RECHARGING YOUR BATTERIES IN LIL' OL' NOO YOIK
A change, as they say, is as good as a rest, so for out and out townies like us,
eschewing the joys of countryside anywhere in the world, what better place to carry
on eating, drinking and taking in the Arts (in all manner of ways) that we regularly
do in London, than to trot off to that city that never sleeps - New York. So having
got a good deal at a very centrally located hotel in central Manhattan, we decided
to take a long, five day weekend to The Big Apple.
We have been there before - but not for some time - our recollections of the place
seem to focus on the fact that it was very difficult to see the sun and that everyone
was moving fast, fast……fast……. We met up with an old friend, Mary Riebold, who was
a walking encyclopaedia on what theatres to go to, what exhibitions were on at which
museum, which concerts and operas were on, but most of all, which were the best value
watering holes and which restaurants had great wine lists where it wouldn't cost
the earth!
We decided to treat ourselves a bit and fly sort of Business Class. By ‘sort of’
we meant going with Maxjet from Stansted Airport - a new low-cost Business Class
only plane flying once a day between London and New York. The fare was less that
half the cost of a Business Class flight with a regular airline and only a couple
of hundred pounds more than the Economy fare at the time. The experience was the
sort of Business Class that you had five or more years a go. You didn't get fully
reclining seats, but there was plenty of leg room and plenty of attentive service
which is what you would expect. Cocktails as you board immediately put you in a relaxed
frame of mind and the meal choices were not bad at all. There was even a healthy
option dish complete with calorie, fat, protein and carbohydrate counts! Wine choices
were poor, though.
Landing at JFK airport, there is a special Air Train that connects you with the NYC
Subway to Brooklyn and Manhattan on the A, E, J and Z lines, so there are choices,
but it is rather slow going getting right into Town. Of course, there are taxis and
a bus, but the traffic is always pretty heavy, so everything takes time.
We stayed at the Affinia Manhattan hotel, just across the way from Penn Station and
Madison Square Garden on Seventh Avenue. Very conveniently situated, not luxury,
but good enough for a few day's stay and reasonably priced for a major city centre
hotel with rooms costing between $200 and $400 a night depending on the size.
The best way to be buzzing around New York is to buy a MetroCard which gives you
unlimited use for rides on the subways or local buses for one day ($7), 7 days ($24)
or 30 days ($76). There is much to do and see in Manhattan - a plethora of fine museums
and galleries and walking along "Museum Mile" on the Upper East Side of Central Park
will enable you to take in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Frick Collection,
The Guggenheim and Whitney Museums and a host of others. In midtown, (36th street
and Madison Ave.) and perhaps not as well known as some of the others, The Morgan
Library and Museum, is well worth a visit. Originally built to house the collection
of artistic objects by the financier Pierpont Morgan early in the 20th century, it
has now been substantially expanded to include a 280 seater performance hall, a café,
restaurant and shop. Here you can view original manuscripts by Mozart and Beethoven,
medieval illuminated texts, a Gutenberg bible, Near Eastern carvings over two thousand
years old, and a host of other literary items, drawings and manuscripts.
Not that you should confine yourself to intellectual pursuits. New York is a hotbed
of gastronomic delights, from the Saturday morning Farmer's Market in Union Square,
to the plethora of Indian stores in the Midtown Murray Hill area (a.k.a. Curry Hill!)
In the Lower East Side there is Chinatown and a host of New York Delis (Jewish and
otherwise), where the size of the portions is only matched by the rudeness of the
waiting staff. There are bars you can drink at and bars where you can eat and drink
at.
Bottega del Vino, on E. 59th St. (the spin off of the famous wine bar in Verona)
was a disappointment, but I Trulli (122 E. 27 St.) had some terrific wine choices
and a reasonably priced menu. A very interesting and not so well known cocktail bar
is called The Campbell Apartment in Grand Central Station. This was the private home
and office of John W.Campbell, a retired financier, who took it as the "biggest ground
floor room in New York". It was a bare barracks of a room, 30 feet wide by 60 feet
long, with a ceiling 25 feet high. Campbell then transformed it into a galleried
hall of a 13th century Florentine palace and then furnished it with 13th century
Italian furniture. He installed a pipe organ and a grand piano and covered the floor
with a single Persian rug and other rugs were flung over the chairs or hung upon
the walls. There are also vases, statues and rare books, petrified woods and uncut
precious stones.
to In Vino, 215 East 4th St. (212-539-1011), a cosy little casual bar where you
can also get some simple, casual food.
