Picture of the Day: New York Skyline at Twilight

New York, New York
12.2011 

Picture of the Day: Spices For Sale at the Columbus Circle Holiday Market

New York, New York
12.20.2011

Picture of the Day: Street Signs in Times Square

New York, New York
12.20.2011 

Picture of the Day: Empire State Building at Night

New York, New York
12.21.2011 

Picture of the Day: Ferry Returning From Ellis Island

New York, United States
5.27.2009 

Picture of the Day: Taxis in Times Square

New York, New York
12.20.2011 

Quick Trip to Upstate New York

Today I had to go to upstate New York for work. It was just a quick day trip and I was busy working the whole time but two things of note happened.

First, when I was going through security at DTW I got flagged to go through an expedited security line that the TSA was testing out. All I had to do was take my phone out of my pocket and walk through. There was no need to take off my shoes and coat or remove liquids or my computer from my luggage. It was awesome! It really is the little things in life.

Secondly, I had a little extra time between when my meetings wrapped up and when I needed to be at the airport for my evening flight so I snuck in dinner at the original Dinosaur Bar-B-Que on Willow Street. I was first introduced to Dinosaur Bar-B-Que when a friend of mine from grad school who was from Syracuse gave me a bottle of their sauce. It was really awesome so a few years back when I was in the area I made a point to go there and was not disappointed.

This evening I ordered a pulled pork sandwich with a side of macaroni and cheese. My sandwich was fabulous. The pork was tender and juicy and the sandwich was served on a nice soft roll with tons of cole slaw. I also really liked my macaroni and cheese which had a nice little kick of spice and pepper. It was definitely a great treat in an otherwise very long day (I left home before five and won't be home until ten thirty tonight at the earliest). If you find yourself in Syracuse you should definitely make a stop.

Now I am hanging out at the airport (yeah for free airport WiFi!) waiting for my delayed flight to go home. It's been a long day and I hope we take off soon...

Last Day in New York

Thursday, sadly, was our last day in New York. It was absolutely gorgeous weather. Who would have thought we would have a sunny day in the high fifties in December in New York?

After getting packed up at the hotel we headed to Katz's Delicatessen for an early lunch. Opened in 1888, Katz's is a New York City landmark and has great deli food. Katz's has also been used as a location in several movies, most famously in When Harry Met Sally for the "I'll have what she's having" scene.

There are too many amazing things too chose from at Katz's but Frank got his favorite pastrami and chopped liver sandwich and I decided on a bowl of matzo ball soup and half of a reuben sandwich. For drinks we had Dr. Brown's Cel-rey soda, a deli classic. The sandwiches were amazing with the meat practically falling apart and I've never had a matzo ball that was that light and perfect. I also loved the old signage and pictures around the deli and the ticket system for adding up your order.

After Katz's we popped into Russ & Daughters for a minute to ogle the amazing foodstuffs there. It was packed so we didn't buy anything, but the pickles looked very tempting...

We then walked down 2nd Avenue to Momofuku Milk Bar to grab dessert and a copy of the latest issue of Lucky Peach. We were still stuffed from Katz's but couldn't resist getting a red velvet cake shake (it truly tasted like drinking red velvet cake batter) and a cereal milk shake (imagine the tasty goodness of the milk left over after you finish a bowl of sweet cereal in milkshake form). We also got a slice of crack pie, which is as addictive as its name implies, and a few cookies for the ride home. After our stop there I am seriously considering getting the Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook.

After dessert it was time for us to hit the road and head back towards Ann Arbor. We had a fabulous time in New York and hopefully we will be back again soon.

If you are interested, check out the rest of our New York trip here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3.

New York Day 3: Museums & Eataly

If Tuesday was all about holiday markets, then Wednesday was all about museums. We started off our morning by heading to the Whitney Museum of American Art where we ate breakfast at the museum's cafe, Untitled. Frank had an omelette and I had lox and egg salad on an everything bagel. Everything was delicious and with our appetites sated we headed upstairs to see the Whitney's exhibits.

As a big fan of Edward Hopper (I have a print of New York Movie in my house) I was excited to see two of his works, Early Sunday Morning and Seven A.M., as part of the Real/Surreal exhibit. His paintings have such a lonely, haunting quality that always moves me. One of the most interesting things about our visit was the connection of seeing Man Ray's La Fortune as part of the Real/Surreal exhibit and then seeing Sherrie Levine's derivative work, "La Fortune" (After Man Ray:1-4), as part of the exhibit on her work on the floor above. Unfortunately, pictures aren't allowed at the Whitney, but I linked photos of the works from the Whitney website for anyone who is curious about them.

After leaving the Whitney, Frank and I walked through Central Park, stopping at Belvedere Castle. Built on Vista Rock in 1869, the National Weather Service has used measurements from atop the tower to report the weather in Central Park. Belvedere Castle has an interesting history but my favorite tidbit is that it has been used on Sesame Street for exterior shots of Count von Count's castle. 

