Gotham Gal

Wine Tasting

We were invited to a wine tasting last night. At every wine tasting that I have ever been to, I notice how the wines taste better as the evening progresses.

This particular wine tasting was won at auction and donated by Winesby.com. We tasted a variety of different wines starting with a white German and ending with a red Italian. It is a great way to try new wines and develop a palette for new flavors. You are supposed to taste the wines in your mouth and not swallow but spit out. That way by your 10th tasting you aren't on the floor. Every wine tasting that I have ever been to, most people swallow. This always makes for quite an evening.

Jeff Hock, who owns Winesby.com is incredibly knowledgable. He has put together a retail front in the West Village on Jones Street and a website worth checking out. He will deliver within an hour and a half anywhere in NYC. Jeff has picked his wines carefully and by doing so he has put together a collection of good wines for under $20. He is absolutely reaching out to an audience that is not that familiar with wines, doesn't want to spend a lot of money but wants to enjoy what they are drinking. He can educate you and make sure you leave with a good bottle in hand. He is also fun to listen to. Most wine people are because they are passionate about the grapes.

I have learned a lot about wines over the years. I like to know about the region and the vineyard, but most of all I like to drink a good wine.

Bao's on a snowy night

There is nothing quite like walking through the city on a snowy night. There is a silence that is so beautiful. We had dinner plans the night it snowed and there isn't any reason to cancel plans in New York due to weather. If the subways run or you can make the walk, why not.

We went to dinner at Bao's in the East Village. The restaurant has a charming vibe. That night we went, the restaurant was filled with mostly neighborhood locals. The menu is not extensive but everything we had was really good.

The type of food is Vietnamese. It is always fun to go out with people and have food that everyone can share. Cold sake was the drink of choice that evening. We started with spring rolls that are served with leaves of lettuce and a spicy dipping sauce. You roll the spring rolls up in the lettuce with sauce. I am not sure you needed the lettuce, but the sauce and rolls were really good. We also shared a squid soup which was sliced squid in a curry base. Great taste but could have used more squid. The last appetizer is the only one I did not like although it is a specialty of the house. Braised short ribs taken off the bone and rolled over a lemongrass stick. It has the look of a corn dog. I did not particularly like that. I found the taste and texture uninteresting.

The main courses we split were all good. We had the shrimp curry which was the perfect amount of spice. The vegetarian noodles was made with thick noodles, vegetables and tofu was really tasty. Subtle. The whole fish of the night was a deep fried sea bass with a spicy sauce consisting of tamarind and tomato. Excellent. Spicy and perfectly fried. The last entree was a duck breast with greens. The duck was cooked medium rare and had a really good flavor and consistency.

One of the great things about sharing is that the plates were served cut up for sharing. So, even though we ordered entrees that could have easily been kept to yourself, they asked us if we were sharing so they pre-cut everything to make it easier. Nice touch.

It was so beautiful walking through Tompkins Square. We used to live in the East Village when it was going through a big transformation during the mid 80's. What has happened down there since is remarkable. Loads of great neighborhood restaurants, interesting retail stores. Majority of the residential has cleaned up with lots of families. It is really great. Our friends live between C and D which is a great neighborhood. I remember being there in the early 80's and having someone throw us keys down from the roof to get in and the place was littered with needles. Times have definitely changed in the East Village.
It was wonderful being back in the old haunt.

Landmark Tavern

Car shopping in Manhattan is always interesting. The entire strip of 11th Avenue is overcome with car dealers from high 40's up to the 50's. The showrooms are tiny and all the cars are shoved in the garage behind the building. The smell is not exactly intoxicating. Outside of the city, the showrooms are sprawling and the process is made to be as enjoyable as it possibly can be. In the city, you feel cramped. Also, I feel like I am making a decision to buy an appliance instead of a car. Not very appealing unless you are a big car fan.

I never really cared about cars. To me, it was just a necessity to get you one from location to the other. We have always leased cars under the premise that it is better to buy things that appreciate and lease things that depreciate. Now, we are rethinking this decision considering the amount of mileage that we put on our cars is miniscule. We leased a second car 3 years ago that doesn't even have 8,000 mile on it. That particular car's lease is up. So, off to 11th avenue.

