Gearing Up for SF

I'm gearing up for another trip to California this week. This time, I'll be headed to my homeland....the Bay Area. Among the things I'm excited about are hanging out with Grandma Alice, mom and dad in Golden Gate Park, seeing M&M and hearing about their trip to Japan, taking a cap-nap on my parent's back deck, watching my friend Serene get married and having a drink with her after, squirming around in my feminine side while getting ready for the wedding my lovely friend Jenny, hearing all about my amazing friend's adventures and life-changes like Shi who recently moved back to SF, Ashley who recently moved into the city, Heath who is slowly building my dream home in San Rafael and so on. It's always a rush to see everyone and catch-up but I still can't wait.

See you on the flip side....

Two More Favorites in the LES

I'm undergoing another East Village and Lower East Side phase, which seems to be cyclical with warm weather. We met up with 8 friends in the LES last Saturday night for dinner and discovered 2 more favorite spots. The first, a Cambodian noodle bar called Kampuchea (75 Rivington Street at Allen) offered us easy-to-enjoy cocktails, a tropical like setting, and wide long tables which made sharing food easy. We dined on amazing Cambodian crepes, which actually came with lettuce leaves and chili sauce for fun-food dining, seasoned corn, perfectly prepared noodles, pork "sampler" sandwiches, tiger shrimp and some tasty white wine. It's now been elevated to one of my favorite noodle bars in the city. Perhaps next time I go I can talk them into turning on the AC and abandoning the tropical feel of the great outdoors.

After dinner we headed to Nurse Bettie's (106 Norfolk St. at Delancy) which my colleague recommended a few weeks back. It was a perfectly relaxed, mid-to-small sized space that actually had their AC pumping (thank gawd!). It felt like a neighborhood staple with charm, as all the pin-up girls looked down on us sipping cocktails in one of the small booths. The melting pot crowd had a positive drive and all seemed to be enjoying their relatively cheep drinks. It will be added to my list of "fun bars."

Dying to see The Dark Knight

So all the buzz on the newscasts and "around the water cooler" is about the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight. While I've always been a comic book fan, I've never really been the first one to run out and catch the blockbuster comic book movies. In recent years, I've loved the different versions of Superman along with Ironman and Braveman thrown in there, but I have not been enchanted by the Batman movies of the past. But, based on what I've heard, this version will blow me out of the water. Here's to hoping I'll get to see it soon :)

Ai Chihuahua

The illness of 2008. The illness that nipped at my ankles for days like a frenzied chihuahua before moving up my legs to grab a hold of my calves with its lock jaw has finally subsided. The chihuahua, or kidney infection as my doctor liked to call it, took hold of me during my trip to San Diego last week.

The beast attacked me full-force on my return to NYC, including a few nice days of involuntary sweating (followed by some unpleasant ice-cold baths), the shakes, the shivers, a sore back and an overly sensitive belly. I don't remember being that sick since I was a kid, although I know I've used that line in the last 4-years.

Now that I have shaken the chihuahua back down to my ankles I can make fun of it again.....daydreaming of the day when it will be completely gone.

Ai Chihuahua that was close.

San Deigo -- July 4th

It felt like a wave of stress was flying me into my July 4th vacation. Now that it's melted away, I can't even remember what I was so stressed about in the first place. Isn't that how it always goes?

Anyhow, visiting Brian, my brother, in sunny Southern California always mellows me out. So, I was ready for the trip and welcomed it with open arms. The first couple of days, sinking my toes into the sand and swimming out into the crashing waves I wondered what in the hell made me even think to leave California.

Midnight swims, sipping cocktails overlooking the sunset and driving everywhere (oh wait, maybe I just remembered why I moved to NYC) all offered us good times. But, as many of you know, I am not much of a sun-bather or "modern settler" as I like to call them. You know what I'm talking about, those fantastic mellow people who can lounge all day outside without a-care-in-the-world and do...nothing. I occasionally accomplish this on my couch, but somehow it's different there (I blog, and somehow, sadly that makes me feel as if I've accomplished something).

So by day-three Jen, my travel mate from SF who also flew down for the weekend, and I were ready to try our hat at surfing. We had a tough time, but caught some waves and grew an amazing amount of respect for surfers before our arms got too sore. We also talked Michael (Brian's room-mate) and Brian into takeing us up the coast on their motorcycles. Although I wondered a few times if my brother was trying to kill me for something I had done to him in the past, we all made it home alive.

