Not native, never will be

My two readers already know this, but as of this Friday, July 31st, I will say good-bye to New York City, and subsequently, this blog. I had the best intentions of staying in New York for at least two years to experience life on the East Coast: the golden autumn, snowy winter, sprightly spring, and sweltering summer. The pizza, bagels, wings, and Shake Shack. And the subway trains and cab rides, the masses of people and the tall buildings.I managed to do a lot of the things I wanted during my time here, including:

• An off-Broadway play, "God of Carnage" (of which I had always meant to blog about and which actually won a Tony award this year)
• a ballet production of "Romeo and Juliet" at the Lincoln Center
• a New Yorker Festival event
• a Mets game
• a NY Rangers game
• an air guitar regional championship
• the AIDS Walk
• visits to the Guggenheim, Natural History Museum, MOMA
• Afternoons talking bikes at Continuum Cycles
• 2 trips to Fire Island
• 2 trips to Naples, Fl
• 1 trip to London
  
• a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge
• Many visits to Pegu Club and to our local Community Food and Juice (which was blighted by a kitchen fire what seems like many months ago, boo! Re-open before we leave, please?)
• Many bike rides through Manhattan, Central Park and along the Hudson
  

All fun activities that made me fall in love with this city. But I also spent the whole year alternately wishing each of my respective home cities, San Francisco and New York, could be a little more like the other. Unfortunately, I think I will always suffer from wanderlust. Thank you, New York. I guess if I can make it here, I can make it anywhere.

The fresh, the good, and the ugly of Saturday

Having a late lunch at Oyster Bar in Grand Central StationMaking stews and panroasts since 1913Oohing and ahhing over glassware, espresso cups, and bits and bobs at Fishs EddyRetching at the ugliness of Ed Hardy glassware and home accessories at Macy's. (Who the hell buys that crap??)Seriously?

36 Hours in NY (give or take a few)

A weekend in review

Friday, February 27th
Attempt to eat arepas at Caracas, a Venezulan eatery featured in "Throwdown with Bobby Flay." Find an hour and 45 minute wait, so walk to Bua for drinks. Nibble on Berkshire pork sliders, split a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches on Blue Ribbon Pullman loaf (one taleggio, one aged Irish cheddar) and imbibe a few cocktails to quell the appetite.

Return to Caracas, order a sampling of their finest arepas, such as the La Sureña, with grilled chicken and chorizo, and the Reina Pepiada, with chicken and avocado. Take a walk around the East Village, passing Tompkins Square Park, whilst partaking in the unseasonably warm weather.

Feel surprisingly peckish with a hankering for ramen, so head to Ippudo. Observe the strange ratio of hovering wait staff to customers and witness your hostess actually burn her hair accidentally in a candle on the table. Wait for unpleasant smell to dissipate. Get your bowls of ramen. Slurp, enjoy, then walk to the Union Square station to get home.

Saturday, February 28th
Fill up on a freshly toasted Absolute Bagel with jalepeño cream cheese to power you through the day. Properly fed, head to the Guggenheim to take in "The Third Mind" exhibition. Soak in all the culture until you can't take anymore, then wander the Upper East Side. Attempt to enjoy a late lunch at Flex Mussels, find it closed, so scavenge for something else. Happen upon Andre's Cafe & Bakery. Find old-world service (i.e., slow), but scrumptious comfort in veal goulash, chicken paprikash, a chicken paprikash crepe, meat crepe, mushroom soup and a deliciously flaky apple strudel for dessert.

Digest by walking down Lexington to a 6 train station stop. Hop on the train to SoHo for swanky cocktails at Pegu Club.Discover the most phenomenal cocktails ever, in quite possibly, the most relaxing place in Manhattan. While away a few hours and be ballers by ordering almost every cocktail on the menu. Feel blissfully unwound.

Sober up with a tasty Greek dinner of mezes, including crispy cod and sheep's milk ravioli topped with fried shallots, at Kefi, in the Upper West Side. Slumber, deeply.

