(this photo has nothing to do with our trip to NY...I just thought I'd post a sunset pic from our honeymoon in Maui...)********
Mrs. Shoes and I celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary last Sunday, October 7th. Figuring that we only had 6 years left in our marriage (if the proposed legislation in Germany ever catches on here that would make all marriages only last for 7 years, as highlighted in an earlier post of the Hangover Haven, chapter 1) we decided to take a 3-day weekend and head off to New York City. Since the traditional 1st anniversary gift is paper, I decided that plane tickets would be more practical than divorce papers. "Happy anniversary honey! These will save us so much time 6 years from now!" Oh, the romance. Yeah, plane tickets was a better decision.
On Friday, we boarded our flight to La Guardia airport, and not until we were seated were we informed that there would be about a 50-minute delay in taking off. Now, I've never understood why airlines decide to board planes anyway when they know these kinds of things. Can't they just board a little later, giving us time to finish another plate of chicken fingers from T.G.I. Friday's? (Speaking of which, we need better food in our airports - especially O'Hare.) Nevertheless, we arrived in New York and decided to play the first night by ear. Our hotel was on the east side of Midtown at the Sofitel on 44th. The concierge made reservations for us across the street at a little Italian restaurant and it was pretty good. I ordered veal scallopine because....well, come on, it's pretty fun to say "I'll have-a the veal scallopine."
From there we walked a while thru the city until we found a bar to sit down in for a drink. Then we moved on and found another, more lounge-ish place to have another cocktail. We stayed for awhile but then left around midnight as the shades were drawn closed and the lounge started to transform into a hip-hop nightclub. It seemed like fun, but my dancing skillz ain't what they used to be....well, let me re-phrase: in fact, they're exactly what they used to be. Which is the problem.
We woke up on Saturday knowing that the whole day was pretty much open to us. We wanted to grab some breakfast, see a museum, etc. So we headed up north towards Central Park and meandered up the east side of the Park only to realize that apparently people who live on the Upper East Side must never eat breakfast because there were absolutely zero places that opened before 11:00am ... Not even a Starbuck's. It took forever but we finally found a little diner, and honestly just the act of sitting down was as enjoyable as the pancakes and coffee. Then we made our way back to the Park and continued north up to the the Guggenheim Museum. The museum's unique concept takes a central theme and spreads out the art over 5-6 floors of the museum as visitors walk up a continuous wide spiral to reach the top, viewing the art along the way. Right now they are featuring the works of Richard Prince: an interesting guy, very modern, yet seems to love crappy old jokes. (He even incorporated the Abraham Lincoln one that I referenced in the Hangover Haven, Chapter 2.)
We walked back to the Park and made our way south. There really isn't anything else like Central Park and just walking in it is relaxing and fun. Not to mention it's a people-watching feast, and an 85-degree Saturday in October brings everyone outside! Finally we decided to try finding a little place in the Village called Pasti's. Mrs. Shoes had seen it featured in her Sex and the City shows so she was dying to try it out for a mid-afternoon lunch. A subway ride south, a walk west to 9th Ave and 12th and we finally found it. Luckily, it lived up to the hype: yeah, a couple of french martinis usually does the trick, not to mention fresh oysters and good food.
On our way back to the hotel we wandered past the HBO Store, and found a few items of interest: keeping with the Pasti's theme, a little Sex and the City shirt for Mrs. Shoes that says "I'll find my inner goddess if it kills me"; and a pint glass for Shoes from Curb Your Enthusiasm that explains Larry David perfectly - there's a blue line around the middle of the glass and it says "Half Empty" both above and below the line. Better yet, an employee of the store recommended a little sushi place to us for dinner that was within walking distance, Sushi Osaka on 8th Ave and 37th. The sushi was great and without any of the fanfare of crowded New York restaurants... in fact, for awhile we were the only two people sitting down. Usually, an empty restaurant is not a good sign, but for a place the locals enjoy, it was perfect.
Sunday, we woke up on our anniversary with an actual agenda for the day. To start, we were meeting Mrs. Shoes' friends Kevin and Frank back down in the Village for brunch. We ate at a little place called FoodBar on 8th Ave and 18th, and the breakfast was phenom. Again, maybe it was the really vodka'd-up bloody marys and the mimosas that helped but the food was Yum-Delish, too. Good food, good company, good times. Afterward, we jumped in a cab in order to make a 2pm matinee of the long-running musical Rent. It was good. I'm not sure it's as great as it's made out to be, but it's still very good - the 2nd Act is better than the 1st.