T'was a great trip, checking out his new diggs(a brand-new-god-only-knows-how-many-square-foot home that sits a mere mile from the beach), partaking in far to much debauchery, and getting to know everyone in his life a little bit better.

If only NYC and San Diego were closer.....

Summer Visitors -- 2008

Summer always brings a wonderful influx of visitors to NYC. Our first round of visitors this spring were Ian and Kim, visiting from LA for the weekend. They won the award for "Amazingly Agreeable Visitors," sharing our interests and tastes throughout the city; they were a blast to have and easy to please. We took them to the enjoy the intensity of Fuerzabruta, my favorite "show" in NYC, to experience some amazing sushi and sake at the underground sake den, to eat hot-dogs, and sandos along the way and hit up some crazy bars around town. Overall, it was a blast to have them.

A couple of weeks back, my parents also dropped by NYC for a week-long visit en route to California from Newfoundland and Boston. Mom and Dad, the happy, traveling, "country mice" (mom's words), arrived in NYC on a Monday after 3-solid weeks on the road. After settling in, to their priced-just-right accommodation they surveyed their new Upper West Side neighborhood. After multiple visits to NYC throughout their lives, including yearly visits since I arrived here, they have a great comfort level with the city and all it holds. Which, as a host in a city, gives you great comfort for your guests but also presents you with a problem. What new things and experiences can you introduce to them on their trip?

Throughout the year, in between my parents visits, my daily adventures in this city reveal so may cultures, ambiances, experiences and opportunities I want to share with them. So, I tend to....how do I say this, "over plan" many of their trips. I never thought of myself as a "planner" until my parents started visiting 4-years ago. Now I'm the go to resource for many of friends who have heard of my "famous" 10-day itineraries sure to exhaust any reasonable human being. Before this last trip began, I willed myself to leave plenty of wiggle room in our schedule which worked out surprisingly well.

We experienced some new adventures including different neighborhoods, attractions, and shows, along with some old hauts such as favorite restaurants, shops and strolls. Of course, the new experiences are the memories that have stuck.

Perhaps the most outlandish was The Slackers show at Irving Plaza in Union Square. The two-parts-SKA, one-part-Rock NYC band always puts on an amazing show. They draw fans and skankers of all ages, which made it a fun show to rock-out at with the folks.



The rest of the top-4 list included: the NY Botanical Gardens, with picturesque rose gardens, and perfectly manicured laws littered with Moore sculptures for the summer; a trip down Arthur Ave. for some real no-menu-needed Italian fare; and a viewing of the acclaimed Broadway play, August:Osage County, which was a life-changing experience and quickly entered my top-5 best plays list before the curtain fell.




Surprisingly we tried on some new restaurants for size, like Hakana Grill, Stone Rose Lounge and my personal favorite out of the bunch, Cafe Nior. The old staples like Da Andrea, Saigon Grill, Calle Ocho, Dinosaur BBQ, Republic, Paladar, Corner Bistro, etc. all made re-appearances for good reason.



We toured the city by foot, subway, taxi and occasionally, bus. We caught-up, chatting about their month-long journey to India, 3-week long trek through Newfoundland and New England, and our recent mini-trips to Vegas and New Orleans.

It's like food to the soul....

Squeezing in Relaxation

Memorial Day weekend this year came at just the right time this year. The week before I'd exhausted myself at work, including a painful business trip that included a 9-hour delay at the Charlotte, NC airport. I needed some rest....but I rarely listen to my body at times like this.

Luckily J was in the mood to relax this weekend too, so as much as I wanted to run outside and take full advantage of the sunshine and less-crowded local hauts I was coarsed inside onto the couch for most of the weekend. Of course, I did enjoy a fun-filled BBQ where Jerome and I staged a less-than-valiant drink off and some good old catch up time with old friends via phone. But, most of what I did for a full 3-days was rest, relax and clean. Now that I'm gearing up for a friends wedding in Vegas next week and a my parent's visit the week after I'm happy I took a little bit of time to just.....chill.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day looks like Easter and feels like silk. It's one of the only "Hallmark Holidays" that actually make me warm and fuzzy inside....but that's more of a testament to my mom than Hallmark. My mom is one of those women that amazes those around her and never seems fazed by slight downturns in the road. I can't tell, from the stories her brothers and sisters tell, if she was always such a kind, generous, witty, even-tempered woman, or if my brother Brian and I drove her to that state.

