Fifth and 57th

New Yorkers call this the epicenter of the center of the Universe.  It seems everyone else does, too.  This year, during the Christmas/New Year's holiday weeks, I found midtown more packed with bodies than ever.  Bloomberg welcomed New York City's 50 millionth visitor of 2011 last week.  Well, good.  It's great for the economy and a wonderful charge to the city and us folks who live here to have so many happy tourists loving the city we love, too.  (However, why they're only in midtown remains a mystery to me.  Spread out!  The rest of New York welcomes you, too!)

On the other hand, the glories of the intersection of these two major thoroughfares have entertained me for decades, especially when I worked in offices in the neighborhood and used the beautiful shops nearby, including Bergdorf's, as momentary "sanity" escapes when things became something less than beautiful at the office.  To call it a reality check would be hard to justify; they were more like fantasy checks to combat reality.

And the windows at Bergdorf are always the most opulent at Christmastime.  

At the opposite corner, this year's Tiffany windows were definitely about the clever and colorful carousel framing. 

Writing this from back in Paris, where it was sunny, then rained, and now stopped, all in the time I was posting, provides quite the contrast.  Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Caffeinated Weekends - Culture Espresso

This is where it all began for me, my civilized addiction to a daily dose of great latte - hot in the winter, iced in the summer, and always to-go - right over to my office, every morning on my way to work.  I would nurse it through the entire morning, at desk or in meetings, and I am sure I was known for (among many other things) having a Culture Espresso latte with me wherever I was. 

A couple of years ago, I randomly walked by and "discovered" it, its big window and large espresso machine beckoning.  Back then, it was always empty; I prayed it would not go out of business before it found its following.  It didn't (go out of business, that is) and it has (found its following, that is, big time).  They are serious about excellent espresso-making here, first and foremost.  It's probably the best I've found in Manhattan. 

Not only could I buy my caffeine fix and know that it would always be amazing, right around the corner from my office in the middle of the quality dining wasteland otherwise known as the Garment District (excuse me, The Fashion Center, as its neighborhood BID would prefer it be called).  Culture also features homemade sandwiches and, back when it first opened, they had a truly creative pastry chef churning out, on premises, the most beautiful things I wouldn't dare let myself indulge in (too much/too close).  But I loved seeing what she was making every day; if one could gain weight just by looking....  Though that pastry chef has since left and Culture now features baked items from Sullivan Street Bakery (also very good but more predictable), I did notice when I was there on a recent weekday afternoon that a huge group of patrons arrived around 3pm and started a line going out the door to buy fresh-baked, still hot, chocolate chip cookies.  They were definitely in the know, these neighborhood workers in the fashion business or whatever else - and it's quite varied - these folks are doing.  

Culture uses Intelligentsia Coffee; every espresso-based drink is a triple shot.  The sandwiches (which run out by early afternoon) are also fantastic.  I'm partial to the Chipotle Chicken, but I hear Figgy is good, too (maybe I just think the name is cute).

There is room for seating at small tables, so conversation is definitely possible,  as well as one long high table in the middle of the room.  They also have free wifi and play LPs on an actual turntable - remember those?!

For tourists (who pretty much haven't found this place except on Thanksgiving Day when the parade crowd falls in), I would advise remembering it as an excellent pit-stop on the walk between Times Square and the Empire State Building.  There it is, on 38th just off Sixth, about half way between them.

The Plaza Food Hall

There is a place to eat and drink in midtown Manhattan where you will have no idea what the weather is doing outside.  Nor will you have wifi or be able to receive a cellphone signal.  But if you can deal with these barriers for an hour or two, you will be rewarded by far-better-than-adequate food, reasonable prices, a varied menu and plenty of languages in a bright and shiny room underneath The Plaza.

This is The Plaza Food Hall.  I can't say enough good things about it, for what it is.  First, it's kind of a pleasant surprise - just the fact that it exists, just where it is, and that it isn't killer expensive (mostly because of where it is)!  Second, that you can find it and that not everyone else in that neighborhood is there is a sweet treat.  (Geez, I had been at the Apple Store right before I went there most recently, around 4:30pm on a Friday - it was cheek-to-jowl, as they say (who says that anyway?), and unimaginably claustrophobic at the Apple Store, but right across Fifth Avenue, down an escalator just inside both the north and south side entrances to The Plaza, is this large  and very calm refuge of cuisine, somehow quietly unknown to the rest of the bustling crowds above.) 

