My First Trip to NYC
Yes! I was excited. Diane and I were headed to NYC for a week to celebrate Diane’s 60th birthday. Diane’s sister, Julie would meet us there and we planned to share a suite at the Hotel Giraffe.
We left on Saturday, July 2, 2011. Diane and I had a layover in Memphis where we lunched at the International Bar-B-Q. I had the pulled pork, beans, and cold slaw. I had truly started my vacation. In part, it would be a culinary adventure. Food would be one of the many highlights of our trip.
After arriving at LaGuardia airport, we hailed a cab and headed for the hotel. Julie had already checked in(non-stop, first class from LA). After getting settled, we embarked on a short walk that took us to Mario Batali’s place called Eataly (Yes, a play on words). What a place! It is an emporium of several restaurants and shops selling cheeses, meats, wines, beer, chocolates, gelatos, etc. We settled on a restaurant called Verdure. I had the eggplant caponata. It may have been the most delicious dish I ever had. It was a Saturday night and it was quite crowded, which added to the “New York” experience. With full bellies, we headed back to the hotel and turned in.
Sunday July 3, 2011.
The next day, Sunday, we awoke to a steady rain. We had raingear and umbrellas so that was no problema. We went to the Subway and got our 7 day Metro cards and boarded the subway for Greenwich Village. Diane had booked us on a food tasting and cultural walking tour.
We met our guide, Marie, in front of the Murray Cheese Store. Even though it was raining, our spirits were not dampened. We began our tour by crossing Bleeker Street and entering an olive oil store called O and Co. The owner told us about various olive oils and how they are produced and rated. He warned us that there is no regulation that provided for the listing of possible other oils in olive oil. We tasted a basil olive oil that was delicious. Then we had a chocolate spread that was magnificent. We would come back later and purchase both of these. We then went outside, turned the corner and entered Joe’s Pizza. It was one of the very first pizza shops in Greenwich Village. They import a tomato from Italy that they use for their sauce because it has few seeds. The crust is very thin. We all were treated to a slice from a pizza that was just out of the oven.
Our next stop was Palmas, a rustic Italian-French restaurant on Cornelia Street. We went through the restaurant and through a garden to a private room where we were served a dish of cauliflower, pine nuts, and currants cooked in olive oil. Back out on the street, Marie gave us the history of Cornelia Street; its restaurants and its people. She pointed out Po’s Restaurant, which was Mario Batali’s first restaurant.
From Cornelia Street it was a brisk walk over to Centro Vinoteca where we actually got to sit down. We were served deviled eggs and dates wrapped in bacon (Riley would have loved that). We continued our walk to a section of the village where Washington Irving and Aaron Burr had owned homes. We stopped at the Milk and Cookies for a tasty cookie. This place is a favorite of David Schwimmer’s. We stopped in front of the Cherry Street Theater, an off, off Broadway theater. It was right next to a home owned by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Marie kept the historical tidbits oozing out of the buildings we walked by. We passed by a restaurant called the Little Owl, famous for being pictured as the Central Perk coffee shop from Friends.
Our last stops were Murray’s Cheese Shop, Faicco’s Pork Shop and Rocco’s Pastry. From Faicco’s we sampled home made rice balls during the start of the tour and now at the end, we had Wisconsin Reggiano, hand picked olives and a cheese that had been soaked in red wine. Our very last stop took us to Rocco’s for an intensely rich canolli. We headed back to the hotel so stuffed that we thought we would never eat again. That would not be the case.
Oddly enough, a few hours later we began to get hungry again. Later that evening we decided to go to the Blue Smoke Bar-B-Q. It had been recommended by Julie’s cab driver. Since there was a 45-minute wait for a table, we walked around the neighborhood before being seated. I was unable to decided on a dish so I had the combo of pork ribs, pulled pork, smoked chicken, and smoked sausage. It was all good including the calamari, the creamed spinach, and collard greens. Having no room for dessert, we ordered one anway—chocolate mousse silk pie. We stumbled back to the Hotel Giraffe and called it a night.
Monday July 4, 2011.
A new day would bring new adventures. We fortified ourselves with the Continental Breakfast provided by the hotel. The faire was quite good and was the same everyday. Along with their delicious coffee they provided juices, fruit, hard-boiled eggs, and assorted bagels, pastries, muffins, and croissants.
We left the hotel, boarded the subway heading downtown and got off at the Brooklyn Bridge stop. We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge taking in all the surrounding sights. This was a popular activity. We were joined by many walkers and cyclists. We crossed the bridge and dropped into DUMBO(down under the Manhattan bridge overpass). There was a mandatory stop at the Jaques Torres Chocolate Shop. We had a light meal at a little café where we had eggs in a cloud. This was a unique dish consisting of baked eggs whites looking like a cloud holding two egg yolks.
