Thursday, October 20th - Monday, October 24th
Thursday, October 20th
Seattle to New York
Alaska Airlines Flight 8
Departing SEA: 9:05 AM
Arriving EWR: 5:21 PM
It was an easy trip across the country. We landed from the North along the Jersey side of the Hudson looking across to Manhattan. One World Trade Center (The Freedom Tower) rises well above the rest of the Lower Manhattan skyline. The Statue of Liberty, the inspiration for Newark Liberty International Airport, is just a dot in the harbor. Rush hour goes both ways in New York and it was a long slog through the Lincoln Tunnel and into the city.
We lucked out with our very first pass through Times Square...we turned the corner right in front of The Naked Cowboy. Hubba Hubba!!! New Daddy for Tres. We are a long block off Times Square at the Westin. It's a great location on 8th Avenue between 42nd and 43rd, walkable to any destination in Midtown, with access to 25 subway lines in a 2 block radius. The room is a little tired, but comfortable and roomy by NYC standards. Big desk, comfortable chairs, double-sheeted beds, real hangers, "Heavenly Shower."
We ventured Downtown to SoHo for dinner at the famed French brasserie, Balthazar. Authentic Paris, right down to the tiny wooden chairs, and right up to the stamped tin ceiling. It's a beautiful room, but it's clown car crowded and jet engine loud. We enjoyed a great dinner, and the company of the gentlemen sitting next to us. RIGHT NEXT TO US. One, loud and round in a striped shirt and bow tie, just returned from visiting his daughter in China and came straight to New York for a tech conference. The other came up from DC just to join his friend for dinner. They started with a four-tier chilled seafood tower that covered the entire table to a height of three feet. Insane. And fresh. We couldn't even smell it from a foot away. Our dinner was more mundane, but just as good. The linguine was the hands down standout. At the end, a happy accident resulted in a third dessert. Wooo-hooo!!!
Balthazar Menu:
- Balthazar Salad with haricots verts, asparagus, fennel, ricotta salata, and truffle vinaigrette
- Homemade Pumpkin Ravioli with pancetta, pumpkin seeds, and greens
- Steak Frites with maître d’ butter
- Homemade Linguine “Vongole” with razor and manila clams, lemon, Serrano chiles, oregano, and toasted bread crumbs
- Caramelized Banana Ricotta Tart with banana ice cream
- Strawberry and Rhubarb Tart with rhubarb coulis and fromage blanc ice cream
- Warm Chocolate Cake with white chocolate ice cream
We are less than expert at hailing a cab, but we finally found one for the harrowing ride Uptown. I think the driver was drunk; Tres isn't so sure. He loves New York cabbies. All or nothing. Gas or brakes. Live or die.
Friday, October 21st
New York
From Reverence to Irreverence
We have a date with history this morning. The 9/11 Memorial opened at Ground Zero on the tenth anniversary of the terror attacks. We are ticketed for 10:30. Out the back door of the hotel and into the chilly windy sunshine, we crossed to the subway station at W 42nd St and 8th Ave to catch the E train Downtown. Off at the World Trade Center stop, it's just a short walk, past the Occupy Wall Street protest, to the Memorial.
We have been here before, in 1990, to the Top of the Towers. New towers are rising all around us as we stand in line wondering what it must have been like on that day. The site is very secure. We have to show photo ID once and tickets are checked four times as we weave through the fencing to security. Pockets emptied, coat and belt off, Tres let his pants fall to the floor going through the metal detector. Why do they think people wear belts?
The memorial is starkly beautiful. Two pools, each concentric squares, in the footprints of the Twin Towers. Water cascading from the sides down to the floor, and falling into the abyss at the center. The names of 3,000 souls lost carved into bronze along the rail. The sound of rushing water drowns out the din of the city. Young trees provide little shelter from the swirling wind. The museum is a work in progress, opening next year. We stopped to reflect at first the South Pool, then the North.
One World Trade Center keeps watch.
This is a peaceful place, a monument to tragedy. We do not have a personal connection to the events of September 11th. This was not our tragedy. To claim part of it for ourselves diminishes it for those who truly suffered. We mourn the loss, we are reverent, but we are not overcome.
