My initial name for this post was: Things New Yorkers Love. With the visit of my brother-in-law and his wife, I came to realize that we are slowly becoming New Yorkers. Here is a list that is by no means all-inclusive. I hope to keep adding to it as our time here continues:
Birthdays.
In the words of Rockstar, "Your birthday is the one day per year that you get to be fabulous as you hang around with your friends." For his birthday he invested in a swell, white linen suit, rented out the basement of a great bar in the East Village and provided appetizers for about 50 of his closest friends.
A good bargain.
"PradaGucciVersacePradaGucciVersace" drones the men and women on the street corners down in Chinatown. There is no escape from the salespeople as they harass you on your way down Canal Street. This may be the most extreme example of bargains in New York City. Some friends from Seattle, a middle-aged couple, regularly take these salespeople up on their offers. They find their way to hidden rooms, stores disguised as apothecary shops and even mini-vans that sell these knock-off (?- or are they?) items.
It doesn't just happen in Chinatown. New Yorkers find their deals at thrift stores in Chelsea, second-hand stores on the upper East Side, and even bumming rides off friends with cars to get out to Jersey to hit Ikea.
The "Best of"
The signs are everywhere: "Best Pizza in New York" "Best Manicures" "Best Coffee" "Best Challah" "Best Happy Hour" "Best Smoked Carpathian Trout." These stores and restaurants are rated by Zagat, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, Sharkey's, CitySearch... I even saw a sign in the window of one Patisserie, "Best French Bakery"**
Simultaneously Eating and Walking
Self expanatory.
Brunch
On Saturdays and Sundays, the majority of New Yorkers wake up a "little bleary." Present company excluded. Sleeping in is a serious pastime on the weekends and breakfast ceases to be an option by about 11:30, when people start to function after a long night of cocktails, cab rides and clubbing. Restaurants are always ones to support the vices of their customers and so... Brunch was invented. You put a little bit of everything on the menu, add a Bloody Mary or glass of Champagne to help ease the blow of sunshine, and then- if it is summer- add street seating. The New Yorker, in its natural habitat will flock to your business, describe it as "yummy" and (of course) "the best Brunch in the City." Sit back and print your own money.
Tapas/Prix Fixe
This is where Restraunteurs get really sneaky. They give you a small plate of food that is half the size of a normal portion, they charge one third that of a normal meal and then they convince New Yorkers that they should get four or five plates to share between them and their dates. Does this seem fair? Does this seem right? No. But when Essence of Truffle Oil is on the line, the average New Yorker can't say "no." New Yorkers love Tapas- Spanish for "small plate" or "appetizer"- English for "take the trust fund babies for everything they are worth."
When a Restaurant becomes "hip," they move on to the Prix Fixe. You pay a flat rate per person and you get an appetizer, main course and dessert. The portion sizes are generally smaller than regular meals and you only have three options for each. This cuts down on the variety of ingredients that the Restraunteur has to buy and increases the over cost margins for each person. Prix Fixes range from $10/person in the Outer Boroughs to "your first born child" at the top of Colombus Circle at Masa. Despite these facts, New Yorkers continue to flock to Prix Fixe as a way to stretch the buck, get a deal, and get our monthly serving of Essence of Truffle Oil.
**As rated by their employees.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
It's Fleet Week!
Ah Fleet Week... Sailors come to NYC for some well-deserved R&R. Those of you who are "Sex in the City" fans should know how important and special this time can be. In their honor, we see the Empire State Building lit up in red, white and blue.
To celebrate, Kitty and I went to the City Ballet. In addition to some Stravinsky and Bartok, the program included "Fun and Fancy Free"- a Jerome Robbins' choreographed ballet with music by Leondard Bernstein. It was Robbins' first big hit and it tells the story of three sailors in New York on a hot summer night. They are out drinking and carousing. It's a charming work that drips with personality and boundless enthusiasm.
The ballet has been a wonderful addition to our life in NYC. Though Kitty is the one with a nose for bargains, I scored a coup and discovered the Fourth Circle Society. For a fee of $30, you can buy two tickets per show for $15 each. We have attended twice so far and are going back next Friday as well.
The tickets that you get are up on the very top level of the theater. The views are very good, but at the first break, we traditionally will get up and move to better seats. Last night we saw a group of five people come in just as the curtain was going up. As they were led to their seats by the usher, they turned off and parked themselves in seats that were obviously not theirs but still empty. The usher walked on for about 15 feet before she realized she was alone and then turned around and proceeded to chew them out for taking better seats than they paid for. Of course, they just ignored her. She returned with her supervisor and they both were ignored for another few minutes until they gave up in disgust.
New York is like that. High-brow and low-brow collide in every part of the city at every moment. No place is safe from these accidents and I would have nothing to write about if it wasn't that way.
To celebrate, Kitty and I went to the City Ballet. In addition to some Stravinsky and Bartok, the program included "Fun and Fancy Free"- a Jerome Robbins' choreographed ballet with music by Leondard Bernstein. It was Robbins' first big hit and it tells the story of three sailors in New York on a hot summer night. They are out drinking and carousing. It's a charming work that drips with personality and boundless enthusiasm.
The ballet has been a wonderful addition to our life in NYC. Though Kitty is the one with a nose for bargains, I scored a coup and discovered the Fourth Circle Society. For a fee of $30, you can buy two tickets per show for $15 each. We have attended twice so far and are going back next Friday as well.
The tickets that you get are up on the very top level of the theater. The views are very good, but at the first break, we traditionally will get up and move to better seats. Last night we saw a group of five people come in just as the curtain was going up. As they were led to their seats by the usher, they turned off and parked themselves in seats that were obviously not theirs but still empty. The usher walked on for about 15 feet before she realized she was alone and then turned around and proceeded to chew them out for taking better seats than they paid for. Of course, they just ignored her. She returned with her supervisor and they both were ignored for another few minutes until they gave up in disgust.
New York is like that. High-brow and low-brow collide in every part of the city at every moment. No place is safe from these accidents and I would have nothing to write about if it wasn't that way.
Saturday, May 20, 2006
My little toe has never looked so good.
Experimentation is the key to enjoying oneself in the city. New restaurants, new museums, and new neighborhoods make up for the crowds, the dirt and the endless commuting. With a big and fancy party coming up tonight, Kitty thought she would push my boundries a bit last night. We met at our neighborhood nail salon and while she primped for the party, I got my very first pedicure.
Pedicures are quite an event. Not knowing what to expect, I made quite a few mistakes. I put my feet in the water at the wrong times and I writhed a bit during some of the scrubbing. In the end, though, the whole process was much more relaxing than I thought. Yes, I was the only guy in there, but I'm tough and rugged and I can handle the pressure.
My best high school friends are coming into town in a month or so. We are going to hit some comic stores, see some movies, eat curry and have a guys weekend. It would absolutely crack me up to see Slim Jim, RoboGuy and the Corporate Avenger sitting next to me with our feet in tubs of hot water. Somehow, I don't think it will happen.
Pedicures are quite an event. Not knowing what to expect, I made quite a few mistakes. I put my feet in the water at the wrong times and I writhed a bit during some of the scrubbing. In the end, though, the whole process was much more relaxing than I thought. Yes, I was the only guy in there, but I'm tough and rugged and I can handle the pressure.
My best high school friends are coming into town in a month or so. We are going to hit some comic stores, see some movies, eat curry and have a guys weekend. It would absolutely crack me up to see Slim Jim, RoboGuy and the Corporate Avenger sitting next to me with our feet in tubs of hot water. Somehow, I don't think it will happen.
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