Gotham Gal

stayinghomeandvacationing

I am basically letting my desk and email box just pile up for the next few days.  Fred and I have taken in three movies in two days, two delicious meals and one museum.  Today is another day.

We saw Hugo and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close on day one.  Hugo is amazing.  I read the book Extremely Loud and absolutely loved it.  They did a great job with the movie.  Both movies revolve around a key and hope for a message from each young boys lost parent although completely different films.  The young boys, Thomas Horn (ELIC) and Asa Butterfield (Hugo) were amazing.

We stopped into Gotham Bar and Grill for dinner and sat at the bar.  I love that the bartender has been there for fifteen years.  The decor could use a bit of a makeover but the food is always good.  I think of Gotham as one of those restaurants, like Union Square Cafe, that changed the way we eat food at restaurants.  The seafood salad is a classic and it is still piled high.

I also had the miso marinated cod which was delicious.  BTW, after all these years the restaurant was packed.

Day two began looking for a car.  We tried that on day one too with little success.  Day two was successful and by the time all our kids are driving we will need a serious parking lot.  After car shopping we had lunch at Via Quadronno.  I love this place for lunch.  Located on E 73rd between Madison and Fifth.  It is like going to Italy for a quick bite.  Always packed with locals.

We had made the "journey" uptown to see the Maurizio Cattelan exhibit.  A must.  The installation is brilliant and the Guggenheim was the perfect spot to show his work.  Amazing.

It was really nice out so we walked down to the Paris movie theater.  Have not been to the Paris in years but another classic institution on the UES.  We saw the Artist.  Very clever, another theme among the movies we have seen.  Washed up artist (Hugo and the Artist).  The entire movie is shot in black and white with no sound.  It is like watching an old film of the past.  Not so sure how much I loved it but certainly appreciated how clever it was. 

Last stop was Marea.  Yes, quite a journey being uptown and even eating up there too!  Marea is a gem.  Incredible customer service, beautiful decor, a feeling of elegance and everyone is dressed up.  We weren't but Marea is definitely a place to go and treat yourself. This is my second time back and certainly will not be my last. We began with a flight of crudo.

But the best thing, and the signature dish is the fusilli with red wine braised octopus and bone marrow.  It is insanely decadent and divine.  Still dreaming about this pasta this morning. We also split a whole branzino roasted in sea salt.  Perfect.  A worthy journey uptown.

Next couple days should we filled with more movies and an eventual clean up my desk before the new year begins. 

Midnight In Paris

I rarely write anything on movies but I can't help myself on this one.  Midnight in Paris is Woody Allen's latest film.  Over the past few years I have not really enjoyed his films but this one was like a return to the old Woody Allen.  It was obvious from the line last night waiting to get in to the film that I was not the only other New Yorker excited about this. 

He took Paris, instead of NYC, as the location.  As he has had a love affair with NYC through film for many years he has now done the same thing with Paris.  But the best part is Owen WIlson.  He has embodied Woody Allen.  Woody used to play himself as the title role in his films but this time has used Owen Wilson to be him.  He is fantastic.  You are watching Woody Allen of the past being recreated through Owen Wilson. 

Over the course of the film, Owen Wilson, who is a writer, returns to Paris in the 20's after the clock strikes midnight.  He meets and converses with all the significant writers and artists of those times.  Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Picasso, Dali, etc.  During the day, he is living in the present with his fiance and her parents wondering if this is making him happy.  Embrace the day not the past is the theme here as well as do something that makes you happy. 

We walked out of the movie smiling and wandered over to a french bistro, Jean Claude on Sullivan street, for dinner.  Had to stay in the moment. 

Looking forward to spending some time in Paris this summer!

The Highline

Monday night was the annual Highline event where funds and glasses are raised to toast the transformation of resurrected piece of the city.  Walking the second half which runs from 23-30th Street is jaw dropping.  What is more amazing is when you walk from Gansevoort all the way to 30th Street on the street vs the Highline, you realize how far that walk is.  Not only has the Highline changed the West Side of lower Manhattan but it has changed traffic patterns.  You can walk through an extrarordinary park from the West Village up to 30th Street seeing beauty and greenery everywhere.  That in itself is spectactular.  NYC, an ever evolving city displayed so prominently by the transfiguration of a set of train tracks. 

