Lunch and The Opera

Last weekend we had tickets to see Monodramas at the New York City Opera.  The NYCO is the building on the left here and the one in the center is The Metropolitan Opera.

 
A monodrama is a show with only one performer and the NYCO put together a show made up of three monodramas.  The first and the third portions of the show were not good.  They seemed to be attempts at "modern" opera and they just really went too far from a standard opera layout to be enjoyable.  The second show was quite good though.  It was called Erwartung and it was the story of a murder told backwards.  It was really well done and I enjoyed it quite a lot.

I generally love the opera and it is a rare thing to find that I didn't enjoy a show but Monodramas made my list of least favorites.  The first part was an opera based on an abstract painting that made very little sense.  It ended with a big fire though so that was kind of cool.  The third one was an opera based on a poem by Samuel Beckett that had a lot of neon colors and mirrored cubes that came down out of the ceiling.  It was a strange show!  The opera house is beautiful though.

We got there early to get our tickets to the show and since we had more than an hour to kill we went across the street to a restaurant called Rosa Mexicano and had lunch.  It was phenomenal!  I think I finally found a delicious Mexican restaurant in the city.  I had their fondue with peppers and sausage and my husband made a meal out of their guacamole.

They bring this big cart to your table and make the guacamole right in front of you.  It is made by hand without blenders or food processors and it was fabulous.  Rosa Mexicano is now our go-to spot for tasty Mexican food in the city!

Stupid Pigeons

On my way home from work today I passed a group of 6 pigeons hanging out on the sidewalk all huddled about eating something.  As I got closer I realized it was a McDonald's chicken sandwich.

Yeah, you read that correctly, the pigeons were eating a chicken sandwich.  Pigeons are apparently not smart enough to avoid pseudo-cannibalism.  I just kept waiting for one of them to fly away screaming, "Sidewalk sandwiches are people-I mean, birds!" but I don't think pigeons appreciate movie references of Charleton Heston.

Pigeons in the city are scavengers.  They will eat anything they can get their beaks on, including chicken apparently.  They have no shame.  They will pull food out of the garbage, off the street, out of anywhere they can find things.  There is a reason they are referred to as rats with wings, I suppose.

Max Brenner - Chocolate by the Bald Man

A few days ago my hubby and I decided to go out to dinner at one of our favorite places in the city, Max Brenners.  Max Brenners is a chocolate themed restaurant.  The decor is chocolate, the desserts are chocolate, and they have a chocolate shop built into the bottom floor.

The absolute best part of Max Brenner's is the way it smells when you walk in the door.  It smells like heaven!  It smells as though the wizards from Honeydukes have been using magic wands to bake chocolate chip cookies and chocolate cakes full of pixie dust and deliciousness.  Directly to your right as you wait to be seated are giant vats of liquid chocolate that make you wish they handed out giant straws at the entrance.

Even the decorations on the wall are chocolatey!  All over the restaurant they have stacks of chocolate bars bigger than my purse and jars of chocolate pieces and shavings arranged artistically on shelves.

If you get a chance to go I can't recommend it enough.  Their lunch and dinner menu is delicious, their desserts are phenomenal, and the chocolate gift shop is marvelous.  Stop by and take a deep breath when you get a moment - you won't regret it!

The Subway

One of my favorite things about living in NYC is the regular access to awesome public transportation.  The trains are, for the most part, reliable and quick.  The trains are also one of the most cost efficient ways to get around the city.

I live off of an express train line so my commute to work is about 20 minutes.  It is awesome!  I read the entire way to and from work and I don't worry about the cost of gas or insurance or worry about getting in an accident or getting a ticket.

The subways are well marked and easy to find.  I live just a few blocks from the subway entrance so it is a short walk to the train in the morning and on my way home there are dozens of stores on the street on my way home so picking up dog food or toilet paper or other necessities is super easy.

