Pescatore, NYC

 [via cell 2nd and 51st]

Okay, so I am totally completely loving my dining experience.  Mother grilling her son about his job on my left, senior execs talking about online dating to my right.  Taxis, dogs and strollers whizzing in front of me.  The waiter can tell by looking at my martini that it is not dirty enough, but it tastes fantastic anyway.

np:

Our Transformation, The Joy of Disease

Tangambara, Ali Farka Toure

Oh Yeah, Can

Barcelona Wine Bar

New Haven just had its Restaurant Week.  Since I was working there again, I partook of all prix fixe meals for lunch AND dinner.  The cost was so reasonable, it was within my daily meal allowance for work.

[click here for the entire recipe]

The Roasted Olive tapa is olive-y, but with very unexpected bright notes.  Absolutely delicious.  If you are wandering around Yale campus.  Check them out.  They are at 155 Temple Street in the same building as the Omni Hotel.  They are very hip and do not have a sign.  Just look for the wood slats and go in the door.  Yum.

And for the most amazing Riojas, try Cerro Añon 2004 Reserve.  A bottle is ~$19 -- not so bad for a special occasion. 

np:

Ten is the Power by Children Ask

Murder in the Space Station by The Science Fiction Corporation

Morning Sun Flower by Dirty Filthy Mud

An oasis in a crazy city...

Stepping into Grand Central Terminal can
be a maddening experience.
However -- I do love to visit the Grand Central Market.
Even if there are a thousand briefcases in there,
everything just falls away
and I can enter a quiet place.

A row of yogurts made from local creameries,
a tiny package of nuts, a gourmet candy bar -- these are things
that make me feel good to be alive.
Or perhaps I am too obsessed with food...
In any case, it gives me the fortitude to get on to work.

So in honor of the 'happy place', here are a few pictures of yummy
and unique things from this little oasis in a crazy city.

 

[entrance from inside GCT]

Click here for detailed pics and reviews from someone with better skills than I.

 
[dishes]

[Maple Hill Creamery at Murray's Cheese]

  [ca$hew cow zzang bar also at Murray's Cheese]

np:

Bryan Ferry, a small good thing

Toungere, Ali Farka Toure

Immortal Egypt, Hoasam Ramzy

Loew's Coronado Bay Resort, San Diego, CA

[the constellation room -- one of the fine meeting spaces at loews coronado bay]

 

I had a meeting here this past Saturday.  It was 10F when I left NY on Friday morning.  When I emerged from the SAN airport -- still on Friday morning -- the sun was so bright and stunning that I had to text BF about it.  I hadn’t seen sunlight like that in about 3 months.

THE BOTTOM LINE (at the top)

For those of you who just need the poop: this hotel has outstanding service, which is great for a business traveler like me.  The food is excellent.  They get big props for being dog friendly.  The rooms are fine.  This place seems to have a lot of families, so although the martinis are VG, I'd go elsewhere in San Diego for grown-up fun and games.

THE ROOM

The soaking tub!  It was everything I could have wanted.  The room was otherwise perfectly fine, but unremarkable.

THE POOL

I got in at noon and didn't have to meet anyone until dinnertime.  I spent about two hours by the pool – in the sun and fresh air.  It was pretty quiet at this time of day (~1 – 3pm on a Friday).  They provide huge towels and cucumber water and you can get room service delivered as well.  By some freak celestial alignment, I had finished ALL of my work the day before, so I had nothing to do.

So I did nothing at the pool.

For 2 hours.   

Do you know how good that feels?  (No, really -- do you????)

THE SPA

Whenever I have a meeting at this kind of place, I always book a spa service.  I did the "Spa Tasting Menu" at the Sea Spa.  I chose the Traveler's Relief massage and the paraffin hand treatment.  Both were great.

My massage therapist was Elizabeth.  She was AMAZING -- and I am NOT just saying that.  I always want a deep massage – the more sadistic the better.  I often have trouble getting people to be as intense as I would like, but not Elizabeth.  She gets in there and gets the job done.  We worked on all of my traveling muscles and it felt wonderful.  If you ever find yourself at the Loews Coronado Bay, book a massage and ask for Elizabeth.

[oh yeah, that's me in the picture... lol!  i crack myself up!]