One of my favorite parts of the evening besides seeing over 900 people gather under a tent, all dressed up, to celebrate the Highline was meeting Bill Cunningham.  If you have not seen the documentary on Bill Cunningham, go and see it.  A captivating movie about a unique man who has been living behind the lens and taking pictures for the New York TImes as far back as I can remember.  His eye for detail and fashion vs who and what is one of the things that really struck me while watching the film.  Cunningham has an archive on design in his brain as well as his endless filing cabinets in his apartment like no other.  He is a brilliant man and so absolutely adorable and charming.  Driving his bike around the city from event to event every evening as well as the constant standing on a street just waiting to take in the trend he sees of the moment is pretty amazing.  An incredible man. 

He took a picture of us last night and I got to meet him, ever so briefly, and it was exactly like the film.  His warmth and goofy grin is endearing but he just laughs and does his thing and moves on.  You can connect but you don't. 

Things to do:  Go walk the entire Highline when it opens at the beginning of June and go see the Bill Cunningham documentary.  Both are winners. 

Bridesmaid, Ssam Bar and ITP end of year presentations

Of course I had to see Bridesmaids this weekend.  It was a must.  What I loved about the movie more than anything is that the writers created a film that had never been done before.  A peek into women, their relationships, their fears and their humor.  I took Fred and Josh.  Emily and Jessica had already seen it.  Bravo. 

After the movie, we popped into the Ssam Bar.  Wow.  That place always kills it.  The pork bun is absolutely the best pork bun I have ever had and I say that every time I eat it.  SImple roasted pork belly lying on a fluffy Chinese bun with a little hoisin, a few slices of cucumber and scallions.  Can't be beat.

Also went for the Duck Sandwich.  Wow.  A crispy roll stuffed with thinly sliced duck, a little foie gras, chopped iceberg lettuce, spicy mayo and cut up peppadews. 

We also split two main courses.  The first was spicy pork sausages crumbled and crispy mixed together with pieces of Chinese broccoli, Sichuan peppercorns and crispy rice cakes topped with crispy shallots.  Super spicy and just damn good.

The other course was sliced rotisserie duck, please do not cut off that fat over rice, with chive pancakes, bibb lettuce and on the side there is reduced duck fat with scallions, ginger and a bit of garlic.  I also love their pickled radishes and daikons.

We then went over to see the ITP end of year design presentations.  The entire fourth floor is devoted to every students project.  The place was jammed.  Many interesting ideas and artistic creations but I happen to love this seat sitting in one of the rooms.  Nobody was there to explain it but it just called out to me ITP, ITP, ITP.

catching up

I am in the process of going through emails and the variety of notes I have written to my self under the "to do" heading.  I finally got around to seeing this video that was sent to me from Nancy Hechinger, one of my co-chairs at the Womens Entrepreneur Festival in January.  Nancy is a professor in the ITP Department at NYU.  This video was made by a group of first year ITPers.  It takes about seven minutes and there is something touching, simple and beautiful about this film.  If you have seven minutes, it is worth the watch. 

 

 

The Aperture from Alvin Chang on Vimeo.

mini banana muffins and a weekend of stuff

friday afternoon was spent having lunch at jeffrey's grocery with a few friends and catching up. always nice. 

met fred for a movie.  we saw it's kind of a funny story.  really liked it.  a total feel good movie that definitely hits on the topic of insane pressure that high school kids go under because of who they are and expectations that their parents put on them.  zach galfianakis is hilarious and keir gilchrist we will probably see more of in the years to come.

after the film we walked over to prune where we actually grabbed a table for two.  love that place.  makes me feel like i am in paris. 

speaking of zach, i love that he lit up a joint on the bill maher show.  it's absolutely fantastic and worth the watch.

saturday was spent doing errands and nonsense and of course finishing sundays crossword and saturdays.  saturday night we went to an annual halloween carving party.  great concept.  everyone carves a pumpkin while drinking and eating an incredible spread of food cooked over an entire week by our hosts.  been doing this party off and on since the 1980's. 

today was purely relaxation.  got up and noticed 6 rotten bananas.  made mini muffins for the 6 kids that spent the night in random places around the house.  not a great recipe so i won't share but nobody seemed to mind.  finished a book, read another while watching the jets game. 

halloween in the village is a time you either join in the party or hunker down indoors.  we are going for the latter.  i figure saturday night was our halloween. 

