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Published: January 23rd 2006
We were in New York from Jan. 12-16. Rather than giving you a play-by-play of our weekend, we wanted to provide a list of what we enjoyed. In order to put our experience in context, 2 things are important to know about us. First, we're not big museum people and rarely do anything touristy in New York. We like to walk around the city and take in all of the different interesting neighborhoods. Second, we like cheap delicious food and like to treat the city as one big tapas menu so we have a little bit to eat at a bunch of different places.
Things we loved:
1.
The Colbert Report - We hadn't really watched this show more than a couple of times but we both loved Stephen Colbert on the Daily Show so we sent in a request for tickets and got to go on Thursday night. We lined up around 5 pm for the 7 pm show and ended up getting great seats - although it's so small that all seats are great - so that Stephen Colbert ran by us during a segment and we ended up on tv. It was a great episode and
The Ice Rink At Rockefeller Center
Note the ice dancer, our ballerina, in the left corner.we think the first time he addressed the fact that he was not given credit for the word "truthiness".
2.
Gray's Papaya (402 6th Ave.) - We come here every time we're in New York and get the 2 hot dogs and a juice for $2.75. The hot dogs, Sabret's, we think, are perfectly grilled to snap juicily when bite in to them and come with sauerkraut and some sort of tasty red sauce. No seating, just standing.
3.
Caracas Arepa Bar (91 E. 7th St.) - This is a tiny restaurant that seats 20 uncomfortably and has a staff of 4. We sat at the counter overlooking the kitchen with 2 other people because the restaurant was packed but it was fun to be able to watch everything unfold in the kitchen. We started with fried plantains stuffed with cheese before the meal, 2 arepas (a Venezuelan specialty which is a corn cake stuffed with ingredients like a pita) - one filled with cheese and one filled with cheese, chorizo and jalapenos and a wafer cookie dessert filled with dulce de leche. The food was delicious, the staff was great, the ambience was unique and the bill
was less than $30.
4.
Magnolia (401 Bleecker St.) - "Lazy Sunday" from SNL is not lying - these cupcakes are delicious. This is the 2nd time we've been here and it's a must "see" on our list. We wanted to serve these at our wedding parties but because they do not ship it was not possible. The hummingbird cupcakes (kind of like banana bread) are the best but we found out on this visit that they're not a regular item. You can't go wrong with the other cupcakes. We've never tried anything but the cupcakes although they have a variety of other sweets.
5.
Welcome to the Johnson's (Lower East Side) - For someone with a fine appreciation for kitsch (as we have), this place is cool. It's designed to look like your friend's parent's basement. There's wood panelling and bad art on the walls, ugly overstuffed chairs and couches and a tv from the 1980s on a wood entertainment center. The beer (including our $1.50 PBRs) is served out of a refrigerator.
6.
Doughnut Plant (379 Grand St.) - We were so excited to find out that there are Doughnut Plants in Tokyo! This small
operation uses high quality ingredients and the filled doughnuts are square so that the filling is evenly distributed throughout. We tried the pistachio filled doughnut, coconut cream filled doughnut, triple chocolate cake doughnut and orange cake doughnut. Our favorite was the chocolate, which is like a giant, fresh, high quality mini-Hostess donette.
7.
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee - We really liked both shows that we saw but Roger preferred this one. This show is in the small Circle in the Square theatre and the lobby is decorated to look like a grade school with lockers and lots of signs. They pick 4 people before the show to participate in the spelling bee. We tried to get Roger in but he wasn't picked. Amy was a little too shy to sign up. The show is very funny and entertaining. Roger preferred this show to Avenue Q because of its unusual staging, improvisation, and audience inclusion (the audience is essentially treated as the audience attending the bee). The music is the chief reason Amy didn't like it quite as much as Avenue Q. It helps to think of this as a play that contains music.
8.
Avenue Q - This show features a small cast of performers, a few of whom voice puppets (the performers are on stage, carrying the puppets through dance numbers and various creative stagings). It's about surviving after college graduation and combines many of the concepts from a 20-something lifestyle with Sesame Street. It's really unique, touching and funny. Amy preferred this show largely because of the terrific music. The music magnifies the show's themes - that the Internet is for porn and that the suffering of others may sometimes cheer you up.
9.