For variety, it cannot be beat.  Bring the family!  Bring the out-of-towners!  Everything everyone from out of town wants to see is right nearby, as are a gazillion hotels, so all the languages are there to be heard, too.  And since all seating is at counters surrounding eight different food stations (sushi, grill, raw bar, stone oven pizza, etc.) plus a few communal counter-height tables, you can make new friends.  Above all, of course, the food is fresh and well-prepared and the ambiance is a breath of fresh air (to the extent one can have a breath of fresh air in a basement food hall).

Eggplant and spinach flatbread pizza

I was there once during the Christmas holiday, and mashed between many shopping bags were the friendliest faces and most exhausted feet from all over the world.  Being the rare New Yorker at that table, at that season, I was able to do what I enjoy so much - sharing with the group my inside scoop on great things to do in New York!  We discussed theater options, shopping, neighborhoods and other must-dos.  It's perfect for families because everyone can find something they like.  Every item from all the food stations is offered on one menu and can be ordered from any counter.  It's casual but feels special enough to be The Plaza. 

There are also take-away options, a market, a bakery and other goodies from Todd English. 

PS - important note for midtown sightseers.  The bathrooms down there are fabulous!  You never know when you're going to pop out of Central Park and need one.  Come to think of it, the Apple Store and Bergdorf's, too, but maybe that's another blog I should start.  How pathetic. 

Eclectic Monday Dining

Monday was more social for me than customary for a first day of the work week.  And it led to adventures in dining, so representative of the range of offerings in New York City on a typical day (if eating too much is typical for you):

1.  Breakfast of croissant and nonfat latte at Joe Coffee on the UWS.

2.  Lunch of chicken over rice from an Indian food sidewalk lunch cart.  You know those carts and trucks you see all over Midtown Manhattan dispensing food?  Worth a try, at least once.  Some are really good, but I will admit that it's not something I ever think about on my own; it's not on purpose so much as I have a longtime irrational concern over my inability to select the ones that would not give me food poisoning.  By default, therefore, I guess that means lunch truck dining is the most social of dining experiences, because if you never do it alone, you and your more-adventurous-eater-friend will buy the food and take it to a nearby pocket park on a nice day to have your little al fresco New York cheapo lunch experience.  I don't recall the name of the particular cart from Monday's lunch, but it was located at the southwest corner of Sixth Avenue and 47th Street (look for the long line - that's always good general advice when considering the lunch cart option); also, it had signs posted all over the cart that it "has won many awards!"  And a perfect patch of tree-shaded pocket park was just across the avenue.

3.  Afternoon iced latte and doughnut at Schiller's, as reported yesterday.  Yeah, I didn't exactly choose the "healthy option" for #3; some might say likewise about #2 and #1, mais je ne suis pas d'accord!  Taking a typical American defensive posture when it comes to food, I'll have you know that I ran two loops around the Reservoir that morning and walked all over town the rest of the day....so there.

4.  And, to top it all off, a great dinner and wine at Gabriel's near Columbus Circle.  This is what happens when a dear friend from college comes to town and unexpectedly has time for dinner - it's worthy of a celebration like Gabriel's, not to mention that we both have a marvelous excuse - our sons are graduating from high school this week!  But who needs an excuse?  What a lovely, clubby-in-a-good-way restaurant!  And with no reservation and a smile to Gabriel, the attentive owner, at the door, voilà, a table for two was ready for us in the always full and bustling dining room, where I (healthfully) chose the broiled bronzino in a leek broth.  Ha!  AND, we passed on dessert.  Next time...

Caffeinated Weekends - Zibetto

This one you could walk by, a few times, and just not notice.  The door is that small, the width of space the slender espresso bar takes up on Sixth Avenue at 56th Street is this narrow -

Zibetto Espresso Bar is a very discrete, purposeful coffee bar in Midtown, perfect for a quick throw-back or even a longer linger at the thin marble counter, but only if your shoes are comfortable, and only with, at most, a little Italian cookie (or a panino if during lunchtime).  I thought, you gotta be kidding.  No New Yorker will go for this, so bare bones, so lacking hype (and chairs!), and yet, in that same vein, totally authentic Italian.  I was wrong - at 4:45pm on a weekday, a steady flow of people walked in, ordered, either alone or with a companion, stood for their few minutes to imbibe their caffé or macchiato, and then, zip - out the door like a New Yorker (or Roman), mission accomplished. 