 

the weekend wrap-up

Due to very early planning, I completely missed the boat on Yom Kippur this year.  A big shame on me. 

Last March we were with friends skiing and randomly purchased tickets to see Vampire Weekend for this past Friday night.  Wasn't checking the Jewish calendar, obviously.  Fred's family planned to have a birthday party for his Mom on Saturday months ago which sounded perfect.  Again, not checking the Jewish calendar.  Regardless of not sitting in services, atoning and fasting, I kept thinking about where I should have been and enjoyed the weekend as it was. 

On another note, our friend gave us Ween tickets on Friday night which I wasn't aware of until sometime mid-week.  Fred totally spaced on our Vampire Weekend tickets for Friday night.  So unaware that we couldn't find the tickets until we showed up at dinner and our friends had the tickets for us.  Good news is Josh took the Ween tickets and enjoyed himself. 

Friday night we had dinner at Ma Peche.  A constantly changing menu and always interesting.  One of the highlights Friday night was definitely the uni.  Pieces of uni with tiny pieces of apple and a citrus sauce.  Wow.  The one bite was like heaven.  Sorry for the blurry pic.

The concert was at Radio City.  Three bands that night.  We got there in time to see Beach House who has been top on my listening chart these days.  The main act was Vampire Weekend.  The first time we saw Vampire Weekend was at the Bowery Ballroom years ago and have continued to see them at different venues including an outdoor concert outside Paris.  I am impressed that they were able to sell out 3 nights at Radio City.  They have definitely grown-up.  They know how to put on a show in a large venue and the audience was thrilled. 

For the birthday party, we drove up to Highland Falls where Fred's brother lives.  We all brought food.  I made brownies (I thought I had posted them before but haven't so I will make them again and post) and a cauliflower/potato salad.  My brother-in-law made pulled pork that he had slow cooked in root beer for six hours.  It was awesome.  Who knew?  A really nice family event celebrating my mother-in-laws birthday.  Good genes, she looks great and has aged really well.  

We got back in time to catch a film.  We saw Leaves of Grass.  A silly film but the performance from Ed Norton playing a twin brother, the brilliant pot head and brilliant academic, is fantastic.  He is such a good actor.  The highlight is the cameo from Richard Dreyfus. 

On the way home we stopped by Zampa right off Hudson.  It is not easy finding a seat at a bar on Saturday night where the sound level is low.  A nice place.  Lots of wines by the glass.  We had a few appetizers.  Ricotta, spec and figs was one.  Three small toasts; one with tuna and spicy olive oil the other with chopped liver mixed with vin santo and asparagus with shaved pecorino and truffle oil.  The main course we split was a mushroom lasagna which just wasn't that great.  I'd stick with the tiny plates (cheeses and meats galore) and a few glasses of wine.  

Today is a total catch-up.  Need stuff framed, need to clean up my email, need to clean up my desk, need to get to Citarella.  Lucky, I made dinner was made a few nights ago.  Brisket.  Then another week begins...

national portrait gallery and dinings

I just can't be in London and not visit the National Portrait Gallery.  Just a great museum.  Right now the annual BP Portrait Award winners are up.  This year there were 2,177 entries from 69 countries.  Narrowed down to a few rooms, about 55 finalists and a few prizes.  All painted portraits.  Worth clicking through to the site and scrolling through all the finalists.  

Here are some of my favorites.  Prize winner Elizabeth McDonald

Daniel Enkaoua

Michal Ozibko

Brian Shields. 

