Sunday, October 07, 2007
This weekend my cousins Sandeep and Leslie came to visit from California and we had an *incredible* weekend, really taking advantage of everything New York has to offer (mostly restaurants and bars).
They arrived on Thursday evening, a bit tired from the flight, so we immediately headed to Venieros for some coffee and cannolis. After that I took them to my favorite hidden bar, Angel's Share. Angel's Share just added an autumn menu with some great new drinks. That night we had dinner at Stanton Social which they loved. After dinner I took them to The Back Room, another great bar that's owned by Tim Robbins. My cousins lived in New York about 10 years ago and were surprised you can now safely go out in the East Village and Lower East Side.
Friday was a work day for me so my cousins were out exploring on their own. That evening I made reservations for them to eat at db Bistro Moderne, a great restaurant I went to last week and loved. After that they saw A Chorus Line. Meanwhile, I was having dinner with Alvaro who was also visiting from LA. We ate at Baluchis and then went to HiFi, which is a cool bar on Ave A. Then we wandered to Lakeside Lounge on Ave B which is awesome. Totally loved it. Drinks at both bars are like $5. Cheap night!
This weekend was Open House New York, where many buildings are open to the public. So on Saturday I went to the Chrysler Building to see the lobby and hear about the history. It's a beautiful lobby with a great ceiling mural and cool elevators. RANDOMLY I ran into Monika and Christian there. Small world. After the Chrysler Building we went to the Scandinavia House. We had food in their cafe, including a great plate of smoked salmon for only $7. Definitely a good lunch spot for me. The Scandinavia House has a great photography exhibit that makes me want to go to Stockholm.
That evening I met my cousins at the Royalton hotel for drinks. I had a great G&T made with the new Tanqueray Rangpur. Yum. We then headed to The Modern for dinner. It was one of the best dinners any of us had ever had. At The Modern you generally order a 3 course meal (not including the dessert course) so we had 9 dishes in total to taste. Everything was unique, interesting and delicious. And with 9 small tastes, you really savored every bite. The Modern is one of my favorite restaurants in New York.
After The Modern we went to The Campbell Apartment in Grand Central for a drink. My cousins got the prohibition punch. Then I was able to get a midnight reservation at Milk & Honey. We met up with our other friend Marco. Oh man. We were at M&H until 3:30am. M&H isn't usually the sort of place you park yourself for a while. It's a place you get a great cocktail to start or finish the night.
We went a little nuts there. The waitress actually had to ask my cousins to quiet down a bit (which is annoying, but that's fine). My cousin Sandeep was obsessed with the ice. It is very cool. We had some great drinks and everyone got caught up on everyone's life. It was a blast.
Sunday I went to Rockefeller Center to explore more buildings that were open as part of Open House New York. In the evening I met my cousins and Marco to see Blade Runner: The Final Cut at the Ziegfeld Theater. We saw Holly Hunter there, hiding under a large hat.
Then off to the LES for some chinese food, and then a nice walk back home.
This is seriously the greatest city in the world. I can't imagine leaving New York; I don't know where else I would go. My cousins lived here 10 years ago and are still in love with the city. They are now considering buying a small studio to use when they visit. It makes a lot of sense.
I hear this from a lot of people: the dream is to be bicoastal. You want a place to live in both SF and NY and travel between the two. You avoid NY in the cold winter and hot summer. It's perfect.
I love New York.
They arrived on Thursday evening, a bit tired from the flight, so we immediately headed to Venieros for some coffee and cannolis. After that I took them to my favorite hidden bar, Angel's Share. Angel's Share just added an autumn menu with some great new drinks. That night we had dinner at Stanton Social which they loved. After dinner I took them to The Back Room, another great bar that's owned by Tim Robbins. My cousins lived in New York about 10 years ago and were surprised you can now safely go out in the East Village and Lower East Side.
Friday was a work day for me so my cousins were out exploring on their own. That evening I made reservations for them to eat at db Bistro Moderne, a great restaurant I went to last week and loved. After that they saw A Chorus Line. Meanwhile, I was having dinner with Alvaro who was also visiting from LA. We ate at Baluchis and then went to HiFi, which is a cool bar on Ave A. Then we wandered to Lakeside Lounge on Ave B which is awesome. Totally loved it. Drinks at both bars are like $5. Cheap night!
This weekend was Open House New York, where many buildings are open to the public. So on Saturday I went to the Chrysler Building to see the lobby and hear about the history. It's a beautiful lobby with a great ceiling mural and cool elevators. RANDOMLY I ran into Monika and Christian there. Small world. After the Chrysler Building we went to the Scandinavia House. We had food in their cafe, including a great plate of smoked salmon for only $7. Definitely a good lunch spot for me. The Scandinavia House has a great photography exhibit that makes me want to go to Stockholm.
That evening I met my cousins at the Royalton hotel for drinks. I had a great G&T made with the new Tanqueray Rangpur. Yum. We then headed to The Modern for dinner. It was one of the best dinners any of us had ever had. At The Modern you generally order a 3 course meal (not including the dessert course) so we had 9 dishes in total to taste. Everything was unique, interesting and delicious. And with 9 small tastes, you really savored every bite. The Modern is one of my favorite restaurants in New York.
After The Modern we went to The Campbell Apartment in Grand Central for a drink. My cousins got the prohibition punch. Then I was able to get a midnight reservation at Milk & Honey. We met up with our other friend Marco. Oh man. We were at M&H until 3:30am. M&H isn't usually the sort of place you park yourself for a while. It's a place you get a great cocktail to start or finish the night.
We went a little nuts there. The waitress actually had to ask my cousins to quiet down a bit (which is annoying, but that's fine). My cousin Sandeep was obsessed with the ice. It is very cool. We had some great drinks and everyone got caught up on everyone's life. It was a blast.
Sunday I went to Rockefeller Center to explore more buildings that were open as part of Open House New York. In the evening I met my cousins and Marco to see Blade Runner: The Final Cut at the Ziegfeld Theater. We saw Holly Hunter there, hiding under a large hat.
Then off to the LES for some chinese food, and then a nice walk back home.
This is seriously the greatest city in the world. I can't imagine leaving New York; I don't know where else I would go. My cousins lived here 10 years ago and are still in love with the city. They are now considering buying a small studio to use when they visit. It makes a lot of sense.
I hear this from a lot of people: the dream is to be bicoastal. You want a place to live in both SF and NY and travel between the two. You avoid NY in the cold winter and hot summer. It's perfect.
I love New York.