Afterwards, we fought the throngs of tourists in Times Square because Mrs. Shoes wanted to find a popcorn store that she was hoping was still there. Sure enough it was, up on 48th. Now, I do think that Times Square is certainly an interesting urban jungle, but it's become Disneyland. The crowds are killer and after you've seen it once, there's really no need at all to return. But alas, I was wrong again. Apparently, there is a need: chocolate-chunk popcorn.
Which brings us to dinner. We had made reservations at a steakhouse called Ben Benson's, up on 52nd. A little online research showed that it appeared to be a pretty nice place to eat. However, we walked into the restaurant at 6:45pm and right away something didn't seem quite right in Dodge. First of all, not that it effects the quality of food in the least, but steakhouses are usually dimly lit for atmosphere. This place was as bright as the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center. Strike One. We were taken to our table, which wasn't hard to get to since there were only 6 other people in the entire restaurant. Unlike the local sushi place, steakhouses are supposed to be busy and full of life...and patrons. Ben Benson's was just dead. Strike Two. We were given menus and noticed that not all of the items that appeared on the online menu really matched up with what was actually served: no lobster bisque, a fav of Mr. and Mrs. Shoes...and not even a ribeye steak. Two and a haaaaaaaalllllllllf. The waiter returned to ask if we wanted a glass of wine, and pretty much threw the wine menu at us. Since the menu was all by-the-bottle and we were just wanting a pre-dinner cocktail at that point, we asked if there was a menu for wine by-the-glass. The waiter basically said, "Yes, it's up on the wall....behind you....and behind that tall plant that you cannot see thru....or around....so you'll have to get up to see it." Strike Three. Yeah, we got up, told the waiter that we had changed our minds and left. Happy Anniversary!
Needing a new dinner plan, we walked south and found Del Frisco's, another steakhouse. I had eaten at the one in Las Vegas and it was muchos goodos. We looked at the menu, and it didn't strike us as overly impressive though. Plus there was a long wait, and we were getting hungry. So we left. Happy Anniversary!
You, uhhh, kinda get where this is going, right? So we called information to get the phone number for Spark's, a steakhouse that we ate at 2 years ago and loved. Once connected, there was a short conversation:
Spark's Employee: "Sparks Steakhouse."
Shoes: (thinking that this guy is very difficult to understand) "Hi. Where are you located?"
Spark's: (it's tough to decipher, but I can just make out him saying) "...On 46th, between 2nd and 3rd..."
Shoes: "Great. And do you have an opening for two people this evening if we walk in?"
Spark's: "Wfghr hyu#f0gfb yes fg povmrtqwe."
Shoes: "Ummmm..."
Mrs. Shoes: (off to the side) "What did he say?"
Shoes: "I don't exactly know, but I heard a 'yes' in there."
Sparks: "Huh?"
Shoes: "No, not you. Ok, thanks, we'll see you in a few minutes."
Sparks: "grjre *h6m^ls"
Well, it's kind of a hike from where we were, but the food is definitely worth the walk. "Should we cab it?" I ask. Naaaaah. So, we make our way over east and finally walk into the restaurant. Something seems amiss, as all of the chairs are propped up on top of the tables. Playing the role of Captain Obvious I ask someone, "Are you closed?" I mean, what kind of answer was I expecting? Yeah, apparently the hard-to-understand part of the phone conversation was actually the important part about them not being open on Sundays. Happy Anniversary!
At this point, it's just after eight o'clock and we both just want food. So we walk back west on 46th and pass a little Italian joint called Via Italiana. We're told by an old man (and, as it turns out, employee) that this is the best Italian food in New York. "I have lived here 25 years and this is the very best you'll find," he says. Um. It wasn't. To be fair, it wasn't bad... It just wasn't what we were hoping for in our meal that evening. Happy Anniversary!
So now we just want to grab some drinks on our last night in New York and we take the advice of our neighbors, Nicole and Chris, to visit Stone Rose, a bar in the Time Warner Building in the Columbus Circle. We cab it up there and it's actually a very sheek/shique/Shiek (spelling?) sort of bar/lounge and there's a fantastic view of the fountain thru the large windows. The martinis and drinks are typically priced for New York, but hey, where else can you get a mangomint mojito?? Our waitress tells us that we're a day late for star-watching though, as the previous night had Tommy Lee Jones and Holly Hunter in there....oh, and George Clooney was also recently in with his girlfriend. However, the only VIPs we saw were a few older ladies who appeared to be members of the Red Hat Club. But, the drinks were great, the atmosphere and view were very cool, and it was a very nice way to end an evening. Happy Anniversary!!!
