It looks like there might be a “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” filming in Union Square. I saw the logo for the show briefly on one of the trucks, and one of the film crew mentioned a contest with Bobby Flay. I wonder if he is competing with the Dessert Truck.
I had a fantastic weekend and took advantage of quite a bit of what the city had to offer.
The weekend started out with Dance. Friday evening, I met my friend Mary and her father and we went to see my friend Kristen perform in Sawdust Palace at Dance Theater Workshop. The piece, by Susan Marshall & Company, was a fun and entertaining 80-minute set of 20 dances. Kristen and her fellow dancers are extremely talented. The pieces were sensual and athletic. Some pieces were whimsical, while others were heart-rending. It was a great set of shows, and I wish they had more performances. That being said, they had a grueling schedule of six shows in four days; Friday and Saturday had back-to-back shows at 7:30 and 10.
After the dance, Mary, her father, and I went to Brooklyn and had some light dinner and drinks at Clover Club on Smith Street in Carroll Gardens. I had a “Gin-Gin Mule,” a tall gin drink with ginger, and an Anejo Mole Old-Fashioned. The Old Fashioned was made with tequila and flavored with mole seasonings; even though it sounds nothing like a traditional Old Fashioned, it managed to incorporate non-traditional ingredients while still remaining true to the spirit of the original drink. (I apologize in advance if I mangled the names of the drinks.)
Mary headed home, and I wandered towards my house down Smith Street. A few doors down from Clover Club is Char No. 4. I decided to stop in for a quick nightcap. Char No. 4 features over 150 whiskeys, including scotches, bourbons, and ryes. I decided to have a 2-ounce pour of Wild Turkey Single Barrel. It’s a very strong bourbon at approximately 100 proof, so I had it with a bit of water and a couple of cubes of ice. To further cut the heat of the alcohol, I ate a small order of deep-fried cheese curds with pimento sauce. Deep fried cheese and hard liquor? Not the worst end to a fun evening. I have two suggestion for Char No. 4, one silly and one serious. It would be nice if the strength of the alcohols were listed on the menu. And it would be nice if they had poutine. I leave it as an exercise for the reader to figure out which idea is serious and which idea is silly.
Saturday morning, I got up bright and early to prepare brunch with my friends Harri and Kristiina. I always have fun making brunch, and this was no exception. In addition to fresh pastries from Almondine and berries from the farmer’s market, I also prepared Eggs Florentine and fresh homemade biscuits. It’s gotten easier to prepare brunch the more times that I do it. I’ve realized that the key to poached eggs is that they can be prepared ahead of time and kept in water before serving. (Thanks Mastering the Art of French Cooking!) This allows everything to come together very quickly. Also, fresh spinach, while a pain to clean thoroughly, is easy to prepare and tasty. This was my first time making biscuits for guests. I used cake flour. While it made for a very nice tender crumb, the biscuits did not rise as much as I would have liked. I think I will try all-purpose flour next.
Saturday evening, I met up with Betsy. We started the evening by going to Los Dos Molinos for dinner. They are a good New Mexican restaurant. It’s a bit pricey, but the food is very good with a fair amount of heat. It was also the perfect location for the next stop on our itinerary….
After dinner, we headed down Irving Place to the clumsily named The Fillmore at Irving Plaza. After waiting around for thirty minutes or so, we saw an opening act by Shawn Mullins. If you don’t recognize the name, you would certainly recognize his music; for example, check out this video of Lullaby.
The main event of the evening was a performance by Dar Williams. Dar is on tour in conjunction with her latest album release, Promised Land. She performed at one of the first concerts I attended when I first moved to New York City. I remember going to shows of hers at the Bottom Line and Town Hall. I really admire her, and once stood in line after a show to get her autograph on an album. She now lives in New York State very close to my friends Phil and Karen. Below are two shaky, poorly recorded clips from the show; in one she is performing Spring Street and in the other she other she is performing As Cool As I Am. You can really hear the crowd singing along during As Cool As I Am.
Dar has such a great energy, and it was clear that she loved performing in New York City. I’m really happy that I was able to catch her performing again.
Betsy and I stopped by The House for a quick drink after the show. In the future, I would not order a cocktail here; I ordered an Old Fashioned and received a very odd watered-down drink that tasted like it was made with muddled lemons and cherries and no added sugar. Betsy had a perfectly decent glass of Moscato D’asti. We were both going to switch drinks, but our waiter misunderstood us and brought another round. The twist on the evening was that I was charged extra for Maker’s Mark without requesting a premium liquor. Despite the odd drinking experience, the wine list and menu look very nice. It’s also a very elegant space, and I would love to check it out on another occasion.
I was looking for a fairly calm day on Sunday. I spent most of the day poking around on the computer and reading Elements of ML Programming, and then I met up with my friend Anne for Chinese food and soup dumplings. The default, and arguably best, choice for soup dumplings in New York City is Joe’s Shanghai. We enjoyed a terrific meal of soup dumplings, shrimp, and eggplant. Joe’s always has speedy and attentive service, and the food is terrific. (When my friend Andrew was visiting town, it was one of only three restaurants we went to in a city full of excellent restaurants.) After a nice late lunch, we walked through Chinatown and picked up some ice cream at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. I had lemon sorbet.