We took the 4 train back Uptown to Grand Central Terminal. Grand, indeed, the world's largest, and the nation's busiest, railway station.
The Oyster Bar at Grand Central is an institution. The freshest seafood in the City and some iconic classic preparations. They are famous for their pan roast, a creamy seafood soup cooked to order in ancient gas-fired pans mounted to the bar and hinged to allow the lusciousness to pour out into the bowl. It has been called, "New York City's greatest dish." Seriously. By critic Adam Platt in New York Magazine last January:
"The Oyster Bar pan roast — still being served at the Oyster Bar in the bowels of Grand Central — is a silky concoction, thicker than soup but gentler than a stew. It’s made with half a dozen Bluepoints, sweet butter, a dash of secret chile sauce, and flagons of country cream, all poured over a comforting mattress of soggy toast. I would argue that it’s grander than that other great New York icon the pastrami sandwich on rye, more versatile than eggs Benedict (invented at the Waldorf-Astoria) or the porterhouse steak, and heartier than vichyssoise soup, which the great chef Louis Diat first served at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on 46th Street in 1917. The last time I enjoyed it, the steamy bowl took exactly four minutes to reach my place at the bar, which is more or less what you’d expect for the greatest New York restaurant dish of all time. In that magisterial, eternally bustling room full of strangers, it tasted exactly the way it did when I ordered it for the first time, 40 years ago, with my grandfather, a lifelong New Yorker: opulent, mysteriously spicy, and faintly like the sea."
We had a combination pan roast with oysters, Ipswich and Cherrystone clams, shrimp, lobster, and sea scallops. Was it really that good? No, but it was pretty good. And the room is a stunner. In the arcade below Grand Central Terminal, vaulted ceiling tiled in herringbone brick. Very cool!!!
The Oyster Bar Menu:
We walked back to the hotel cross-town on 42nd Street, past the New York Public Library and Bryant Park, and through the back side of Times Square.
After a short respite, we were back on the E train headed Downtown to 14th Street in Chelsea and The Highline, New York's latest great park. A relic of the 1930s, The Highline is an elevated freight corridor originally built to get trains off the streets, but long ago abandoned. When the transformation is complete, it will offer 1.5 miles of "meandering concrete pathways, naturalistic plantings, fixed and movable seating, lighting, and special features."
The first phase opened in 2009, the second just this June. As part of the landscape for 80 years, The Highline interacts with the built environment to great effect. Buildings, old and new, straddle the viaduct, creating sheltered spots for coffee carts and craftsellers.
While some parts are well protected, views open up in other places West to the Hudson and East into the City. Designed by landscape architects James Corner Field Operations, the same firm charged with reimagining Seattle's downtown waterfront, it is a spectacular success. On a cool, windy, cloudy Friday afternoon, it was filled with people and the life of the City.
We had a nice walk up the Highline to 23rd Street where we caught the E train back to the hotel to change for dinner and a show.
Both looking spiffy in our black suits, we are walking tonight. "An American brasserie, Bar Americain celebrates the foods of America with a healthy dose of the bold flavors Bobby Flay is most known for." Good food, a lovely room, and great service. And, it's close to the theater.
Bar Americain Menu:
- Cocktails - Manhattan and Dark & Stormy
- Hot Potato Chips with Blue Cheese Sauce
- Chopped Wild Mushroom Salad with Endive, Radicchio, Crispy Kentucky Ham, Mustard-Molasses Dressing
- Pumpkin Soup with Cranberry Maple Creme Fraiche, Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
- Rack of Pork with Sour Mash, Creamed Corn
- Skate with Smoked Chile Butter, Capers, Tarragon, Crispy Hominy
- Fries Americain with Smoked Red Pepper Mayonnaise
- Red Velvet Brownie Sundae with Cream Cheese Soft Serve Ice Cream
The hottest show on Broadway, winner of 9 2011 Tony Awards including Best Musical, is "The Book of Mormon." Matt Stone and Trey Parker of "South Park" fame, in collaboration with Robert Lopez, the composer of “Avenue Q," wrote the book and the score for this musical farce about Mormon missionaries in Uganda. It is sold out through the holidays, and good seats are in short supply well into next spring. Tres searched for tickets twice a day for months and finally lucked into a pair on the aisle, second row balcony. Great seats, obscene money, obscene show. In fact, the show is so out of line, we can't really do it justice in a family blog. Next time you see us, ask about the most memorable musical number in the first act, "Hasa Diga Eebowai." The chorus is quite catchy.
