Category Archives: THE EAST COAST

March 7, 2016 · 3:43 am

le coupe, Columbia heights Laotian food, wonder at the renwick gallery — DC

Columbia heights mural

Great to be visiting Noah a newcomer in DC — plus my sister and husband who sare old hands here. first stop the charming red brick row house Noah shares with three people in Columbia heights, including my dear old pal/ college roommate Myra’s son Dan! the house reminded me so much of my grandparents red brick row house in Easton Pennsylvania, but Noah’s neighborhood has a lot more going on.

We had a really good breakfast at a cheerful restaurant, Le Coupe, packed with people. Excellent lamb hash, eggs Benedict, hash browns, sautéed Brussels sprouts. Next stop: The Renwick Gallery which is part of the smithsonian and located kitty corner from the White House, for a fantastic show called Wonder (or Wonders) — site specific enormous installations by 9 different artists including Maya Lin and Tara Donovan. The show could also have been entitled “Mindblowing” — really astonishing work and great to see the place packed with all kinds of people and signs in each room that said “photography encouraged.”

Noah and I shared some good cheesecake at a bakery on 14th street in his neighborhood and later were joined by my sister, brother law and Noah’s roommate dan for Laotian food, also ion 14th street. Really fun day!

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Tagged as washington D.C.

January 8, 2016 · 5:19 pm

free T ride from the airport, The paramount, bar Lola — Boston

I really did try to pay for my T ride from Logan Airport to Beacon Hill but failed and was even admonished by a transit guy in the process. Outside Logan, I got on the Silver Line (which, oddly, is a bus not a subway) which was advertised as free. When I got off at South station to switch to the red line to Charles street I couldn’t find anywhere to pay. I even went through the exit, tied to figure out th self pay machine. When I explained to the transit guy what I was trying to do, he said “you shouldn’t have gone out. here just go back in” and he let me back through without laying.

“No wonder the T is losing money” at least two Bostonians exclaimed when I explained what happened. The same ging happened a day later when I unexpectedly found myself at the airport, needing to return to Back Bay where It had a great visit with my best friend from high school Polly and her husband Jamie.

I didn’t get time to explore the city (much of my time was spent at a work meeting in Worcester) but did get to Bar Lola for tapas (in back bay) and the great Paramount, a diner/ coffee shop(since 1937!) on Charles Street. And I got to see Charles street, which always reminded me of London when I lived in Boston in the mid 1980s. Pulling my roller bag along the brick sidewalks, making a loud rumble, I felt like a young traveler again. Sort of.

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January 29, 2015 · 2:50 am

ben’s chili bowl, rosa Mexicana : Washington, D.C.

Didn’t have much time to be a tourist this trip but I did go to a reception at Rosa Mexicana, which had good -you guessed it – Mexican food — near the gallery metro stop (and hotel Monaco, where my work meetings were). I also had a bowl of chili at the Reagan national airport outpost of the famous Ben’s chili bowl. Didn’t bowl me over. But it obviously lacked the more urban atmosphere of the original Ben’s.
I had hoped to go to the ramen noodle place, daikaya izakaya, my sister highly recommended, also near the gallery metro but ran out of time. Next trip.
Last night I made my requisite pilgrimage to Politics and Prose, a longtime favorite bookstore on Connecticut. Always have to buy a book there, every DC trip!

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Filed under Agritourism, Airlines, Washington D.C.

Tagged as ben's chili bowl, Hotel Monaco, politics and prose

January 25, 2015 · 5:49 pm

Coppi, Newt, 14th street, Amsterdam falafel : Washington, D.C.

At good wood in DC

I’ve been reluctant to go to Italian restaurants in the u.s. After two weeks of eating the real deal in Italy last fall but Coppi, a small neighborhood place in DC’s Cleveland Park neighborhood was excellent. My sister and I shared an appetizer sized plate of pasta with tomatoes, grilled shrimp, feta and then pizza. Also had an easy flight –direct– from Des Moines to DC — and this being Iowa, my fellow passengers included Newt Gingrich, his helmet-haired wife and lots of reporters who had been attending a conservative Republican gathering of possible presidential candidates in Des Moines.