It's an out-of-New-York experience, right down to the central casting Mediterranean servers; calling them baristas just wouldn't fit here.  This is no Seattle-by-way-of-Williamsburg coffee house.  For a few minutes, I was in Rome, having my afternoon caffeine shot to carry me through the late day to my 10pm dinner (well, in that daydream, anyway).   

Bryant Park

One little park, tucked behind the New York Public Library and surrounded on all sides by office buildings new and old, hotels and Broadway theaters right around the corner - it's Bryant Park.  When I first moved to New York in 1981, this was just about the last place any New Yorker would think of to spend time, unless you were a drug dealer or customer.  Now, it's simply amazing.  Yesterday's 73 degrees at lunchtime proved it.  The park is not only extremely well-located for midtown workers to have a breath of fresh air during lunch, but this small location packs a punch with creative and ambitious programming:

Chess games

Southwest Porch, complete with beach-style seating and bar

Free wifi

Free sun and grass

The fountain - a good place to meet

The Reading Room, with books, etc. from the Public Library

Almost a little bit of Paris in midtown NYC

Le Carrousel

Movies in the summer evenings, ice skating in the winter, as well as take-out sandwich stands and the Bryant Park Grill for dining or drinking indoors or out, Bryant Park is my favorite bit of sanity in the middle of the city.  

Midtown Tunnel

It never ceases to amaze me.  Was I walking around New York for the last 30 years completely blinded by work, chores, child-rearing and daily pressures?  The title of my blog is unfortunately more accurate than I intended.  How did I miss this?

It's a funny little tunnel that serves no purpose (it's art!) tucked between two buildings on 48th Street ("Music Row") between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, across the street from the Cort Theater.  (It was McGraw-Hill's contribution to the public passageway between 48th and 49th Streets when its building on Sixth Avenue was built in 1972 as part of the Rockefeller Center Extension.)  

Good to know there are others out there who do live with their eyes open.  There they were, taking pictures, linking arms, walking through and posing in and around this plexiglass tunnel under a waterfall. Just plain old no-purpose fun.

Caffeinated Weekends - Lucid

lu·cid  (lsd)adj.

1. Easily understood; intelligible.

2. Mentally sound; sane or rational.

3. Translucent or transparent.

I'd love to be able to say that all my days and all my experiences meet those definitions, but Friday was definitely not one of them.  Nonetheless, I did find a very civilized (and very early) start to that day at Lucid.  It's an adorable tiny espresso bar on Lexington Avenue between 37th and 38th Streets.  It's the type of place I might expect to find on every other block in the East Village or Lower East Side but  would  never be found  right where I found it.  That means I need to try to remember exactly where I found it!

They have just what you need in a good espresso bar  - a bright red La Marzocco espresso machine that the two young women who run the shop know how to use with care and flair, and tasty croissants, muffins and other good baked stuff, some from Ceci Cela and some that are baked on the premises.  There are just two tables for sitting Franco-style (to read Le Figaro, perhaps?) and a skinny stand-up counter for a quick espresso gulp Italo-style.  But, even if you're looking to sit, sip and read a novel for a while, this is possible and exactly what I saw when I was there (however, at 7:15am on a Friday, even that didn't seem quite lucid to me).  This tiny café is warm, inviting and has none of the cold corporate franchise feel of most other larger coffee alternatives in the neighborhood (you know who you are). 

If only the rest of the day had been as lucid.

The Oyster Bar

A classic of Grand Central Station, but so often neglected by us New Yorkers, is The Oyster Bar.  The two times I've ever dined there (using the term "dined" somewhat loosely when you're sitting at a counter bar for a total of 45 minutes while waiting for a train and a bowl of chowder, hoping the latter arrives before the former) were with friends who live in Washington, DC and in Paris, at their requests.  For some reason (perhaps the middling quality of the cuisine?), this isn't a place that quickly comes to the minds of those of us who live here.  

OK, is the food the greatest?  Nah, but the seriously classic throwback-to-another-time ambience and those Guastavino ceiling tile vaults make it a must-do at least once in a New York visit, even if that visit has an open-ended return to somewhere else (ie., you live here).  And, if you're into seafood like oysters, clams, mussels, or even for that quick bowl of chower, it sure beats the noisy food hall in Grand Central's lower level - for recognition points back home, relative comfort (there's plenty of seating) and speed of service.  

At least once, and take pictures!

