Bread and Circuses

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As mentioned in the previous posting there should be some talk of cultural things. However in this fast paced, time poor city of New York a posting dedicated solely to one topic, be that culture (or as is our usual want one about food) would seem time profligate indeed. And so this posting shall combine observations and experiences of both food and culture.

And as luck would have it the two topics do intertwine, as exemplified by one of our very first ports of call in our neighbourhood, Katz’s Deli down on Houston Street. Renowned for its double-fisted super-sized deli sandwiches, this was the place where the infamous ‘I’ll have what she’s having” scene from the movie “When Harry Met Sally” was set. Dianne had been very keen to visit this classic deli, however once in the front door the scene was not so much that of a circus but rather a zoo. Pandemonium reigned supreme and the sight of those heaving sandwiches quickly took the edge off our appetites without needing to eat a bite; this must be why people tell us that eating in New York is inexpensive! Fortunately just a few doors away we found an oasis of calm and an appetising reward at the Russ & Daughters deli, a veritable temple to all things smoked and cured in the fish kingdom.

The next touchpoint in our explorations was the New Museum of Modern Art, a few doors along from the Bowery Mission, creating an interesting dance of life and art indeed. The museum itself has no permanent collection but rather provides 6 floors of exhibition space, with the current program involving some 20 international artists curated around the theme of modern day electronic connectivity. The establishment of this museum has clearly led to the resurgence of the smaller gallery scene in the vicinity. And what of the food you might ask – well just around the corner was a great find up an obscure alley way – Freemans in Freeman Lane just off Rivington Street. We liked it so much we went back there with some other Australian friends who were in town. Billed as rustic American, it did give a slight nod to hipsterism – kale, craft brew and taxidermy were in evidence – although it didn’t go overboard, plus it actually had quite a range of North American wines at reasonable prices. In general local wines are far more expensive than European imports, and so needless to say we’ve been giving the French, Italian and Spanish wines quite a nudge at these bargain prices.

Somewhere that hipsterism is in full swing is over in Brooklyn, and this was our next port of call to take in the first Thursday of the month gallery walk in DUMBO. A little haphazard in its structure – one major participant, who had just relocated to a new space, said they thought the event had been cancelled in May – we still managed to salvage some interesting snippets including an artists’ residency exhibition. One of the highlights of this exhibition was an installation that monitored the movement of ants in an ant farm, and then every 3 minutes ran those patterns through an algorithm that then chose a tune from a playlist linked to speakers. When we saw it the ants seemed to be into Mexican pop, which may have influenced our choice of Gran Electrica (see our previous posting) as a place to eat that evening; food and art interweaving yet again. While there were converted warehouse spaces for creatives aplenty, and more than a scattering of fixie bikes around this construction zone chic neighbourhood, the full hipster-gasm was to be found at Brooklyn Roasters amidst a symphony of beards, tattoos, serious spectacle frames, top-knots, cold-drip brews and of course merchandising. So pervasive is the influence of hipsterdom that now even Starbucks (yes remember them) boast cold drip and iced brews – you know that your cultural meme is on the rocks when it arrives here; is anyone interested in buying 100 shipping containers of mason jars at a great price?

Another area of the city in a similar state of development flux is the meatpacking district on the west side where the twin influences of the Highline (an old elevated freight rail line now converted into a pedestrian walkway) and the recent arrival of The Whitney Museum of Art in a fancy Renzo Piano building. We (and about 1 million other people) walked the Highline on a Friday afternoon – apparently the weekends are horrendous – and agree that we like the Promenade Plantée in Paris much more, and take in the Whitney building however we don’t bother to go into its exhibitions, although we do, as Banksey advises, exit via the gift store.

