SYP Says

Back to NYC April 2008

A couple of weeks ago, (the Pope &) I spent 8 days back home in NYC. I was in town for Customer Experience Council meetings, but I took some vacation days so I could enjoy being back in the city with my friends and my old life. Believe it or not, this post will be sans action shots because my Blackberry doesn't have a camera (yes, I'm a loser) and my camera was on the fritz. I think my friends were relieved as I've been on a bit of a tear the last couple of years. Everyone worries about getting stuck on my blog doing things they'd rather not remember. :) Warning: This is a very long post!

The first half of my trip, I stayed with my friend, Karen. Now that she is divorced from TOAD (see pic at left), she is so much happier which makes me happier, of course. Her partner in crime, David, came over to hang my first night in town--he and his family were the inspiration for one of my all-time fave shows, Six Feet Under. No surprise--he is hysterically funny.

We left him to check out his lovely new apartment (long story involving a dead man and his dog) and made our way to meet Karen's new BF for dinner at Etats-Unis Bar, a slice of the West Village on the Upper East Side. They have an eclectic casual menu focused on fresh, seasonal ingredients, that is much different from their more formal restaurant across the street. Don't miss their spicy guacamole and date pudding for dessert!

Sunday in NYC always, always starts with brunch. We chose to go to Morandi, the new rustic Italian trattoria from Keith McNally, the clever man who brought us Balthazar, Pastis, and Schiller's Liquor. We started with fried artichokes with lemon and then I dug into poached eggs over fava beans, artichokes and escarole. We were SO full, but couldn't pass up ricotta fritters for dessert. David took one on the road with him for his first trip on the Ikea bus. Although he did not buy any furniture, he did get several of their infamous blue bags!

Karen and I were now fueled up and ready to shop til we dropped. We hit a variety of shops in Nolita, including one of my favorites, bag (formerly called shoe, now up the street), where I found the perfect summer yellow purse, and we took a quick sake break at Chibi's. I had great success in Soho too at Bloomie's downtown and Max Studio. We stopped off at Te Casan, a very cool shoe store that is design and fashion-forward, focused mainly on limited-edition shoes, such as Natalie Portman's new shoe line for vegans. We had dinner at the exotic, Thai-fusion restaurant, Kittichai. Karen was craving their chocolate baby-back ribs and although I hadn't been to Kittichai in a few years, I did remember how beautiful the interior is and had a faint memory of delicious cocktails, so who was I to complain.

Monday was all about pampering myself. I slept late on the Aero Bed which was surprisingly comfy, played with Lily & Max, sipped coffee, danced around, and before I knew it, was a scant 15 minutes away from being late for lunch. I cabbed it down to L'Impero to meet Tara, a recruiter I used when I worked at A&E. I hadn't seen her in a long time and it was so nice to catch up. She's now heading up Jobplex at DHR International, one of the largest HR firms around. I had been hearing about this restaurant for years and it didn't disappoint, although the setting is much more formal than I expected. I started with an appetizer of sardines, buffalo mozzarella, roasted red peppers, and pesto. It was a lovely combination--a bit salty, sweet, and creamy. At lunch, you can get half orders of pasta, so I ordered Sardinian saffron pasta with crab, sea urchin and fresh tomato. It was the best pasta I'd had since I left NYC two years ago. I walked around town and then ended up at Sol Spa for my Korean scrub & massage appointment. (For those of you who haven't been paying attention, here is why I love Korean scrubs so much.) Met David and Karen for drinks at Lucy at ABC (one of my all-time favorite stores) and then off to The Modern for dinner.

Genius NYC restaurateur, Danny Meyer, did a Council call earlier this year I unfortunately missed. He was going to be speaking in person at the Council meetings though and as part of that, we got an email from Phil at the beginning of April saying we should book reservations for one of Danny's restaurants through his personal assistant and be prepared to give feedback. I chose The Modern at the MOMA since I'd never been and Phil highly recommended it.

We were in the dining room and by this point in the night, a bit on the rowdy side. I had just gotten my scrub, of course, and Karen and David couldn't stop touching the back of my neck. I have to admit it was smoooove. We had also had enough to drink that merely saying, "He-llo? Helloooooo? Hellooooooooooo?" to each other in a funny accent had us in stitches. The food was amazing though--sophisticated with a very light touch and we had the best time. And it was more than enough--I kept reading reviews that said the portions were small, but we didn't find that to be the case. In fact, there was dessert after the dessert course--cute little bon bons--and when David dropped one of the yummiest ones on the floor, they brought us an entire new tray! Even with our...um...boisterous behavior, Dino, the assistant manager of The Modern, welcomed us warmly and said he would see me on Wed at the Rainbow Room dinner later that week. As it turns out, he actually did remember me which was quite impressive, I thought, given the number of people he sees every day.

