Enjoying Art, Theatre, and Food in Manhattan

Overview

This was a 9-day pleasure trip in the fall but, with near summer-like weather. It was a return after a long absence for me and a new experience for my companion. A bit of an off-season time, we avoided huge crowds and tried to get a feel for many of the different areas of Manhattan and experience some New York things. We certainly did not manage them all. We attended two plays, dined at some very good restaurants, and explored a few of the many museums in Manhattan. In between, we shopped and enjoyed the sights and atmosphere of one of the great cities of the world.

Quick Tips:

Booking ahead for plays and dinner reservations is very easy through the Internet. Although it meant there was less-spontaneous decisions once in Manhattan, it also meant no disappointments from being unable to secure a table or ticket.

Best Way To Get Around:

The subway is very easy, fast, and cheap. The one thing to be careful about is ensuring you get onto the right platform for going uptown or downtown and whether the train is an express or local.

The other best means to get around is your feet. Walking allows you to see so much and experience street life.

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Library Hotel

Hotel

The Library Hotel uses the Dewey Decimal System as its theme, with different categories for the different floors. Each room has a subcategory as the theme for the books in the room. There are books in the lobby and second-floor common area. Browsing the books was fun, and I perused many of the books in our room. The library also includes the 100 top films rated by the American Film Institute, which you can borrow and view while at the hotel. The space used to be an office building but now looks very contemporary.

The junior suite was moderately priced for a suite. The Midtown location was central to everything we wanted to see, and it was an easy walk to the theatre district.

We booked a junior suite. We saw a standard room, and the space is not much more than room to walk around the sides and foot of the bed. There is a shelf/desk built into the wall at the foot of the bed. The junior suite, however, had ample space on either side of the bed, a bookshelf with a built-in desk along one wall, a blanket box at the foot of the bed, and an alcove for a small couch, chair, and table. The alcove had windows on three sides, which, from our room, provided a view up and down Madison Avenue and across to the New York Public Library. The bathroom was small but had shelves and a vanity area that allowed us to spread out our things. The bed was a king and very comfortable. Overall, our room was clean, spacious, and well set out. A cute extra in the room was the equipment for making martinis. I particularly liked that the windows open.

Continental breakfast is included. It is served on the second-floor buffet style and has more variety than others we have seen: lots of juices, fresh fruit, cereals, croissants, muffins, bagels, eggs, coffee, tea, and an espresso machine. We had breakfast there almost every day. Some days we filled a plate, left it in the room, went for a run, and then had breakfast upon our return.

In the evening, wine and cheese are served and included as part of the hotel's services.

We also enjoyed the rooftop terrace bar on the 14th floor, which is open to the public. It is divided it into the Writer's Den on one side, leather chairs, bookshelves, and fireplace with an outdoor patio, and on the other is the Poetry Garden, more casual furniture and another outdoor patio, and the bar itself is in the middle. The entire area is not large, but sitting on the outdoor terrace provides a great view of other rooftops in the area, which have such interesting architectural details.

The staff was very helpful and friendly. Staying at the Library Hotel was everything we could want from a more intimate boutique hotel during a week-long stay.

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by artslover on February 13, 2006

Library Hotel
299 Madison Ave. New York, New York 10017
(212) 983 4500

Alain Ducasse

Restaurant

Dinner at Alain Ducasse is like stepping into a the world of the old and wealthy. Its location is not well advertised. It is in the Essex Hotel, but you have to go past the lobby and down a hall. The feeling of entering an exclusive club is maintained by its look, which is very "old boys club" with the leather seating, velvet draperies, and textured wall paper. It has a mostly French staff, and mostly older very well dressed people are dining. Service was so prompt, it felt like we were never alone for the first 10 minutes. I was given a small upholstered stool to place my purse on. Is that posh or what?

Even before ordering, the champagne cart arrived—only champagne, no non-French sparking wine. Of course, we had to have a glass. This was followed by two amuse bouches to start—the gougere filled with a gruyere bechamel sauce was particularly memorable, as was the brioche. The menu is gourmet French, with elaborate descriptions of food. Once we got around to ordering, I had shellfish veloute, venison, and chocolate dessert. My companion had foie gras, lamb, and vacherin. Everything looked beautiful and, best of all, was incredibly flavourful. We had an 1989 Bordeaux from the extensive, mostly French, wine list.