Sunday, March 1st
Return to the Lower East Side for brunch at Inoteca. Savor the best thing of the weekend, the truffle egg toast with bottarga (cured tuna roe) and sautéed asparagus tips. Order two.Hop on the F train to check out the Brooklyn Flea in DUMBO. Support local crafters and printmakers. Warm up with a cup of tea and possibly a Mudslide cookie from Jacques Torres. Go for a stroll, accidentally head into the projects attempting to walk to Williamsburg. Find a subway station back to Manhattan to take a train to Williamsburg instead.

Check out the discounted wares at Brooklyn Industries, then cross the street to Peter Luger for an early dinner reservation. Feast on an old-school steakhouse meal of shrimp cocktail, tomato and onion salad, creamed spinach, German style potatoes, a porterhouse steak, and 2 rib eyes to split. Fall asleep on the train back to the Upper West Side.

Say good-bye to your friends visiting from San Francisco. Wish that the two cities were closer so that you wouldn't have to gorge yourselves so ridiculously in such a short period of time.

NYC Ramen Tour #3: Ippudo

Friday night, Evan and I finally tried the famed and much hyped Japanese ramen noodle chain, Ippudo. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, but we probably would have been tsk'd and shamed if we even tried -- not by the restaurant itself, but by the weirdly uptight, too-cool for school clientele. Ippudo has a trendy, clubby atmosphere, which I would have preferred to take in from one of their bar seats versus from one of their communal tables. Whatever your preference, it's definitely a lively scene.

As for the ramen, it really didn't disappoint. Evan called it "contemporary Japanese ramen," which seems like an appropriate description. In the realm of New York City ramen shops, Men Kui Tei is the old-school, old-world Mom and Pop shop, while Ippudo is the dolled up, sophisticated, and a little rebellious daughter.

I ordered the Tonkotsu ramen special and Evan ordered the Spicy Tonkotsu ramen. Both were superb in terms of savory, porcine broth flavor and springy noodle freshness; far better than Minca. The only complaint I have, besides the atmosphere, is the lack of pork. Props to Ippudo for using top quality, deliciously tender Berkshire Pork, but one thin slice is pretty piddly for a $13 bowl of soup. (Please sir, I want some more!) Still, I'd definitely return. Perhaps not for dinner, but absolutely for lunch.

Ippudo
65 4th Ave., New York, NY 10003

Best discovery of the weekend

Oh, Dr. Brown, where have you been all my life? I've never been a regular imbiber of sodas, save the occasional frothy mug of root beer with a slice of pizza, but upon a trip to Artie's Delicatessen, I found a new refreshing soda to love. Behold: Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray Soda.Flavored with celery seed extract, according to Wikipedia, this soda is apparently fairly easy to find in New York City, but rather obscure outside the region. I've been hoping for a vegetal flavored comeback of this sort after I first tried an inspired and subtly nuanced cocktail featuring fresh celery juice at The Alembic on Haight Street, in San Francisco. Sadly, I don't see it offered on the current cocktail menu. I'll have to see if I can recreate that cocktail, but until then, I'll be sipping Cel-Ray when I can. Anyone know where, or if it's sourced anywhere in the Bay Area?

NYC Ramen Tour #2: Men Kui Tei

Long cold weekends are good for more than just ice skating. We capped off our day of skating by continuing our ramen tour. This time, we returned a repeat: Men Kui Tei.It's a hole-in-the-wall place, packed with Japanese and Asian diners. In the battle between Men Kui Tei and Minca, Evan choses the former, hands down, swearing that it's the most true to what he's had while living in Japan. Having never been there myself, I can't vouch for that comment, but I will say that the Tan Tan Ramen has become a solid favorite. At least my nearest substitute for the hot bowls of pho I used to eat every week in San Francisco.
 
This time, we ordered the gyoza to start A side of curry rice, which was spicy and sweetA bowl of my usual, Tan Tan RamenAnd a bowl of Extra Spicy Ramen.The broth is thinner and not as porky as that of Minca, but the meal was just as quietly comforting, which is all I really want in a bowl of ramen. Next on the ramen tour: Ippudo!
 