Tuesday brought a bit more shopping, lunch at Won Jo, one of my favorite restaurants in Koreatown, and eyebrow threading at Perfect Shape Threading Salon (seriously, if you have never done this, do it today--it is cheap, quick, and your eyebrows will never look better). Met a bunch of the old A&E crew at the Flatiron Lounge and then met two friends for dinner--Mary, formerly of HBO, now of MAINE(!), and Sarah, formerly of BabyCenter.com, now of Snapfish.com. Now that Le Tableau has closed (which I am so, so sad about), I figured Lucien would be a good spot to go. It's a perfect place to have fun conversation with friends and enjoy bistro fare--fish soup, salad, frites, wine. Afterwards, I met a friend at the Brandy Library (see pic at left) in Tribeca for a swanky nightcap. You can choose from over 900 bottles of spirits--an amazing selection. Ignore the sign on the outside claiming it's full. I strolled right in and got a comfy seat and it really wasn't all that crowded. I think they just do that to keep the riff-raff out (clearly, they failed in my case).

Wednesday it was back to work in the afternoon, so I spent the morning checking out of Hotel Stavisky and checking into the modern boutique Hotel QT. (How could I not choose to stay in a NYC hotel that has a swimming pool in the lobby? Plus, the beds here are amazing.) After our meetings, we had the Council's Annual Copernican Awards Event and Dinner at the Rainbow Room. At one point, I was sitting at my table and I heard someone yell my name "S-O  Y-O-U-N-G"! I looked up and there was Dino from The Modern! I was so surprised he'd remembered me. Great guy and so friendly--he is perfect for the job he has.

A bunch of us went out afterwards and went to chill at Tillman's, a bit of Harlem in Chelsea with a vibe I really loved. Can't go wrong with Billie Holiday, classic cocktails, and one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches ever (get the French Onion one!). It's a bit hard to find--it's on the north side of the street at 165 26th between 6th and 7th. There's a doorman. Be nice and you won't have any problem. :) Marie & I stayed out a little longer, making it to Happy Ending for a drink (it's not what you think--this former Chinatown massage parlor is now a dance spot) and then the 24-hour meat-packing-district staple, Florent, for late-night frites.

Thursday was another full day of meetings. Afterwards, Councils 1 and 3 went bowling at Leisure Time Bowl, the bowling alley at Port Authority. The beer and pizza weren't great, but the company was, and furthermore, I bowled an awe-inspiring 76. Woohoo! So, no, I was not "Obama-bad." And then it happened. I was forced to go karaoking for the second time in my life. Several of us from Council 1 who will remain nameless to protect the not-so-innocent convened at Sing Sing, an East Village karaoke bar on St. Marks Place. We got a private room and spent hours doing truly unforgettable renditions of everything from The Cars' "Good Times Roll"  and The Human League's "Don't You Want Me," to "Puff the Magic Dragon," "Baby Got Back," "London Bridge," Iron Maiden's "Run for the Hills," "You Don't Bring Me Flowers," "Ring of Fire," "Electric Avenue," "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)", and my personal shining moments, Guns N Roses' "Sweet Child O Mine" and Foreigner's "Waiting for a Girl Like You". I have never laughed so hard in my life. And who knew "Islands in the Stream" was so tricky?

Friday...had to be up bright and early. Considering the night before, it was tough, but I prevailed. I had gnudi at The Spotted Pig to look forward to, so I made it through the day and then met Keith around 9.  David and Karen joined us there later after seeing a play called "A Catered Affair"--NOT recommended btw. I stuffed myself with not just gnudi, but other delights as well, including a delicous duck egg with sauteed ramps and the always fabulous banoffee pie. Their site has a full menu. And as proof that my gnudi obsession has not only gone global, but affected my friends at work now, apparently Keith was in a business meeting in Australia when in the presentation, they brought up my blog and pictures of us having gnudi at The Spotted Pig. Pretty funny stuff. (My friends know how much I love the gnudi, but for those of you who don't, here are all of the posts I've written on the topic.)