After dessert, small meringues and chocolates were brought out, which we sampled even though we were full. Then the pastry cart appeared, and despite saying I had no room, caramel, nougatine, lemon, and orange lollipops were placed on my plate. They were wrapped, so they went into my purse while I had a creme brulee, which I did not think I could eat but did because it was so good. At least I passed on the tartlets, panna cotta, and various chocolate desserts. There was no extra charge for all the items from the pastry cart, but the bill was as huge as we expected from a top NYC restaurant. As we were leaving, I was given a chocolate brioche for breakfast. I will definitely return after saving some money.

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by artslover on February 13, 2006

Alain Ducasse
155 West 58th St, Essex House New York, New York 10019
+1 212 265 7300

Cru

Restaurant

We went to Cru because of the wine list and were suitably impressed by its length and some of the items. The decor is modern and airy. People were dressed quite well and many looked like yuppies.

The menu was mainly seafood. My companion had turbot and I had Caprese salad as an appetizer, but we had lamb to go with the red Bordeaux we decided to splurge on. Both food and wine were amazing. Service was very good and relaxed, with the staff making jokes with us. The restaurant is fairly expensive, in keeping with the quality of food and the wine.

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by artslover on February 13, 2006

Cru
24 Fifth Avenue New York, New York 10011
+1 212 529 1700

Marseilles

Restaurant

Marseilles is in the Theatre District, and they promptly asked if we were going to an 8pm show. The restaurant has a real French bistro feel, casual and lively, with the tables fairly close together. The name Marseilles also reflects the decor of that area. The influences of northern Africa are seen in the mosaic tiles which form part of the decor. On the evening we were there, the light coming in from the windows lit up the room and reflected off the bright colourful tiles.

Many groups of other theatre-goers were dining and the modest sized restaurant was filled with the bright chatter of everyone anticipating their evening's entertainment.

The mostly young wait staff zipped around the narrow spaces between the tables filling everyone's orders promptly. We wondered how many might be aspiring actors having to wait tables until they found that role of a lifetime.

The menu is classic French bistro from southern France. You are given a menu but in true bistro style, it is also written up on a chalkboard. I had the tomato-and-basil salad and the bouillabaisse-and-sour cherry sorbet, and my companion had Romaine salad, short-rib daube, and chocolate ice cream. Service was quick, food was good, there was a lively atmosphere, and the bill was modest, even with a bottle of wine. We got to our show in plenty of time.

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by artslover on February 13, 2006

Marseilles
630 Ninth Avenue New York, New York 10036
(212) 333-2323

Peasant

Restaurant

Peasant is located in Little Italy and has a lovely rustic look with unpainted brick walls and an open kitchen at the back with a wood oven within view of the tables. There are tables along one of the walls of this long narrow restaurant and on the other wall, long benches with small tables dotted along the length to the bar.

The atmosphere is informal, with couples on either side of our table happy to give us a review of the meals they had and make recommendations. Dress was casual. The server we had was excellent and patiently reviewed the menu, which was in Italian. It was extensive and focused on simply prepared quality ingredients.

My companion had boconcini and pork ribs and I had panzerella and squab, which were delicious, but the panna cotta was particularly outstanding; it was so creamy and delicious. For the quality of the food and service, the cost of the meal was a very good value. I would love to return here frequently.

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by artslover on February 13, 2006

Peasant
194 Elizabeth St New York, New York 10012
+1 212 965 9511

The Modern

Restaurant

The Modern's dining room has an atmosphere that suits its location in the Museum of Modern Art. It is very starkly modern, with place settings that look like they come from the MOMA design store. The table spacing gives you the feeling that you have a lot of room.

We started with a Modern martini, which was voted drink of the year in 2005. It had a very distinct cilantro flavour and is garnished with a lime wedge and cherry. Unusual.

Dinner started with three amuse bouche. The potato with creme fraiche and caviar was my favourite. I had mushroom soup and chicken with risotto and a side with greens and a small cheese-flavoured cake souffle thing (I cannot remember what it was), and everything was full of layers flavours. One of my dinner companions had foie gras and the cod. Others had lobster and lamb. Everyone enjoyed the food. The panna cotta I had for dessert was another winner, accompanied by grape soup, kiwi sorbet, and bits of fresh grape and plum. The presentation is artful.

The bill was expensive but quite reasonable for what had been described as a restaurant requiring a thick wallet. It was an experience I would repeat.