She had to endure a lot when Brian and I were growing-up and somehow manages to only cling to the happy memories from our younger years, which she tells in her half-laugh-half-talk voice when we go home and visit her and dad for Christmas. She rarely snapped and never looked disappointed to see us at the end of an entire day of teaching high school kids (which in retrospect seems more like a superpower than a characteristic). She empowered Brian and I to do it all, which seems to have worked if two happy and quasi-sane grown kids count as success. Sometimes I wonder if she regrets telling us to follow all of our dreams down every rabbit hole, or reaching for the top until we had smiles plastered on our face. Sometimes I wonder if Brian and I were less ambitious, travel-hungry fiends we'd still live close to home and be around for the Saturday tennis matches and Sunday BBQs.

She'd never raise her kids like that, which I suppose answers my question. But I still wonder as I sit here in a coffee shop in NYC and think of her on a slightly foggy day in San Francisco with her mom and all of our cousins and aunts and uncles gathered around one table.

I miss her smile :)

Ambitious Andrea

I'm feeling very ambitious about my weekend on this rainy Friday afternoon. I've been really crazed at work all week and finally hit a mini lul...which feels amazing. So, with this wonderful piece-of-mind I'm going to ride on into my weekend.

I'm going to spend my Saturday papering my apartment, with an Andrea-style cleaning (pause for laughter) from kitchen to bathroom and meal including fresh salsa and fish tacos. Then Sunday, I'm going to take care of myself, with a pedicure, jog and financial plan that will hopefully help me save money throughout the remainder of the year. I may even get a chance to pull down my spring and summer clothes and do laundry if I plan right.

Oh Ambitious Andrea, do not be drawn to the green couch that resides in your living room, or the bright sun that floods the open fields in the Park. Do not spend half your day making pasta sauces and roasted veggies for next week.

YOU CAN DO IT!

The Hangover

Why do you cause me pain? Why do you insist on making me loath the beautiful rays of the sun beating down on my skin and piercing my eyes? Why do you make me feel so lazy I can’t even move off of the green couch or away from the living room? Why do you hurt me so?

I’m think I’m going to clean the bathtub and take a bath before I decide if I can drag myself out of the house to meet friends for dinner tonight.

New Orleans, Ode to Alyson

I just returned from my trip to New Orleans and I'm slowly recovering and easing back into work. J and I met two friends from home (California) out there and painted the town red while dizzily sipping on hurricanes, hand grenades, Abita beer, and Jameson whiskey. Although it was tempting, we did not spend our entire time at sidewalk cafes, and outdoor bars. We toured the city by taxi, bus and my personal favorite – trolley.

Out of all the sites, sounds, and amazing views in NOLA the best thing about the city was the food. I visited what I consider to be the top restaurants in the city and came away amazed…well 5 times out of 6, which isn’t bad. I am extreemly lucky to have a Louisianan as a close friend. Her love and passion for NOLA has always blown me away but the list she created for me before I headed on vacation was priceless. She sent me to incredible jazz bars like the Spotted Cat, which featured a jazz quartet that played everything from Brazilian jazz to swing the night we visited. She detailed out the best places for Muffalettas, which we enjoyed on a sunny day in Jackson Square, and beignets, which sent us around the French market on a sugar rush after a few bites. Most importantly she recommended that we visit three amazing restaurants in the city – which truly made my trip memorable. At Restaurant August we dined on fine Creole cuisine and met chef John Besh table side, at Mothers we chopped down on Po Boys and gumbo I knew I could never re-create, and finally at Jacque Imo’s we ate fried chicken and catfish among brightly colored walls and beaded lamps.

I also couldn’t recap my trip without mentioning how wonderfully friendly the people of NOLA were. Our hotel, the Quality Suites in downtown had one of the kindest managers I’ve ever met. His thoughtfulness far surpassed anyone I’ve ever met at a hotel front desk. The waitresses (except of course at the famed Emeril’s, the only foodie spot that let me down) were all amazingly friendly and even the cab drivers were overwhelming happy and talkative. It’s an incredible place to visit.