On Saturday, I met my long-time friend Michelle for brunch at Alice's Tea Cup on the Upper West Side, hung out at Central Park, and then went down to the West Village. We stopped in at Corner Bistro, one of my all-time favorite places in NYC for a McSorley's. It was so nice to spend time with her. Then it was off to Grand Central to go up to Goldens Bridge for *my very first Seder*. Much more on this in another post, but suffice to say, I had gefilte fish (slightly sweet), asked the Four Questions, and sang in Hebrew! It was very special. Given it was my last night in the city, I just couldn't go straight home afterwards, so I went to my favorite jazz bar, Smalls, and enjoyed saxophonist Marcus Strickland doing his thing.

My last day (sniffle) was spent checking out and then meeting Karen, her new BF, Randy, and David for brunch at Cafe Sabarsky, the Viennese Kaffeehaus in the Neue Galerie. The Pope, whose schedule had been matching mine pretty closely all week (I go to Westchester, he goes to Westchester; I go uptown, he goes uptown), once again shut down the area near where I needed to go. The Popemobile reminds me strangely of the clear plastic box David Blaine trapped himself in when he suspended himself from the Tower Bridge in London several years ago.

Anyway, back to Cafe Sabarsky. I had my luggage with me and at first they wouldn't let me in. After my luggage was searched and locked away in a bombproof room (OK, not really), we figured it all out and I was able to enjoy a lovely two-hour brunch that included crepes with smoked trout and horseradish cream, and wiener melange one of the best cups of coffee ever with the funniest name. Apparently pronounced "veener" not "wiener," our server guffawed with laughter every time we misspoke. Seriously, he actually said to us "That never gets old." At least he admitted that I was in good company since he said Jake Gyllenhaal made the same pronunciation gaffe. The food is very good here, but it's the pastries that really make people drool. We had two--Sabarskytorte which is a dark chocolate and rum torte and some kind of Quark cheese strudel. What a sweet way to end my trip.

The best part was on the way to Cafe Sabarsky, my cab driver asked if I was going to the airport afterwards. I said I was and did he want to take me.  I needed to leave at 1. He said yes, I will be here at 1. Whoa! Let me just say that this never happens. Cab drivers in NYC never pre-arrange to come get you, because they never need to. So now I have something else to thank the Pope for! 

Pink Tea Cup's Sweet Potato Pie

One of my favorite restaurants in NYC is The Pink Tea Cup (42 Grove Street between Bedford & Bleecker). It's been around for over 50 years and is known as the first soul food restaurant in the West Village.

I've spent several Thanksgivings there and with Turkey Day coming up, I thought it would be fitting to post the recipe for their sweet potato pie--the best in the world! (The rest of the food is wonderful too, although not exactly healthy.)

I have great memories of this place, especially the time someone put on a neverending Led Zeppelin song at 8am on a Sunday morning. This isn't that kind of place. :) The cook came out and pulled the plug to the cheers of the patrons and the waiters.

Please, if you're in the West Village, stop by, have a slice of pie, and put Ray Charles on the jukebox for me.

2 lbs. yams
1/2 c. butter
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. ginger
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. nutmeg
2 T. white sugar
1 c. brown sugar
3 large eggs, separated
1/2 c. of orange juice
1 T. grated orange rind
1/2 c. evaporated milk

Peel and boil yams until mashable. Add butter, spices, salt, sugars to hot yams. Beat until light and smooth. Beat egg yolks until light and add to mixture. Stir in orange juice, rind and milk. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into mix. Pour mixture into unbaked pie shell. Preheat oven to 350 and bake 35 minutes, or until pie puffs up and is firm in the middle. Cool on the rack. Add whipped cream.

Have a great Thanksgiving. For more of my NYC trip tips--where to go and eat, click here.

Spring NYC Fix 2007

A couple weeks ago, I went back to NYC for some fun with friends and family before a two-day business trip in San Francisco. I hadn't been back since January and it seems I become surly and whiny if I don't get my Manhattan fix every 4 months or so. I've only been in Ashland for a year and 3 months--seems like I've been gone from NYC at least twice that long. Not sure what that means, but anyway...here's a quick recap of my trip.

Day 1: A lost day--Got up at 4amPT and due to a cancelled flight and 3 hours sitting on the runway at LAX (only to get in the air and have the airline run out of food before they get to me), didn't arrive at my friend Karen's until 11pmET. Missed dinner with friends I haven't seen since I left New York. Major bummer. Me after a long day.