Lower East Side Tenement Museum - We're pretty proud of ourselves for actually seeing a "sight" in New York. Amy had been wanting to see this museum ever since hearing about it while working at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The museum is actually 3 apartments set up to show the conditions of immigrant housing over a period of time when the Lower East Side of Manhattan was at the peak of its most high density and high cultural diversity history. One apartment is set up to reflect what the apartment looked like in the late 1800s while a Prussian Jewish family lived there. The second apartment reflects
what the apartment looked like in the 1930s when an Italian family lived there. The last apartment was left to reflect how the building looked when the museum acquired it. We've been thinking for awhile that the Smithsonian should open an immigration museum so this was very interesting for us and we highly recommend it. Definitely worth the fifteen dollars each and the hour of time spent. We left feeling a greater awareness of the city we were in.
10.
Watching the ice skaters at Rockefeller Center - Wow, it's hard to even describe this experience and unfortunately the pictures don't capture it. We walked by on the way back to our hotel one night and stopped to watch for a couple of minutes and stayed for over an hour. There were several people who were wildly entertaining and who appeared to be local and hopefully regulars. The first person who caught our eye was a guy performing as if he were featured at the icecapades. We called him our ballerina. He swished and swayed through his routines along to the music of his ipod and acted as if it would not have surprised him at all if someone had thrown roses at him. The second guy reminded us of Napoleon Dynamite. We called him Buddy. Buddy was paunchy. He was decked out in batting gloves, a beret and a Subway Series t-shirt. Also plugged in to his ipod, Buddy jammed on air guitar as he clumsily navigated the crowd. He appeared to spot us giggling with delight after one of his routine moves, crouching over and holding the blade of one skate as he ground slowly around in a circle, but clearly could not have cared less about us or anyone else watching his magnificence. "Freddy" showed up late. He ran through the crowd around the rink appearing desperate for the ice. Short, balding and fuzzy, Freddy was clad all in black, including a sleeveless, tight t-shirt, and the obligatory ipod. He jived and hustled across the ice like it was Studio 54. We disagreed as to whether Freddy was a busboy or an investment banker but who cares when he is pumping his fist in the air to the beat of the music on his ipod. The final skaters of note were hip, lean and fearless skaters who seemed to challenge each other to ever-faster and more reckless challenges (reckless for the more pedstrian skaters/obstacles). Though they were superior skaters to our other friends they were still unable to keep up in a game of tag with a pint-sized red haired hockey star who could not have been older than ten. Being four feet tall allows one to squeze through the tiniest holes found between dating couples and wobbling fathers. Impossible to describe - you have to see it in person and hope that some of the same characters are there.
11.
Economy Candy (108 Rivington St.) - We are going to replace Dylan's Candy Bar (see description below) with this candy store. All the candy you could want or imagine - foreign candy, vintage candy, yummy candy.
Things we liked:
1.
Sushi Samba (245 Park Ave.) - We go to this place every time we are in New York and the food and drinks are great. The only reason we've "downgraded" it to something we like is the cost. We don't usually order entrees - just sushi, tiradito, ceviche, etc. The bill with food (and we didn't get a ton of food this time) and 2 drinks was $125 with tip.
2.
Joe's Pizza (233 Bleecker St.) - This is rumored to be the best pizza in New York. It's a small place with a couple of counters and tables to stand at and eat. We didn't expect it to be great based on the looks of it but the crust was nice and crunchy and the pepperoni was good. Plus, it was cheap and you can buy by the slice. You may also recognize it from Spider-Man 2.
3.
Alphaville (226 W. Houston St.) - We read about this vintage toy store. It's a store with a pretty small inventory but it is unique and reasonably priced. There are a lot of great vintage art and movie prints which were really the only items we were tempted to buy but if vintage toys are more your speed you might find a lot to love.
4.
Beard Papa Sweets Cafe (next to Joe's Pizza) - We stumbled upon this place because of its location and liked the fact that it really only sells cream puffs. We split one chocolate cream puff for $2 - tasty. On an interesting note, while verifying the name, we discovered this is a chain from Japan.
5.
