À bientôt Grinch Village

October 12, 2017

A graduation ceremony triggered the latest, not last, trip to NYC. That was back in May – so this is a very tardy post. For the second time, we stayed in Brooklyn, but who can forget the year of “Grinch Village”?

I like to drive, but am a very good navigator. On family trips that’s my job. I love maps of all shapes and sizes. I study them before we travel - old fashioned maps and digital maps, sometimes checking out street view so as to be super prepared. Especially in the days before GPS I liked the "TripTiks" - customized maps - prepared by the automobile club (CAA). (Truth be told, despite having smart phone GPS I still like to have a TripTik.)

In 2009, we asked for a TripTik to Greenwich Village, and when we picked it up noticed that we were headed to "Grinch Village" instead!!

Though I still use that beat up TripTik for part of the drive, the last few times we have by-passed the tunnel entrances to Manhattan and have instead approached NYC via Brooklyn, on the Verrazano Bridge. For the first time, we did AirBnB and found ourselves in a stunning condo at the base of Brooklyn Bridge with a charming host who could easily be a character in a novel. (I do have some AirBnB advice if you are ever interested.) Our AirBnB condo was in the Sweeney Building. The host was one of the first to move into the building once renovations were complete, and she tells tales of how sketchy the neighborhood was in those days. Crazy trivia about the building - "It was erected in 1908 by the W. H. Sweeney Manufacturing Company. The company was founded by three brothers from Marysville, Ontario. They manufactured copper, brass, nickel, and silver kitchenware." [Source]

*Room with a view - eyes left - Brooklyn Bridge*

*Room with a view - eyes right - Manhattan Bridge*

Holiday, getaway, rest & relaxation? Well, in my opinion, NYC has not been a place for relaxing. The pressures are the reverse. You are in the Big Apple. There is so much to see and do. How can you afford to sit in a coffee house for more than an hour, or (perish the thought) have a wee nap. It’s go, go, go; do, do, do. The step counter on my iPhone rewards me for all those extra steps! My fantasy NYC getaway would be a stay of a week or more, with "go, go" days alternating with "lazy" days.

Truth be told, we have used some of our NYC time sitting, quietly watching an amazing world go by. While seeming to be a place of concrete canyons, NYC has more neighborhood parks, green spaces, or more specifically, places to sit than any city I have visited. Despite using transit, the "go, go" walking begs some rest periods – especially in the summer months when heat and humidity turn everything into a challenge.

There are so many NYCs - one for theatre-goers, shoppers, lovers of museums and art and architecture – the list goes on. Despite annual visits over the last nine years, we have not seen it all.

We have never seen a Broadway show or spent much time shopping - foodie shopping being an exception. There’s the unbeatable Kitchen Arts and Letters Bookstore. Walking out empty-handed is nigh impossible, so if you go there first, be prepared to lug your purchases around all day. We once followed Bourdain’s advice to check out Chef Restaurant Supplies – though here’s an update on cool kitchen stores.

This year’s foodie highlight was Kalustyan’s. Though they have some ready to eat food, I’d describe this as a sort of “dry goods emporium”. They’ve been described as “a specialty market known for Indian & Mideastern spices, teas & other global food items”, and they describe themselves as a “landmark for specialty foods since 1944”. Upon entry, the shop may seem small, but each doorway is like a rabbit hole leading to another wonderland. The place left me gobsmacked.

When it came to eating this year, though there is no end to new restos in NYC, inexplicably we made pilgrimages back to "been there" places like The Diner (in Williamsburg) and Andrew Carmellini's Lafayette. It is hard enough to keep up with new restos locally - in Toronto, even in Hamilton. In NYC – even more challenging. In The Guardian’s recent listing of NYC Top Best, I know all the neighbourhoods, but have not been to any of the restos. Another reason there must be a "next time". Not to be overlooked, we finally made it to the infamous Shake Shack. The "mother-ship" in Madison Square Park had been closed for a while, re-opening in 2015, but it was the location in Brooklyn that we stumbled upon. We may have ordered the wrong thing, but in truth, years of anticipation were better than the reality.