Day 2: VIE (Very  Important Errand)--hair appointment at Miwa Alex. Then lunch with Beth at Le Pain Quotidien in ABC on Broadway at 16th St., one of my most fave stores in NYC. Then, what luck! Megasale at BCBG! Off to pick up Karen and go to the Pegu Club, a tropical upstairs lounge in Soho, to meet Mary from HBO and Marty from Bluefly. Love them. Dinner with Karen, my friend from Warner Music Group, and Keith from Hitwise at Cookshop (try the rabbit and pizza) and then post-dinner beer and gnudi at yes, you guessed it, The Spotted Pig. I know I am obsessed, but I can't help myself. Celeb sighting there was pretty good as usual--Anthony Bourdain (hey, not only a famous chef, but a fellow Vassar alum!) and Steven Schirripa who plays Bobby Bacala on "The Sopranos."Alas, the two of them weren't sitting together as that would've made a better story.

   

   

   

Day 3: Breakfast with Karen and then off to Facial Index, my favorite place to get glasses in NYC. It's in Soho at 104 Grand St. Don't miss it--they are handmade from Japan. Met my mum and aunt for lunch at a Chinese/Korean place in Koreatown on 35th St. Shopped, etc. until dinner at Bao Noodles for tasty, quick Vietnamese and then an intriguing, avant-garde Noh based on Yukio Mishima's "The Lady Aoi" at the Japan Society which is currently celebrating 100 years. The play started out with a naked pregnant woman walking extremely slowly across the stage...need I say more. Seriously, I'd recommend you go see this, except that it was a limited run. Read the play though--it is known for being one of Mishima's most passionate works and is based on one of the oldest novels in human history,“The Tale of Genji” written in 1004AD. Still hungry, so around 11pm we went for Korean fried chicken which is all the rage in Seoul and now NYC. We're recommended a place called Bon Chon at 314 5th Ave (upstairs) which in typical Korean fashion is not a dive, but a sleek, full-on club and bar with pounding dance music. Absolutely yummy--light and crisp--not the kind of fried chicken you'd eat with waffles, but perfect with a beer late night after bar-hopping.

   

Day 4: We hit the Guggenheim for a couple hours before lunch. Hadn't been in a few years and I'd forgotten how much I love this museum. Much more intimate and manageable than the MOMA which has become a zoo ever since it reopened. The Guggenheim has an impressive permanent collection of Kandinsky and Chagall--I'd forgotten that too. They also had a fun interactive exhibit with a disco floor. Off to lunch at Sfoglia, a new Italian on the way upper east side getting raves these days, then some sightseeing and a 3-hour appointment at my favorite Korean bathhouse for a vigorous body scrub and massage, Sol Spa (read why I love this spa so much here). Dinner with my friend Phil Terry who took me, my mum and aunt to Jewel Bako. Well-done, innovative food, but portions tend to be on the small side, so if you're hungry, I'd go with the omakase like I did. Late-night Smalls run. Nice for a quick single-malt and half a set, but too crowded to hang for long.

   

Day 5: Brunch at one of my favorite places for breakfast, Public, on Elizabeth between Prince and Spring. Great tea-smoked salmon and spinach benedict, bloody marys, pastries. This after sneaking an absolutely delectable cream-filled bomboloni from Falai Panetteria on the Lower East Side. More shopping and then...prep for more eating! (Sensing a trend here?) Dinner with Karen and my family at one of my favorite bistros in NYC, Le Tableau at E. 5th Street between A and B. My mum and aunt went back to the hotel and Karen and I went in search of some late-night revelry. Boy, did we find it. We end up at Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction and Karen's about to sit at the bar. I hear live music in the back and go to check it out. What do I find? Karaoke night! I am on the serious karaoke vibe these days. Find out why here. We enjoyed lovely renditions of "I Touch Myself," "Jeremy," and "Sweet Child O' Mine"...believe me, I had a tough time restraining myself.

    

Day 6: Lunch in Koreatown with my family and then off to San Francisco and back to the grind. Had an interesting plane ride. Remind me to tell you about it sometime.

Click here for the download of my first trip back to NYC--even more jam-packed and whirlwind-y than this one!

Click here for classic NYC songs that make me miss home.

Tonic NYC Closing

Was looking at my blog traffic (such as it is...although now higher thanks to that lovely Wall Street Journal article!) and noticed that someone got to my site by Googling "tonic closing down nyc". I actually didn't know Tonic was closing after almost a decade, but I had mentioned it in a post last August about one of my trips back to NYC and I guess that got spidered.

Anyway, I'm sad to hear it, not because it was ever a regular haunt of mine, but because it was known as a home for experimental music and there are too few of those. The Lower East Side is becoming just another spot for high-rise condos and seems to be slowly losing the places and vibe that I love.