The train platforms tend to be open so you can see the trains going in both directions.  Sometimes it gets kind of loud but that is kind of expected since you are underground.  On every platform there is at least one map of the train lines so that you can find your way around.

The trains, buses, and the Metro North are all run by the MTA.  While I don't always like every decision they make I must say that they do a pretty dang good job of keeping the trains going.  The trains aren't perfect but they work perfectly for me!  I am so appreciative of having access to safe, reliable public transportation.  Big thanks to the city of New York for making it so easy to get around!

New York Top 10 List - Movies

This is my top ten list of movies made in or about New York.  Let me know if you agree, disagree, or have others you think should have been on the list!

10. Die Hard With a Vengeance
John McClane is suspended from the NYPD yet gets drawn into a deadly game with a terrorist plotting to blow up parts of NYC.

9. Breakfast at Tiffany's
The adventures of sweet and vulnerable Holly Golightly and a young writer named Paul.  A romantic, lovely film.  It should be a must see on everyone's list.

8. When Harry Met Sally
Such a fun movie!  Follow the lives of Harry and Sally, who meet as college graduates and become friends after a road trip to New York and spend the film trying to answer the question, "Can men and women be friends without sex getting in the way?"  And, the best part, Meg Ryan's fabulously hilarious scene in Katz's Deli:

7. A Chorus Line
Anyone who has ever had an audition or an interview of any kind can relate to the intense desire and need felt by every cast member in this wonderful film adaption of the Broadway show.

6. Splash!
A mermaid who once saved a young boy sprouts legs to come find him in NYC.  Adorably innocent, she falls in love with Allen but can't decide how to tell him her secret.  Such a fun, lovely film and it sparked the widespread love affair with the name Madison for little girls.

5. Coyote Ugly
Aspiring song writer moves to NYC to get her big break and works at a kick-ass bar run by women who know how to serve a drink!  An adorable love story built into the story of a woman going out in the world to make her mark, this film should be seen by every young woman, aspiring artist, and night club lover.

4. As Good As It Gets
This is one of my favorites, setting be damned, and it gets better every time I see it.  A neurotic author, a fed-up waitress, and a gay artist form a friendship of sorts in this adorable film.  If you haven't seen it you should rent it right away!

3. Rosemary's Baby
One of the most horrifying stories ever told, Rosemary is a young woman who is tricked and forced to give birth to a very evil child.

2. Funny Girl
One of my favorite films, Funny Girl tells the story of Fanny Brice starring the incredible Barbara Streisand.  If you are one of the people who only know of Babs from the mockery in South Park you need to see this movie.  You will understand why she has so many fans who love her!

1. Sleepless in Seattle
The quintessential romantic film, this story follows Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks through a long distance courtship started by his young son.  This movie asks the question, "What if someone you never met, someone you never saw, someone you never knew was the only someone for you?"

Ooh, square!

Every Friday at work we order in a variety of bagels and spreads for breakfast.  Usually we get an assortment of normal bagels, but not this week!  Take a glance at part of our bagel order from yesterday:

Square bagels!  I had never seen square bagels before yesterday morning.  I theoretically understood that they could be made in square shapes but the image of a bagel is always round in my mind.  The square bagels were tasty too!  This one had cheese baked into the top and there were several others that were covered in poppy seeds or other delicious toppings. 

Drag Queen Bingo

Last night we went out with a friend of ours for a wild Saturday night of peanut butter sandwiches and bingo.  Normally this sounds like something your grandma would do for fun but this was different and not at all grandma-like.  For dinner we went to Peanut Butter & Co. which serves mostly peanut butter sandwiches of various kinds that are all freaking amazing.  My husband had The Elvis, which is a peanut butter, bacon and banana sandwich and I had the lunchbox special, which is your choice of peanut butters and jellies.  I chose original crunchy and grape jelly, but they have ten different kinds of peanut butter including spicy, cinnamon, chocolate, honey, and maple varieties just to name a few.  They are all super tasty!  And they have a bunch of peanut butter related art on the walls.