For us, over the last decade, NYC has been mainly a foodie adventure with a sprinkling of museums and the outdoors. More than once we have rented bikes (really the only way to see the bulk of Central Park). On the other hand, we had to make a point of visiting Times Square a few years ago – it was getting embarrassing to admit we’d never been there.

This year’s outdoors adventure was Governor’s Island. (See also their site.) Having stayed frequently in the Southern Seaport area, we knew exactly where the ferry departed for the short trip to the Island. Its history includes the fact that it was the (easily secured) location for the 1988 meeting between Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. The story of the Island, which through most of its history was a military base, is utterly fascinating! Today few people live there and it is being devoted to public spaces and parkland – the latest section, called The Hills, having opened in July 2016. If you can take your eyes off the amazing and abundant abandoned housing, you get unique views of Manhattan. Rent bikes on site to explore it all, and take breaks for food and ice cream – and don’t forget your sunscreen.

Whether or not it is a city that never sleeps, NYC is certainly a city that never stands still. The changes from year to year were visible and over almost a decade - staggering. Though there must surely be municipal issues, the urban renewal and development seems to progress in an orderly way that appears to be aimed at improving quality of life - though I'd have a tough time convincing Brooklynites affected by the 15 month "L" train shutdown.

I know little about the Upper East or Upper West side - having infrequently ventured north of 94th Street. But changes in the South Seaport, Battery Park City, Chelsea, Hell's Kitchen, Pier 45 and the Meatpacking areas - just to mention a few - are, without exaggeration, astounding, stunning - and they're not over yet. Not to be overlooked are the ever-evolving neighborhoods in Brooklyn. Encouraged to visit DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), the first time was underwhelming. Now it is thriving, filled with views that make you smile - Jane's Carousel , and wee beaches. The Brooklyn Bridge Park offers green spaces, scenic views, art installments and more. Our first walk from Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan Bridge was a challenging crawl past empty decrepit warehouses, many of which have been now restored and put to good use - always with green space as part of the plan.

Am already mapping out future trips, hoping one day to see The Lowline (in development; not to be confused with the High Line), Bourdain's (not yet ready) new food market, and the Southern Seaport transformations. See you again soon NYC!

Road-trip tip? If you want a break from the usual driving route that CAA and GPS suggest, make homeward bound up the Manhattan side of the Hudson River. Fit in a visit to The Cloisters if time permits. Approaching Yonkers, the road won't be next to the water, but there's still much to explore - cute towns (Nyack, Cold Springs) and art (Storm King, Dia:Beacon). If you can't make it home in that same day - explore Saratoga Springs or head over to Ithaca, and spend the next day exploring the Finger Lakes area.

If you are planning to visit NYC, you may enjoy my other related blogs - June 2016 and June 2015 (the year I began blogging - so nothing for the years before...)

Recipes. NYC trips are always inspirations for cooking, and some recipes made it to the blog - check out Black & White Cookies, and Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookies, Linzer Cookies and Portuguese Muffins.

NYC Read: I like to read books set in my travel destination. This year's NYC read was Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk, by Kathleen Rooney.

Just for laughs: when Greenwich Village = Grinch Village, it reminds me of cake decorating mistakes. Have you seen these?

Contemplating the Big Apple

June 14, 2016

That girl on the docks – it’s me! In the last century, of course. We were newly married, and my in-laws, with an empty nest, made the adventurous decision to return to Europe. That meant traveling by boat with trunks full of their belongings – and the ship left from New York’s Harbour (most likely from a dock on the Hudson, probably close to Chelsea). I am flabbergasted and even embarrassed that I recall so little about that trip. I remember the plane circling for almost an hour waiting to land, a teeny tiny hotel room, and a city that was noisy – all through the night. Where did we eat? What did we see? Apart from the docks – whoosh – those memories are buried somewhere deep and inaccessible.

