taste of tribeca

Posted on May 22, 2013 by

BK halfAfter an amazing run in the Brooklyn Half Marathon, I was ready to begin my festivities of eating and drinking within the confines of Tribeca greatness.  The Taste of Tribeca is like a neighborhood’s Restaurant Week on steroids.  In exchange for only $40, the early bird special, you receive 6 tastings of your choice from any of the 75 or so restaurants with a domicile in Tribeca.  Attend with a friend and you will have 12 things to try between the 2 of you! Thankfully you had 3.5 hours to this in.  Enough time to walk around, allowing time for digestion and to enjoy the music and children’s children entertainmententertainment on hand.  Also participating in the Taste of Tribeca were 4 local wine shops that held wine tastings all day.  Together, my husband and I mapped out our day;  mapping it outwe thought we’d have a few bites to refuel us after the run, check out 2 of the 4 wine stores, having the wine act as an aperitif, finish off the remainder of our tastings off with some lighter choices and some dessert and of course head back to the other 2 wine stores for the other wine tastings.

I don’t recall the exact order in which we ate everything so instead I have grouped our tastings into the following categories:

1) fish …                                                                     2) vegetarian …

fish      yorganic - yorgasm salad

3) meat and poultry …

chicken fingers & pastramiduck

including a special shout-out to Tiny’s and Warren 77.  Due to the rain chasing people away and the 3pm hour upon us, they were away giving complimentary tastes of their Country Pate w/ Grainy Mustard and Duck Sliders w/ Date Pate & Arugula respectively …Tiny's & Warren 77and of course 4) dessert …

dessertwine tasting menus

As I mentioned earlier, we didn’t consume one after another. We did take a food break to check out the wine tastings – most of which was Rose – a perfect summer beverage.

My and my husband’s favorite dishes are each from restaurants that we are aware of but for 2 different reasons had never been to. My favorite was the hamachi taco from Tribeca Canvas. I recently read a not so great review of the restaurant so I wasn’t exactly running there, but I will now!  My husband’s favorite was the pastrami sandwich on rye from Kutcher’s Tribeca.  Again, we had known of it and always kept it in the back of our minds but when choosing a place to eat, always chose somewhere else.  We will surely make our way there sooner rather than later.

My 2 big surprises of the day were: a) the Yorgasm Salad from Yorganic -  I had never heard of Yorganic before.  I’m always looking for a healthy mystery bottlesnack and I am already planning to swing by there this weekend after the gym!; and b) the mystery wine bag at Frankly Wines on West Broadway.  It is exactly what it sounds like.  For $20, you receive a wrapped bottle of wine that you have no idea as to what is inside.  It could be a red wine or a white and it could be a $20 bottle or it could be a $80 – it is just that – a mystery.

Thankfully the rain tapered off as we needed to walk off our day of lusciousness and completion.

completed tickets

Posted in hungry?, thirsty? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

serenity at the tip of manhattan

Posted on May 15, 2013 by

kioskTable Green Cafe, a Cleaver Co. outpost of The Green Table in Chelsea Market, kicked off their 2nd Summer season of their 2 food kiosks last night in Battery Park.  I was invited to sample some of their food and desserts, along with their wine and beer, that they will be serving this summer.

Of the organic and sustainable delights I tried the grilled cheese with ham and pickles, which will be offered at their more lunch / dinner kiosk as well as the ginger snap cookies that will be offered at their more dessert / breakfast kiosk.  The main location has a dozen or so tables and chairs to face the river and watch the sun go down. Although slightly chilly, last night was a gorgeous night to do this. Come mid-Summer, the breeze will be perfect.

grilled cheese

ginger snaps

I know Battery Park is far for most NYers but I can attest, after living there for 3 years, the neighborhood won’t disappoint. Especially in the next couple of months.  The River to River Festival, a festival in Lower Manhattan to celebrate artists of all kinds, is from June 15th through July 14th, with many events including dance and music concerts taking place around Battery Park.  I imagine food and drinks will eventually be on the brain and the Green Table Cafe is the perfect place to get them.

If you don’t make it to the River to River Festival, Battery Park as I mentioned is a good place to hang.  Among the sightseeing other than the Statue of Liberty, the city has installed an East Coast Memorial to honor the 4,601 missing American servicemen who lost their lives in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II.  It is also building a carousel called SeaGlass with an acquatic theme.  Battery Park has become a destination that NYers should take advantage of rather than letting the touists have all of the fun.memorialcarousel

Posted in art and culture, good for the mind, body and soul, hungry?, summer fun, thirsty? | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

the male side of le parker meridien

Posted on May 9, 2013 by

barber shopAmong the errands my husband and I had to run last weekend was to pick up some pomade for him.  Having always used this particular Sharps product and has since been discontinued, we went uptown to the Sharps Barber Shop located in Le Parker Meridien to find a replacement of equal quality.  What we found was a cute old fashioned barber shop that was recently reopened in 2011 with a few upgraded new age tweaks tucked away in a corner of Le Parker Meridien’s lobby.  So not what I would have expected to find in Le Parker Meridien.

burger joint 1burger joint 2To keep with my surprising pleasantries, my husband insisted that I go take a look inside the Burger Joint, also in the Meridien, on the opposite side of the lobby.  A line was beginning to form outside of the Joint snaking into the lobby.  I squeezed my way into the restaurant and again surprised by what I saw. Burger Joint is a tiny room with enough seats for about about 20 people, a kitchen that looks like a food cart with posters and writing on the wall like a local bar that has been around for decades.  I apologize for the blurry pictures. Apparently word got out that the burgers are great and Burger Joint has become a must try for locals and tourists alike, I had to hurry in, take my pictures and hurry out.  Like BLT Burger, Burger Joint’s menu is limited to hamburgers, milkshakes and beer – all of the basics in life.

