Cool idea that I heard about on NPR’s “The Splendid Table” – MAPPETITE, which offers maps of – to date, London, NYC and San Francisco – that highlight good restaurants in various neighborhoods. My brother could easily do the NYC map – I have long depended on him to find me a restaurant at a minute’s notice and he’s never failed (Case in point: Last Thanksgiving, when I texted him from MOMA saying “need cheap, good, place to eat near Moma” and he found us “La Bonne Soupe” around the block!) Anyway, check out MAPPETITE’s website for more details.
Category Archives: New York
NYC recommendations from a friend
A friend just returned from a trip to NYC and reports enjoying: “Bloody, Bloody, Andrew Jackson”, the Stieglitz, Steichen, Strand exhibit at the Met and Upright Citizen’s Brigade.
Filed under New York City
Inexpensive restaurants in NYC
The NYTimes ran a list of the best new inexpensive restaurants in NYC this week so here are a few for future reference. (A list of non-inexpensive restaurants also ran but I’m assuming they’re not in my budget.) I skipped most of the ones beyond Manhattan:
BAOHAUS … bun (the bao) brimming with Niman Ranch pork belly, glossy with fat and topped with the classic Taiwanese condiments: sweet pulverized peanuts, pickled mustard greens and cilantro. 137 Rivington Street (Norfolk Street), Lower East Side; (646) 684-3835, baohausnyc.com.
CAFE ‘AT YOUR MOTHER-IN-LAW’ two blocks from the boardwalk; Eastern European, Korean and Uzbek dishes from Russian-speaking ethnic Koreans hailing from Tashkent. 3071 Brighton Fourth Street (Brighton Beach Avenue), Brighton Beach, Brooklyn; (718) 942-4088. (HAS to be better than the awful place we went to in Brighton Beach in 2009.
CAMPO DE’ FIORI pizza and more in my brother’s neighborhood…. 187 Fifth Avenue (Berkeley Place), Park Slope, Brooklyn; (347) 763-0933, pizzacampodefiori.com.
DOS TOROS ….fresh, quick and cheap eating akin to that found at Mexican joints in the San Francisco Bay Area. (Oliver Strand) 137 Fourth Avenue (13th Street); (212) 677-7300, dostorosnyc.com.
HECHO EN DUMBO big flavors of Mexico City stripped down…short-rib tacos 354 Bowery (East Fourth Street), East Village; (212) 937-4245, hechoendumbo.com.
HILL COUNTRY CHICKEN fried chicken and other Southern dishes. 1123 Broadway (25th Street); (212) 257-6446, hillcountrychicken.com.
KUTI’S Tmarries West African and Middle Eastern flavors from Ivory Coast, and insinuates a few French techniques in dishes like shrimp piri-piri, 355 West 116th Street (between Manhattan and Morningside Avenues); (212) 222-1127.
THE NORTHERN SPY FOOD COMPAN Greenmarket-driven restaurant 511 East 12th Street (Avenue A), East Village; (212) 228-5100, northernspyfoodco.com.
Filed under DINING, New York City, Uncategorized
West Village, “Eataly” and H&H
Just back from NYC with very clogged ear and stuffy nose after a cold developed just as I was getting on the plane home. Thought my ears were going to explode as we made the long descent onto a landing strip at the Milwaukee airport and bumpy connecting flight on a small plane to Des Moines didn’t help.
But hey, I’d do it all again because our NYC trip was so much fun. Yesterday L and I met my cousin J in the always charming West Village for lunch at Westville on 10th street (between 4th and Bleeker – I can never remember where it is and apparently there’s now a second one in Chelsea somewhere). Good food – fairly reasonable. Had fresh tomato basil soup and shared a plate of four vegetables (broccoli, snow peas, brussel sprouts and mushrooms all prepared so fresh, crisp with light seasoning.) Walked north to Eataly – the huge Italian market/restaurant recently opened on 23rd and 5th Avenue in the shadow of the Flatiron building. Pretty amazing place and if I wasn’t full from lunch and dragging a bit from my advancing cold, would have been tempted to eat a thing or two. Next time.
Met my brother briefly for coffee near Times Square where his office is – had a cappuccino at a too-loud Belgian place (frites looked good but waiter pissy when we just wanted coffee…hey it was 2:30 p.m.) called BXL Cafe (although awning says Duval) on 43rd. st. Managed to squeeze in a quick stop at H&H bagels on the upper west side (broadway, 81st?) to get some of NYC’s finest to bring back to Iowa and this morning, was glad I did!