To maintain the balance between the visual and performing arts we get ourselves along to a performance at La Mama experimental theatre over on East 4^th Street, metres away from its intersection with Broadway; about 10 minutes’ walk from our apartment. The performance “Trash Cuisine” by the Belarus Free Theatre was stunning on a number of levels – visually, emotionally, sensorally (it involved food and cooking) – and dealt with the issue of the role and right(?) to take a human life be it by death squads, torture in the national interest, firing squad (topical in Australia at the moment), tribal massacre and capital punishment (what is the sound of an electric chair one actor asks the audience – the answer was earsplitting and physically painful). Not a performance for the feint of heart, but certainly one that showed how theatre can shine a light on our dark selves and hopefully make society more humane. In conjunction with this performance a NY Theatre of the Oppressed troupe followed on with a piece of forum theatre. During the enactment Dianne asked Peter a question about the structure of this type of theatre and as he was answering her the MC, who was asking for input from the audience, pointed up to us and said “What is your suggestion?”. Peter started to respond (when he had seen forum theatre previously the audience merely made suggestions that the actors would use as material - not so around here) and then was invited down to be a spect-actor; shoes off (white floor), take the role, audience calls out 3-2-1-action, and away we go with my new best friend actors. A wild ride for Peter’s just-round-the-corner-from-Broadway production debut; move over Russell Crowe (now there’s a man who knows a bit about bread and circuses).

While it took a while to get around to them we did eventually make our way to some of the star attractions of New York; the Metropolitan Opera to see a performance of Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress” conducted by James Levine, and the Museum of Modern Art. Food was involved in the MoMA visit by way of a long lunch in The Modern overlooking the sculpture garden; some very classy food and excellent service including getting to meet the Kiwi barista who made my coffee (he saw the coffee order for a short black come in and knew that it had to be for someone from our neck of the woods, and so took personal charge of it even though it wasn’t in his order section; 110% customer attention here). And lest you think gentle reader that it’s been all larks tongues in aspic and fine Bordeaux, on our final day in New York we at last get over to Greenwich Village to explore the area (now all very chi-chi and filled with french clothing and cosmetics boutiques) and to chow down on a pizza from John’s Pizza on Bleecker Street – whole pizzas only (no slice), wine in plexiglass tumblers, an 80’s soundtrack with bonus points for AC/DC’s Dirty Deeds being on the playlist (points off for this being followed by the Bee Gees from their disco era).

So there we have it – a tiny nibble of a very small slice of the enormous pizza pie of cultural and culinary offerings available in New York. Something that we have found is that while you can eat cheaply in New York – those $1 hot dogs and sagging dali-esque pizza slices – to eat well is not that cheap. Basically to have a decent meal where quality rather than quantity counts – and this can be high end or basic everyday cooking – the overall cost (those taxes and gratuities are subversive) comes in about the same as we’d pay at home.

And now it’s time for packing up and heading south to Washington DC. We were to travel by train and had secured our tickets months ago, however an horrendous Amtrak derailment near Philadelphia has left the line closed so we did a quick bolt for some Boltbus tickets, with this posting composed as we pass through New Jersey and Delaware on a major highway that could be almost anywhere in the world.

Until next time, happy trails to you all

Peter & Dianne O’C

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Photos

Bread
Dianne prepares to tuck into one of John's NY pizzas in Greenwich Village; plexiglass improves any wine.

Circus
Shadow Puppet play in the Manhattan Bridge archway

When DUMBO Met Dali
"Lips" shelter down Water Street way.

Classic and Modern
End of the Highline finds a hot dog cart and the Whitney Museum's new digs.

Not All Art is in Galleries
New Alphabet City mural by Green Villain who have usurped Chico as the local aerosol art poster boy.

Comments

[Pauline]

What a star!
Peter I'm sure your NY performance must be on YouTube. Please do include a link!!!!

[Julie N]

Great reading as always
Hi Peter and Dianne, great reading your blog as always. Can wait for the next one so I can continue to travel vicariously. My Dad is off to EU next week. But no there will be no blog from him.

[Peter & Christa]

and Culture too
Hi Peter & Dianne, Well apart from the obvious case of extreme jealously we are enjoying following you two Sydney hipsters taking on Manhattan and New York. What a delight and what events to firmly place in the memory of great moments in a wonderful life fully lived. Shame you haven't embraced the supersize food culture completely! We are also getting updates from friends travelling in Spain and the Netherlands, what is it with you cosmopolitian folk? Have fun folks