I guess Tonic is still continuing on in a way--although the location on Norfolk Street is closing today, Melissa and John, the owners, will be presenting new music in existing venues like the Abron's Arts Center located just a few blocks away.

In a small world kind of thing, Melissa knows Mike Sanzone who is a good friend of Jeff's (and whose art I recently blogged about) and another friend of Jeff's, Heather Greene, a pianist and songwriter who we used to see perform at Joe's Pub in the East Village. Heather moved to Scotland last year and we hear her songs are starting to catch fire in Europe where she's on tour (go, Heather!). Anyway, I've never met Melissa, but I do wish her luck keeping the spirit of Tonic alive.

Yankees vs Red Sox (no contest)

Opening day. I groaned when I heard Carl Pavano would be the starter, and he didn't exactly impress today, but it worked out in the end. Recorded the game and watched The Yanks beat Tampa Bay 9-5 when I got home from work. Happy to say that not only did A-Rod score, but Boston lost their opener. (Keep it up, Schilling!) No Bernie Williams--he was missing from Opening Day for the first time since 1991. 161 games to go...

Typepad highlighted a great blog recently called Yanksfan vs Soxfan. Love it.

Go Yanks!! :)

Mike Sanzone, artist extraordinaire

Mike Sanzone, a friend of ours in NYC, is having his first gallery opening at 55 Mercer Gallery (55 Mercer St., 3rd floor) until March 24th. Check it out if you're in town or go to his site and view his art. He was inspired during a recent trip to Japan and these 202 works were the wonderful result. Herewith a couple of pix from the opening. Last summer, Mike put me up at his place in the Bronx. Click here for a post and pix of the fun that ensued.

http://www.michaelsanzone.com

Classic NYC Songs for the Displaced New Yorker

      

Well, I did it. I survived an entire year living outside of NYC. (Somehow it feels longer?)

In honor of my 1 year anniversary at Musician's Friend and Guitar Center, and, maybe even more importantly, as a displaced New Yorker, here are my top 12 NYC songs...one for every month I've been away. A Best of 2007 bonus!

I love this picture--it shows two of my favorite buildings in New York.  My last apartment was just 4 blocks south of the Empire State Building on 30th Street and 5th Avenue.

1. "Shattered" by The Rolling Stones
2. "Take the A Train" by Duke Ellington
3. "Crosstown Traffic" by Jimi Hendrix
4. "New York City Serenade" by Bruce Springsteen
5. "Tango in Harlem" by Touch and Go
6. "Walk on the Wild Side" by Lou Reed
7. "NYC Ghosts and Flowers" by Sonic Youth
8. "New York Baby" by Leona Naess
9. "The Only Living Boy in New York" by Simon and Garfunkel
10. "Goin' to New York" by Jimmy Reed
11. "Downtown Train" by Tom Waits
12. "The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side" by The Magnetic Fields

BONUS TRACK! "Detachable Penis" by King Missile ... This song unfortunately isn't available on iTunes (except in a bizarre karaoke version), but click here to hear it on Amazon from the Happy Hour album. It depicts St. Mark's Place in all its grimy glory.

A Western Thanksgiving

In honor of my first Thanksgiving out West, I've been musing about other "firsts" that I've gotten under my belt since moving to Ashland, Oregon after 12 years in NYC. New Yorkers live in their own world--separate from the rest of the country in so many ways. I've travelled to several countries and done many interesting things in my life--even hiked the Himalayas and done a camel trek in the Pakistani desert--but somehow I had managed to go 33 years without ever owning a car, dining room table and chairs, dishwasher or even a full-size refrigerator and oven. I had never changed a flat tire. I had never paid rent on an apartment with more than one room (not counting the bathroom!). I'm thankful for these conveniences, now that I have them, but they also make me feel somehow like less of a New Yorker.

I still have a NY license plate and driver's license because I am trying to hold out as long as I can, I guess, before becoming an Oregonian. It hasn't been purposeful, but somehow I always seem to be too busy to get these mundane things done. I get driven to work and picked up every day because we only have 1 car (and because real New Yorkers don't drive unless they have to...duh). I suppose these are the pitiful ways I cling to my old identity. When someone asks me where I'm from, I still say, "Manhattan, but I just moved here" even though I've been in Ashland for 8 months. At some point soon I will have to face reality, but for now, I'm just thankful I'm able to keep my delusion alive.