Maybe my short term memories never made it to long term in the first place. At the time, I was not a big NYC fan and in the decades that followed never pined after trips to shop or see Broadway shows. I wonder why I recall no “NYC thrill” – then a review of history provides a context.

NYC was a troubled city in the 1960s. “Like many major U.S. cities, New York suffered race riots, gang wars… By the 1970s the city had gained a reputation as a crime-ridden relic of history.” [Source]

So in 1971, the girl on the docks might well have been hoping – please let me get out of this place in one piece.

Apart from a few momentous events, such as the opening of the World Trade center in 1972, the Seventies, it seems were not much improved. “The financial crisis, high crime rates, and damage from the blackouts led to a widespread belief that New York City was in irreversible decline. By the end of the 1970s, nearly a million people had left, a population loss that would not be recouped for another twenty years.” [Source}

This was the context for the 1977 launch of the now iconic, and immeasurably successful, "l Love New York" campaign. It marked an apparent turning point in the city’s status and appeal – echoing earlier chapters, decades before.

Post-WWII NYC was robust and exciting. The BBC’s Bright Lights, Brilliant Minds documentary focuses on all of the amazing things that happened in NYC in a pivotal year. “It quickly became the most influential and exciting place on the planet, a place with more energy and originality than everywhere else put together… a towering testament to human resilience, ingenuity and above all hope. This city did more than any other to create our culture – the culture we live in today - and it all began in 1951."

The premise of that documentary may in part explain why, the year before, my parents went to New York City for their honeymoon. My mother, annoyed at my questions and the expectation that she should remember details from well over a half century ago, says she recalls they travelled by train, went to a Broadway show, and ate at a Hungarian restaurant. She tells a sweet story - that they joined the dance floor for a csárdás - dancing so impressively that they cleared the floor, admired and applauded by all. They never returned, and in many respects that kind of trip was out of character from how they spent the rest of their lives. Sitting there, little did they know they would one day have a grandson who’d live in NYC for almost a decade.

And that dear reader, is why the girl on the docks has visited NYC so often in recent years, and as a food enthusiast that became the focus of each trip. I still know little about shopping in NYC for anything other than food stuffs. All I know about Broadway is that our favourite DEAN & DELUCA is at Broadway and Prince. We feel comfortable using transit and have rented bikes more than once. And we walk. This year, peak steps in one day was 24,709 – and the older I get the more that translates into “Let’s sit down for a spell.”

Though I am confident we will return to NYC, that chapter is drawing to a close and I have been pondering memories and moments. We arrived so unprepared the first time and stayed in Chelsea – which has since changed tremendously. In fact, all of New York seems to be in constant flux. Clearly there is enough money to fuel the changes, which seem to be positive and creative. Undoubtedly there is a back story to every initiative – but somehow that city moves forward with rapid innovation.

And yet… “progress” is not praised by all. This recent NYT article laments the closing of shops on Bleecker Street / Greenwich Village. After periods as long as 28 years, facing rents of $25,000 per month for 500 sq. ft., shops that contributed to the neighborhood’s history and character are being replaced with high-end international chains. As in all major cities, gentrification creates a wave. It pushed people to Brooklyn’s more affordable neighborhoods such as Williamsburg, which in turn is quickly becoming un-affordable. The wave moves out – and up! If you have no time to read this, at least check out the photos in the NYT Magazine's High Rise edition - an astonishing number of people determined to live in Manhattan are living above 800 feet!.

The wave also moves beyond borders. I am ambivalent about the homogenization that comes with globalization. Was it better when the one and only Shake Shack was in Madison Square Park? And now that they have expanded globally – even to Russia! – should I be hoping to see a local one soon? There was “the summer of Pinkberry” – we ate it at every opportunity. Now there’s a Pinkberry in Mississauga’s Sherway Gardens Mall. I took a photo – but can’t bring myself to eat there. We ate at Nathan’s on Coney Island – and now my local grocer stocks Nathan’s Mustard and Pickles. I admit, I bought some, but can they be as good as the original? Where did Nathan’s suddenly get so many pickles that they could export them all over the world? So, fine, sometimes I am happy when “NYC” appears close by – Daniel Boulud, Momofuku and Milk Bar. There are even plans for a Toronto Eataly soon!