We took the subway under the East River to the Financial District. We walked around Ground Zero and saw the first replacement tower. It was only half completed but already was higher than all the surrounding buildings. We walked around Battery Park and the large Financial Center Building. With our dogs a barking, we returned to the hotel to prepare for the evening activities.
We had reservations on the Circle Line Boat Tour to go out on the Hudson River for the evening fireworks show. We took the subway to Times Square in hopes of catching a cab to the dock. There was no way to get a taxi and even if we did, they were all in gridlock. We hoofed it to the dock only to be placed in a line with hundreds of other people. We finally got on the boat and got out onto the Hudson River. After dark, at 9:30 PM, the fireworks started. They were spectacular and being on the water enhanced the view. After the show we disembarked with throngs of people not only from our boat but a host of other boats. We started walking, futilely looking for a taxi. No luck. We made it back to Times Square and took the subway back to the hotel. We were pretty tired by now. Who knew having so much fun could be so exhausting.
Tuesday July 5, 2011
After a night of good, restorative sleep we were ready to go at it again. We took the subway up to Central park and walked further to the American Museum of Natural History. One could spend a week in there and not see everything so we had choices to make. We went to the Largest Dinosaurs Exhibit. This showcased the largest of all the dinosaurs from birth to death to being dug up as fossils. We had tickets to a brand new exhibit called, The Brain and then we went to an IMAX movie called Tornado Alley where a guy built an armored car so he could get inside a tornado and film it. It was lunchtime and we had lunch at one of the museum cafes. After lunch, Diane and Julie abandoned me to my own devices while they went shopping. I had not had my fill of the museum so I stayed and went to the animal exhibits and then The Incan Trail Photography Exhibit and then the Tibetan Medicine Exhibit. I left the museum and went into Central Park and came back through the Park before I took a subway back to the hotel.
That evening we went to the East Village where we met Julie’s friend, Meg at Meg’s favorite restaurant, Café Mogador. It was a Moroccan restaurant. I had the sea bass cooked with hot spices and vegetables. The fish had been caught that day by the owner of the place, or so they said. Once again, I stepped out of my paradigm and ordered desert—Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble with Vanilla Ice Cream. We were back to the hotel by 9:30.
Wednesday July 6, 2011. Diane’s Birthday
Diane had filled the itinerary on her birthday. First, we toured the Empire State Building and then walked to the New York Public Library and then on to Grand Central Station where we had lunch at a Mexican Restaurant. We had 2 PM tickets to see Billy Elliott—a fantastic musical about a boy from Wales who wanted to be a ballet dancer instead of following the family tradition of working in the coal mines, which were about to be shut down anyway.
That evening we had dinner at an Indian restaurant called Devis. Afterwards we explored an area called The Strand where they had one of the world’s largest bookstores. When we got back to the hotel, the birthday balloons and cupcakes that Julie ordered for Diane’s birthday had arrived. It was a grand and memorable day.
Thursday July 7, 2011
On Thursday, drill sergeant Diane had us scheduled to be out early. We took her orders but we did not have to keep being nice to her since it was no longer her birthday. She tried to invoke something about a “birthday week” but we ignored it.
We got down to Battery Park where the boats leave for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island tour. Both were awe-inspiring. It is amazing what the immigrants had to go through. We read the Emma Lazarus’s poem so familiar to many.
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to
Breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
After the tours we went to Union Square and had lunch at the Heartland Brew Pub. This day was the first really hot day so we went to the hotel to cool down (and rest) before we returned to Eataly for dinner. After dinner we hung out at Madison Square Park and as dusk approached we saw hundreds of fireflies make their appearance. It was a delightful ending to a nice day.
Friday July 8, 2011
Friday was our last full day and we made the most of it. We signed up for a bike tour of Central Park. We not only got in a good bike ride but we got a cultural and historical lesson from our guide. There have been over 350 movies filmed in Central Park. At one point where we stopped near the Dakota Hotel our guide looked up and said hello to someone who pleasantly said hello back. It was Yoko Ono going for a walk with a companion.
Upon completion of our tour we asked our guide for a recommendation for a place to eat lunch. He first asked if we felt adventurous and then on to tell us about a Dominican Restaurant called Papasitos. We walked there as instructed and I ordered the Mofongo as instructed. Mofongo is a dish made from plantains and garlic and herbs all mashed together. It was very tasty. After lunch we split up again and I went exploring on my own. I guess there was more shopping to be done. I went back to the NY Public Library. I then gave myself a tour of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I went by Rockefeller Center and then headed back to the hotel. That night we went to Lincoln Center to see a great play called War Horse.
Saturday
All good things must come to an end and so it was with our New York trip. Saturday was departure day. That did not keep us from going to the Breslin Hotel for a brunch. I had the baked eggs with spiced tomatoes and chorizo while Diane opted for the ricotta pancakes with macerated strawberries and candied almonds. After a last walk around the neighborhood, we bid adieu to New York City and headed for the airport. In the famous words of the Governator, “I’ll be back”.
