Spent a few hours with one of my daughters in Manhattan on Sunday. She wanted to show me her new apartment and her new work spaces. Nice. She is in a great mood because she has a work team that meets her standards. She is an entrepreneur, an energizer bunny, and the complexity of her 24/7 work life astonishes me. How she fits in her lively social life, I don;t know. But she does. In NY, social life tends to be late. After my bedtime.
Being a Dad, I peeked in her fridge. A dozen eggs, some butter, two jars of artisanal mustard, and a bottle of DayQuil and NyQuil. Typical youth. She's off to Vietnam and China this week on biz. Hanoi!
To amuse me, and because we both love walking around NY, she took me on a mini-tour of some of her favorite food courts in mid-town, and chattered about some cool things she has recently found to do. She has always speed-talked, but after a few years in NYC she talks faster and walks faster. Makes me feel like a country bumpkin.
I'll start with the latter:
Saturday nights at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Live classical music from the balcony, and drinks.
Saturday night opera singers at Papillon Bistro (E. 54th St.) Professionals show their stuff for free dinner and wine.
For when she has kids: THE PLAZA HOTEL ETIQUETTE PROGRAM WITH CHILDREN AND TEENS, ages 5 -17. I've seen many kids who could use that.
Food courts in midtown that she likes below the fold - with photos -
- She loves Eataly - a food court with a rooftop garden (covered in winter).
- Chelsea Market over on the West Side is packed on weekends but good eats and fun place
- The Great Northern Food Hall on the ground level of Grand Central Station (Terminal) on Lexington - not really a food court but more like a large cafe with excellent coffee and stunning pastries. I recommend the poppyseed croissants with creamy cheese filling. Place is empty on a Sunday morning.
On the lower level of the GC Terminal there is a vast food court, mass-market stuff. I hope the renovation is done soon. My favorite there is the Tri-Tip Grill place with the steak sandwiches to go. The surly service tells you the food is good. I would not go there as a destination - unless I were going to The Oyster Bar. Best oyster stew on this planet.
Urbanspace Food Court. The name is stupid stupid but it's a great space on the same block as Grand Central, almost across from the Yale Club. Yes, there is even a Burmese food place there. I've never seen Burmese food:
And an all-Maine shellfish and lobster joint. Looks empty because it was 10 am:
We hiked around, and wandered over towards the Plaza. Plaza Hotel on right, Bergdorf's on left.
She took me to the food court at the Plaza - it's down some stairs. You can hardly notice the entrance (door to the left of the main hotel entrance), but it's a hopping place down there with everything including made-to-order deep fat fried donuts - made to order.
Both of us ran into old friends there, which was cool. She said "Dad, wherever I go with you, you run into friends." I said "Stick with me, shweetie - I'll open up the world to ya." Pretending to sound like Humphrey Bogart.
We had a brunch at the Todd English place down there. Very nice. I had the waffles with fried chicken and a glass of wine.
Thin pizza? They have it there. And, appropriately, a place named Eloise.
After brunch, she went to work and I wandered around for a while. I said Hello to Trump's house.
