a rigatoni style pasta which I can't remember the name with grilled shrimp and light cream sauce. That was very good too. I also had a glass of a pinot noir from Peru that was really good. I wrote the name down so I could search for this in a local wine shop next time I'm in the mood for wine........maybe with a new cheese that I'll be purchasing.
After lunch Brian was beat and wanted to go back to the hotel and take a nap. I dropped him off and went to Times Square where I saw Katie Couric on the corner of Broadway and 45th rehearsing for bit she was filming about the bombing incident that happened right there. It was interesting to see how they prepare to film a segment and she was so nice and waved to the crowd gathered and shook hands.
I made my way over to Rockefeller Center and up to the "Top of the Rock" observation deck. What a spectacular 360* view of the city. Seeing the city from this view really validates how massive this city is.
My time in NYC for three days by myself let me take notice of the Manhattan life. Street vendors are abundant, selling everything from pretzels to gyros. Corner convenience stores seem to populate every block and all have some kind of hot food bar or salad bar for all those New Yorkers that are on the go, usually with no seating but just a counter that you can stand and eat and be on your way to get to work, home, school or catch the next train.
This city is built for convenience and not an aesthetic design. I marveled at the ramps circling out over the streets of the westside from the Port Authority Bus Terminal that lead the busses right to the Lincoln Tunnel so they can avoid the city traffic and keep on schedule to all the commuter train lines that lie under Grand Central Station taking people to their homes after long day in the city. The city's subway system is truly amazing. The city forefathers did an excellent job creating hundreds of miles of tunnels and underground walkways to connect people from one line to the next.
This was my most memorable breakfast........a handmade water boiled bagel that NYC is famous for. I see what all the fuss is about. A huge bagel with a delicate outside crust and a soft chewy inside. A definite treat. I had mine with an olive and pimento cream cheese.......yummy!
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