New travelogue: Costa Rica!

 

Thanks to this past weekend's deluge, we spent most of Saturday and Sunday inside--watching from our windows as brave souls battled torrential rains, frequently discarding spent umbrellas along the curb. And thanks to the yucky weather, we put together a travelogue about our recent trip to Costa Rica in record time. I feel particularly aware of how long and detailed this one is; sorry! We debated cutting it down to make it more readable, but know that we'll enjoy having the detail for ourselves one day. If you'd like to read (or skim) the trip report, you can find it linked in the travelogues on the right or click here.

Cussing awesome!

It took us far too long to see Wes Anderson's The Fantastic Mr. Fox, which we of course loved. First, there was a wonderful profile of Anderson in The New Yorker in November that had me excited. Shortly thereafter, we went to look at bits of the sets in the Christmas windows at Bergdorf Goodman (excitement doubled). And yet for some reason, we never actually made it to the movie until a few weeks ago. Up was wonderful, but I totally think Mr. Fox should have won the animated feature award at the Oscars.

This particular trip to the movies was enhanced by the fact that we found ourselves in Cinema One for the first time at the nearby Village East/City Cinemas (on 2nd Avenue). Whereas most of the screening rooms there seem to be just that--diminutive screening rooms--it turns out that the main theater is this wonderful old space with a huge, gilded dome (featuring a giant star of David)! We've been to this place over a dozen times and I can't believe I had no idea the room existed. It prompted me to do a little digging to find out more about this spot around the corner...

Apparently, the 1200-seat main auditorium was originally a Yiddish theater, built in the 1920s; it hosted burlesque for many years and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The building didn't add the six smaller screens to become a multiplex until 1991. 

Walter Matthau was a counter clerk at the popcorn stand. Carol Burnett starred in Once Upon a Mattress here in 1959. Marcel Marceau had his first American performance. The Night They Raided Minsky's was filmed here, and Grease and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas made their debuts here.

Who knew!?

(Production photos from here; historical photo from the NYPL, call no. AZ 05-546)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I had business at the Natural History Museum today; so, this year was my turn to walk up the parade route and take in all the bagpipers. It was a lovely day for a parade: nearly 70, with sunshine all day long! (Although I think bagpipe-playing was intended for cooler weather.)

Stumptown arrives

Last week, the New York Times ran an article, “New York is Finally Taking its Coffee Seriously,” about the recent explosion of cafes around the city—cafes where coffee is more of an art than a quotidian luxury. Having gathered some suggestions as to which coffee houses to visit from a story in Edible Manhattan a few months back, the trend hadn’t escaped us, but I have to admit that (as a Latte drinker first, and a coffee drinker second) I sometimes wondered if the better cups had more to do with the milk fat: at these finer coffee houses, I would never condescend to specify skim milk and so I get a smooth, creamy, whole-milk latte in return. At Starbucks, it’d probably be a “skinny latte” every time. Of course I could tell there was more to it than that, but I couldn’t have put the differences into words—excepting “yummmmmmmm.”

Apparently the key distinctions include beans roasted in the past ten days and ground to order; milk steamed to order; and baristas who are highly-trained on the peculiar functions of a manual espresso machine.  

Still, even before reading the Edible or Times articles, Aron and I had made a connection between places we liked to eat and Stumptown Coffee. Somehow the two seemed to go together. If there was a “We Serve Stumptown” sign in the window, there was a good chance we’d be happy customers.

So we were pretty excited when we found out that Portland-originated Stumptown Coffee Roasters had opened up a shop of their own just off the lobby of the ACE Hotel. The coffee—roasted in Red Hook—has us both humming love tunes. And you couldn’t ask for a much better setting (plus, I’m pretty jazzed that it’s close to my office).

The Times piece has a list of some of the other best coffee spots in the city. I’m thinking I might need a cheat-sheet for my wallet.

Blood Oranges

While we were traveling in Costa Rica, we encountered lots of beautiful hardwood products. But it was hard to know whether these were examples of a sustainable practice or whether they were part of the reason the rainforests are in jeopardy. When we saw this bowl and saw that it was certified as sustainable, having been made from felled wood, I didn't think we could pass it up.