Mon 8/21: Back to NYC DAY 6

My last day...so sad! Went with Mike to drop off my bags downtown and had breakfast at Veselka, a hip 24-hour Eastern European diner. They have the best chicken salad sandwich. Then I walked up to the NYC Guitar Center on 14th Street to do a half hour of work. This wasn't a business trip, but I figured since I was here, I should visit. The store manager, a guy named Judd, wasn't there, so I checked it out on my own. It was so clean--looked new and had a lot of square footage for a Manhattan retail store. I had just read the Guitar Center sales manual, so I was looking to see that in action.

After strumming a couple Gibsons, I got a manicure and pedicure down the street at Acqua Beauty Bar and then got THE BEST body scrub in Manhattan at Sol Spa in Koreatown. This isn't for wimps; this is a body scrub Korean-style which means some actual pain but lots of gain. Unlike a Korean bathhouse, you're in the room alone, but otherwise, I suspect it's much the same experience. Not exactly the best atmosphere, but this place is all business. After 15 minutes in a steam sauna, you lie down on a metal table and get hosed down. Then a Korean grandma in her bra and undies sets to work with loofahs. After an hour and a half of vigorous scrubbing in which absolutely no spot is missed (and you are undoubtedly shocked at the amount of grey...stuff that has come off your body), you get a milk bath and cucumber mask and then off to the dry sauna. I am never as truly squeaky clean, smooth and soft as after I get this done, plus it lasts for weeks. Great deal too--only $120 for 3 hours which includes the scrub and the sauna plus an hour and a half shiatsu.

In one of the most difficult decisions of my trip, I had chosen to get the scrub instead of having one last meal, so now it was a mad rush to the airport to go back to my pastoral life in Oregon. I'll be back soon though--I know I'm still a New Yorker at heart which means it's impossible to stay away.

Click here to see all of my NYC trip pix.

Sun 8/20: Back to NYC DAY 5

I was excited about today because I was seeing two close friends I'd been missing a lot since I left. First up was Michelle who I have known for about 10 years. I met her when we were both working in the publishing industry and we've been friends ever since.

We met at one of the places I'd recently discovered before I left town--Zucco, Le French Diner, an 18-seat bistro on the Lower East Side. The owner was a boxer in France (hence, the boxer in his front window and the various pics on the walls) and the place has tons of NYC/Paris character.

It took at least an hour to just get off Orchard Street because after brunch we immediately went across the street to a vintage store that caught our eye. I bought 2 bags there that I just couldn't resist. After an afternoon of shopping in Noho and Nolita, she drove me up to the Upper East Side to a good friend of mine's apartment for cocktails.

Karen and I have been good friends since about 1998. We worked together at A&E for a few years before she moved on to a new job. Now we're both in the music industry--she just got promoted to VP of Worldwide Distribution and Content at Warner Music. I am so proud of her! Anyway, she's off in Japan now and blogging away.

We hadn't seen each other in 5 months, so there was a lot to catch up on that IM just isn't good for. We hung out at her apartment with her husband, Andrew, an artist and then went to the Bar at Etats-Unis for dinner. Etats-Unis is one of the best restaurants in the city, but expensive, so their Bar across the street which is more hip and casual is a great place to go. They have delicious food with an interesting mix of French, Spanish and Mexican influences. Great guacamole too.

We were so busy gabbing that I forgot to take a pic of us, so I've stolen a photo from Karen's blog to post. It's got her looking suitably inebriated in Japan, so things seem good there so far.

It was my last night before heading home to Oregon the next night, so I met Mike downtown in the Village for live Latin jazz at Zinc Bar and then live R&B at Groove. I think I went to more live music on this 6-day trip than in an entire month when I lived in Manhattan!

What a bummer that I have to leave tomorrow...

Check out all of my NYC pix.

Sat 8/19: Back to NYC DAY 4

I needed a bit of restful alone time after all of the festivities of the last few days, so I slept in late and didn't rush anywhere particular. I took the subway down to 34th Street and made my way over to Lush for handmade soap and bubble bath. I first found out about Lush in London a few years ago and remember how psyched I was when they opened their first NYC store. I walked around my old neighborhood--the last apartment I had in the city was at 30th Street and 5th Ave. Surprisingly little had changed in 5 months. Same delis, same Turkish rug stores.

There is basically no Korean food in Ashland, Oregon or the surrounding area, so I figured I should have lunch in Koreatown. I went to one of my favorite 24-hour Korean restaurants in the city, Won Jo. It's not fancy, but they always have good food. I had tofu and seafood soup and mandoo. Yum!

After a bit more sightseeing, I walked up to Grand Central Terminal and hopped on a train to Goldens Bridge in Westchester for Phil's 40th birthday party. In attendance were Phil and Lisa's families, their friends, Creative Good employees and various business associates. One of the people who showed up was my old boss at A&E, Steve Ronson. What a surprise that was! It was lovely to catch up with him though.

