Dinner With Mike

One of the other people I managed to catch up with during my whirlwind visit to New York was an alumni from Thoughtworks, Mike. Since he didn’t have the luxury of being on holidays, I ended up catching up with him for dinner at a very fancy restaurant called Public (review to come).

Mike

As usual, when catching up with people, it was great to see how life was treating him and to see that this year was looking up for him. We chatted about lots of different stuff and had an awesome evening. Thanks for picking the great place for dinner!

WD-50, The Restaurant

Although the name sounds like some sort of variant of the lubricant, cleaner and anti-corrosive WD-40, this restaurant bears no other resemblance and is actually a combination between the restauranteur’s name and the address. I wanted to try this place out as the chef was well known for matching bizarre and strange ingredients, much along the lines of The Fat Duck. Karl and I had dinner here, first trying an appetizer and entree (main course) the followed by the three course dessert tasting menu. What followed was an extravaganza of a meal.

Our waitress provided fantastic service throughout the night and we joked with her about a number of things (like the endless cutlery that accompanied everything). She also gave us two glasses of free dessert wine (a light rose, and followed with the muscat) that went smashingly with the multi-course desserts we had.

Read on to find more about our culinary journey. Read more “WD-50, The Restaurant”

Dinner with Karl

Whilst in new York, one of the people I managed to catch up with was Karl. Though I knew him from back home in Australia, I guess I saw him much more frequently when he lived and worked here in London. Now working at the UN (yes, that one) I think the last time I’d seen him was when he had first got to states last year. I’m really glad to hear how he’s living his dream of living and working in Manhattan.

Karl

We had a fantastic time dining at WD-50 (that I’ll write up separately) and some bar that turned out to be slightly Australian-themed called Barramundi. Cheers for the good time mate!

Habits

I just got in to London this morning from my trip to New York and I’ve finally finished doing all the things you do when you get back from a trip – unpack, do some laundry, and generally unwind. One thing that I noticed, in the haze of little sleep and yet another timezone, was one of my annoying habits when doing all of this.

Do you, like me, tend to move one pile of things from one place to another? I’m sure I’ve done it plenty of times before as well. It feels like you’re making progress, by moving things and doing stuff, yet at the same time, feels like procrastination. Actually, I’m pretty sure it is procrastination.

Chelsea Market

Walking around the West side of New York, I stumbled across the Chelsea Market. I’d never been through this place in all my visits to New York and I was mightily impressed by what’s inside. At the entrance, they have the New York version of the Westbourne Grove cafe/store, 202 (who, I might add, serve one of the tastiest french toast/bacon dishes for brunch) and the glitzy though expensive Buddakan. Inside is dotted with a huge variety of bakeries, produce places and restaurants. I find out later that this place is the shooting location for many of the shows off the Food Network, and its neatly refurbished interior is definitely an ideal backdrop for many of these shows.

Chelsea Market

One of the best things about this place that I liked quite a lot is the open kitchens of all the places – you can see master bakeries preparing the dough for the rows and rows of ovens, or watch as they whip up a fresh milkshake at Ronnybrook’s Milk Bar. There’s a couple of places to have coffee, a number of small boutique stores and is just great meandering around.

Ferrying Around New York

One of my most favourite things to do as a tourist in New York is to catch the Staten Island Ferry. It’s a half hour trip in one direction and getting a harbour view of the city for a boat trip you don’t have to pay for is completely worth the time. Better yet, you pass the Statue of Liberty on the way to and from Staten Island.

My parents hadn’t done the trip yet, so we thought we’d do it yesterday and other than the especially windy cold breeze outside, they enjoyed the experience.

Staten Island Ferry Ride With Family

A Night at Nobu

My family tends to avoid famous restaurants and by habit, we prefer closer to home-cooked meals, at reasonable prices and with an atmosphere that doesn’t have to resemble a club to be enjoyable. Even then, if we end up going to an upscale place, it has to be for a pretty special occasion and what we call special occasions are far and few between. Getting everyone in my immediate family together in New York is one of those special occasions that we thought we’d splash out and celebrate as a family. The result? Dinner for twelve at the famous Japanese restaurant, Nobu.

Nobu

Although I ate at the Las Vegas version of this restaurant, dining at the flagship restaurant with the family and some other relatives ended up with as a much more enjoyable meal lasting over ten courses and stretching over at least three hours. I’m glad to say that our waiter worked extremely well for his service charge, telling us about the menu in great detail, talking about his own recommendations, topping up everyone’s water frequently and bringing the food at a reasonable pace. He didn’t try to up sell certain types of food or try to push things that we didn’t want to eat or drink, and he didn’t interrupt during our meal at awkward times, breaking the flow of whatever conversations we might have been in.

Read on to see the list of dishes we ate and photos of the food (at least those that turned out). Read more “A Night at Nobu”

Return to New York

It seems that after Australia and London, New York seems to be my third home based on the amount of time I’ve spent there. I guess it helps to have relatives and friends living there and the transatlantic prices after the Christmas and New Year period make the trip more financially appealing. My dad, mum and brother visiting New York also gives the perfect excuse to return as well.

Chrysler Building in New York

I’m only really here for just over a week so I’m just spending as much time with the folks as much as possible. A trip to New York to meet the folks is way easier than the round-the-globe trip back to Australia where you simply lose two days in travelling time alone. New York itself hasn’t changed that much with the big cars, the yellow cabs, and the noticeable New York accent everywhere you turn.

The weather in New York is noticeably much colder than in London, and the standard three layers is barely enough to get by outside. There’s been promise of snow, so I guess that’s an indicator though all we’ve managed to get so far is rain ranging between a heavy downpour and light drizzle. It’d be great to be able to see snow, though I guess walking around in piles of the stuff and the inevitable slush that follows wouldn’t be great all week.

I look forward to catching up with a couple of people later in the week after the family heads off and seeing a little bit more of the Manhattan lifestyle.