This weekend, we made a blood orange salad so that we could use our new bowl. We also wanted to use an unusual cheese--which was a family-favorite growing up, and an Ashley-favorite as soon as she tasted it. Cougar Gold is made in Washington and then (unusually) canned, which helps preserve its rich, buttery, cheddary goodness much longer than it would be otherwise. Technically, oranges are a winter fruit, but there still seems something spring-like about citrus; and we need all the earmarks of seasonal transition we can get! So we opened a bottle of summery Rosé from and made a beautiful citrus salad on this icky-rainy night.

*P.S.--We're playing around with a larger image size for the main page. Hope you like it!

Passage to India

We're going to India! We've bought our tickets and have made most of the arrangements for the ten days that we'll be there--and I cannot believe how soon that is! We would usually try to space things out a bit more, but Aron had the rare opportunity for a longer break so that, in spite of the long flight, we would still have enough time there to justify the trip--we figured we needed to jump at the opportunity. And we thought traveling in April would mean we'd be there before it really got hot. (Which we've since learned from the reactions of those in the know is not going to be the case. But we'll be fine!)

To celebrate (and in the name of research) we made Indian food and watched Gandhi on Friday night (having already re-watched Darjeeling Limited and Slumdog Millionaire recently). Aron made his "Norwegian Tandoori Chicken." I've heard him call the dish this a few times now and I can't believe I never realized how ridiculous a name this is until now! "Wait--why Norwegian?" He explained that his Norwegian roommate in Australia used to make it and claimed it as a Norwegian dish because it used dairy. "You know, they eat so much yogurt."

Our house smelled like curry for most of the following day, but it was wonderful! Thank you, Aron's roommate.

Update: Thank you everyone for all the comments and well wishes! We're very excited! 

The recipe for "Norwegian Tandoori Chicken" is actually really easy--though I'll probably make it sound harder than it is. 

You'll need a Tandoori spice mix (I use Rajah Tandoori Masala spice, which we get from an Indian store near Ashley's work), chicken, onions, garlic, yogurt (I prefer the Greek-style yogurt), and an oven-proof pan that will hold your cubed chick in a single layer.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

-Cube boneless skinless chicken and cover each piece completely with the spice

-Chop 2 medium onions and 1 clove of garlic

-Sauté the chicken in some butter (Norwegian, remember) or ghee. Avoid the temptation to manipulate the chicken until the cubes are browned on one side; then flip.

-Once browned on both sides (but not cooked through) remove chicken from heat and set aside.
-Deglaze the pan: cook the chopped onions and garlic in the pan until the onions are clear
-Combine the sautéed garlic and onions with the yogurt (enough to halfway cover the chicken in the pan) and add more masala spice along with salt and pepper to taste. I also add cayenne pepper at this point.  

-Place the chicken on the yogurt-onion mix, and bake until the chicken is cooked through, usually 10-15 min depending on how thick your cubes are.

Enjoy!

(Photo of Victoria Station from here)

ACE Hotel

I met Ashley for lunch yesterday at the Breslin.
The Breslin is the latest restaurant from April Bloomfield (of Spotted Pig fame) and is located in the new Ace hotel, an oasis of awesomeness in the upper 20s. We'd been there one other time, and it was clear from this and from our last visit that this hotel had become a hangout not only for guests but for New Yorkers looking for a place with wifi and a great atmosphere--and with Stumptown coffee and vintage library tables in place, it's not surprising to learn that they've actually had some trouble preserving room in the lobby for guests. We did a little looking around while waiting for a table...

We ordered drinks, but--as Ashley had to go back to work and as I am a gentleman--I helped her finish hers, a Beggars' Banquet (Bourbon, maple syrup, lemon juice, Bitters, topped with ale). I had a Kingdom Come, made with scotch, orange essence, black tea syrup, lemon juice and egg white.

The Breslin sits squarely in the catagory of gastropub--rich comfort food made with precious ingredients. Various posters and statuettes remind you that you are about to eat meat, if not specifically where your cut would come from. Light poured into the bar, but just barely seemed to make it into the dining area. 

 

Ashley had a decadent three cheese and ham (which was more like prosciutto cotto than deli ham) sandwich with delicious little pickles and spicy, whole-grain mustard. I had a lamb burger, which reminded me of some of my favorite burgers, only with a stronger, more meaty flavor. It was all excellent.

Have a good weekend!