Here's a pic of Steve (in the middle) and his wife with Mary Baumgartner's husband, Philip.

Some more party pics:

Marty Keane, SVP of e-commerce at Bluefly.com and Armen Chakmakian's brother.

The Birthday Boy with his honey.

Mary Baumgartner, VP of New Media at HBO with her son, Jack.

Got a ride back to the city from Mary and her family. They invited me over for drinks at their apartment in Tribeca. Then it was off to a quiet dinner alone, so I went to one of the places I love most in the city, a basement dive in Chinatown called Samar (formerly New Indonesian) on Doyers Street off Pell. They have the best Roti Canai--a little dish of chicken and potato curry with a flaky bread kind of like an Indian paratha. There are prettier, hipper places to eat in the city, but not many authentic Malaysian restaurants. This is one of the few. If you're looking more for fusion or at least something less... grungy, try Cafe Asean or Bali Nusa Indah.)

I was so busy eating, that I mis-timed my next to-do. I rushed over to the Film Forum to see a movie called 13 Tzameti, a French thriller that won prizes at the Venice and Sundance Film Festivals, but I got there too late, so I decided to go to Times Square, an area I used to avoid like the plague when I lived in NYC and see what's what.

It was worse than I remembered--a total zoo of tourists and teens. I must be getting old. I could barely stand it, so I got out of there quickly and walked up 9th Avenue through Hell's Kitchen. Mostly a quiet day today, but I needed it.

Fri 8/18: Back to NYC DAY 3

Waking up this morning was really tough. I guess st aying up until 5AM will do that to ya. I'm able to peel myself out of bed in time to meet my account reps at Hitwise, a competitive research firm that we've been using.

I met Loren & Keith at our place of choice, The Spotted Pig, a gastropub in the West Village. The last time I was there (also with Keith because The Spotted Pig has basically become his living room), I saw P. Diddy. This time, I was sitting in what was known as Bill Clinton's booth...need I say more. Anyway, the real reason I love this place is the gnudi. It's totally heart-stopping and if you ate it more than like once a year, you'd probably keel over dead from eating that alone. The last time I saw Loren was at the Internet Retailer show in Chicago a few months ago where she met me carrying a giant bag and smelling strangely of garlic. Why, you ask? Because she had brought a dozen everything bagels from NYC to help me out of my I miss Manhattan doldrums. What a sweetie!

Fortified by gnudi and the best chocolate torte in the world, it was off to The Met to meet my fellow book club members for a day of Greek art and literature. The Reading Odyssey was started by my good friend Phil Terry, CEO of the customer experience firm Creative Good and his best friend Pat Wictor, a blues slide guitarist. Last year, they decided to celebrate 20 years of knowing each other with a commitment to read the classics together and in typical Phil-style, they opened it up for others to join.

We were meeting at The Met to do a literary tour of the Ancient Near East and bring to life the first three books we'd read over the last year--Herodotus's The Histories, Homer's Odyssey, and Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War. The first part of our day we went through galleries and a packet that Phil had put together as an informal guide. We touched on Assyria, the Trojan War, Babylon, the Persian Empire, the Scythians and King Croesus of Lydia.

 

At this point, our dogs were pretty tired, so we went to the members-only area upstairs for cocktails and met up with Horton A. Johnson, MD, our private tour guide for the next part of our Greek adventure. I have met few people as passionate as he was about Ancient Greece, so it was a treat to have him show us everything from Cycladic art to Roman copies of Greek statues. Horton is so into Ancient Greece that a few years ago he published an article in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine about the foot ailment suffered by the hero Philoctetes during the Trojan War (depicted in a lekythos or small oil vase from the 5th century BCE at The Met).

Horton kept trying to show us just one more thing, and who were we to argue? But finally our tour was at an end and we went up to the Trustee Dining area to have dinner. We had a private room for the 7 of us--6 book club members plus  Robert Strassler, the editor of the Landmark Edition of Thucydides we were reading. It was so awesome to have him with us at dinner. It is so rare to be able to spend hours with an expert like him. We were able to ask whatever we wanted--from the differences between Herodotus and Thucydides to what lessons we can learn today from Ancient Literature.