Men Kui Tei
60 W 56th St, New York 10019

On snow, a shack, and San Diego

So, yeah. How about that 12 days of blogging business? Once again, time got away from me. One night you're dancing all night long to Lionel, the next -- your belly aches from turkey tacos, you find yourself working a 16 hour day, and all of the sudden, there's no time to continue with day 7 of the 12 days of blogging.

Not that there haven't been things worth blogging about. Namely, the snow, which is gorgeous and an absolute treat for me, even after falling on my ass. (This is apparently a rite of passage.) Also noteworthy is a long overdue trip to the much-hyped Shake Shack, which is the closest I think we can get to an In-n-Out-esque burger on the East Coast, mmm. (FYI, the 'shroom burger actually tops the regular one. Hands down the best veggie burger I've ever had in my life. Valeria, you would have loved it.)Equally exciting, of course, are the wrapped presents under our first Christmas tree.All I have to do is make it through work tomorrow, then I'm off to enjoy the holidays in San Diego with my family and new adorable nephew. More posts on the way, for sure!

NYC Ramen tour #1: Minca

Oops. So much for the 12 Days of Blogging mission! No post is what you get if you work a 13+ hour day, ugh. Had I come home earlier than 11:30 PM last night, I would have blogged about Minca, one of the noodle shops we've been meaning to try. I haven't blogged about our official first ramen tour stop, Men Kui Tui, but I'm sure it'll have a chance to shine in later posts.

Sunday was a cool 26 degrees: excellent weather for a steaming bowl of ramen! We were relatively close to LES, so we decided to make the trip to Minca. We ordered the kimchi and the pork potstickers to split, which were quite tasty dishes with which to start.
I ordered the Shoyu ramen with thin noodles and Evan ordered the Spicy ramen, also with thin noodles. Overall, there was good porky depth to the thick, flavorful broth, but the noodles didn't have that special fresh springiness I like in a noodle. (Who doesn't like that in a noodle?) The slices of pork, however, were meltingly delectable. I'd definitely go again if I were in the neighborhood, but thankfully, Men Kui Tei is more accessible for the next time the temperature drops and hot bowls of ramen call.

Going to work just got a bit easier

Anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVED working next to the Ferry Building. Escaping the lunchtime drudgery by walking there for an olive roll, some Midnight Moon goat's milk gouda, and a Vietnamese iced coffee was the ultimate office perk in my book. Now that I work in Midtown West, a stone's throw away from the circus that is Times Square, I'm less than enthused by my eatery options. But, look what just opened in Rockefeller Center!

I've thoroughly satiated my cupcake cravings, so I went for the very cheap, recession-proof $0.75 cookies. Out of the chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and peanut butter cookies, I'd say the latter two are my favorites to-date. Mmm!

No, it's not Acme Bakery, Cowgirl Creamery, Out the Door, or even See's Candies, but it's certainly an improvement over TGIF, Heartland Brewery, and Applebee's, ha.

(FYI, I'm testing out a 12-days of blogging challenge. Can I do it??)

First Fall Weekend

Ahh, what a difference a day makes! One thing I've learned from being in New York for almost two months is that it's very easy to work in New York. You could literally work ALL THE TIME in New York. It is, however, much harder to live. This weekend, for the first time since I started working (and excluding last weekend in San Diego), I've had my first weekend free of my ever-so-demanding crackberry, yay! Thankfully, we were also blessed with fantastic autumnal weather. Started off the weekend with a run through Riverside Park to the 79th Street Boat Basin for a taste of the Marina in the Upper West Side.
Worked up enough of an appetite for Nova and cream cheese on an everything bagel from Absolute Bagel.Then met my friend, Eliza, for a spirited taiko performance outside our apartment in Straus Park.Picked up a new Obama button.Headed into the city to run some errands and happened upon a little flea market.Then indulged in some pretzel croissants and decadent hot chocolate from City Bakery, mmm.Oh Saturday, how I've missed you. Perhaps we'll meet again next weekend?