Today my sister and I walked around 14th street, exploring the little boutiques and vintage stores there. had a very good lunch at Amsterdam falafel. (Excellent grilled eggplant side). Some good stores including: good wood, millennium, and home rule.

Went to a trader joes where the check out lined snaked throughout the store. I have never seen such a thing and apparently it’s routine on weekends (and not just because DC is bracing for a snowstorm.)

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Tagged as amsterdam falafal, coppi's, trader joes, washington dc

December 5, 2014 · 9:06 pm

Even more reasons to go to Chicago in 2015: “the 606”, David Adjaye show at Art Institute

Just heard the Art Institute of Chicago will host the first show of work by British architect David Adjaye next September. He first came to my attention thanks to a profile last year in The New Yorker. He’s designing the new National Museum of African American History and Culture, on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

Also new next summer – “the 606” – the Chicago version of NYC’s High Line. It includes parks and trails along 2.7 miles of a former elevated train track connecting four neighborhoods (see the606.org)

And as always, some new restaurants to check out:

– Chicken Shop, which serves free-range rotisserie chicken at the new Soho House hotel.

– GT Prime (a meat place from the chef who owns GT Fish & Oyster)

– A Mexican food brewpub from Homaro Cantu (of Moto)

Thanks to the travel Mag AFAR for these suggestons.

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Filed under Chicago, DINING, museum exhibit, Washington D.C.

Tagged as Art Institute of Chicago, David Adjaye, GT Prime, National museum of African American History, the 606, the new yorker

October 14, 2014 · 3:23 pm

Where to eat in Philly – Zahav!

I’ve been recommending this restaurant for about five years, ever since my son and I ate there during a college visit trip (and my son has since graduated from college) but I can never remember the name. So I’m posting it here for safekeeping (and because my stepdaughter, who is going on a weekend trip to Philly, asked for specifics.)

The restaurant is Zahav, serving Israeli/Middle Eastern fare, somewhat expensive as I recall but it looks like there’s some offshoots that may be less pricy.
See http://www.zahavrestaurant.com/ and for the interesting backstory about back story about how the chef had a drug issue see: http://articles.philly.com/2014-08-13/news/52732976_1_zahav-philly-chef-chef-michael-solomonov

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Tagged as philadelphia, zahav

August 22, 2014 · 1:41 am

Finding my way around a place I used to live: Stamford

Stew’s

New England scene, Trumbull

I easily found the house I lived in some 28 years ago, although it has clearly been restored to its former glory (before five 20-somethings, including me, rented it). There it was, all tarted up on Interlaken Road, just off High ridge Road and exit 35 of the Merritt Parkway. But I was soon lost in downtown Stamford, whose skyline has radically changed since my days as a reporter there. I never did find the Stamford Advocate. I am pretty sure it is not where it once was. Oh well. I moved onto to SoNo (south Norwalk) and it took me awhile to get my gap bearings there too although I finally remembered Washington street was the old heart of the renovated area! which has now spread beyond to several other blocks.

Fortunately Stew Leonard’s, the mega supermarket/ kids funhouse is much the same and the place still makes me smile with its kitschy Chuckie Cheese-like figures dotting the food displays. fortunately the food looks as good as ever and my suitcase is full of bagels, bialys and a Cronut or two (part croissant, part donut). oh and two cans of bumblebee tuna, which I can’t seem to find anymore in Iowa. Myra and I had a good lunch at Valencia lucheria, a taqueria in Norwalk…I had an arepa with pork (sort of a deep I ate is called. it’s Venezuelan.

Ye olde house…Stamford

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Tagged as Connecticut, Norwalk, SoNo, Stamford, Stamford advocate, stew Leonard's, Valencia luncheria

August 20, 2014 · 10:44 am

Good eats in New Britain, Fairfield, Monroe Connecticut

Fairfield beach with Myra

Work brought me to the central Connecticut city of New Britain but I arrived hungry and in a hurry after an early morning flight from Iowa. Looking for a place to grab a quick bite before a 2:30 pm meeting, I was prepared for something like Subway. Instead I got lucky and stumbled upon a terrific homey deli called Angelo’s where I had an excellent tuna sub, a safe and dull option given all the other good options (Stromboli sandwiches, loaves of bread slathered with pesto etc) but it did the trick.