They also sell all sorts of sodas that aren't available at most places.  They have key lime soda, cherries and cream, and other oddly awesome flavors.  This is the one that I had yesterday:

After we went to dinner we walked a couple of blocks to Le Poisson Rouge for Drag Queen Bingo. 

They have the effervescent Linda Simpson (probably the sweetest drag queen in the whole world) calling numbers and giving out fabulous dollar store prizes.  Well, technically New York doesn't have "dollar stores" in the sense that pretty much everything inside costs no more than a dollar.  We have stores that sell cheap stuff that call themselves 99 cent stores but the name isn't accurate in any way.  My favorite one is called 99 Cents or Less Or More.  Heh.  Talk about truth in advertising! 

They gave away a bunch of stuff, including the prize that I won!  I won some safari animal wall appliques and other people won a change bank shaped like two mice driving a car, a collection of miniature dolls, and a dinosaur with working jaw action.

At the end of the night they play one last game for a cash prize.  Last night the cash prize was $116 dollars!  We didn't win it though.  Actually the winner was a doctor, which kind of rubbed everyone else the wrong way.  Consensus seemed to be that if you earn 6 figures or more per year you shouldn't claim cash prizes, especially given the current economy.

We had such a great time!  I think we are going to make Drag Queen Bingo a regular part of our lives from now on.

Public House New York

On Wednesday we went to a restaurant called Public House New York.  The restaurant is beautiful (though it is hard to tell by my picture as I didn't use the flash so I wouldn't upset other diners) and they have a really amazing menu.  Let me tell you all about our dining experience!

 

We arrived after work on purpose because they have a dress code requiring shirts with collars for men and business attire for women so we wanted to be dressed appropriately.  Once we were inside the decor was gorgeous but it was marred by the excessive number of giant televisions all over the place.  It turns out it was the largest, most expensive sports bar in the whole world so that explained the noise and the televisions.  At first we were a little bothered by the intrusive environment but once we saw the menu we figured it had to be worth it.  Everything looked fabulous!  We ordered 2 appetizers, the philly cheese steak egg rolls and a side of jalepeno bacon macaroni and cheese and they were delicious.  I couldn't imagine a tastier appetizer!  The macaroni and cheese was so good it almost seemed to come from some kind of Faustian deal with the devil where the inventor traded their soul for the ability to create the world's greatest side dish.

Then we ordered our entrees, a steak with broccoli and red potatoes for me and short ribs and potatoes with onions for my husband.  The entrees were disappointing at best.  My potatoes seemed as though they hadn't been cooked at all and the sauce on the ribs was not great according to my husband.  We ended up wishing we had ordered one of their sandwiches instead.  All of those looked amazing too...they had a pulled pork sandwich that looked divine and they had a crab cake B.O.L.T. (bacon, onion, lettuce and tomato) sandwich that seemed as though it had been created especially for my husband so we ended up thinking longingly of the sandwiches while eating mediocre entrees.  We boxed up most of the food to go and decided to try their desserts, primarily because I wanted to be able to write about them here but also because we are sugar addicts.

Their cookie dough smash was really, really tasty.  The hot chocolate chip cookie covered with vanilla ice cream was delicious, though I will say I would expect nothing less from chocolate chip cookies anywhere.  So overall on a scale from 1-10 the appetizers were a 10, the dessert was a 9, and the entrees were a 4.  The restaurant as a whole gets a 6 from me, though I will admit that if I had ordered a sandwich instead of a steak I probably would have given it an 8.  I have to say that if you go to the restaurant give the appetizers a try and save your big meal for another restaurant.

Woo! Thank You Everybody!

I wanted to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who has visited my blog so far.  Now that I have officially had 100 views I feel accomplished!  Well, maybe not, but 100 visitors is still very cool to me.  I have had people reading my blog from the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the Philippines, and New Zealand.  I am so thankful for everyone who has taken a few moments to read my blog all over the world and I want to thank you the only way I know how - with pictures!

