Nuela

Excellent South-American food.  I know, rather generic classification of food over a large continent: but it's how they describe themselves.  A heart-of-palm salad was great; the oxtail empanadas acceptable, but not so special.  The ceviche was excellent: we had tuna with a mildly spicy coconut sauce.  The salmon entree was good, but not as good as the ceviche.  We finished with a passion-fruit curd topped with a coconut sauce.  All in all, an excellent meal.

La Cage aux Folles

This revival with Kelsey Grammar is entertaining, but doesn't blow you away.  (Although I think I'm getting maudlin' in my old/middle age: some of the songs did move me.)  Kelsey Grammar does a passable job, although he is so well-known as Frazier Crane that it felt like Frazier was playing the part.  The understudy for the Albin role, Chris Hoch, was great, modulo some microphone trouble during his solo at the end of Act One.  Overall, it's good entertainment, but there is probably better stuff on Broadway if you're a connoisseur.

Tao

We had lunch at this fancy Asian-fusion restaurant.  Peking-duck spring rolls, yum!  Truly excellent food: expensive, but not overly so (although I would not go very frequently: I'm still pretty cheap when it comes to food).   Worth an occasional splurge, though.  And the restaurant itself is spectacular: we were seated on the second floor with a view overlooking the giant Buddha statue.

Trader Joe's hits Chelsea

Saw this sign up yesterday morning!  Too bad we won't be living in Chelsea very soon...

Eleven Madison Park

To celebrate our anniversary, and the beginning of our new lives on Long Island, we went to Eleven Madison Park.  Magnificent food, with a lovely ambience.  If I get in the mood (which I probably won't), I'll recap the menu.  Suffice it to say that it's probably the best restaurant we've been to in NYC.  No more fancy restaurants until Penelope gets much older, probably!

Ottimo closed

Another restaurant bites the dust.  It wasn't cheap, but the food was very good.  And it was close to our apartment.

No 7 Sub Shop

This Manhattan outpost of a Brooklyn restaurant is a pure takeout sandwich shop.  And what sandwiches!  We had a tuna sandwich (the phrase "tuna sandwich" hardly does justice to it), a veggie sandwich (different kinds of tomatoes, mostly), and a lamb sandwich.  All very delicious!

Noguchi Museum

 
We finally made it out to the Noguchi Museum (or more accurately, had the opportunity to stop in on our way home) today. It is a lovely little museum out in the hinterlands of Long Island City: difficult to reach by public transit.

Event Horizon

One of the wonderful things about Madison Square Park is the public art that has appeared here regularly. The latest exhibit is quite fun: 31 life-sized statues placed all around the park (a lot on top of landmark buildings in the neighborhood). Check them out!

Pasita

We went with our friends Frank and Jinyang to this little hole-in-the-wall tapas place. Not a huge selection of tapas, but not bad nonetheless; and the pizza was quite good. Prices were reasonable, although not that cheap. Recommended if you're looking for decent food (but not high-end).

USA Networks Character Approved

We got to go to the Character Approved awards given by USA Networks to "characters" who have shaped our culture. One of our friends was given an award (I don't want to drop names, so I'll let you guess who it was). It was an entertaining media event: there were lots of TV types there (although we only recognized Jeff Goldblum). Several other people seemed familiar.

SD26

We went to this relatively high-end Italian restaurant north of Madison Square Park. Nice ambience (and not too noisy, as we were there on the early side). We ordered several "half-sized" entries, which was not cheap, but gave us a chance to sample their cooking. The food was lovely, and not overly salty like some restaurants we've eaten at lately. The octopus was really tender, and the squab was delicious.

Trader Joe's

Wow, a Trader Joe's within a few blocks of our apartment: that would be outrageously wonderful!

The High Line

 

We went to see the High Line park that opened this summer. It was quite crowded, but for most of its length the crowdedness was bearable. (At the current northern end that wasn't the case: it was too busy). Overall, a nice experience and pretty park: the elevated walk is quite nice!

Nisos

Had dinner at this Greek restaurant. Good food (and good-sized portions) at a very reasonable price. Highly recommended; I'd like to go back when it's not after a long work day; as it was, we were both very tired and didn't quite enjoy it as much as we should have.

Periyali

We had dinner (during Restaurant Week) at Periyali, this upscale Greek restaurant. Overall, very good food. We're not sure if we loved it, though, so it gets a "thumbs-up".

Shimizu

We had dinner prior to seeing a show (see my later post) at this excellent Japanese restaurant. The sushi was really well done, and the service was really good. The restaurant was almost empty, though: a sign of the times, I suppose. Several restaurants that we like have already closed in the last few months, such as Maroons and Ghenet.

Nobu 57

We ate here on our anniversary: good food, and an interesting menu, if mildly pricey. Overall, we enjoyed the dining; the restaurant was packed and a bit noisy, though. Although the food was good, though, it was not the best food we've had in NYC: the even pricier restaurants that we've been to are better (for example, Gramercy Park Tavern, Morimoto).

Ponty Bistro

We had lunch here, which was excellent. An omelette and French toast: the latter was truly delicious!

Camerata Notturna

This orchestra is pretty talented: we went because one of my friends at work played a clarinet concerto with them. Another soloist played the Haydn cello concerto, with insanely hard cadenzas written by the principal cellist. The orchestra (and the soloists) played really well, and the conductor was fun to watch: he clearly enjoyed his work. The only quibble I had was that Beethoven's 7th Symphony was too loud for the small church we were in: by the end my ears were overloaded with the sheer weight of the sound. The smaller orchestras for the concerti were much more appropriate for the acoustic space of the church.