On the flip side, I have a little shiver of pride when I see Canadian products on the shelves of DEAN & DELUCA – Kozlik’s Mustard, Lesley Stowe’s Raincoast Crisps. But overall, year after year, I wander the aisles of D&D saying – we have that at home, have that, have that… A core travel question is do you want to see something different, or exactly the same? It’s fun to hunt down something you can’t get at home – like Liddabit Sweets. Ok… I can order these online, but where’s the adventure?

Chop, chop - editing decision...

I’ve decided to edit out my summary of restaurant memories and travel tips and will shortly add them elsewhere on this site. You can read last year’s NYC blog post, and check out my NYC / Eat page (which will be updated asap).

There's so much I could share from this year alone. A highlight was Café Sabarsky, in the Neue Galerie, home to Gustav Klimt's iconic Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I. Those who are not students of Fine Arts may know it from the movie Woman in Gold. The portrait was painted in Vienna, and the café has captured the essence of coffee houses we visited in Vienna (and Budapest – keep in mind that both cities were once part of the Austro-Hungarian empire). They even had Sacher Torte mit schlag (aka whipped cream).

Red Hook Lobster Roll: Southern Seaport Smorgasburg

Most years, we stay in the Historic Southern Seaport area where the day can end relaxing on beautiful outdoor seating, gazing at the Brooklyn Bridge and the East River. This brings to mind: 1) Brooklyn is worth a visit. More and more restaurants pop up every year – and there’s the interesting Flea Market and Smorgasburg - which has now expanded to other locations, including the Seaport area! 2) The sitting / gazing has at times been accompanied by eating a burger – not every meal in NYC can be “fine dining”. This year’s burger feast was at Spotted Pig, April Bloomfield’s NYC launch pad in the wonderful West Village. 3) The outdoor seating in the Seaport area follows the same design as that on the High Line - not to be missed - but may be less crowded early or late in the day.

What will take us back to New York? For starters, a graduation and a moving van; the 2019 opening of Anthony Bourdain's Pier 57 Food Hall / Market, and perhaps next year the opening of the Pier 17 Project in the Southern Seaport – can’t wait to see the changes to our quiet (and previously affordable?) little corner of Manhattan.

NYC trips are always a kitchen muse. I have figured out how to make Ramen Burgers, but have not tried this yet. In the "summer of macarons" I arrived home with all I needed to make them - but never did. (Sadly) this trend caught on like wild fire, and they are now available at my grocery store! bookstore! I am kind of thinking I am over them... Some NYC inspirations did make it to the blog - check out Black & White Cookies, and Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookies.

You can also view more photos at my Instagram feed.

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The City That Never Stops Eating...

June 3, 2015

Back from NYC and other distractions! Our base in NYC is always the Historic South Seaport District – cobble stones, a view of Brooklyn Bridge from our room, close to pleasant walks by the East River, or along Battery Park. Typical in our trips to NYC is to take the #6 subway and emerge at Union Square. It is always on our ‘to do’ list since it features a farmer’s market teaming with interesting offerings from local / upstate farmers. Eye candy and educational. Wandering through the market is an assault on cravings, exciting salivary glands.