THE FOOD

The food was *excellent* -- particularly the mahi mahi sliders, which were delivered to me poolside.  You can get food delivered to you wherever you are on the campus – they will just bring it to you.  These were so good, I almost didn't have time to take the picture before I inhaled them.  I really have to make these.  BTW, they have avacado aioli on them.  Maybe I will make some for my Super Bowl party?  Maybe I will just make them and eat them myself...

...but I digress.

The Berry Butler:  This resort made a little news last year when they retained the services of a Berry Butler.  I had wanted to find the Berry Butler himself, but had to settle for just the smoothies.  They served them during one of the meeting breaks.  They were good, but not awesome.  But I’m not particularly into smoothies, so I don't even know why I am writing this.

The restaurant does not know how to make iced coffee – at least not on the morning that I got one.  Coffee -- straight out of the urn -- onto some defenseless ice.  [I found out later that there is a coffee shop that serves SBUX coffee, but I didn’t try it.]

They do make a good martini.  Their buttermilk pancakes are great – fluffy and luxurious.

THE SERVICE

The service was quite fantastic.  Everyone was friendly, efficient and intelligent.  While I was there, they found my sweater that I had dropped someplace between the airport and my room.  They will deliver food or drink to you anywhere you want.  You can throw anything at the front desk and they will have it sent to your room. 

THE SHOPS

They have just a couple of shops, not awesome, but nice.  (If you want to book a hotel with shops, go to The Del.)

•  In addition to the normal gift shop/sundry fare, the lobby gift shop has some very nice clothes of the ‘glam-yoga’ variety -- beautiful [cotton? modal?] open cardigans, with extra-long sleeves and tasteful ruffles.  They were all black or brown (as I recall).  Prices were *slightly* less expensive than a similar resort shop.
• There is a shop on the other side of the lobby that just sells beach-themed T-shirts. [blech]
• The third shop is part of the spa and they have very typical luxurious bath robes, slippers and more glam-yogawear.  They also have the requisite beauty products.  The prices were not out-of-hand.  I was glad to see that they sold travel size versions.  Some hotels don’t [wtf].  I bought this solid perfume.  It smells heavenly and doesn't have to go in the baggie (not yet).

Pacifica Waikiki Pikake - jasmine and sandalwood

 THE PRICE

This is a 4-star resort and spa in San Diego, CA.  It's expensive.

THE SWEETIES

This resort is very much a family place.  There were lots of kids running around.  However, this hotel is DOG-FRIENDLY.   I personally got to smooch with an adorable plush bulldog, a cutie Papillion-ish mix and a toy poodle with beautiful long ears – all with families attached, but who cares, I still got to be foolish with dogs.

They also have birds.  There is a bird cage in the corridor just off the lobby with these cute little finch-type birds. They were grey with red hats, but they were camera shy.

THE CONS

I wouldn't call these earth-shattering, but nonetheless...

• The front door is not automatic and is not revolving.  It’s pull-open, but the bellmen were not always there, like when we walked in with our luggage.
• The anemic little hair dryer in the bathroom does not go to the higher speed – either disabled or broken; but I didn’t have the time to ask for another one because I had a plane to catch.  So I hated my hair the entire way home.
  
• The intake vent in my room had a carpet of dust on it (it was in the ceiling at the entrance).  I doubt that it has ever been cleaned.
• Waste receptacles in the spa bathroom stalls were gross.  They looked rusty and moldy.  They are step cans, which is inconvenient when you don't want to touch the lid -- what are you supposed to do, rotate on your throne to get your foot over there?

_______________________________________

Side trip to Hotel del Coronado
We went here for drinks after the meeting on Saturday.  The lobby was appropriately gorgeous.  I *did* actually gasp when I walked into the lobby.  The bell captain was happy to explain a lot of history.  He was very patient with us.  (I think we were a little noisy and obnoxious.)

Here are some facts that I learned (but that everyone else in the world already knew):

• “Some Like It Hot” was filmed at this hotel. 
• This was the first hotel to get electricity.  Although the electrical system was designed by Thomas Edison, contrary to popular belief, he did not install it himself.  Back in the day, guests could have their choice of gas-lit or electricity in their rooms.  Some people didn’t know enough about electricity and were fearful of starting a fire, so they chose gas.
• L. Frank Baum wrote "The Wizard of Oz" while living at the hotel, but he did not base the Emerald City on it.  Baum had already written about the fictitious setting before ever visiting the hotel.  Someone told me that a sidewalk there inspired the yellow-brick road, but that was not corroborated.
• The Del is one of the largest all-wood structures in the United States.  [The bell captain knew all of the types of wood used in the lobby.  It was breathtaking, actually.]