At the far end of the room was the massive Florentine desk at which Campbell conducted
his business. At night it was used as a reception hall where Mr. and Mrs Campbell
could entertain their friends. Now it is a quiet, dignified and civilised place to
have a drink whilst taking a little time off from the hustle and bustle of this lively
city. No baseball caps permitted in the bar, but you don't need to wear a tie! The
station itself has had a makeover around five or six years ago and is unrecognisable
from the scruffy dump it used to be.
If you have time, a visit to the lower East Side should include a walk over Brooklyn
Bridge to Brooklyn itself. Here you will find elegant 19th century houses and other
buildings along Brooklyn Heights, home to many artists and writers over that last
several years. The Brooklyn Historical Society (Tel. 718-222-4111) www.brooklynhistory.org
will supply you with facts, tours etc. for a fascinating insight into a part of NYC
that is not always presented to tourists. And additionally, Brooklyn is the beer
centre of NYC with three breweries and lots of good pubs. For events and tour guides
of the breweries go to www.brooklynbrewery.com
The eating out culture is far more developed in New York than it is in London and
of course, you can find just about every ethnic cuisine under the sun, but for the
most part we decided to stick to typically American restaurants with the one exception
of the Congee Village Chinese Restaurant at 100 Allen Street, where Chinatown has
spilled over into the East Village.
...A great place, signified by the half hour wait we had to have before we could
get a table, it was so crowded - but the wait was worth it. There's no point in giving
out a telephone number - you can't book - just turn up and wait, you won't be disappointed.
And the wines there are pretty good, too, but I normally prefer to stick to beer
in a crowded Chinese Restaurant. Go for a pre-dinner drink to In Vino, 215 East 4th
St. (212-539-1011), a cosy little casual bar where you can also get some simple,
casual food.
Pretty much a must for NYC dining is the Union Square Café. (21 E. 16th St. - Tel.
212-243-4020) You will need to book here, or you will never get in. This restaurant
was in the vanguard of modern American dining and has been a stalwart for over 20
years with the food being very highly rated.
We can vouch for that. The 26 page wine list is impressive and prices are not too
bad - certainly less that the equivalent in London. But the most impressive wine
list of all the restaurants we visited was undoubtedly that at Cru (24 5th Ave. (9th
St) Tel. 212-529-1700). The 117 page list is really fantastic and includes many wines
from the private cellars of the owners. The food is also first class and is served
in a more relaxed and civilised atmosphere than that of the Union Square Café.
Perhaps the most American of the restaurants we visited was the Blue Smoke Urban
Barbecue, 116 E 27 St. (Tel. 212-447-7733). Here you can have a Real Pit Barbecue,
smoked "low and slow" over hickory and apple woods - Kansas City Spareribs (saucy),
St. Louis Spareribs (marbled), Memphis Bay Back Ribs, (lean), or Texas Salt and Pepper
beef ribs. Of course, a choice of a half rack or a full rack - huge! There are other
classics such as iced oysters, and the three sausage sampler, as starters, and seared
Atlantic salmon, or a New York strip steak among the "Homestyle Favorite" main courses.
It's not expensive and full of young people obviously enjoying themselves. The wine
list is pretty good, too, with mainly American and Italian choices and the beer selection
is very comprehensive. A great place for a real New York dining experience.
On our last day, before we left for the airport for our evening flight back to London,
we had the chance to take advantage of an added bonus. That week was the "Restaurant
Week", in which restaurants produce inexpensive lunch menus in order to encourage
diners to visit in times of slack business, usually in January and July. It started
in 1992 when restaurants were serving menus at $19.92. In 1993, the price was $19.93
and so on. However, by the year 2000, inflation had taken its toll, so since then
the menu price has been fixed at $24.07 - indicating that the restaurants are loving
you 24/7 each day!
...Anyway, Mary recommended that one of the best value places for this scheme (some
restaurants really pared down what was on offer) was 11 Madison Park at 11 Madison
Ave. at 24th Street. A superb choice of four or five dishes in each of the three
courses, accompanied by a choice of two whites and three reds (at $24.07 a bottle,
of course, including a VERY interesting bottle of Aglianico), made a light send off,
both in the stomach and in the pocket and the perfect ending to the trip. An added
bonus at this restaurant was that you got a voucher for $24.07 off your next regular
meal at the restaurant, but as it only lasted for 4 weeks after the date, we had
to abandon that, but our friend Mary took full advantage!
Prices. For Union Square Café and Cru, count on around $120 (including the obligatory
tip) a head for three courses with reasonable, but not the cheapest wines (£66).
Of course you could eat and drink your way up the scale quite easily there. For the
others reckon between half and two thirds of that. The wonderful thing for the Brits
is that you can pretty much buy for a dollar what you can buy for a pound in London,
which is fantastic when you consider that the dollar is worth just a little over
half of one pound.
A visit to New York is great way to unwind - we hardly scratched the surface and
we can't wait to get back next year.