The show was a riot from the word go. We smiled as the curtain went up and didn't stop until someone died just before intermission. Crazy. Really, indescribably crazy. In addition to the main characters, which include General Butt-Fucking-Naked, there are cameos by Hitler, Genghis Khan, Johnny Cochran, Darth Vader, Yoda, The Hobbits, and Jesus Christ (in the voice of Cartman). The arc of the show follows that of a typical "South Park" episode. It starts out crazy funny, morphs into just plain crazy, falls off the cliff to ridiculous, then comes together in the end. There is some warmth in the crudeness, though. It is a feel good story with trials and tests of faith followed by redemption. We knew it would be shockingly funny, but the music is actually pretty good too. This is a must-see if you are in New York or if the touring production comes to a town near you in 2012 - 2013. Tres wants to be there when the show opens in Salt Lake City. It will bring down the house for sure!!!
We had a refreshing walk home down 8th Avenue, shaking our heads all the way.
Saturday, October 22nd
New York
"Uptown Girl." That's me today.
We started the day on the 1 Train to the Upper West Side, home to the "Sturgeon King," Barney Greengrass. This Jewish deli is an institution, THE place, the only place, for cured fish. There were a few tourists taking pictures, but this is a neighborhood spot and a local destination. We believe wild, line caught, Pacific salmon is the best in the world, but this place can make Nova Scotia salmon taste almost as good. Great bagels and blintzes too.
Barney Greengrass Menu:
- Sturgeon and Nova Scotia Salmon Appetizer with Everything Bagel, Cream Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Olives, Half-Sour Pickle
- Nova Scotia Salmon Scrambled with Eggs and Onions with Everything Bagel, Cream Cheese
- Home Made Cheese Blintzes with Preserves
A perfect fall morning, sunny and crisp, for a walk down Central Park West. We ducked into the American Museum of Natural History to do some research for the Amazing Amazon. Maybe the greatest single repository of natural history in the world with more than 32 million artifacts and specimens, this museum is awesome. You could spend days here, but we are not really museum people, so we did it in record time. Not quite a dead run, but no lallygagging. We hit Saurischian Dinosaurs, Vertebrate Origins, Advanced Mammals, Primitive Mammals, and Ornithischian Dinosaurs on the way to our ultimate destination, South American Peoples. They have a great section on Amazonia. So great, in fact, that we are canceling the trip. No reason to go now. Murals and dioramas, artifacts, maps and models. Cool stuff!!! Lots of National Geographic nudity too. A great movie went from tribe to tribe around the Amazon basin contrasting their ways of life, including spear fishing (cool) and hunting monkeys with poison blow darts (not cool).
Back out in the sunshine, we continued down Central Park West, then to Broadway on 72nd Street for a snack.
Gray's Papaya is another New York institution. Hot dogs and fruit drinks, cheap. We stepped up to the counter, added some mustard, and enjoyed two Recession Specials. Dogs seared crispy on foil, buns toasted to a slight crunch with a soft finish, a runny tomato-based onion sauce brought it all together. We have no idea what was in the papaya drink, except, maybe, papaya. Good, but really, nothing special. (Photo by Robyn Lee)
Gray's Papaya Menu:
- Hot Dogs with Onions & Mustard
- Papaya Drinks
Danny Meyer is New York's uber-restaurateur. He is the Tom Douglas of New York. Rather, Tom is the Danny Meyer of Seattle. Several of the top spots in town are in the Meyer empire, as are some of the best bottom spots: the Shake Shacks.