*****
(And since we really don't have any pics to share with you from our trip to the Big Apple, I just figured we'd go back a year to the honeymoon in Maui - where we were both able to act like complete fools at a luau. See, here's Mrs. Shoes hangin' loose....)
(...and here's Shoes hoarding all the drinks at our table.)
On Friday, we boarded our flight to La Guardia airport, and not until we were seated were we informed that there would be about a 50-minute delay in taking off. Now, I've never understood why airlines decide to board planes anyway when they know these kinds of things. Can't they just board a little later, giving us time to finish another plate of chicken fingers from T.G.I. Friday's? (Speaking of which, we need better food in our airports - especially O'Hare.) Nevertheless, we arrived in New York and decided to play the first night by ear. Our hotel was on the east side of Midtown at the Sofitel on 44th. The concierge made reservations for us across the street at a little Italian restaurant and it was pretty good. I ordered veal scallopine because....well, come on, it's pretty fun to say "I'll have-a the veal scallopine."
From there we walked a while thru the city until we found a bar to sit down in for a drink. Then we moved on and found another, more lounge-ish place to have another cocktail. We stayed for awhile but then left around midnight as the shades were drawn closed and the lounge started to transform into a hip-hop nightclub. It seemed like fun, but my dancing skillz ain't what they used to be....well, let me re-phrase: in fact, they're exactly what they used to be. Which is the problem.
We woke up on Saturday knowing that the whole day was pretty much open to us. We wanted to grab some breakfast, see a museum, etc. So we headed up north towards Central Park and meandered up the east side of the Park only to realize that apparently people who live on the Upper East Side must never eat breakfast because there were absolutely zero places that opened before 11:00am ... Not even a Starbuck's. It took forever but we finally found a little diner, and honestly just the act of sitting down was as enjoyable as the pancakes and coffee. Then we made our way back to the Park and continued north up to the the Guggenheim Museum. The museum's unique concept takes a central theme and spreads out the art over 5-6 floors of the museum as visitors walk up a continuous wide spiral to reach the top, viewing the art along the way. Right now they are featuring the works of Richard Prince: an interesting guy, very modern, yet seems to love crappy old jokes. (He even incorporated the Abraham Lincoln one that I referenced in the Hangover Haven, Chapter 2.)
We walked back to the Park and made our way south. There really isn't anything else like Central Park and just walking in it is relaxing and fun. Not to mention it's a people-watching feast, and an 85-degree Saturday in October brings everyone outside! Finally we decided to try finding a little place in the Village called Pasti's. Mrs. Shoes had seen it featured in her Sex and the City shows so she was dying to try it out for a mid-afternoon lunch. A subway ride south, a walk west to 9th Ave and 12th and we finally found it. Luckily, it lived up to the hype: yeah, a couple of french martinis usually does the trick, not to mention fresh oysters and good food.
On our way back to the hotel we wandered past the HBO Store, and found a few items of interest: keeping with the Pasti's theme, a little Sex and the City shirt for Mrs. Shoes that says "I'll find my inner goddess if it kills me"; and a pint glass for Shoes from Curb Your Enthusiasm that explains Larry David perfectly - there's a blue line around the middle of the glass and it says "Half Empty" both above and below the line. Better yet, an employee of the store recommended a little sushi place to us for dinner that was within walking distance, Sushi Osaka on 8th Ave and 37th. The sushi was great and without any of the fanfare of crowded New York restaurants... in fact, for awhile we were the only two people sitting down. Usually, an empty restaurant is not a good sign, but for a place the locals enjoy, it was perfect.
Sunday, we woke up on our anniversary with an actual agenda for the day. To start, we were meeting Mrs. Shoes' friends Kevin and Frank back down in the Village for brunch. We ate at a little place called FoodBar on 8th Ave and 18th, and the breakfast was phenom. Again, maybe it was the really vodka'd-up bloody marys and the mimosas that helped but the food was Yum-Delish, too. Good food, good company, good times. Afterward, we jumped in a cab in order to make a 2pm matinee of the long-running musical Rent. It was good. I'm not sure it's as great as it's made out to be, but it's still very good - the 2nd Act is better than the 1st.
Afterwards, we fought the throngs of tourists in Times Square because Mrs. Shoes wanted to find a popcorn store that she was hoping was still there. Sure enough it was, up on 48th. Now, I do think that Times Square is certainly an interesting urban jungle, but it's become Disneyland. The crowds are killer and after you've seen it once, there's really no need at all to return. But alas, I was wrong again. Apparently, there is a need: chocolate-chunk popcorn.