I admit, I have driven some really nice cars and some really junky cars over the years. It is much more fun to drive a car that hugs the road and can hit into high gear quickly. My only priority this year was really a car that we could drive on the beach. The last few cars we bought were purchased over the internet. The automobile was literally dropped off in my driveway with the key. That is pretty sweet. Also, you can use ebay to buy and sell your car now. Perhaps we should buy it from the leasee and then turn around and sell it to the highest bidder. When I have only put on 8000 miles on a 3 year old car, that could be optimal. Nothing like making a little profit on the transcaction.

My kids were losing their mind on 11th avenue. Lunch was in order. Landmark Tavern was just blocks away. I have not been to the Landmark Tavern in years! I do remember they have good ale on tap and yummy hot irish soda bread. I admit the journey back was not as good as the last time we were there but it is always good to share a bit of Old New York with the kids.

The Landmark Tavern was build about 140 years ago before there was 12th Avenue. I believe the docks came right up to the pub. There was a need for an Irish pub with all the immigrants and so the Landmark Tavern was built. The owners lived up stairs on the top 2 floors of this brownstone building. There is still a woodburning oven inside which unfortunately was just told to cease using by the city 2 weeks ago. New codes. Bummer. But the ceilings, floorboards etc. have not changed much in the past 140 some odd years.

We stuck with burgers so I can't say much there but they did offer corn beef and cabbage and some typical Irish stews and sausages which were probably delicious. The beers on tap and the single malt scotch list is solid. The Irish soda bread was as good as I remembered. They will give you a recipe if you ask for it. I have one from years ago.

I can't say that I'd run back there but I'm glad we took our kids. It is a slice of New York that is absolutely worth trying if you happen to be shopping for cars or just in the neighborhood.

Comments

I am sorry but I had to turn off my comments. As much as I loved reading comments from a variety of different people, I was getting comments that were so incredibly rude that it was disturbing. It was as if someone had walked into my house and ransacked it. It is just unfortunate for all of us who just enjoy reading blogs or information to have to deal with people that have nothing better to do with their time than rant on someone else's blog. It's pretty sad. I'd share their comments but it would probably disgust and make you shake your head too. So, for now, I am turning of the comments.

Matsuri in the Maritime Hotel

I really wanted to check out the new Matsuri restaurant in the Maritime Hotel. I heard great things about the food and architecture. Everyone was right.

One of the best things they did was create a huge bar area that overlooks the main restaurant. I love that. There is ample seating in the bar area. Stools at the bar, tables around the floor and booths around the perimeter. Plenty of space for walk-ins. The decor is simple, asian in feel and warm.

The menu for sakes is extraordinary. I'd say over 100 different types of sakes from regions all over Japan. Sakes are broken up by region and coded by types such as rice wine, premium rice wine, premium unfiltered rice wine, etc. The waiter was incredibly helpful in choosing the sake of our liking.

There are a variety of different appetizers which is what we ate. I prefer the grazing than having a full on meal. Although, they do have a selection of noodle, rice and vegetable dishes and main entrees. We started with a braised lotus root with a spicy sauce that was recommended by our waiter instead of edamame. WOW! Crunchy with a hint of spice. We had oysters covered with roe, salmon marinated in ginger and soy over lotus roots which was fantastic, grilled sardines, poached yellowtail in a ginger soy broth, and eel cucumber rolls without rice. Once we started, we had to keep going. We had a variety of sushi next. Each piece was delicious.

It was really refreshing to be in a new restaurant with great food, good service and intelligently designed. Sometimes you read of all the hype surrounding a new place and find yourself so disappointed when you leave so you migrate back to old haunts. Matsuri is a new place that I will certainly find myself at again, and again, and again.

BRISKET

This is the weather of comfort food. Brisket has got to be one of the easiest things to make and perfect for a cold winter's night. This is an easy recipe.

1 5/6 lb. brisket
3 medium/large spanish onions, sliced
bunch of italian parsley
1 bag of small carrots (ready to eat)
couple bottles of your favorite barbecue sauce
1 can of chicken broth - about 2 cups.
salt, pepper and paprika

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use a large dutch oven pot. Salt, pepper and paprika the brisket. Layer the bottom of the pan with 1/2 the onions, 1/2 the parlsey and 1/2 the bag of carrots. Put the brisket on top of this. On top of the brisket spread the rest of the onions, carrots and parsley. Take your favorite barbecue sauce. I prefer Bone Suckin' Sauce which I buy in 1/2 gallon sizes. Pour the barbecue sauce over the brisket until is it almost covered. Take the chicken broth and pour on top. The meat is braising so make sure it is pretty much covered in liquid.