We walked around a bit; the day was surprisingly hot and muggy. (I wish I had worn shorts.) At the South Street Seaport, I was able to scope out my apartment from the Manhattan side of the East River before taking the subway back to Brooklyn Heights.
Overall, I had an amazing weekend. It was the kind of weekend that reminds me why I love New York City.
Every year on the week before September 11, New York City has a memorial in the form of the Tribute in Light. Two beams shoot through the sky reminiscent of the World Trade Center. If nothing else, it allows you to appreciate how significant the World Trade Center was to New York City.
University Place and 8th Street
5th Avenue and 8th Street towards Washington Square Park
Great Jones Street and Bowery
Carroll Gardens
Brooklyn Heights panorama (image linked to a larger version)
The sky is beautiful today
My friend Andrew was in town (from Los Angeles) to take photos at the U.S. Open; he flew in from China after working at the Olympics.
We went out to dinner with Shiho and Keith, two other talented photographers.
I didn’t get a good photo of Andrew, but I did manage to take a quick snapshot of Shiho and Keith.
This past Sunday, August 31, the Working Harbor Committee held the Sixteenth Annual Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition on the Hudson River. My friend Anne and I went to Pier 84 at 44th Street.
All of the tugboats line up at Pier 84 and parade up to the starting line at the 79th Street Boat Basin. Then they race as quickly as they can back down to the finish line at Pier 84.
Here are some photos of the tugs before the race.
The crane ship from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers marks the finish line.
The tugboats parade up to the 79th Street Boat Basin
More tugboats!
The NYFD was also on hand.
Lined up for the start of the race.
The race to the finish
After the race, the tugboats participate in other competitions, like a pushing competition. They go head to head, and the tug that is pushed backwards loses.
More tugs hanging out on the river….
The crews of the tugboats compete in a line throwing competition.
The Tug Pegasus was built in 1907 and is the oldest Tugboat in the New York City region.
After the race, the tugs dock on the pier, and you can get a very close look.
[Both of the panoramas are linked to larger versions. I have more images and high-resolution copies; contact me if you would like them.]
The Waterfalls project by Olafur Eliasson is pretty, but not necessarily as impressive as I thought it would be. I think the view from the East River looking into Brooklyn is fairly attractive even without the additional public art.
I’m sure this is not the most tasteless commemoration of the attacks on September 11 [Flash warning], but it might be close. I wish I ran into them in the street, so I could be the “middle-aged man” in this Overhead in New York.
Damn, I’m sexy.
A one-second clip of me at the bar of ‘inoteca is approximately 29 seconds into NY1’s story on Restaurants: Singles
Recently, I had the occasion to buy flowers for two friends in New York City. I was disappointed both by 1-800-Flowers and a downtown TeleFlora affiliate that I found on the net.
The first florist failed to deliver the flowers on the day I requested. This wasn’t a hard delivery–the flowers were to go to a midtown office building with a messenger center. It shouldn’t have been necessary, but the florist called my friend to meet downstairs. My friend hunted for the delivery downstairs, but it never showed up. Even worse, 1-800-Flowers told me that the delivery had occurred! The florist asserted that no one was in the building to accept the flowers–this is not even remotely believable. It took 30 minutes to an hour to work out the mess; the flowers were delivered two days later. (To add insult to injury, the florist substituted from the vase pictured on the web site.)
I found the second florist by searching Google. They had their own web site, but in many ways was even more disappointing than the first. This delivery was to a friend’s apartment. She doesn’t have a doorman, but there is an atrium where the flowers could be left and the building is frequently occupied during the day. They were not able to successfully deliver the flowers to the atrium of my friend’s apartment; even though they said they spoke with the restaurant next door, I don’t think they tried the other apartments in the building or the business on the same level. I went down later that afternoon and delivered the flowers myself. This wasn’t too upsetting even though I feel they should have been able to deliver the flowers.
What was upsetting about the second florist was that their arrangement was fairly poor. I asked for a contemporary design with a nice arrangement of fall flowers. (All of the designs on their website I liked were unavailable.) They arrangement I received was your standard floral arrangement in orange with a cheap transparent vase.
There wasn’t time to complain to the second florist. They were closing and I had to get back to work. However, I don’t necessarily believe in complaining in these types of situations. The best thing I can do is decide not to patronize them again.
Ultimately, I’m sure both of my friends were very happy with the flower purchases. And that’s what matters because if they are happy then I am happy. And if you are one of the friends reading this who received flowers and were not happy, then I apologize. :-)
I want to find a florist with good delivery, good taste, and honest service. Cost is always a factor, but I am willing to pay a decent amount of money. Can anyone recommend good florists in New York City?
There were fireworks in downtown Brooklyn this past Sunday, September 30. I don’t know why. Perhaps for Yom Kippur?