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by artslover on February 13, 2006

The Modern
11 West 53 Street New York City, New York 100195497
+ 1 212 708-9400

Tabla

Restaurant

Tabla has tables outside looking across to Madison Square Park, but the humidity was too much for us semi-arid-climate dwellers, so we were taken to a table on the second floor. The restaurant describes its dress code as casual. The Bread Bar on the main floor had younger patrons dressed fairly casually, but the second floor had a lot of people who looked like they had come from work, a number of people in suits and women in trendy tops.

The attentive and informative waiters were dressed in black Nehru-style outfits. The look of the staff and restaurant is somewhat exotic but not stuffy.

I ordered a gin and tonic. An almost full glass arrived with tonic on the side. I wondered how much gin is in the glass—a lot.

The food was a unique experience, mostly Western food done with Indian spices. Instead of bread, we got naan with an apple and some kind of Chinese vegetable sauce, and the amuse bouche was some crunchy vegetable with spices that had the potential to be as addictive as popcorn. My companion had crab salad in a popadum shell, sea bass with a bok choy-and-ginger broth, and chocolate souffle. I had a tomato salad with Indian spices in the dressing, scallops with crab curry as a sauce, and panna cotta with strawberries and candied ginger. All was very good and the prices were quite reasonable. It was a fun experience, as well as tasty, and I would definitely return.

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by artslover on February 13, 2006

Tabla
11 Madison Ave New York, New York 10010
+1 212 889 0667

River Cafe

Restaurant

We arrived at 7:10pm at River Cafe for a 7:30pm reservation, expecting to sit at the bar, but we were seated. This appears to be a very popular spot for tourists, as most couples were obviously from elsewhere, except perhaps a large family group celebrating someone’s birthday. They require a jacket for men, and when the diner next to us removed his, the staff rushed up and ask him to put it back on. I found this amusing because the woman on the other side of us was wearing what looked like an Adidas track suit jacket. It may have been designer, but it was still athletic wear. Yet, no one complained about her clothes.

The major draw for us was and is the fantastic view of lower Manhattan. The menu is fairly extensive and high-end. My companion had foie gras and lamb. I had crispy oysters and sirloin steak. The food is good but not as outstanding as some of our other meals. For dessert, my companion had the apple tart, which was not up to the standards of our experiences dining in Paris, but I had to have the Brooklyn Bridge chocolate dessert which reproduces part of the Bridge. It was too precious to be missed and was pretty tasty. While I had no major complaints, I would not return soon.

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by artslover on February 13, 2006

River Cafe
1 Water St Brooklyn, New York 11201
+1 718 522 5200

Cafe Boulud

Restaurant

The Cafe Boulud is a few blocks away from the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the Upper East Side. The ambiance of the place reflects its expensive address. From the street, the door with the canopy looks like many of the other surrounding apartment buildings. Inside, the decor is light-coloured, modern, and pleasing. We went for lunch and immediately noticed that the clientele was very well dressed. There were a number of businessmen and ladies who lunch, and we seemed to be seated next to three women who could have been from "Sex and the City"—10 years later with children. They gossiped incessantly about their friends and fashion while drinking copious amounts of alcohol.

The menu is set up with organized starter, main course, and dessert combinations each built around a theme, such as Asian, seasonal, or French country. You can follow the organized offerings or mix and match.

My companion had salad nicoise and Thai lobster but declined dessert. I had tomato salad and spinach tortelli in an incredibly buttery sauce. The food looked like works of art and was just unusual enough to be memorable. I had a dessert called bittersweet chocolate peanut, which was layers of chocolate, ganache, and peanuts. The women next to us, who had ordered four desserts for the three of them, asked me what I had ordered, then exclaimed that they should have ordered it also.

Our waiter was very talkative and attentive. My companion just asked for a spoon instead of dessert, but when my dessert arrived, the waiter also brought poached plums with ice cream and praline so that my companion would leave my dessert alone. That was a laugh, and there was no charge for the extra dessert.

After dessert, we received small Madeleine cookies. We found that the fine-dining places in NYC are big on lots of extras, and even though the portions are not large, the number of servings make for a lot of food. The total bill was relatively high for lunch, but that is to be expected. The food was impressive enough that some day I would like to try Daniel Boulud's other full-on French restaurant, although I expect its prices would be even higher.

Cafe Boulud was crowded for lunch. I would expect that reservations are recommended at any time.