Put the brisket in the oven for around 3 1/2 to 4 hours. When the brisket is done, you can easily cut into the meat but it is not falling apart, yet. Take the brisket out, slice it against the grain and put back into the pot. At this point, I generally just leave it on the stove. Sometimes I throw par-boiled whole potatoes in that slowly continue cooking from the heat in the pot. Then, reheat before serving in the oven.

Brisket is one of those meals that always taste better the next day.

Enjoy!

Economy Candy

Yesterday we cruised down to the lower east side before going to see Peter Pan. It is unbelievable how the lower east side has been transformed. There is still the flavor of "old new york" when you ramble through the streets. The storefronts are full of new retail entrepreneurs. Tons of new stores, new restaurants. Cutting edge stuff. I am looking forward to a warmer day to walk around and really enjoy the neighborhood. I have not done that since last spring and the growth in less than one year is huge.

Yesterday we had a mission. We went to Economy Candy to get some goodies before the theater. In general, I never do that but today we had time to kill and figured why not. What a place! Among the new stores sprouting along the street, is this gem of a candy store that was started in post-Depression era. The place was packed.

I could have spent hours in there. Floor to ceiling candy of every kind. It is overwhelming. Huge Pez's, rope of licorice tied together, 10 lb. bags of jolly ranchers (I bought that for my husband's office), high end chocolate bark, caramels, chocolate covered pretzels, candy necklaces, reese peanut butter cups. It's all there.

Personally, I prefer the old world cutting edge feeling of Economy Candy than the fancy clean organized Dylan's Candy Bar on the upper east side.

If you are in the neighborhood, stop by. Grab a sandwich at Katz's deli around the corner and walk over to Economy Candy for dessert. While you are at it, do some window shopping. This is the area of town where trends are being created. Perhaps Economy Candy was a store before its time.

Blue Man Group and Five Points

We braved the cold last night and went out to see the Blue Man Group and eat dinner at Five Points.

I would have preferred to stay home. Let's start with Five Points. I had actually heard good things. Good home cooking, so we decided to try it out. When we walked in, it was so nice and toasty inside. Nice vibe, packed at the bar. Actually packed in the back too. Why? The caesar salad was so fishy tasting that we sent it back. The baked pasta was actually pretty good. My kids inhaled that. The hanger steak was tough with raw onions chopped on top with onion rings that were barely cooked. The chicken was overdone with tarragon and just not that interesting. I had the artic char with braised fennel. It was so overcome with butter that I felt like taking out a napkin to mop it up. All of the herbs used with each dish actually didn't make much sense. It was a chef trying to make something different and cutting edge out of simple home cooked food. Don't. Stick with the basics. We split 3 mediocre desserts. The special of the night was lemon meringue tart. Ok but not great. The crust was very hard. The chocolate brioche bread pudding was bland and mushy and the chocolate tart was just dense. All and all, very disappointing. When you go out in NYC, or anywhere for that matter, and you spend that kind of money, you should have a great meal. That is probably why I always return to the classics, Grammercy Tavern, Babbo, Union Square Cafe, Gotham Bar and Grill, etc.

Blue Man Group. This is basically performance art of the worst kind. This act has been showing in NYC for 20 years and is now spanning the globe. I don't get it. I finally decided to go and check it out. Figured the kids would like it. It was boring, loud, and dumb. I actually think a majority of the audience had been there before. Maybe we just don't appreciate this type of performance. My Mom came and she started falling asleep. My middle daughter, who is 10, decided that she was exhausted and kept asking when it was over and put her head on my shoulder to go to sleep. My eldest daughter, 12, nodded off on the other shoulder. I asked my son, who is almost 8, if he wanted to leave. He initially said no but seconds later said, this is bad, can we leave? So, all 5 of us jumped up and left in the middle of the performance. Thank god.

So, major money down the drain for bad theater and bad food. As my middle daughter put it, "hey mom, you just never know."

Gallery Openings

Yesterday I braved the cold with my friend as we made our way through Chelsea checking out some of the new openings.