So, since she can do a better job of telling you what an amazing city it is – here are her recommendations. My ode to Alyson:

Now, you know I could write a novel…but here are a few basic suggestions on what to do. This is based on if you have one free weekend:

Friday night – if you’ve never been, you might want to head down to Bourbon St. The locals don’t really hang out there, but if you’ve never been to New Orleans, you’ve got to experience Bourbon. If you decide to go into any bars, I would recommend two places – Pat O’Brien’s (piano bar with great hurricanes) and The Tropical Isle. The Tropical Isle is fun for a few minutes, but you have to order a hand grenade. Delicious fruity drink that tastes like a green jolly rancher and is seriously strong although you can’t taste it. There is also a decent Zydeco bar somewhere along Bourbon St. Shockingly, I can’t remember the name of it since I’m always wasted when we go there – I have to be to endure Bourbon St. to begin with. I’ll ask a couple of my friends if they know the name of it.

On the way home, stop at Café du Monde for beignets. The best thing you’ve ever eaten at 4 in the morning.

Lunch on Saturday: Mother’s on Poydras St. in the business district. Great po-boys, gumbo, jambalaya. And the name is perfect, it’s exactly how my mama cooks. And if you have some people who want breakfast items instead of lunch items they have that too. Complete with grits and good biscuits.

Saturday afternoon: I highly recommend walking around the French Quarter and the French Market during the day. It’s very fun and a completely different atmosphere than at night. You can start at Jackson Square and see the cathedral and the Cabildo (buildings on the side of the cathedral). Then walk passed Café du Monde to get to the French Market. There are local artists selling things and a few great stops along the way.

If you need a snack at that point, stop at Central Grocery for a Muffaletta (you can split a half of one between two people, but it does have meat in it, so not sure if you want that). Stop and have a beer or two at Molly’s. Great place to rest for a bit and wet your whistle. It’s all right there along Decatur St. in the French Market.

For dinner on Saturday: Jacque Imo’s in Uptown New Orleans – seriously the most amazing food. It’s got GREAT character and a very eccentric chef. There is even this weird painted pick-up truck parked out front and there is a table set up in the bed of the truck. It only seats two though. I would recommend making a reservation if you can – great place for dinner.

For Saturday night, head to Frenchman St in the Marigny district (any cab driver should be able to take you here). DO NOT WALK, I repeat, do not walk to Frenchman St. from the French Quarter. It’s not safe and easy to turn down a bad street. I love The Spotted Cat – great live Jazz music. Across the street from there, you’ll find Café Brazil – they always have live music too. And d.b.a is a great hang out bar. I like to get a seat in the windows there and watch people walk down the street - it’s awesome!

I’ve got two recommendations for breakfast on Sunday before you head out of town. The first is the Camellia Grill. It’s a greasy diner and is another local favorite. Last time I was there, I met Harry Connick, Jr. The cooks are all very lively and they sing as you eat and they’ve all got crazy New Orleans accents. Good omelets and cheeseburgers, etc. The other recommendation is a little more fancy (pricey), but it’s classic New Orleans. The Court of Two Sisters has the most amazing jazz brunch. I think it’s one flat fee for everything you want including mimosas and bloody marys. But it’s truly amazing.

Other fantastic restaurants – but if you can’t make it to these places, rest assured that you pretty much can’t go wrong…

Mesparo’s (casual place – great po-boys)
Ralphs on the Park
Palace Café (Brennan-family owned, but a little less pricey)
Muriel’s
Restaurant August
Acme Oyster House

Other bars to consider:

Preservation Hall – this is a place to hear classic Jazz music.
Rock-N-Bowl – Zydeco music and bowling…it’s an interesting spot!
Tipitina’s – great classic New Orleans bar

Watching Dinner

I'm watching J make me dinner this evening, fresh linguini with his own twist on Bolognese sauce, from my nest on the couch. It smells amazing and makes me wish I hadn't forgotten to buy Parmesan cheese today. He makes the most amazing meals from Filipino soups and stews to Italian feasts and some nights, like tonight; I realize just how spoiled I am.