This is a blurry picture of the Chrysler Building.  I promise to get a better one at some point, but I thought the blur effect was pretty neat, especially on the reflection of the gargoyles.

This one is a picture of the puppy with her rubber donut.  She is super cute!

This is a picture of an empty subway car.  This is the subway that I take to work every single morning so I can guarantee I get a seat.

This is one of the kitties...he is a bit ticked off by being woken up for a photo shoot!

And here is kitty number two!

So thanks again to everyone who has stopped by so far.  I am looking forward to sharing even more of this great city with anyone who is interested.  And please feel free to leave comments!

The Magic Show and Dessert

Tonight my husband and I went to see a show called The Quantum Eye.  It was an adorable show of magic, mathematics and mentalism at the St. Marks Theater.  We got called up on stage to do a trick with the magician Sam Eaton and I learned how to do a very cute trick (of course, I will not reveal his secrets!) and my husband got to be amazed for an hour and a half.  He loves magic shows, comedy shows, and anything else like that so it always makes me happy to be able to take him to that kind of thing.  The St. Marks Theater was a lovely, intimate place with a cute little bar that sold hot, buttered cider that was delicious!

After the show we decided to grab a bite to eat.  We had a gift certificate for a restaurant near Grand Central so we went there only to find that they have a dress code and since we forgot our swim fins we ended up going to the Junior's location at Grand Central instead.  Anyone who has been to Junior's will tell you about their amazing cheesecake, but for my money there is absolutely nothing better in this world than their chocolate/chocolate layer cake.  It is the best, tastiest, most delicious chocolate cake I've ever had in my life!  This is also the place that introduced me to the concept of the egg cream.  Being from the south I had never heard of an egg cream before, but after learning that there were no eggs in an egg cream I tasted one and quickly became a big fan!

For dinner I had their grilled cheese and bacon on challah bread and my husband had their brisket melt.  It was incredibly tasty!  Junior's is one of our favorite places for dinner/dessert and we try to take people who come to visit us there at least once during their trip.  Everybody loves Junior's!

IFC Theater

This week my husband and I went to see the movie Cold Weather at the IFC Theater.  The movie was not great, but this isn't about the movie.  This is about the theater itself.

As big fans of independent film we love the IFC and other similar theaters around the city.  We always enjoy going to see a show there and Cold Weather was no exception.  While the movie wasn't very good the experience was divine!  The theater is right off the subway line so it is easy to get to and they showed the best prefilm short I have ever seen.  In fact it might be the only prefilm short I've ever seen, but that doesn't matter because it was fucking hilarious.

The short was called Seduce Me, starring and directed by Isabella Rosselini as part of a series called Green Porno.  Seduce Me was about the sexual habits of dolphins and it was done with giant dolphin puppets.  Go ahead and read that again, I'll wait for you to get back from your double take.  There is also a short about the sexual habits of deer and one about spiders and they all have Isabella and other actors in costume acting with the puppets.  It is one of the strangest things I've ever seen on the big screen and I loved every minute of it!  (For those of you that have to know what could be stranger than that I once saw a 3D porn movie from the 70's called Lollipop Girls and Hard Candy that had the red and blue 3D glasses that went with it.  It wasn't very well done and the 3D effects were mostly feet and "spray" but it was very funny.  At the climax of the film the 2 main characters were getting it on and then, out of nowhere, the chick was suddenly wearing a riding hat and holding a crop yelling, "Tallyho!"  That was stranger but also less fun.  Watching bad porn in a large group of strangers wasn't nearly as fun or interesting as I'd thought it would be at the time.)

Anywho, I highly recommend the IFC for anyone in NYC looking for something a little bit different to do on a free night.  It has tasty snacks, fun T-shirts for sale, and interesting movies playing all year long!