We started off at Paul Kasmin Gallery which is always a worthwhile. Paul has a very strong group of artists that he represents that have definitely matured in their field. The exhibit yesterday was from Joe Zucker. I believe this is the first showing of this particular work in New York. Zucker has created shallow boxes that have wooden separators in them. Each defined area has poured acrylic paint at different levels within that space. Each is a different color, mostly brights. There is interesting cracks and movement in how the acrylic has dried. Then, corresponding to that piece is one large square piece, same size as the other shallow box, that is one solid color. They are diptects but are different in scope. The separators create images like sailboats and homes. Very modern. I really liked them.

Next stop, Wallspace Gallery. Jane and Janine are true visionaries of emerging artists. The artist in residence yesterday was Ofrit Kinar from Tel Aviv. Photographs of woodsy landscapes. There was also 2 photographs of an inside of a fogged up window looking out. All the photographs are blurred and feel as they are moving. There is something incredibly comforting about these shots. Worth checking out.

Then we strolled over to Clementine Gallery, which I have never been to before. They were having an exhibit called Terrain which represented 3 artists, Rob de Mar, Ashley Prine and Lordy Rodriguez. I really liked Ashley's work the best. Acrylics layered in moving colors that represent floating birds, trees, etc. There was one piece in the back from another artist, Nina Bovasso who I really liked. Very colorful freeflowing paintings that are almost like doodles done on paper and on canvas.

Next door was Robert Miller Gallery. There were 2 exhibits there. The first is a photography exhibit by Graciela Iturbide. These black and white photos capture birds and movement. She has captured the image in your mind when a tree rattles and all the birds fly away. Not easy to capture. They literally fly off the page. I really liked these. In the back was Phillip Pearlstein. Free flowing nude paintings captured in basic ordinary every day things. These paintings did not do it for me.

Paula Cooper Gallery was next. Anres Serrano had an exhibit of large color photographs called America. Studio portraits of circus characters, a boy scout, a fireman, a holocaust survivor, etc. The photos are big, intense and full of color. They were interesting but did not rock my world.

Then we wandered into Feigen Contemporary Gallery that had an installation called Adrift by Matthew McCaslin. I probably wouldn't buy a piece for my home but nevertheless, interesting. He has taken conduit, electrical outlets, wiring and television screens that are connected but isolated. Each work has a flat screen image of something different. One is a tree, another is an astronaut walking on the moon. In the downstairs gallery there were some James Rosenquists if you can't get up to the Guggenheim.

Last stop, Cohan and Leslie that was showing Judith Eisler. She is a young artist that has just been noted as one of the top 10 emerging artists to watch. She takes stills of videos and then paints the still shots so the paintings have movement to them. They are very layered and you can see the amount of energy that has gone into each of these paintings. It appears to be a sell out show. She will be an interesting artist to watch.

Next stop, Pastis for lunch.

New Music

I admit, I am a sucker for top 10 lists. I particularly become obsessed with the end of year lists every year. I amassed all of the top 10 lists for music at the end of this year. I have always been a big music fan. When the lists come out, I generally know most of the music. My son was absolutely mortified that Outkast was not on every top ten list. As I scanned the lists, I knew most of the music and already owned most of it. But, I was drawn to the top 10 (actually he did a bonus of 10 more to make it the top 20) in the New Yorker. It was a good mixture of artists that I was not yet that familiar with.

I spent basically a morning listening to all the albums that were recommended. I am really loving Amy Rigby. Her songs are funny. She is a cross between Michelle Shocked meets Lucinda Williams meets Gillian Welch meets Liz Phair (of old). Highly recommend. Another album is believe it or not, Van Morrison, What's Wrong with This Picture. How could you not be a fan of Van the man? In general, I do not buy old artists still attempting to croon out new sounds. I like sounds in my life at certain times because of where I am at, where the world is at, etc. But, this latest Van album is fantastic! It is very jazzy, funky and blues oriented. The music just rolls. Next, Kelis's album, Tasty. She belts out the music. Very sultry but with some hip hop thrown in. Good tunes.

I am also listening to Johnny Cash because how could you not? His last album. The guy is a classic. I am also listening to his lovely wife, June Carter Cash, Wildflower which is pure hillbilly blues. She sings with a variety of friends and of course, her hubby. It's a gem. The verdict is not in yet on the last 3, Vic Chesnut, Damien Rice and John Cale but I will keep you all posted.