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by artslover on March 15, 2006

Cafe Boulud
20 East 76th St New York, New York 10021
+1 212 772 2600

Battery Park

Attraction | "A wander from Battery Park to Midtown"

We wanted to take in a bit of the lower end of Manhattan by spending most of the day walking around. We took the 4 train from Grand Central Station to Battery Park, the southern most stop for the subway. The day we went, the Culture Fest was being held. We viewed the booths for various arts organizations, and briefly watched an instrumental group playing on the stage. We walked the boardwalk to view the Statue of Liberty from afar. No boat rides for me because I get too seasick.

After viewing Castle Clinton, we headed out of the Park to Bowling Green and Broadway, took a photo by the bull, viewed Wall Street, Ground Zero, and City Hall which was barricaded so we could not get right up to the building. City Hall Park is small but picturesque with lots of interesting buildings surrounding it.

We continued up Broadway and as we approached Canal Street found that the street vendors were taking up half the side walk. We listened to the shouts of “Rolex” and “Chanel sunglasses”. Chinese signs were appearing on the east side of the street. We stopped at Pearl River Mart and Yellow Rat B*stard to shop for souvenirs. The T-shirts from Yellow Rat B*stard were a big hit with our teenagers.

We then wandered into Soho galleries on Broome and Spring. For lunch, we had salads at a restaurant named Boom on Spring Street. The front doors were pulled back so that the restaurant was open to the street. We ate lunch and watched tour buses go by with people taking pictures of us eating lunch. We were tempted to take pictures of them taking pictures.

We went back to Broadway and ended up in the 3 floor Prada store which has an interesting layout on the main level.

We walked from Broadway to Houston then to Washington Square Park, where someone was on a raised platform going on about finding religion. We admired the arch and the people gathered in the Park. We walked to Jeffrey’s, a women's clothing store north and east of Washington Sqaure. We shopped in Jeffrey’s, window gazed at Stella McCartney, then started walking up Eighth Avenue., walked past Madison Square Gardens, up Fifth Avenue to the Empire State Building where the line to go up was down the block and around the corner. We ended up back near our hotel at Grand Central Terminal and the Grand Harvest Wine shop to buy a bottle of wine and a bottle of scotch. The shop was very stylish with a good selection of wine and scotch. We returned to the hotel to have a sip, chat about our observations, and rest our feet after walking for over 7 hours.

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by artslover on February 13, 2006

Battery Park
Battery Place New York, New York 10004
(212) 809-5508

Brooklyn Bridge

Attraction

We took the subway at 6pm to the City Hall Brooklyn Bridge stop. It was still light out, and we planned to walk the bridge if the height did not scare me too much. I hate heights. The walk is in the middle of the bridge and starts out at the same level as traffic but gradually rises above the traffic. There is enough metal, the walkway is mostly boards without gaps, and the edge looking down to the water is far enough away. My vertigo did not bother me enough to keep me from walking over the bridge.

Although we walked towards Brooklyn, rather than towards Manhattan, there were lots of opportunities and plenty of space to stop, turn around, and take a lot of pictures of Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and the bridge itself. Because we timed it at sunset, it was a spectacular view.

We left the bridge down the steps and walked until we reached Cadman Plaza. We ended up on the Esplanade, from which we could see that we had walked too far, as we were trying to get to the River Cafe. We headed along the Esplanade until we were on Old Fulton Street and followed it to the wharf next to River Cafe. From the wharf, there were lots more photos as the sun set.

The walk was very easy and lasted about 30 minutes with many stops. It was a not-to-be-missed experience.

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by artslover on February 13, 2006

Brooklyn Bridge
City Hall Park, Manhattan New York, New York 11201

Frick Collection

Attraction

The Frick Collection is housed in the former mansion of Henry Clay Frick, the man who collected the vast collection of art and furniture on display. Admission is $15 for adults and includes an audio tour that describes the various art and objects you can see while touring the collection and the gardens. The audio is very helpful since there are no regular tours. The entire collection is much less overwhelming than trying to see the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is nearby, and yet it includes some of the same famous artists such as Vermeer. It is an eye-opening peek at part of the life of a wealthy collector of art. It was particularly thought-provoking to contemplate living in such a house that, for example, has the Boucher room entirely decorated in the French romantic style.

