Restaurant Week Brunch

The past weekend was wet and cold. It was the perfect time to stay in and catch up on reading and tv shows. Not having paid attention to the weather forecasts, I had made brunch reservations for restaurant week for late Saturday afternoon. The Hudson Valley restaurant week featured so many restaurants that I'd been wanting to try. I chose the Sweet Grass Grill in Tarrytown for brunch. The three course menu was very reasonable at $20 per person. There were three choices for all three courses and we didn't waste any time deciding what we wanted. My chilled spring pea soup with mint and edamame was very refreshing. I was really enjoying this meal but was in for an unpleasant surprise when I found pancetta in my salmon entree. I hadn't noticed the fine print on the menu and was really sickened by my remiss. But the cider donut along with apple ice cream helped me get over the squeamishness of having consumed pork after ages.


Sunday was a low key day as well. We had brunch at the local Landmark Diner and went shopping at Palasades mall for some much needed spring wear. Hopefully, the weather will be better for our action packed weekend in the city next week.

The First Day of Spring

Sunday, march 21st was the first day of spring. We headed to the west side and had brunch at HK in Hell's Kitchen. The place was busy as expected and the noise level was quite high. We were glad when they opened the glass side doors to dissipate the noise and attract some fresh air. Nelson and my friend were quite happy with their meals; poached eggs with smoked salmon and smoked salmon omelette with tobiko caviar respectively. I was a little disappointed with my poached eggs in a red wine sauce over wild mushroom asparagus hash. The vegetables in the watery sauce was more like a soup and was served without any type of bread. I wished that I had stuck to a more traditional choice. In addition to its good reviews, I picked HK due to its close proximity to the Port authority bus terminal. So after brunch, it was a 5 min walk to drop off our friend who was on her way to enjoy her spring break.

MOMA was the next stop on our agenda. We were able to take advantage of the IBM corporate discount and enter for free. However, we were not able to get any passes to the Tim Burton's show which was already sold out for the day. But there were a few other exhibitions that were open to all. I really enjoyed the collection of Monet's water lilies. That really made this visit worthwhile for me. It was our first trip to MOMA, so we walked around starting at the sixth floor. We both enjoyed the more classic pieces compared to the modern work. A collective performance of Marina Abramović's work was also ongoing. The artist herself engaged in a performance that included viewer participation. This was my first experience with this type of live performance and the images of naked people were too raw and disturbing. I enjoyed the sculpture garden and certain pieces of contemporary art such as Projects 92 by Yin Xiuzhen, a leading Chinese artist. Her large-scale sculpture, Collective Subconscious, which is composed of a bisected minivan connected by a long tube covered in a quilt made of found garments was very interesting and introspective. We spent more time on the studio art sections and rushed past the architecture and the drawings floor. Feeling exhausted with all the walking we had chai and dessert at Dean & Deluca at the Rockerfeller center before heading back home.

A visit from an old best friend

One of my best friend's who is in grad school in Boston came up to visit for the weekend. We picked her up from the Stamford bus station on Friday evening and spent the evening with homemade dinner while catching up. On Saturday, the weather was ideal for being outside, sunny but refreshing. So our first stop was to the Croton Point Park a few miles north of us. We were there early enough in the season so the place wasn't too crowded and the entrance was free. We walked by the river and enjoyed the scenery through the leaves were yet to make an appearance. It seemed like an ideal place to sit and read. Quite few folk enjoyed fishing and the atmosphere was very serene. We could see a hint of the Tappan Zee Bridge at a distance.

Most of our afternoon was spent in White Plains where we indulged in some much needed girl time and shopping at The Westchester and The Galleria. Though we tried on lots of outfits we both ended up with just one piece each. For dinner, we headed to an Indian restaurant we have always noted for its ornate decor visible from a distance but have never tried. The Bengal Tiger offered typical North Indian fare. We ordered a couple of chicken curries and a paneer dish. All curries had a thick masala gravy that tasted well with rice. The service was great and even our leftovers were given with directions to reheat. With full stomachs we headed home to vegetate on the couch to recover from all the walking earlier in the day.

Wedding in MA

The weekend after my CA trip was spent quietly at home catching up on the tivo recordings of two weeks and recovering from a red eye flight. But we certainly had our share of driving this weekend as we headed to Jersey City on Friday night for dinner with a friend and then to western MA on Saturday for a family wedding. It is really nice to be able to see friends and family with a few hours of driving, another reason we love living in Westchester.

Fun in San Francisco-part 2

On Sunday we headed to SF again to meet with some more friends for brunch. Again, we were lucky to find parking near our destination with relative ease. We waited in line at Tartine Bakery, at Mission. It is listed as one of the best in SF and certainly one of the must try places according to our friends. The sandwich combinations and desserts did really live up to its hype. We enjoyed a yummy coconut tart as we waited for our sandwiches. This time we were lucky to get a table outside. Afterwards we walked to Dolores Park again as were even closer to it today. The Spanish architecture and the palm trees surrounding the park gave it a unique feel. What really made this trip special was the time we got to spend with dear friends who we had n't seen in quite a while.

Fun in San Francisco-part 1

I had been in the South Bay (San Jose) for two weeks to work in the west coast lab. So the weekend in between was a perfect opportunity for Nelson to visit. On Saturday we drove up to San Francisco to meet our friend who lives in the Castro district. This area known for its gay community had a vibrant feel with several ad hoc street performers. We walked downtown towards a row of restaurants and got some good, affordable Thai food for lunch. Then we took about a 10min to Dolores Park, located in the Mission district. I didn't really notice the view until I walked up the hill and suddenly turned around to see the city sprawled over the mountains.

Then we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and went up the headlands to continue to enjoy this amazing view from several lookout points. It really was a magical combination of natural beauty and architecture. We were lucky that the weather was ideal for being outside and the mist hadn't yet set in. Afterwards we arrived in Sausalito and enjoyed some dessert and coffee in a nice roadside cafe.

It was early in the night when we went back to the city for dinner with friends. We were lucky to find great street parking close to our chosen restaurant. Our friends had chosen Calzones at the North Beach, the Little Italy of SF. Their appeal of the restaurant was the seating outside that enabled people watching in the comfort of heated lamps. Unfortunately we had to settle for a comfortable booth upstairs but we didn't mind. We enjoyed a great combination of mohitos, bruschetta, pizza and tiramisu.
Our last stop for the night was Top of the Mark. The 360 degree view of the city was thrilling on this clear night. The drinks menu consisted of more than 50 martinis. Desserts and finger foods were also available in the early hours of the evening. The live band was entertaining the much older crowd that was dancing the night away. We had a wonderful time catching up with old friends and just taking in this spectacular view. The waiter was very kind to waive the $15 cover charge as we left around 1pm after the band finished its run.