Burgers, fries, shakes made from premium custard ice cream, even beer and wine. Phenomenal success. Lines forever. The chain has several locations, one right across 8th Avenue from the hotel. It was casual night tonight, so we got takeout and brought it back to the Westin. Had to. The line was down the block and all the tables were taken with people waiting two deep. The fries are Yukon Gold. Tres had a Shack Stack, a beef burger and veggie burger stacked. Yes, a veggie burger, but this one is two portobello mushrooms, stuffed with cheese, breaded, and deep fried. Not bad.
Shake Shack Menu:
- Shack Stack
- Shack Burger
- Fries
- Chocolate-Peanut Butter Shakes
The TimeWarner Center has revitalized Columbus Circle, for better or for worse. The complex is host to Jazz at Lincoln Center by Wynton Marsalis. The casual venue there is Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola. It is a jewel box of a space, with views across Columbus Circle to Central Park. They host live jazz seven nights a week. We were there when it opened in 2004 and it's one of our favorite New York Memories.
This week marks Dizzy Gillespie's birthday, it would have been his 94th, and the Ali Jackson Trio played in tribute. Vincent Gardner joined the band on trombone for the best numbers of the night. Still, we just weren't that into it. We tried, but you can't go back.
Sunday, October 23rd
New York
Thomas Keller has taken over New York City. Per Se has supplanted the old guard as the finest restaurant in the City. Zagat, which consistently under-reports the average cost of a meal, pegs the typical Per Se experience at a whopping $325 per person. We aren't going there. But, if you are a regular watcher of the "Today" show, you may know that Keller has opened an outpost of his Bouchon Bakery at Rockefeller Center, opposite Studio 1-A. We stopped for breakfast on our way to the Top of the Rock.
Bouchon Bakery Menu:
- Pain au Chocolat
- Cheese Danish
- Sticky Bun
- Almond-Raspberry Croissant
- Mocha
- Latte
- Bouchon to Go
We love Rockefeller Center. It may be too bourgeois for the cool kids, and it is, but it's also the most successful mixed-use development of all time.
"Rockefeller Center was envisioned by John D. Rockefeller to be the grandest plaza in all New York - a place where business was transacted and communities congregated. Conceived on the verge of the Great Depression, Rockefeller financed the Center personally. Upon its completion, it was the largest private building project in modern history and a collection of buildings unrivaled in their artistry and Art Deco nobility. Today, Rockefeller Center is one of the world’s great crossroads, filled with boutiques, fine dining, and home to the most famous ice rink and Christmas tree on earth. Architecturally profound, culturally diverse, and commercially vital, Rockefeller Center is the true plaza of the people." This gilded lily is still in full bloom.
The Top of the Rock is the counterpoint to the observation deck at the Empire State Building. An opposing view of the opposing view. This morning started cloudy and was just beginning to clear when we arrived on the 7oth floor. The observation deck is in three tiers, but you haven't been to the Top of the Rock unless you've been to the Top. We took a spin around all three decks, taking in 360 degrees of the greatest city on Earth. Central Park, the East River, the Empire State Building, One World Trade Center still climbing, the Hudson. Awesome!!!
Back at the Base of the Rock, we took a lap around the plaza, window shopping and people watching.
The Carnegie Deli is a tourist trap. Outrageously expensive, stupid long waits, elbow-to-elbow discomfort, rude service. Fine. We go there every time we are here. Every time. No exceptions. Sometimes twice. They may not have invented hot pastrami, but they have perfected it. Good things happened in 1937 and this may be the second-best of them.
Carnegie Deli Menu:
- Hot Pastrami Sandwiches
- Half-Sour Pickles
- Side of Russian Dressing
We have trained hard for this trip. We have both lost significant weight, Tres more than 100 pounds. We have walked all over Edmonds all summer long to get in shape. All for this. A walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. I know, we didn't know you could do it either, but it is a classic tourist experience and a regular workout for locals. The pedestrian path runs down the center of the bridge, above the traffic. Just more than a mile across and gently sloping in each direction, it's an easy walk. Take the A train to Brooklyn and walk back toward the City. The path ends at City Hall Park with a stop for the R train back Uptown. This was worth all the work. In hazy sunshine approaching dusk, looking up the East River to the Manhattan Bridge, across the harbor to the Statue of Liberty, fully appreciating the architecture and engineering of one of the world's iconic bridges, and taking dead aim at the skyline of Lower Manhattan, the crossing is all smiles and goosebumps. Just amazing.
