December 6, 2011 · 7:52 pm

Where to eat/stay when visiting Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas

We will no doubt make it to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which is making an unlikely art destination out of  Bentonville, Arkansas (thanks to Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton who bankrolled the museum in the Wal-Mart headquarters hometown).

I’ve explored northwest Arkansas several times (especially Eureka Springs), but never had a reason to stop in the small city of Bentonville.  Now I do, thanks to this new museum , which opened Nov. 11. and promises to put Bentonville on the map not only for American art enthusiasts but tourists in general.  A  huge complex designed by Moshe Safdie, the museum showcases Walton’s reportedly impressive art collection and also has a sculpture garden and nature trails that wind through 120 acres of forests, gardens and ponds.

Now courtesy of the NYTimes comes some suggestions on tourist amenities present and future there:

  • – Table Mesa Bistro, around since 2008.
  • – Pressroom, new restaurant located in a former – yes you guessed it – newspaper pressroom. (Sadly, given the deteriorating health of newspapers, more and more newsrooms may face this kind of repurposing…)
  • – Laughlin House B&B – recently opened, first B&B in town.
  • – 21c Museum Hotel – opening on the town square in Jan. 2013 and an outpost of the original hotel in Louisville.

Also on my list:  the famous AQ (“Arkansas Quality”) Chicken House in nearby Springdale, Arkansas.

 


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December 2, 2011 · 2:26 am

Japanese restaurants in New York City

Tying up some loose ends from our trip last week to New York City, here are two Japanese restaurants for future reference:

– Menchanko 55 on W. 55th street – an inexpensive Japanese noodle house with good soup, vegetable appetizers, rice balls. No sushi.  I had the soup with brown broth, pork slices, veggies, noodles. Yum.

– IchiUmi – a Japanese seafood restaurant my friend Merida recommends, located at 6 E. 32nd street. It’s website promises: “The best sushi and seafood buffet in NYC at a very affordable price.”

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November 29, 2011 · 3:15 am

Bad luck with Delta Airlines but good corned beef with dad in Detroit

arrgh…On both my departing and return flights between Des Moines and NYC, there were mechanical problems that caused delays and/or heart palpitations. En route, during the Detroit to LaGuardia leg, as we were trying to land in a cloudy rainy New York City, the pilot suddenly reversed course and went back up into the clouds. “You may have noticed we tried to land,” he explained over the intercom. “But we decided not to as a result of an anomaly in the braking system.”

WHAT???

He then told us he’d be trying to land again in 10 minutes and there shouldn’t be any further problems.

GULP.

After what seemed like a very long 20 minutes, he did successfully land the plane on what appeared to be an exceedingly long runway. (good idea) and as the wheels touched down and the pilot pumped the brakes, we passengers clapped. And eagerly deplaned.

Then today, we get in the plane at LaGuardia on a beautiful sunny day, taxi out to the runway for an ON TIME departure, only to return to the gate because some water is leaking in the bathroom. An hour and a half later, we are airborne and our chances of making our connecting flights (having lost our original one-hour layover) are slim. I did call from the stalled plane and was told my daughter – who was going onto Cedar Rapids – wouldn’t be able to go on the 4 p.m. flight to CR if she missed the 12:20 one – but there was one seat left on the 7:51 p.m. flight. Feeling like a contestant on Lets Make a Deal, I had to choose between door #1 or #2. And decided to book the 7:51 and try to go standby on the 12:20 should we arrive in time. So we arrive in Detroit at 12 and of course the connecting flight is miles away in another concourse but I run and run and get to the gate just as the door is closing and I BEG the already harried-looking desk person to let Lily get on standby. She balks at first but I look pathetic enough that she gives me the ONE SEAT left on the whole damn plane. And away Lily goes. And of course I’ve now missed my 12:24 p.m. flight to Des Moines (in yet another concourse) and the 4:35 p.m.  is unavailable but, earlier, when the plane was stalled at LaGuardia, I grabbed a seat on  the 7:30 p.m. flight.

Best of all, I call my dad in suburban Detroit and he picks me up and we have a very nice unexpected afternoon together starting with a delicious corned beef sandwich at a little deli on Woodward Avenue (Deli Unique in the Ramada hotel of all places.) So all ends well….and I’m finally home in Des Moines.

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November 26, 2011 · 2:52 pm

New York City – Japanese noodles, a Fireside chat, drink at doc’s

During our annual whirlwind tour of NYC during thanksgiving we have:

– eaten very good japanese noodle soup at a restaurant that begins with an M on West 55th Street. (I’ll dig up that name when I can.)

– Strolled past the cool Lady Gaga holiday windows at Barney’s on Madison Avenue

– Had a long leisurely lunch with an old friend from London in the “casual elegant” Fireside restaurant of the Omni Berkshire hotel in midtown

– Met an old college friend for a beer at Doc Watson’s on 2nd Avenue between E. 77th and 78th

– Dodged the crowds watching the parade balloons being inflated on the upper west side by ducking into Scaletta for dinner (good bolognese!)

– Dodged the crowds watching the parade on Thanksgiving Day (at one point, I simply joined the tail end of the parade after the crowds along the sidewalks got to large and scary). I was the irritated looking woman in civilian clothes walking along side cheerful yellow and red costumed paraders holding up the Macy’s inflated stars. My expression: don’t dare to stop me.

– Cut through the crowds of people about ready to Occupy Best Buy on the upper west side after Thanksgiving dinner

– Took a glorious late night walk on Thanksgiving from central park west to central park south and then up Lexington Ave. to E. 69th where we stayed

– Joined 10 other relatives at a chaotic Penn Station to take the train to Southampton.