In Monroe last night with BFF Myra and her lovely daughter Emma (shout out to Shane, are you reading?) We had a delicious meal on the patio of Tula...good sandwiches, pasta, salads, flat breads.) I had bucatini alla amitriana (sort of a red sauce version of carbonara with out the cream but with the bacon.)

The next night we picked up salads at Chefs Table in Fairfield and had primo seats, on the beach in Fairfield. Perfect night with old friends.

Beach picnic with Myra and David, Fairfield.

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December 2, 2013 · 9:13 pm

NYLO NYC a real find

I knew the NYLO hotel on NYC’s Upper West Side passed muster when I got a thumbs up email from my brother, who also decided to stay there and had arrived at his room before we did. The hotel turned out to be a real find, especially for $120 a night ($151 with tax). The room was small, as expected, but well appointed, huge bed, comfortable linens, edgy but not too edgy furniture, art, light fixtures, clean and streamlined bathroom. Not too noisy at night even though we ended up with a room overlooking Broadway when I had asked for a presumably quieter interior room (my brother’s room got no traffic noise). I found out NYLO stands for New York Loft and the Texas-based hotel chain has outposts in Texas, Warwick (near Providence) (RI) and soon Nyack (NY). Good to know!

Catering

Remarkably, the restaurant my uncle had chosen for dinner turned out to be connected to the hotel. It’s called Serefina and it had good affordable Italian food (I had good bolognese, pizza etc). Monday morning we went for coffee and pastries to Irving Farm, a little basement cafe on 79th just south of Broadway (there are several other Manhattan locations). After a quick visit to Zabars for bagels to take home to Iowa (I still miss H&H bagels) we walked across the park to meet my aunt at PJ Bernstein, a good deli on third ave near 71st street (that’s their cheese/meat plate above).

Our flight home from Newark went well despite a few stressful moments when we inadvertently left the subway station at 34th street and had to figure out where Penn Station was – above ground – and drag our suitcases through throngs of people at 5 p.m. At the airport, we somehow ended up again in the TSA pre-screened category but it didn’t make much difference this time around. We still had to stand in the same long line and take out our stuff and even take off our shoes (hrrummphhh). A guy in line ahead of me said that TSA pre-screened only really produces perks at Newark if you’re passing through Terminal C (we were in Terminal A). Whatever…I was just happy we made it to Newark with ample time to catch our flight – and it left on time and we got home on time! Love that direct flight!

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Filed under air security, DINING, New York City, Rhode Island, Texas

Tagged as irving farm, Nyack, NYLO New York, PJ Bernstein deli, providence rhode island, serefina, texas NYLO, TSA prescreen

October 8, 2013 · 10:22 pm

Bye to Cape Cod

Our last day on Cape Cod was unambiguously gorgeous weather wise and no sudden downpours while we were riding our bikes through the dunes on the bike trails. It felt suddenly like fall, with crisp air, sharp sunlight, yellow and red leaves. Lovely. We ate again at the Lobster Pot, this time on the top floor with a spectacular view of the harbor, the curving stretch of tan sandy beach,and brilliant blue water with boats bobbing in the waves. Couldn’t resist the fried clams, again, at the Pot, but also tried fish and chips (we have eaten a lot of cod this trip. When in Rome) and the clam chowder. the fast ferry back to Boston was much easier on the stomach and head, with a lot less chop, thank god. From the World Trade Center we resisted the temptation to take a water taxi to Logan($10 per person) and took the silver line, which is an above ground bus to Logan. We figured out the transit system too late. We thought we bought a charliecard but instead bought a charlieticket and paid 50 cents more ride. Better explanation needed for tourists! Having recently used public transportation in Chicago, London, Berlin, Krakow, Prague and Washington DC I can speak with some authority on this. Anyway, great trip.