*What the heck is Yu Choy Sum? Read more...*

This year, wandering through the market and continuing to circle around the square, I was struck by the overwhelming number of eating options in such a small space. True, Union Square is a hub of humans – many being students as the Square sits among New School and NYU buildings. Nonetheless, there are a lot of options - though I am not saying they are all good... Check out some of the reviews. Not necessarily in this order – the second floor of Whole Foods is a café, Barnes and Noble has a large coffee room, there is a Dunkin' Donuts, a Starbucks, Panera Bread, TGI Friday, au bon Pain, pret a manger; even the Walgreens drug store has a coffee/snack counter. The Coffee Shop with its winding bar/counter and booths is open 23 hours a day. Once it’s past breakfast there’s The Republic, Blue Water Grill, the Union Square Café. Not to be overlooked are the food carts near street corners offering fare not unlike Tim’s in Canada. This year, I noticed two additions to the Square itself – Mighty Pie and the Pavilion Market Café – an almost al fresco space under a gorgeous old bandshell, aiming to use fresh produce from the market. If all that is not enough, the side streets puts one steps away from ABC Kitchen and ABC Cocina (where we had a fabulous meal), Gramercy Tavern, Eataly. (Eataly may soon be coming to Toronto - yay!)

*Ramen Burgers - crazy idea that works!*

Enough already! This is such a tiny pocket of the city and not even what some experts would consider “restaurant central”. Clearly enough people eat at each of these places to pay the rent. NYC may be more deserving of the moniker “The city that never stops eating”!

It is, indeed, a challenge to stop eating at another “foodie must see/do”. Saturday is the day to hop on the East River Ferry, disembark at 6th Street and relish the sights and tastes at Smorgasburg – (no typo – smorgasbord + Williamsburg = Smorgasburg). In just a few years this has grown to 100 vendors. It is supposed to begin at 11, but this may also be the city that sleeps in! (Noteworthy that a lot of things don't open until 11.) On the dot of eleven, not all vendors were ready for commerce – some arriving almost an hour later. But most - like the porchetta guys - are worth waiting for, and easily forgiven. It’s advisable to wander before deciding what to eat, and best to opt for sharing, thus leaving optimal tummy room. A couple of “firsts” this year – artisanal beer battered cheese curds (with spicy mayo dips) and Ramen Burgers. I was expecting buns pressing on noodles. Instead the noodles formed the “buns” enfolding a meat patty and all the trimmings. Doughnuts from Dough - deadly.

Another memorable meal was at Lafayette. The celebrated chef and cookbook author, Andrew Carmellini, offers up an entirely different ambiance and experience from The Dutch - where we ate last year - with French rather than Italian influences. At the newly (re)opened Whitney Museum, the talents of Chef Michael Anthony (of Gramercy Tavern fame) make eating “artful” – both at the Studio Café and the restaurant, cleverly name “Untitled”. For a good part of the Spring, “toast” ideas were trending on Twitter, but I had not anticipated they’d show up on a menu. Various toppings on thin, dense, brown crusted, toasted, crispy bread were gorgeous to behold and even better to devour.

I’m betting that Ramen Burgers and “toasts” will be appearing on menus near here soon!

*Zaitzeff - not your ordinary burger joint.*

*Burgers, Brooklyn Bridge and East River*

Also noteworthy is the amazing Zaitzeff Burgers – sirloin burgers, caramelized onions, cheese on a Portuguese bun! There once was a resto in Burlington that used Portuguese buns for all their sandwiches. I need to dust off my quest to discover where one can buy these. [Update: I figured out how to make these!! Check out my recipe!]

Adding to an already long blog post, will mention the Gansevoort Market near the Whitney. (The Chelsea Market is also nearby – though they are a bit more like “emporiums" than farmers’ markets.) Steps away is the southern end of the High Line – a great NYC concept offering a lovely walk – best on a weekday.

I end every post with a recipe and the one that seems most fitting is the sweet treat that is quintessentially NYC – Black and White Cookies. They became known to most of us from Seinfeld. They can be good or bad and the best bet is home-made. I used to use a Martha Stewart recipe, but for this occasion decided to try the recipe from America’s Test Kitchen. A great recipe, with one problem – they can vanish in 24 hours!

(Having traveled often to NYC, I have tons of travel and foodie tips – most already typed up since I share them so often. Let me know if you have specific questions or would like the KB Tip sheet! I will also add resto, markets and foodie shopping info to other parts of this site. As I do, I will come back here and post links.)

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