Getaway Weekend: Catskills

Deciding to take a weekend trip is easy. Deciding on what kind of trip you and your travel companion want to take is another. And then, choosing the perfect location for your trip.... well, that’s usually the hardest part. J and I were facing this issue Easter weekend, when we cam up with the perfect plan.

After moving to NYC almost 4 years ago, I realized how little of the East Coast I've climbed up, driven by, bussed past or barreled down. Some of my favorite getaways in California were to local state parks and beaches. The redwood trees in Northern California provided the perfect canopy for a car camping trip and the bonfires out at Bolinas Beach allowed for daylong retreats that felt like a full week of relaxation. So, when I checked out the map for a good Easter retreat in NYC city the first thing that caught my eye was the state parks.

I've always wanted to visit the Adirondacks, which I've driven by a number of times on my trips up north for leaf peeping and similar adventures. But, understanding that a 5-hour drive was not in the cards for me last Easter weekend, I looked a bit further down on the map and found the Catskills Park. It looked like a large enough section of green on the one-dimensional map to satisfy my outdoor craving. And it appeared to have plenty of hiking and skiing options for the adventurer at heart. So, the Catskills it was...

We headed up Friday night, and including a 1-hour detour where we cursed the Garden State Parkway up-down-and-sideways for not providing ample on-ramps we made it to the Catskills Lodge in Windham by midnight. The lodge, which I choose based on their basic, but sweet Website, the kind voice of the woman who called me to confirm my reservation and the stellar Trip Advisor traveler reviews. Although our room was fairly small, it proved just large enough for us to get dressed in the morning and fall into bed at night, which is pretty much all we used it for. The ground floor was fairly nice, with a fireplace, pull down projector screen, large dinning table and but wouldn't have made much of an impression if the brothers hadn’t been there.

Three brothers run the Catskills Lodge and welcome their guests with such kindness and generosity it really feels like home. During our stay, over Easter weekend, we dyed eyes during the Lodge’s regularly evening happy hour and finished off 3 litters of wine with our group of 12 while chatting about our day. At night, we leisurely headed over to the recommended restaurants in neighboring towns like Woodstock and Jackson and dined on fancy fare like grilled cheese and turkey dinners.







Saturday was really the highlight of the trip. J and I are always out, which usually institutes some form of wandering the streets of Harlem, LES, West Village or lately Park Slope. But, as city-mice (my mom's term) we don't get much time to triumphantly dash up a mountain or slide down a slippery bed on a mission to find a waterfall. So, Saturday we set out to hike a mountain, walk completely around a lake we couldn’t see the other side of and embrace nature. Thanks to the chilly weather we ended up sliding up a frozen path to the base of a frozen waterfall, skidding around a frozen lake and almost falling through the thin ice, and downing cold beer to cool down the frost burn that had taken over most of my face. It was such a perfect reminder of why J and I are so happy together, no matter how icy the path gets.

Field Trip: Arthur Ave., Bronx

As a lover of Italian food, and past resident of Firenze, I’ve been eager to visit NYC’s ‘Real Little Italy’ since I first heard about it. Finding Italian ingredients at most major grocery stores seems simplistic, but uncovering the freshest most flavorful ingredients is another story. The single year I lived in Italy opened my eyes to what fresh veggies, herbs, and pastas can become when selected and combined together properly. Over a year, I fell in love with cooking, particularly Italian cooking.

The historic shopping area of Arthur Ave. was about a 15-minute walk from the train station (D, Fordham Road) and did not disappoint. My friend Risa and I started off with lunch at Emilia's on Arthur Ave. just down from 187th Street. They offered affordable lunch specials and great house red wine, which we tested (it still counts as testing if you drink a ½ litter in my book.) Although everything was good from the small ricotta raviolis to the hot antipasti but Risa’s gnocchi alla ragu won top honors at our table.

After we rolled ourselves out of the restaurant we headed across the street to the closed-air market, which offers everything from Italian cigars to fresh veggies for a price. We found tomatoes that actually smelled like tomatoes and basil that you could sniff from over a foot away. We chatted it up with the butchers at Mike’s Deli and treated ourselves to some sliced imported proscuttio de Parma (for a mere $6.)