Le Parker Meridien New York’s tagline is “Uptown. Not uptight” and although the lobby is gorgeous and chic, and I hear the rooms were recently renovated, I for sure didn’t get that vibe being there.

Posted in good for the mind, body and soul, hungry? | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

nyc made history

Posted on May 3, 2013 by

NYTHas anybody seen the cover of the New York Times today? Once again NYC made history yesterday, not only for the city but for the entire Western Hemisphere as the final pieces made One World Trade Center the highest building standing at 1,776 feet. What I love most of all, is the pride of the construction workers, and them taking it upon themselves to document what they contributed to on this glorious day.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

spring has awoken

Posted on May 2, 2013 by

Some of us agree that probably the only good thing about living in NJ is the ability to take in the full view this beautiful city. But then we rethink it and decide, “why would you want to be limited to viewing it, when you can live in it and experience it?”

I have a short distance run that I do in the mornings before work when I don’t have much time. It takes me through the ever evolving Brooklyn Bridge Park and all of the new piers that they are building.  This run defies the need to live in NJ for the views.  At one point on my run, I can see 2 handfuls of NYC’s iconic landmarks shining bright and sparkling in the morning sun.  I can see the Statue of Liberty, the Staten Island Ferry and Terminal, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, the new One World Trade Center, the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, the BQE… just to name a few.  Its beauty really takes my breath away and is a phenomenal way to start the day.

tulips 2We all know that NYC is much more than our landmarks.  When visiting a city, you really only get to know it when you submerge yourself in it, among the locals.  When I left the gym a few mornings ago, rather than take the subway to work and arrive into work 45 minutes the rest of my department, I decided to walk the mile and a half. It was the start of a gorgeous day and the Spring air was beginning to overpower the morning city smell of the hosing down of the garbage left over on the street from the night before.  The hustle and bustle had not yet taken over the sidewalks; the tourists had not yet descended from breakfast; most of the shops and restaurants were just beginning to open their doors by the morning prep crew – the city showing its base layer – its true grit.  I took my time walking to work, enjoying what makes this city what it is – enjoying the ability to casually look up at the gorgeous architecture; the energy of the hustle and bustle of the delivery guys, of the street cleaners; the intensity and the determination of the commuters to succeed make it here - and all before it was overrun by restaurant and clothing store chains.

Spring is the season of life, of new beginnings. It’s a great time to stop and smell the tulips, even if they are in the middle of this concrete jungle.

tulips

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Refocusing LBT in NYC

Posted on April 26, 2013 by

cole haan campaign(courtesy of apparently.com) At the onset of  the new year, I promised myself that I would take this blog to the next level. At the time, I didn’t quite now what that next level was.

I love Cole Haan’s most recent advertisement; have you seen the posters? It said “be more interesting tomorrow than you are today”. I often think about how I can live up to that statement.

I haven’t been posting too much recently because I have been feeling I didn’t have enough content to post about a particular subject. I also began to feel like I was competing with so many other major publications as a resource rather than what I intended to do was be informative, in a fun way both myself and my readers. And what better way to brand the blog than with myself, this 5 foot 100 pound Little Big Thing living, breathing, loving NYC!

So here it goes, I hereby promise this blog, myself and my readers (hi mom) to post a minimum of 2x a week beginning today.

QuestloveHere goes – Yesterday, a coworker and I got into Flavorpill’s ABSOLUT® Lunch Break dance party with DJ Questlove that took place at Marquee.  It was SUPER fun! Quest was amazing playing all of the old school hip hop hot tracks from when I was growing up. The energy was amazing! Everyone got right into it dancing away knowing that they only had an hour to ingest all that they could.

They sent us home a brown lunch prepared pb&j lunchby The Jam Stand full of gourmet PB&J’s, a banana and a kind bar.  Knowing that a superior or 2 of mine might be reading this, so I want to be “absolutely” clear that we didn’t have any of the complimentary ABSOLUT® drinks as I don’t drink on the job :) but I will say it was so fun and of course so new york – underground dance party in the middle of the day?  A great way to kick off the weekend.

Today is about family. I am spending the day with a friend first participating in the Parkinson’s walk through Central Park followed by a fundraiser she put together in memory of her dad.  The weather is gorgeous and there are a few other “races” going on today so the energy will be high.  As spring approaches, we should all be celebrating life.  Enjoy it!

Posted in Firsts, something out of the ordinary | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

film festivals

Posted on April 7, 2013 by

As I mentioned in my post entitled “and the winner is” I prefer to watch independent films over big blockbusters which is why I get so excited each year for the return of the film festivals around New York.  Of course, there are so many ways to see independent film makers at their best, below is a list of the larger festivals that are taking place in the upcoming months.

April 5 – 12th SoHo International Film Festival

April 17 – 28th Tribeca Film Festival

May 11 – 17th United Film Festival

May 20 – 25th Golden Egg Film Festival

June 13 – 20th New York City International Film Festival

June 13 – 23rd LES Film Festival

June 22nd TropFest New York

Summer New York Surf Film Festival

September 18 – 23rd Urbanworld Film Festival

September 20 – 22nd Coney Island Film Festival

October 23 – 27th The Food Film Festival

November 14 – 17 New York City Horror Film Festival

Dates yet to be announced for the New York Bicycle Film Festival

The Film Society of Lincoln Center has its own lineup of film festivals at its theater with films playing year round.

And of course, there are always films showing at each of the museums relative to the exhibit they are showing at the time.  There is never a shortage of indoor activities for a rainy day.

Posted in art and culture | Tagged | Leave a comment