Filed under DINING, New York City
The Hamptons and NYC
Beautiful day yesterday in the Hamptons – the wind died down and left a light breeze. Not as cold as the day before either so a perfect morning to walk on the beach with my cousins in front of their waterfront house in Southampton. We gave ourselves 2 hours to drive back to the car rental at LaGuardia and all went smoothly with little traffic, amen. Enterprise Rental worked well. Convenient location, very pleasant staff, good rates, free upgrade et. al.
Had dinner with my dear friend M at Nice Matin, good french bistro on 79th and Amsterdam. They had a good three course prix fix menu for $35. I had the grilled sardines, roast chicken and chocolate pot au creme. All very good and the place was quiet, as were many restaurants on the sunday after thanksgiving so we were able to linger and catch up for hours.
Filed under DINING, New York City
Greetings from Watermill (NY)
It’s beautiful out here this time of year and a little less crowded. But there is still lots of traffic in the Hamptons and turning left on two-lane Highway 27 still requires lots of time and patience. As a good Midwesterner, I try to practice random acts of kindness by letting other cars that want to turn into the lane, with the hope that they will do the same for me. Alas, that hasn’t panned out.
I did find out that the Carvel we used to go to to get my son’s b’day cake has closed. (the one in Southampton) but not to worry, we went to the one in Bridgehampton. Also found that the bookstore (Book Hampton) in Southampton has shrunk, sadly, but the one in Sag Harbor is hanging in there. Hard to leave this mansion we’re staying at – it is the most spectacular house I’ve ever stayed in. Or seen.
Filed under New York, New York City
MOMA on Black Friday
The cavernous lobby of the Museum of Modern Art was almost as full of people as the streets lining Fifth Avenue in midtown NYC yesterday, the day after Thanksgiving, and my husband seemed to disappear into the coat check room, amidst a long line but once we finally got squared away and into the galleries the crowd thinned a little and we were able to enjoy the Kitchen Design Exhibit and the Women Photographers/New Photographers show. My brother came through again soon after I texted “Need good, quick, reasonably priced restaurant near MOMA for lunch?” He suggested La Bonne Soupe a block north on 55th street between 5th and 6th and we weren’t the only people who knew about this little place. It was packed at 2:45 p.m. Guess everyone got a late start yesterday. Good food – not just soup but salads, omelettes, sandwiches. I shared a very good Salad Nicoise. The guys had great Croque Monseurs and Madames (a Monseur with a fried egg atop.) Good fries and bread. Chocolate mousse looked amazing but withstood the temptation.
We rented a car at Enterprise – so far so good – and drove in light traffic (amen) to Watermill on the eastern tip of Long Island in about 1.5 hours. Must remember next time to take the Long Island Expressway from the Northern – we missed that and had a brief detour. Staying at a huge mansion – no joke, a friend of my relatives who have their own mansion – in East Hampton. Only one problem – the heat in our room is faltering. It was 65 when we arrived. In the middle of the night I felt really cold – the thermostat read 45. We realized after turning on the light that the wind had blown the door to the outdoor balcony overlooking the bay open. Lots of cold air. Oh well. Keeps us humble.
Filed under museum exhibit, New York City
Thanksgiving in NYC – avoiding the parade
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has become more of a headache than fun – too many people, too hard to make it to my cousin’s annual parade viewing party at her apartment on the parade route. But today, things went better than expected getting from the East Side to the West Side in the morning. My friend C. and I waited until 10 a.m. and walked across the park to find the parade winding up just passing past 72nd street so there was no crossing Central Park West there. A policeman told us we’d have to walk all the way up to 84th to cross, meanwhile our party was on 74th. We ended walking to 77th where the parade had just passed through and we not only got across the street but managed to walk quickly to 74th. Lots of people but everyone was orderly and there were no big tie-ups or unseemliness. For future reference: the parade starts on the Upper West Side at 9 a.m. and lasts until about 10:30. We crossed soon after.
Filed under New York City
NYC – new museum, pre-parade craziness and Keith Richards
Went to the New Museum today to see the Last Newspaper exhibit. Strange but worth a visit. Also went to Cafe Habana for lunch – good chicken mole, even if not cuban. major celeb siting tonight at Scaletta Restaurant at 77th and columbus Ave. Keith Richards was sitting with a huge family group, lots of kids. bizarre.
Filed under DINING, New York City
NYC museums – open on Monday?
I often have a free day in NYC on a Monday and want to go to a museum but not all are open that day. Just checked for this month’s trip and there’s good news and bad. Museum of Modern Art – open on Monday! New Museum in the Bowery – not so new. not open on Monday.
Filed under museum exhibit, New York City
TakeBetsywithyou 