Then we set out to find all the ingredients for our evening feast. We started our food journey at Calabria Pork Store for some Italian sausage, panchetta, and salami. The meat market was full of cured, and fresh meats alongside bins of olives and fresh mozzarella. One taste of the salami assured us that our dinner was going to be a hit. Our next stop, for our linguini and clam entrée was Randazzo's, right across the street. The little neck clams were beautiful and priced at just $4 a pound. After stopping for a quick coffee break, which included a debate with the café manager over Benicio Del Toro’s sexiness we moved on to Mt. Carmel for some wine to accompany our meal. We found some of my old favorites from Italy and packed up our purses.

Once along 187th Street we found the famous pasta house Borgatti, which cuts pasta to your preference for $2 a pound. We bought over 4 pounds of fresh pasta and 100 spinach and meat ravioli’s, which taste like little pillows of heaven. Then we speed down the street to Casa Della Mozzarella on the corner of 187 and Arthur, which sells 1.5 pound balls of fresh mozzarella for around $6 per pound. We picked up some parsley at a corner store and ciabatta, provolone bread and canola at Madonia Bread Store on our way home before we hiked back up to the subway station. The walk back was quite a bit more tedious than the walk there but was still quite rewarding.

Our dinner was a success and made me want to book a monthly shopping trip to Arthur Ave. Perhaps my next trip will be in spring when I can hit up the NY Botanical Gardens as well.

All the information I found to lead me to these wonderful places along Arthur Ave. were online at Chowhound (my favorite), Arthurave.com, and of course HopStop.com.

Feild Trip: Astoria

As the snow melted last weekend J and I decided to take a field trip to Queens.

Friday, after hiking around through the snow for the better part of the day (see post 'Winter...' below) I picked J up at work and headed off to dinner. Since J and I keep such different schedules, I knew J would not be up for a mellow dinner in the neighborhood or take-out at a friend’s house. So, we decided to do what we’ve been meaning to do for the past 2 years in this city….experience the Greek food in Astoria. Really, who hasn’t heard about the amazing Indian food in the East Village, the fabulous Pizza in Brooklyn, or the incredible Greek food in Astoria?

An amazing woman I had the joy of working with last year grew up in Queens and recommended her local favorite on Ditmars Ave., Aganti. I remember my friend mentioning it’s close proximity to the subway station, and didn’t second guess heading out there on a snowy night with tired legs. After a half-mile stroll from the subway station, searching for the restaurant I reconsidered my decision. But, J pushed on and we found the cozy, brick-walled eatery on the comer of 19th and Ditmars.

After a 20-minte wait, in which our pain was eased with a complimentary glass of wine we were seated among the Greek movie stars hanging from the walls. We were happily stunned when they seated us (on a busy Friday night) at a 4-top in a cozy corner of the restaurant. It’s funny to get used to being cramped but apparently I’ve grown comfortable eating off the lap of the stranger next to me.

The food was AMAZING and the prices were somewhere around what I’d expect in Philly (ok, really anywhere outside of Manhattan). Their Tzatziki holds the key to the perfect amount of dill and cumber citrus to the bitterness of Greek yogurt. The Moussaka, which I like to order as my measure of authenticity, certainly passed the test. And the Greek salad was the closest to the one I had in Athens that I’ve been working to recreate for 6 years. The sausage and mushroom phyllo pockets were fairly standard but I can’t wait to come back in the summer and try some of their seafood dishes.

The only disappointment was the service, which can ruin any dining experience. We were seated at the same time as another couple, which I later decided must have been Greek royalty. The two waiters and three busboys stopped by their table 5 times before they asked us if we’d like tap or bottled water. Sadly, half of our meal was spent trying to get a waiter’s attention without being rude (I suggested throwing forks but J protested) and took away from our amazing meal.

After our tummies were full of Greek goodies we headed out in search of a local bar to grab a drink. As we neared the subway station (N, Ditmars) J spotted a dark looking bar with a Guinness sign dangling in front of its sturdy wooden door. We entered the long bar around 10:30 and were met with a few unusual stares but thought nothing of it and took a seat at the bar. As the bar began to fill up we noticed the unique clientele was, from young women with bleach blond hair and TIGHT short dresses to older gentleman who spoke in whispered tones with heavy Greek accents. After 3 drinks we concluded that we must have stumbled into a Greek mafia bar and soaked in the experience.