Lombardi's Pizza (32 Spring St.) - This is another place rumored to be the best pizza in New York. They claim to be America's first pizzeria as well, licensed to sell pizza before anyone else in 1895. This is a sit down restaurant that does not serve by the slice. We had a small pizza with sausage, onions and kalamata olives. A small pizza is $12 and toppings are extra which we thought was a tad pricey but it was very good with a thin crunchy crust and great toppings.
6.
Yonah's Schimnel's Knishery (137 E. Houston St.) - We were looking for a good knish and found it here. We ordered a garlic and onion knish ($3ish), added mustard and enjoyed it walking around the lower east side. This place feels old and authentic and indifferent to anything but a good knish which only adds to the charm.
7.
Joe's Shanghai (9 Pell St.) - A couple of our friends in the know about Chinese food tipped us off about this place. Their specialty is soup dumplings and they were fantastic. They blew away any we've ever had in DC. We also had scallion pancakes and crispy shrimp. Due to their popularity they seat couples at larger tables with up to six strangers. This may seem like it would ruin any chance for an intimate meal, but everyone is pretty focused on the food. The whole meal was under $30 and was great.
8.
Risotteria (270 Bleecker St.) - We didn't eat here on this visit but we've eaten here before and enjoyed it. As you may have guessed their specialty is risotto and they have a lot of different choices. It's a small restaurant and reasonably priced.
9.
Midtown Comics (42nd & Lexington) - We had previously visited the other location near Time's Square, which appears to be older and a little more dingy. Great selection of comics, huge selection of tradepaperbacks and comic related books, and a plethora of toys and other gimmicky items. Amy, feeling the need to go to sleep a little early, encouraged Roger to pick up a little reading material. If you don't read the comics of Warren Ellis you should. And that means you, Mom.
10.
Bleecker Street Records (239 Bleecker St.) - Before legal downloading, ebay and Amazon made every b-side, rare track, import and rare record available to you at your desk you had to dig through used CD bins and visit way too trendy specialty shops in bad neighborhoods. Bleecker Street Records rewards you for looking through the bins again with their great selection and healthy compliment of live recordings.
Worth a visit if you're in the neighborhood:
1.
Rice to Riches (37 Spring St.) - When we heard about this new shop exclusively serving rice pudding (like an ice cream parlor), we thought it was a fantastic idea. We still think the idea is fantastic but the execution could be improved upon. They have about 16 different flavors and 10 different toppings including whipped cream, pound cake croutons and fruit. We tried caramel rice pudding topped with toasted pound cake and apple rice pudding and both were good but we preferred the caramel flavor. Rice pudding is very sweet and you don't need very much but the smallest serving here is still way too large and costs $6. This place would be much better if they made the servings cheaper and smaller and maybe even offered some kind of sampler platter so you can try a lot of different flavors. That said, several people came in and bought large containers to go and we suspect the refrigerators of NYU coeds are loaded with rice pudding.
2.
Dylan's Candy Bar (1011 3rd Ave.) - We have always been fans of this candy store but with each visit it gets more and more crowded with strollers and kids so that it's hard to navigate and no longer much fun to visit. It's a cute store on 2 levels with candy, ice cream treats, clothes, makeup and all other things with a candy flair. This visit we saw a few too many kids with their hands in the candy bins so that we're not sure we trust the candy anymore. The candy selection is nice but it isn't as unique or interesting as Economy Candy.
3.
OMS/b (156 E. 45th St.) - We love sushi and so when we read about this Japanese cafe serving rice balls we had to try it. It's similar to sushi because it has rice with fish and other items on top but we found out that its purpose is completely different. It's more casual and meant to be a convenient portable snack which means no soy sauce which is a very bad thing for Amy. It was good and unique but we probably would not go out of our way for it next time although I'm sure we'll try it in Japan if it is really an authentic snack.
4.
Edge NY Noho (65 Bleecker St.) - We walked through this place quickly because we're not that fashionable (we know - duh) and we obviously don't need to buy anything. It's like a flea market with a lot of up and coming designers. It's mostly clothes, jewelry and home furnishings. We even saw a designer that we saw on a show on HGTV.
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Sage Keffer
non-member comment
Wow!
Hey Roger, Your email and comments on everything are just amazing. Congrats on getting married! Can't wait to meet Amy. A whole year travelling? That is great. I'm looking forward visiting NY, now that I know where all the good stuff is! Can't wait to read more about your travels.