We returned to Terroir for lunch.  Right in the neighborhood and we knew it.  Another round of artichokes.  Yum.

Went over to Leicester Square to see Get Him to the Greek.  I swear.  Josh loved it the first time and wanted us to see it too.  No comment. 

After a run and a shower, I met up with Fred and an old friend who has been living in London with his wife and baby for the past year.  We had a pint at The Audley in Mayfair.  Haven't done enough pubs since we have been here.  I did a pub a day when I lived here in college.  Pubs define London.  People gathered at corners having a drink or possibly eating and drinking inside.  A neighborhood joint.  Cafes in Paris, Pubs in London.  Might return today for lunch and another pint.

Last night's dinner was in Marylebone at Dinings.  A small intimate Japanese restaurant.  Some of the food was really good.  The service was seriously abysmal.  The food came out so slow, we had to flag them down for water or more alcohol (isn't alcohol where 50% of the profits are made), for rice, for anything.  On one hand, it was fascinating how terrible the entire staff was because it just wasn't the one main person waiting on us, it was the whole crew.  If I lived in London, I'd never ever go back.  Service is so important.  It creates a vibe and makes a patron feel welcomed.  I wish Dinings well but they need to fix how they roll out the food (kitchen) and the staff.  It is terrible.  It took almost an hour and a half before we saw the first dish.  Above is sashimi yellowtail with different sauces.

Sashimi highlights.  Sea bass with summer truffles.  

Sushi.  This came out as a big plate and nobody could remember what they ordered at this point. 

Rolls and special scallop sushi with a sauce.

Best thing.  Crispy pork skin on outside and braised in the inside with a ponzu and soy sauce dipping sauce.  Delicious.

We left, we sighed and we went home to bed. 

another day in london

Routines are not always a bad thing.  Every morning I get up, throw on a pair of sweatpants and walk over to buy the Herald Tribune.  Sometimes I stop in Marks and Spencer to purchase a few things that we are out of. Every morning I fail to see what the kids have devoured the night before which is always a mistake.  Cereal and fruit from the day before never make it to the next day as I am keeping the refrigerator basically bare. Sometimes I stop for coffee at Nero and sometimes I just make it in the French press at home.  

Today I noticed something I have never noticed before.  Our local newspaper stand carries the New York Times.  It sells for 5 pounds.  Not cheap yet it would so be a daily decadent treat.  I realize that I can read it all online but I do love the tactile feel of the paper.  It is my daily ritual.  I didn't buy it but I am going to treat myself on Sunday morning before we leave and savor the paper the entire journey home. We are leaving on Sunday.  

The rest of the morning is just about blogging, email and reading while I wait for Josh to get up.  Now Jess too.  Emily is still taking her class.  

 The three of us did a little shopping and a few galleries yesterday.  Stopped in the Stephen Friedman gallery which was a total disappointment.  Five finalists from the Converse/Dazed Emerging Artists Awards were on display.  I couldn't imagine why 4 of them were chosen.  The fifth was a photographer whose work was shown in the front room.  So much light was streaming into the room that you could barely make out the photos. Not sure who came up with the placement but not a good spot.  

Did another lap around Liberty where they actually do carry local designers and emerging designers around the world.  Nothing to write home about but is worth noting.

Josh and I have opted for movies this week.  We met at 5pm to see Inception.  Little did we know that a 5pm movie in London means it starts at 530.  We sat through 20 minutes of advertisements and then almost 10 minutes of previews.  For the amount they are charging for a movie here, it is utterly disturbing to sit through 20 minutes of 10 bad advertising campaigns.  The movie was really well done.  Love Leo.

Then we literally ran to the tube in attempts to make it to dinner on time.  

 We dined at Dock Kitchen.  Dock Kitchen began as a moveable pop-up restaurant.  At the moment, they are not so moveable and have set up shop in an old Virgin Records recording studio complex.  Tucked back in the Portobello Docks.  There is a set menu every day posted on the website.  The chef, Steve Parle, cooks different menus from all over the world.  Last night was Ligurian, the north-west coastal region of Italy.  