After leaving Central Park we headed to the American Museum of Natural History for the rest of the afternoon. Neither Frank nor I had ever been there before and we were really impressed with the extensive collections in the museum. A person could spend a week or two if they went through and looked at and read everything the museum has on display. Among the many interesting things I learned was that the Native Americans in the plains area developped a system of sign language to communicate between tribes which spoke different languages. My favorite exhibit (being the engineering nerd that I am) was The Scales of the Universe which illustrates the relative scale of everything from sub-atomic particles to galaxies. A close second was Picturing Science: Museum Scientists and Imaging Technologies which showcased the ways that different optical techniques are used by scientists in their research. Very cool! 

By the time we left the American Museum of Natural History, Frank and I were starving and headed to Birreria, Eataly's rooftop beer garden. Being a beer garden they were brewing cask ales on the rooftop and so I tried the Ruby which I really enjoyed. We started with a cheese plate (asiago fresco, robiola bosini, provolone madrone, taleggio, gorgonzola dolce) and meat plate (speck, sopressata, mortadella, cacciatorini, coppa) which was delicious. For dinner I had a chopped mixed kale salad topped with grapefruit, poppy seed frico and anchovy vinaigrette while Frank ate the beer braised pork shoulder with apricot. The food was great and the atmosphere on top of the roof was really laid back and cool.   

After finishing dinner we headed back downstairs to the Eataly Market. The market sells everything you can imagine to make an Italian feast with amazing varieties of cheese, meats, pastas, vegetables, and more. Although we didn't buy anything it was fun to wander around and look.

After leaving Eataly we spotted the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park and even though we were still stuffed from Birreria we just had to stop for a shake. Frank's chocolate malted shake and my Arabica coffee shake were both awesome and a great cap on the night.

As we were heading to grab the subway back to our hotel we had an amazing view of the Empire State Building. It was festively lit up and the foggy evening made it seem like it was vanishing into thin air. It was a beautiful way to end an awesome day.

If you are interested, check out the rest of our New York trip here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 4.

New York Day 2: Holiday Markets & Tasty Treats

On Tuesday, our second day in New York, Frank and I started off the morning by picking up breakfast at Sullivan Street Bakery which is just around the corner from our hotel. I opted for a pastry filled with ricotta, gruyere and pancetta while Frank had the Pizza Bianca (olive oil, rosemary and sea salt) and Pizza Patate (potato, onion, olive oil, rosemary, and black pepper). Not only was it convenient but it was absolutely delicious.

After breakfast the rest of the day was all about the holiday markets. We started off by walking up 8th Avenue to the Columbus Circle Holiday Market. The market was festive with red and white striped tents festooned with greenery and lights. Wandering around looking at all the vendors was really fun. The stalls were bustling with people and we even saw a CNN camera crew interviewing shoppers. I ended up buying some cool postcards with graphics of transit lines from cities across the U.S. and around the world from Line Posters. We also couldn't resist picking up a snack of a yummy truffle-cheddar pretzel from Sigmund's Pretzels and a hot chocolate from No Chewing Allowed! The hot chocolate was ridiculously decadent and had a chocolate truffle placed in the bottom of the cup before the hot chocolate was poured over it.  

From Columbus Circle we walked down Broadway and through Times Square en route to Grand Central Terminal. With all the hustle and bustle and the buildings plastered with enormous advertisements there is nothing quite like Times Square.

Grand Central Terminal was teeming with people when we got there. Frank was particularly interested in checking out the new Apple Store which opened up there earlier this month. At 23,000 square feet it is enormous and has a cool atmosphere taking up the whole east balcony overlooking the station.

From Grand Central Terminal we hopped on the subway to visit the Union Square Holiday Market. Many of the vendors were the same as those at Columbus Circle so we didn't do a lot of browsing, but being late in the afternoon we were hungry and ready to try some of the food stalls. First up was pork meatballs topped with a sweet and spicy cranberry horseradish chutney from Mighty Balls. Still hungry we got lentil soup and Persian chili from Taste of Persia. The soup had a delicious flavor and was chock full of beans and vegetables. We finished off with a trio of miniature canoli in eggnog, girl scout cookie, and white chocolate macadamia flavors. 

After getting our fill of tasty treats we grabbed the subway again to go to Kalustyan's. It is an amazing shop full of all sorts of food stuffs but the reason for me to go is the fabulous selection of high quality spices. Frank and I stocked up on bulk packages of all sorts of things. Who needs a pound of poppy seeds? Me, of course!

We then headed to 601 Lexington Avenue to visit a friend of Frank's that works there. Frank's friend's office is on an upper floor of the building and the conference rooms have amazing views of the Chrysler Building and Rockefeller Center.

After a short rest at our hotel we headed to Broadway for a production of Rock of Ages. Booking last minute during holiday season we had limited options and the campy aspects of the show really weren't my style. Despite the show not being my taste the performers were talented and I like the cozy atmosphere of the Helen Hayes Theater where the production was staged.  Two years ago at the Helen Hayes Theater I had a chance to see The 39 Steps, a farce based on the Alfred Hitchcock movie of the same name, which being an old movie buff I absolutely loved.

At ten o'clock we ended our evening by dining at Momofuku Ko which was an amazing experience and deserves it's own post later. It was another wonderful day in New York.

If you are interested, check out the rest of our New York trip here: Day 1, Day 3, Day 4.