Accidental Tourist in my Hometown

Actually, that title isn't accurate in two respects.  I'm not a tourist in New York, and New York is not my hometown.  Nonetheless, after living here for so many years, and then taking a walk on a Saturday through Grand Central Station (an excellent time to stop and take pictures without fear of being trampled by commuters) and Rockefeller Center (where one is always at risk of being trampled), I'm not immune from feeling like a wide-eyed tourist all over again.  

So, with the day so pretty, and caught up in the mood, I took some photos of the sites tourists visit every single day here, and I so rarely do.  And with a new eye, I feel appreciation afresh for these locations I take for granted - in rain, in blizzard, in sun, in cold, during heatwaves, Christmas tree crush, summer exodus and commuter ignorance - which, at the same time, have provided the background for a lifetime of New York memories.

Channel Gardens, Rockefeller Plaza

Grand Central Station

Grand Central Station

Chrysler Building

Rockefeller Plaza

Saint Patrick's Cathedral

Caffeinated Weekends - Knave

I think twice before considering a New York hotel a decent choice for a drink or a coffee.   In the past,  lobby bars of the bigger chain hotels were pretty ubiquitous and bland. Because the newer boutiques have been giving the establishment brands a run for their happy-hour money, I can see that a few of the big boys are upping their game.   

Knave at Le Parker Meridien is one of the more established Midtown hotels that is doing it right.  It's all brown and maroon and lavish Moroccan/Turkish decor, great lights, heavy velvet drapes and music piped in at the right decibel level consisting of jazz and standards (it won me over with "Baby I'm a Fool" by Melody Gardot).

This is a good place for either coffee/tea or stronger drinks, though the prices are very definitely Manhattan hotel-expensive for the alcoholic stuff.  However, there were some decent-looking  munchies that arrive gratis with the grown-up beverages, including fried olives (so that's what those jawbreaker-sized things were) and nuts.  With coffee drinks, I was sadly told by my server, no olives; rather I got a cookie.  In the cookie's defense, it was very tasty and much more dunkable into my Counter Culture cappuccino than a fried olive.  Guess they know what they're doing.

What is special here is the seating - couches and chairs in clusters made for groups of 4 or 5 to be able to spread out, providing enough room for you and the people you came with to comfortably converse, hear yourself speak and not necessarily have everyone else in the room hear you speak.  Those places are next to impossible to find in Manhattan.  And the location, near Carnegie Hall and City Center, makes it a find for pre- and post-theater or concert.

I guess I have to go back - in the evening for a cocktail - so they'll let me try some of those fried olives.  Of course I will.  On the way out, I saw this sign.  How can I not?

Mon Sac du Jour

My footsteps and subway travels, particularly during the non-office days I am enjoying so much in the last 5 weeks, have led me to many interesting new-to-my-weekday neighborhoods in Manhattan.  One, though, which I thought I knew well is Midtown, land of office buildings and designer shopping.  For many, many years, I worked in law offices all over Midtown Manhattan, and in the last year, although I haven't worked in this neighborhood in over 6 years, my French lessons at FIAF have happily brought me to the Fifth Avenue NQR subway stop at least once a week.

So I am surprised when I find anything new in Midtown (as I described in an earlier post about Fika and Macaron).  Well, it turns out that my favorite new bag is from a boutique right across the street from Macaron, at 59th Street between Madison and Park.  The shop is called m0851, from Montréal. Everything they sell is created and produced in  Montréal.  They have a few shops around the world, including two in NYC (Soho and Madison)...and Paris, bien sur. 

The style at m0851 is described by their website as "elegant and minimalist."  I would agree; that's probably what caught my eye in the store window.  I was drawn in, right away to the bags - the mailbags ("sac rabat") were the styles that most intrigued me.  With my new non-office lifestyle, I have found myself running all over town, carrying most of my belongings with me (only a slight exaggeration) from morning till night.  This bag can be carried slung over the shoulder and chest and holds quite a load, even my laptop.  The colors are earthy and the style is so lowkey that I've been able to carry it around all day, and later to dinner and evening activities, because it's neither office worker briefcase nor obvious unemployed schlepper tote bag.  "Sleek" is perhaps a good word.  It's hip and mature at the same time (my fashion goal!).

Prices are definitely reasonable for such a nice leather with such terrific no-label architectural modern design.  On a revisit, I noted beautiful fine leather jackets for spring and practical raincoats, also with a minimal style.  Many other bag styles and sizes are there (check out the beautiful website), as well as knock-out scarves.  I can't wait for the sales!