Which brings us to dinner. We had made reservations at a steakhouse called Ben Benson's, up on 52nd. A little online research showed that it appeared to be a pretty nice place to eat. However, we walked into the restaurant at 6:45pm and right away something didn't seem quite right in Dodge. First of all, not that it effects the quality of food in the least, but steakhouses are usually dimly lit for atmosphere. This place was as bright as the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center. Strike One. We were taken to our table, which wasn't hard to get to since there were only 6 other people in the entire restaurant. Unlike the local sushi place, steakhouses are supposed to be busy and full of life...and patrons. Ben Benson's was just dead. Strike Two. We were given menus and noticed that not all of the items that appeared on the online menu really matched up with what was actually served: no lobster bisque, a fav of Mr. and Mrs. Shoes...and not even a ribeye steak. Two and a haaaaaaaalllllllllf. The waiter returned to ask if we wanted a glass of wine, and pretty much threw the wine menu at us. Since the menu was all by-the-bottle and we were just wanting a pre-dinner cocktail at that point, we asked if there was a menu for wine by-the-glass. The waiter basically said, "Yes, it's up on the wall....behind you....and behind that tall plant that you cannot see thru....or around....so you'll have to get up to see it." Strike Three. Yeah, we got up, told the waiter that we had changed our minds and left. Happy Anniversary!
Needing a new dinner plan, we walked south and found Del Frisco's, another steakhouse. I had eaten at the one in Las Vegas and it was muchos goodos. We looked at the menu, and it didn't strike us as overly impressive though. Plus there was a long wait, and we were getting hungry. So we left. Happy Anniversary!
You, uhhh, kinda get where this is going, right? So we called information to get the phone number for Spark's, a steakhouse that we ate at 2 years ago and loved. Once connected, there was a short conversation:
Spark's Employee: "Sparks Steakhouse."
Shoes: (thinking that this guy is very difficult to understand) "Hi. Where are you located?"
Spark's: (it's tough to decipher, but I can just make out him saying) "...On 46th, between 2nd and 3rd..."
Shoes: "Great. And do you have an opening for two people this evening if we walk in?"
Spark's: "Wfghr hyu#f0gfb yes fg povmrtqwe."
Shoes: "Ummmm..."
Mrs. Shoes: (off to the side) "What did he say?"
Shoes: "I don't exactly know, but I heard a 'yes' in there."
Sparks: "Huh?"
Shoes: "No, not you. Ok, thanks, we'll see you in a few minutes."
Sparks: "grjre *h6m^ls"
Well, it's kind of a hike from where we were, but the food is definitely worth the walk. "Should we cab it?" I ask. Naaaaah. So, we make our way over east and finally walk into the restaurant. Something seems amiss, as all of the chairs are propped up on top of the tables. Playing the role of Captain Obvious I ask someone, "Are you closed?" I mean, what kind of answer was I expecting? Yeah, apparently the hard-to-understand part of the phone conversation was actually the important part about them not being open on Sundays. Happy Anniversary!
At this point, it's just after eight o'clock and we both just want food. So we walk back west on 46th and pass a little Italian joint called Via Italiana. We're told by an old man (and, as it turns out, employee) that this is the best Italian food in New York. "I have lived here 25 years and this is the very best you'll find," he says. Um. It wasn't. To be fair, it wasn't bad... It just wasn't what we were hoping for in our meal that evening. Happy Anniversary!
So now we just want to grab some drinks on our last night in New York and we take the advice of our neighbors, Nicole and Chris, to visit Stone Rose, a bar in the Time Warner Building in the Columbus Circle. We cab it up there and it's actually a very sheek/shique/Shiek (spelling?) sort of bar/lounge and there's a fantastic view of the fountain thru the large windows. The martinis and drinks are typically priced for New York, but hey, where else can you get a mangomint mojito?? Our waitress tells us that we're a day late for star-watching though, as the previous night had Tommy Lee Jones and Holly Hunter in there....oh, and George Clooney was also recently in with his girlfriend. However, the only VIPs we saw were a few older ladies who appeared to be members of the Red Hat Club. But, the drinks were great, the atmosphere and view were very cool, and it was a very nice way to end an evening. Happy Anniversary!!!
*****
(And since we really don't have any pics to share with you from our trip to the Big Apple, I just figured we'd go back a year to the honeymoon in Maui - where we were both able to act like complete fools at a luau. See, here's Mrs. Shoes hangin' loose....)
(...and here's Shoes hoarding all the drinks at our table.)
2 comments:
Happy Anniversary! M-J will be thrilled to see that "Yum-Delish" has made its way into the blog. ;)
Greg
happy anniversary. thanks for bringing back some good new york memories. whatta town.
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