– Bought some last-minute gifts in Southampton – a novel at Book Hampton, an ice cream b’day cake at Carvel, some knickknacks at Home and Nature

 

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November 22, 2011 · 1:17 pm

NYC here we come

We leave for NYC on this rainy morning in DM and as always, excited to see friends and family but dreading some of the hassle involved in navigating the airports and the city during the Thanksgiving holiday. On tap:

– dinner tonight at Il Corso in midtown with family and friends

– lunch tomorrow with an old friend from London at Fireside in midtown; drink in early eve with old college friend at Doc Watson’s on upper east side; dinner with family at Scaletta’s on upper west side (first I have to figure out if I can get a cross town bus, given the parade set up right – including the balloons that are blown up on 77th, right outside the restaurant.)

– Parade party at my cousin’s apt on Central Park West (I’ll be walking across the park and hope to arrive when the parade has just passed by – so I can cross the street….), Thanksgiving dinner at other relatives down the street.

And so on….Happy holidays!

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November 19, 2011 · 6:18 pm

A few more hotspots in Chicago’s Logan Square

Here are a few more places that looked great (or were great) in Logan Square – especially for H/M’s next visit from NYC:

– Lula Cafe

– Cafe Con Leche

– wolfbait & B-girls – boutique (which had my all-time favorite cupholder which reads “Your Blog Sucks.” I was tempted to buy for myself.

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November 19, 2011 · 12:26 am

minneapolis – top bike-friendly city

When we were in Minneapolis last month – we wished we had our bikes as we watched people gliding along beautiful bike paths along the Mississippi. So no big surprise that it’s at the top of this mag’s bike-friendly cities – although it can get awfully chilly  for bike riding up there.
Minneapolis, the largest city in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes,” is adding 57 new miles of bikeways this year, with plans to add another 183 miles during the next 20 years. With these efforts, Minneapolis nabbed the top spot in Bicycling magazine’s Top 50 list of bike-friendly cities and was designated a Gold-level bicycle-friendly community by the League of American Bicyclists. To learn more about the city’s trails, visit TrailLink.com.

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November 15, 2011 · 2:56 pm

Chicago’s Printers Row, Evanston’s Dixie Kitchen

I had a little time to kill between meetings in downtown Chicago yesterday so I took a walk south down Dearborn past the beautiful old 19th century buildings of  the Printers Row area. The street is nicely laid out for architecture buffs, with helpful tourist signs en route that point out various design and historical details of the buildings you’re walking past. Next time, I need to walk along Plymouth Street and to the old Dearborn station. for more info see: http://explorechicago.org/city/en/neighborhoods/printers_row.html

Later we went to dinner at Dixie Kitchen in Evanston which continues to impress – affordable and such portions! My son had half of my husband’s red beans and rice with  sausage to bring back to his dorm room. I enjoyed my gumbo but gave up after eating half – and gave the rest to my son (who also couldn’t finish it.) Next time I’m told we need to try the burger place Edzo’s which is only open until 4 p.m. Davis Street Fish Market is a favorite of my aunt’s.

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November 15, 2011 · 5:09 am

Logan Square in Chicago – well worth a visit

We had such a good time in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood on Sunday, starting with a visit to the indoor farmers market at the remarkable Congress Theater, a huge wreck of an old auditorium where my kids have gone to several concerts. The farmers market is held in the small lobby – and had some great stuff in addition to veg and fruit including fantastic bread, baguettes, croissants and pain au raisin sold by La Boulangerie (a  shop closer to the square that also serves crepes and lovely little bowls of mousse); a English guy from Leeds who made homemade bangers and mash; and a woman who made fresh caramel.

Next store was a pop-up vintage sale – with several vendors. I got a fab green long wool coat with brown leather buttons from Austria for $24. Yes, it has a cape and yes, I look a bit like Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music. I also got some vases that I’m told were done by a Greenwich Village potter in the 1980s but look quite like Jonathan Adler’s modern day retro work.

We wandered through some other boutiques and ended up at the bar at  the restaurant/bar/inn Longman & Eagle, which was a lot of fun. I had the best Bloody Mary I’ve had in a long time (not that I have them often) and watched the alchemist/bartender using a medicine dropper, shot glasses, and fresh ground nutmeg to make various one-of-a-kind concoctions. Also watched people eating what looked like delicious hearty, fresh, inventive food including, oddly, a popular entrée that combines fried chicken and waffles (it looks better than it sounds.)

What I liked about this place was that was not only hip but inviting – with servers, bartenders, hosts who are genuinely welcoming and seem to really like their jobs.  Great ambiance too – we’ll be back for brunch if not dinner, where I”m told we should order many of the small plates. It also has several rooms for overnight stays, each uniquely and tastefully designed, starting at a very reasonable $75.

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November 13, 2011 · 4:04 pm

Indian food in Lincoln Park – (chicago)

Once we got a table – that’s another story – we had a good meal at Hema’s Kitchen on Clark, a casual Indian restaurant in Lincoln Park. The place was busy at 7 p.m. on a Saturday night and doesn’t take reservations – so we were trying our luck to begin with. My son and his college roommate were told they’d have a 2 hour wait. Five minutes later my 26-year-old stepdaughter arrived and was told the wait was 1/2 hour. Hmmm.  Then we heard something about a ten minute wait. So we took our chances and waited maybe 1/2 hour. No big deal.  Particularly good was the lamb and eggplant dish, the chicken tikka masala, the sag chicken. (There’s also a Hema’s on Devon, the Indian area.)

We walked down the street on a suddenly blustery evening to the froyo shop down the street (berrymoon?) to cleanse our palate…passing a much livelier cupcake shop also on Clark.

In Evanston we had some coffee at a cozy cafe – the Unicorn?

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