We slummed it with Danny Meyer last night, but tonight is all uptown, Downtown actually. Gramercy Tavern is just coming of age in its eighteenth year. Tucked away in the Flatiron District, down a sleepy street it shares with the New York outpost of Seattle great Beecher's Cheese, the Tavern is classic food in a classy space. It consistently rates near the top in Zagat and is perennially one of the most popular rooms in the City. We had a very nice dinner, but nothing transcendent. The ruby red shrimp were outstanding, the cold squash custard interesting, the desserts sublime. Dinner ended with a nice touch, one last amuse bouche courtesy of the pastry chef, totally unique, a little coffee cake packaged to go for breakfast the next morning. Brilliant.
Gramercy Tavern Menu:
- Fall Classic Cocktail
- Manhattan
- Amuse Bouche - Cheese Puff with Goat Cheese
- Squash Custard with Shiitake Mushrooms and Peppers
- Ruby Red Shrimp with Cranberry Beans and Brussels Sprouts
- Pork Loin & Belly with Corn, Peppers and Glazed Onions
- Roasted & Braised Lamb with Squash and Bok Choy
- Tangerine Gelee with Sabayon and White Chocolate Macaroon
- Warm Chocolate Bread Pudding with Cacao Nib Ice Cream
- Peanut Butter Semifreddo with Chocolate Macaroon
- Coffee
- Petits Fours - Berry Gelee, Hazelnut Macaroon, Salted Carmel Truffle
- Coffee Cake for Breakfast the Next Morning
Dressed in our best, we braved the subway late at night for the ride back Uptown.
Monday, October 24th
New York
One more morning in New York and one more deli on the list. Katz's Deli. A tradition on the Lower East Side, since 1888. There have been lots of memorable moments in the last 123 years, but perhaps the most famous was "When Harry Met Sally" at Katz's. "I'll have what she's having."
We took the F Train Downtown to see what all the fuss is about. First, the Pastrami. Hand carved, well-marbled, full-flavored. This is the real deal. Tres says he still likes Carnegie better, but I say "Oy vey!!!" The egg creams are the real deal too. Only Fox's U-Bet syrup here. Not Bosco. Not Hershey's. Also, our first latkes, potato pancakes, crisp and light. Definitely worth the trek Downtown, but not every time.
Katz's Delicatessen Menu:
- Katz's Pastrami - Smoked to juicy perfection and hand carved to your specifications
- Half Reuben - For years we've been keeping our Corned Beef, Swiss Cheese, Russian and Sauerkraut combo under wraps. Now we're ready to go public
- Potato Latkes with sour cream and apple sauce
- Split Pea Soup
- New York Chocolate Egg Creams - Chocolate Syrup, Milk, and a "Spritz" of Seltzer
We hustled back Uptown to pack for the cruise. We saw Regatta sail in on Sunday morning from our perch at the Westin, then we watched her sail back out again Sunday night.
Amazing Amazon
Day 0 - Embarkation
M/S Regatta
New York, New York
Departing: 4:00 PM
In spite of our concerns about "preventative maintenance" and the overnight disappearing act, she was waiting for us when we arrived at Terminal 88 at 55th Street and 12th Avenue. Not just a sister to Nautica, but an identical twin. We are at home. Our cabin is the same category, this time on the Port side. We unpacked and survived the lifeboat drill.
It was a breezy, cloudy evening by the time Regatta pulled away from her berth, more than an hour late to accommodate passengers delayed at the airport. Escorted by tugs fore and aft, we watched the Manhattan skyline pass by us to port from our veranda...
... and went up on deck to look at Lady Liberty to starboard, just shy of her 125th birthday.
Back in the cabin, we cruised through the Verrazano Narrows and under the bridge, leaving New York City behind us.