We actually closed down The Met. Closing down bars is nothing new for me (don't mind me, mum), but closing down The Metropolitan Museum of Art? We left at 10 after 11pm and the guard had to escort me and Phil out. It was an amazing experience to walk through the museum after-hours, completely by ourselves. The only noise was our shoes clicking on the marble floor. I kept trying to walk extra slow so I could look at the priceless art in the near-dark (all of the overhead lights had already been turned off) but unfortunately Phil walks faster than I do and he apparently didn't get my hint. :)

8 hours at The Met--a record for me! It felt good to exercise my mind--I probably needed it after having killed several hundred thousand brain cells from the partying I'd done the night before. lol

Check out all of my NYC trip pix.

Thurs 8/17: Back to NYC DAY 2

I'm not a huge shopper, but living in a town of 20,000--even one as cute as Ashland--really builds up my usually manageable shoe & purse urges. So after a night on the town, I got up to go shopping on 5th Avenue. I found cute items at H&M & Zara and then moved on to meet a friend for lunch at the MOMA cafe.

The friend I was meeting was someone I had worked with at A&E for several years. About a month after I left, she moved on also to a VP job in the legal dept of Lehman Brothers. It was so good to catch up and she looked relaxed and infinitely happier than the last time I'd seen her. There were at least 10 employees I know of who left A&E about the same time I did. It's a shame, really--they were all very smart people...most of whom took with them quite a bit of history. That's the kind of knowledge that can't be replaced, but hey, change is good, right?

This is Dina:

After lunch, I really really really had to get my hair done, so I went to my usual place, Miwa Alex on E. 22nd St. I really shouldn't have waited 5 months. Was I scared of getting my hair done in Oregon? Yes, I am a wimp.

I ended up working a little after all--the company that manages our paid keyword campaigns, 24/7 Media, is based in NYC, so I met the two key people on my account for a drink at the ever-stylish, art deco Flatiron Lounge. Chris and Konny admitted to me that the next day would be spent at a company bonding event in which they would have to perform in groups. Chris was performing FAME and Konny would be singing the Roy Orbison hit, "Crying." Whoever at their company came up with this is obviously sadistic and cruel. Since the show was going on though, I figured at least I should be able to partake in a picture of the momentous event. The person doing the lift below is Chris. He smartly chose an image that doesn't show his face, however, I have asked him to send me a replacement photo...

I don't want to live forever, but I did want to live long enough to get to dinner. I was meeting Agnes, a friend of mine who is in charge of HR at Court TV which was recently bought by Turner. She is honestly one of the nicest people I know. We gabbed for hours at dinner (the lovely Spanish restaurant El Cid in Chelsea) and closed down Bar K on W. 10th and Hudson St in the Village.

At that point, I felt like I was getting a second wind, so I called Mike and he came down to meet me. We went down the street to the jazz institution Smalls, a basement joint known for being an after-hours place for musicians after their regular gigs. It was in danger of closing a year or two ago, but thankfully, it's still around. In a true NYC moment, we were sitting at the bar listening to the band when I looked over and saw someone I thought I knew, so I whispered to Mike, "Hey, I think I know that guy." Then the band called the guy to the stage and shouted, "Look who's with us tonight?! Jazz legend Jon Hendricks! Come on up and sing a tune."

Now, Jon Hendricks looks amazing for his age and still has a great voice and style, but he is no spring chicken. So it was really inspiring to see him up there on stage, singing his heart out and having a wonderful time. And best of all, I felt like my life had come full circle.

When he was finished singing and the set was over, I went over to him and I said, "Jon, I'm sure you don't remember me, but I met you 12 years ago when I worked for Wynton at Jazz at Lincoln Center. It was my first real job. I was backstage at Blood on the Fields, typing up your last minute lyric changes!" Jon was so nice--he said. "Wow, that was 3 years of my life! It is so good to see you" (as if there was any way he could have remembered me). We chatted about his wife and living in Ohio (where we're both from) and then I got our picture taken. He gave me his card so I could email it to him. What are the odds of coming back to NYC for the first time and out of millions of people seeing someone I knew from my very first job?  It was a really nice moment.

For those of you interested in trivia, Blood on the Fields was the first  jazz composition to win a Pulitzer Prize and it won in the category usually reserved for classical music.

After all of that, I bet you can guess...I was hungry. So off we went to one of my favorite places in the city, Corner Bistro. I know it's dirty and dark and old, but I love it anyway and they have great fries at 3AM.

By this point, I can say I was pretty looped, so when we got back to the apartment, I of course deemed it time to take lots of pictures of ourselves just because we could. Herewith, some lovely drunken photos of me and Jeff's friend, Mike, who really was such a great sport to put up with me.

 

Check out all of my NYC trip pix.