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by artslover on February 13, 2006

Frick Collection
1 East 70th St New York, New York 10021
(212) 288 0700

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Bar

Attraction

The 35th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel has a bar. The bar is not particularly big, nor are there interesting activities, but I highly recommend going there. For the price of a drink, you get a fabulous view. The Mandarin Oriental is located on the southwest corner of Central Park, near the Time Warner Center. Take a seat by the window and look out at Christopher Columbus atop his column in the middle of Columbus Circle and gaze out over Central Park, where you can see the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the distance.

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by artslover on February 13, 2006

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Bar
80 Columbus Circle New York, New York 10023
(212) 805 8800

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Attraction

The baggage check was very perfunctory and there were no lines to get into the museum. The Metropolitan Museum is huge and it's probably best if you decide what you want to see beforehand, because it would be impossible to see it all in one day or maybe even a week.

We saw the Temple of Dendor, a reassembled ancient Egyptian structure. We then went up to the rooftop sculpture garden (after struggling through the maze of halls to find the right elevator). The sculptures were very colourful in the bright sunshine and the view from the roof was worth the trouble to find it. We went to the American wing, which has a famous George Washington portrait, and viewed some of the European paintings and sculpture, which also includes many famous works, before looking at the modern wing. The collection of paintings is very impressive. It had, most notably, some of the few Vermeers outside of Europe. After 2hours, we barely made a dent in viewing the permanent collection.

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by artslover on February 13, 2006

Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Ave. At 82nd Street New York, New York 10028
(212) 535-7710

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

Attraction | "Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)"

The building itself is worth a visit. The renovated space is lighter and more open than the old MOMA, and the views of the sculpture garden are better.

It is not hard to view almost all of the art on display, unlike at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The art has some famous 20th-century pieces, but many are quite contemporary. Some of the art is awesome--I loved the Barnet Newman sculpture that rises in the central open area--but some of the more recent performance art is, well, I get the idea but did not spend many minutes watching an artist surfing through paint or the 24 TV screens showing a guy doing routine things in his apartment including sitting on the toilet reading a newspaper.

If modern art doesn't interest you, there are the shops with lots of unusual things to buy as souvenirs or gifts. I bought a membership, which allowed me to skip the line for tickets and included a discount at the shops.

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by artslover on February 13, 2006

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
11 West 53rd St New York, New York 10019
(212) 708-9400

Yankee Stadium

Attraction | "New York Yankees & Yankee Stadium"

I'm not a baseball fan, but we were in New York so attending a Yankees' game seemed like something to do at least once.

We had tickets for the 1pm Yankees game on a Sunday, and wanted to get to the stadium early enough to look around. We hopped onto the 4 train and wondered if it was the right one until we noticed how many people were wearing Yankee shirts and caps. I took only a small purse with my phone and wallet in order to avoid any issues at security, because they do not allow bags or large purses.

We looked around the stadium, watched batting practice, and ate peanuts. My companion thought we were high enough and far enough down the first base line that balls in the stands would not be an issue, but of course shortly after saying so a ball sails over our heads, and another was caught by a young boy using his Yankees cap.

Since we were at Yankee stadium, we had to have a hot dog. I do not like hot dogs, and this one was just as awful as every other hot dog I have ever eaten, and at $5, a lot more expensive. But being amongst a bunch of intense Yankee fans was a memorable experience. This was the last home game, and the need to win in order to stay tied with the Red Sox created a lot of anxiety for those around us. A guy with a Bronx accent sitting in front of us was willing to forgive the fact that we were Canadians, and happily imparted his knowledge about the Yankees, the stadium, and his opinions on life in general. It was something I'll remember, and I cannot say I regretted it... but once was enough for me.

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by artslover on February 13, 2006

Yankee Stadium
44 E 161st St Bronx, New York 10451
(718) 293 4300

Walter Kerr Theater

Attraction

Seeing a play in New York is easy with the Internet. We were able to check what interested us and was available, ordered and paid for our tickets online, and picked them up just prior to the performance.

The Walter Kerr Theater is relatively small and the space feels intimate, which is perfect for the play we saw, Doubt. Doubt has a cast of four actors, one of whom is only on for about 5 minutes. The story set is in 1950s Brooklyn and is about a nun who suspects a priest of molesting a boy at the parochial school. The drama is highly psychological and riveting. The two main actors, Brian O'Byrne and Cherry Jones, were amazing and well deserved the accolades they have received. It was undoubtedly the best play we have ever seen.

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by artslover on February 13, 2006

Walter Kerr Theater
219 West 48th Street New York, New York 10036

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