Started with foccaccia pizza slices stuff with recco cheese.  Fantastic.

 Fish Anti-Pasti.  Clams, mackerel and octopus simply served.

Thin light wide noodles layered over each other with a rich pesto sauce on top and crisp green beans. Absolutely delicious.  The noodles were so light they easily tore when you broke into them.  Pesto sauce was brimming with flavor.

 One slice of roasted pork loin.

 Yellow squash and zucchini on the side

 For dessert peaches, blackberries, green plums and figs tossed together and baked with marscapone.  Seriously rich and divine.

I loved the simplicity and almost DIY feel to it.  None of the furniture matched but it all worked.  The kitchen looks like it belongs in someone's home.  The dishes were each well done. Some were absolutely delicious and felt homemade in terms of feel, taste and look.  No fancy plating just simple well cooked food.  Really glad we made it to Dock Restaurant.  

Wrap up before the road trip

We are nearing the end of this trip.  I could easily leave tomorrow but the reason we are here in the first place is Emily is taking classes at Central St. Martins.  Her class ends next Friday afternoon and we leave on Sunday.  I figured I would give her one day to do last minute things before bolting out of town.  I didn't think it would become a family vacation.  Next week, the gang is all here.  Tomorrow, Fred, Josh and I depart for a side trip to Normandy.  We are staying in Deauville.

Josh is slowly losing it and quite frankly I don't blame him.  Luckily, Josh and Fred did a day of golf on Thursday which unfortunately made Josh crave even more activity.  We do run almost daily in Green Park but it isn't the same thing.  I can't shoot hoops.

 Emily and I spent the day hitting up a few stores on Thursday while the boys played golf.  First stop Selfridge's.  The store is so frenetic.  The food halls are crazy.  No pictures which I will never understand why.  We had lunch at the salad place called chop'd.  Think someone saw that in NYC and knocked it off?  Duh. 

We walked over to Brown's which is a great boutique with both the classic lines and new designer lines.  I have yet to come across anything that I can't get in NYC in any of these stores.  Alas.  Acne in NYC doesn't do a great job but I have found their stores overseas are great.  Not sure why.  Otherwise, nothing unique.  Highlight of the day was shopping with Posh and David Beckham at Acne.  Serious sighting.

 Emily took off for Amsterdam with her friend and her Mom Friday morning and had dinner with them on Thursday night leaving the three of us alone.  We went to Ikeda.  Excellent Japanese food.  Fred ordered a bottle of sake and they gave him the entire bottle with one glass.  Kind of strange.  Had to wave someone down for another glass.  We tried a braised pork belly in sake and soy sauce with mustard and spinach on the side among other things.  So good.

 Josh and I went for the chirasi.  Raw fish over rice.    Perfect.  Green tea ice cream with red beans for dessert.  Yum.

 Today, we got up late.  Fred had a board meeting and Josh and I went over to South London for lunch.  Up to Oxo tower.  An area of London that was definitely planned to create an economy.  Lots of stores in a plaza surrounding Oxo Tower.  The views at Oxo Tower were great.  Modern architecture.  Pleasantly surprised by the food.  We split three things.  Mozzarella, caponata, pesto, grilled crispy piece of bread and a few sun-dried tomatoes.  The caponata was delicious.  We even took the time to figure out what exactly was in it.

 Grilled squid with a brush of black ink, two slices of chorizo and a mango aioli.  Nice.

 Half a small chicken with perfectly grilled corn bread, a small cup of barbecue sauce and a asian tasting cole slaw.  The chicken was perfect.  Juicy with a hint of cajun spices.

 Nice views.

We left and opted for the movies.  The movies might be what get us through next week.  Looking at the schedules now.  Thinking of seeing a movie a day.  The next movie playing when we finally got to Leicester Square was the A-Team.  At this point, I didn't care, just wanted to see something.  I really liked it.  Laugh out loud, totally stupid.  Josh and I had a blast.

Home for a little rest before our run.  Still talking about our favorite lines.  That is always a good thing.