We had drinks on the Sun Deck around 7 – 8:30pm on a Saturday night.  It was pretty barren (but of course it was 'winter').  There were lots of seating areas surrounding gas-lit fire pits.  Had it been light out, we could have seen the ocean.  Drinks were reasonable by NYC standards.  The bartender on duty did NOT know how to make a dirty martini.  I do not know where they got their olive brine from, but it tasted strange and there was waaaaay too much.  [I like to joke that I like olive brine with a shot of vodka -- but I think this was the very ratio that the bartender used.  Guess I can't make that joke anymore...]

_______________________________________



_______________________________________ 

THE MEETING PLANNER

I have to give a shoutout to Liz Fordi and everyone from Miller-Tanner.  It’s a bad sign when you and the meeting planner have seen each other so many times that you greet each other like old friends, but we use this group whenever we do a meeting.  They really take care of you, I mean really.  They find you anywhere in the hotel, shepherd you to the meeting room, change flights and bring your new boarding pass to you wherever you are [in the bar].  They will ship any binder or meeting detritus anywhere you want.  I love to see their names on the ‘save the date’ invites to any prison-camp meeting that I receive. 

_______________________________________

p.s.  This was in the bible drawer.  Pretty cool.

Make love not trashbag

Check out the Garden Tote bag from our friends at Make Love Not Trash.  All products from MLNT are constructed from natural, eco-aware and non-toxic materials. 

Not enough good karma for ya?  Proceeds from their sales have gone to various charities like Gabrielle's Foundation for Cancer Research and The Alzheimer's Association.
 
This particular tote has also received the prestigious 'Best of the Best' designation from ebags.com.  

It's roomy, strong and very adorable.   I love the gathers on either side and the stability when you stand it up.  Much more durable -- and MUCH hipper than the Stop n Shop totes! 

np:

Walk Away, Black Sabbath

Song for Alabi, Bliss
WFMU Song, BJ Snowden

Cheating on Diabolic

Zoya Loredana Matte - In the immortal words of Peter Griffin, this nail polish is freakin' sweet -- a bottle of wonderful-ness.

This picture is from the fan photos uploaded to the All Lacquered Up FACEBOOK PAGE.

The caption on the picture says "Oredana".  I googled 'Oredana' and only came up with 'Loredana'.  So, assuming it was a typo on the fan photo, I made my choice.

And I was surprised when I saw it in person.

This picture is from the All Lacquered Up WEBSITE.

Although I had my heart set on some dark taupe color, the real color is simply gorgeous.  And it goes with eeehveerryyythiing.

Hold it up against any color and it looks good.  Look at it in the light of your MacBook and it looks good.  See it in the sunlight on your steering wheel and it looks good.  It's like a combination of that Willy Wonka lickable wallpaper and a cameleon.  I'm loving this intensely.



20100106 UPDATE: This polish does not last very long before chipping -- about 1 day.  After some investigation, I found this comment from the Art of Beauty website:

MATTEVELVET nail color by Zoya is not intended to be worn with a base coat, top coat or speed dryer of any kind. Due to the unique matte formulation, color is not as long wearing as traditional nail color. A completely clean, dry nail surface yields the best results for matte nail color wear.

np:

The Dream, Gong

Readymade, Beck

Moonchild, Chris Cornell

DTW - Detroit Metro Airport

I had a long layover at DTW this week.  I *do* like this airport.  It's got just enough -- I mean that it has just enough shops and perks without being overwhelming.  It's also very well designed.   The ceiling height and the width of the councourse allow you to get an overview of all of the gates and restaurants down the aisle.  I'm having trouble articulating this and I couldn't really find a good picture online.  You just feel oriented the whole time.

[each gate sign has its own clock]

[Note that the following beautiful pictures were taken by Scott Beale at Laughing Squid.  There is a series for both the tunnel and the fountain.  They are both worth checking out!]

Light Tunnel:

To get between concourses, you can use the red tram in the above picture or this lighted pedestrian tunnel.  Imagine a half-pipe combined with a mood ring.  You ride along on the Jetson sand-belt thing or you can just walk down the middle. The colors in the ceiling are synchronized with an original musical score and they change and morph while you are making your way through.

I should like it more than I do.  I appreciate the sense of calm that it intends, but the lights sometimes make me feel like they will trigger a migraine.  I suppose if there were a real problem with seizures, there would be a warning sign posted.  Or they would hand out blinders or something.

Dancing Fountain

This is just to the left when you emerge from the Light Tunnel into Concourse A.  Everything that you could ever want is to the left in Concourse A -- SBUX, a spa and this fountain.  I could watch it for hours.

OraOxygen

I am a spa addict.  I have an acute sense of when I'm approaching one.  Shall we call it 'spa-dar'?  No, you're right.  We probably shouldn't.

They gave me an 'oxygen treatment with aromatherapy' while waiting for my manicure.  Personally, I think you can skip this.  They hook you up to a nebulizer with a nasal cannula.  What made it worth every penny was that they gave me an ottoman to put my feet up.  That was amazing.  It felt sooooo good.

The manicure was very good.  She also gave me a great tip for removing mistakes with dark nail polish (I was wearing Diabolic).  She had these little artist brushes, which she dipped into straight acetone.  The polish comes right off of your skin.  She said that you have to use 100% acetone or it doesn't work as well.  I think this tip will change my life in some way.

For a directory of airport spas, about.com has this nice list.

Smoking Policy

This airport allows smoking -- albeit in designated areas, but that includes any restaurant bar.  If you must stay away from cigarette smoke of any type, then you should avoid the restaurants with bars.  I went to the Grey Goose Martini Lounge.  It must have been very well ventilated because I couldn't smell a thing and my table was pretty close to the poor puffers.

Hotel 17, New York, NY

Another brilliant experience from BF.  He planned everything and I did not have to lift a finger.  He is so sweet!  

On Saturday, we went to a play and stayed overnight instead of jumping right back on the train.  He picked Hotel 17, a few blocks east of Union Square.  This is a quintessential European-style hotel, complete with a teeny tiny lobby and a cute microscopic elevator.  Most of the rooms are shared-bath, but we were unexpectedly 'upgraded' to a room with a private bath.

You don't go to NYC to be in a hotel room, so there are no extras -- just a double bed, nightstand, a chest of drawers and a TV.  It was quiet, clean and we easily adjusted the room temperature to our liking.  I particularly appreciated being able to open the window.  (Too many hotels have you vacuum-sealed in the room -- without molecule of fresh air.)

In the off season, you can get a room for around $90, which will involve a shared bath (two to four rooms to a bath).  Since we stayed during the holiday season, we paid $168.

And that is all I remember about the room.  We walked in, dropped our bags, walked out and returned at whatever hour, then slept.  The next morning we got up and left.  This is the ideal NYC hotel.  I don't remember anything because I was able to sleep comfortably.  The memorable stuff was outside. 

PIT - Pittsburgh International Airport

I think this is pretty much my favorite airport in the country.  I used to fly in and out of this airport when I was a kid.  It was pretty bad.   In 1992, PIT transformed the airport from an arrangement of what we called 'pig troughs' to one of the nicest airports in the country.  It is open, airy and it has art exhibits scattered around the terminals.

Megan Herwig: The Block Clouds: Mixed Media

Urbanic 2: Catalysing a Regional Economic Renaissance exhibit 

featuring local Pittsburgh artists

curated by MoxBox Consulting

PIT was the first airport in the country to use the AirMall concept.  This is different than other airport marketplaces because the prices are not inflated to airport pricing; they are priced as any other mall in the area. It's meant to feel like a local mall and it has enough shops to fill a galleria.  PIT has also received top status in Condé Nast Traveler’s '2009 Business Travel Award' for the areas of shopping, dining and amenities.

 

[calder mobile exhibit via flickr]

There is one common terminal for all arrivals and departures.  The terminals have a spacious layout that feels 'uncrowded'.  There are plenty of restrooms and there are help-desks for visitors on the airside and the landside. 

A feature that I particularly like is that they provide all postal services including USPS, FedEx and UPS.  They even have a RiteAid.

If you get stuck there for some reason, there is a Hyatt Regency attached to the airport.  You don't even have to go outside.  (You will have to go through security to get back in, though.)