Gantry Plaza Park

Now that my office has moved from Manhattan to Queens, I have had to undertake some more serious exploration of the surrounding area.  One good find last week was Gantry Plaza Park.  Located on the Long Island City waterfront, it has very pleasant views of the Manhattan skyline and plenty of comfy chairs for relaxing and sunning yourself, as well as the iconic old-school Pepsi Cola sign.  If you ever find yourself near Long Island City, this one is worth your while for a picnic or a relaxing afternoon.

Easter parade

Brandon and I went to check out 5th Avenue's Easter Parade on Easter Sunday.  Parade is a bit of a misnomer as it's really just several blocks of cleared streets where people mill about and survey the strange hats that people are wearing.  They range from a somewhat traditional theme like the following...

to the slightly more unusual...

to the downright outrageous...

Brandon and I will be taking suggestions for the themed hats we should build for next year.  Preferably something that will get us on the evening news.

Easter eggs

Dyed Easter eggs with Aunt Diane the weekend before Easter.  We are quite the artistes...

Holi Festival

Holi, the Indian Festival of Colors, took place last weekend.  From what I experienced, the festival primarily involves smearing powdered colors over friends, family and other revelers.  There was also good music and dancing.  

I think this is a good look for us.  We got a few stares on the subway going home, but they must have just been admiring our artistic expression.  The colors came off surprisingly easily afterwards, although my cheeks were left with a little bit of unnatural hot pink for the rest of the day.

Eataly

On Saturday, we went to check out Mario Batali's new mega food complex, Eataly.  It is a large space with an Italian market and several small places throughout where you can sit down and have something to eat: a seafood bar, a vegetable butcher, a salumi and cheese bar, a pizza/pasta restaurant, and a gelateria.

We tried to go when it first opened, but the pizza/pasta restaurant was so mobbed that there was going to be a two hour wait, so we bagged that idea.  This weekend, we made our triumphant return and were successful at getting a table in just under an hour.  The whole fam was there, so we all shared some pizza and pasta.

We had a good time, and the food was good, but it doesn't get my vote for best pizza (or lasagna) in NYC.

Best chicken and rice in the city?

Some people swear that the Halal cart on the corner of 53rd and 6th has the best chicken and rice in the city.  There is nearly always a line, and it seems an impostor cart has set up shop on the opposite corner just to confuse NYers and tourists who are not in the know. So, of course we had to investigate...

 

The chicken and rice was pretty good, although I'm not sure it was all that different from the chicken and rice I've had elsewhere.  It didn't quite live up to the hype, but I may be back for another plateful someday.  Following dinner we headed to Momofuku milk bar for the famed "cereal milk softserve."  My understanding of the cereal milk ice cream was that it was designed to taste like the milk that is left in your bowl after you finish eating your cereal.  In my mind this meant milk with a light sweetness to it from the cereal.  What I got was a slightly salty and buttery ice cream :(  Apparently, for the base of this concoction they toast cornflakes with a little bit of butter and salt; thus, it tastes buttery and salty.  I had about six or seven bites and then threw it away.  Sorry Momofuku, not for me.

Jackson Heights

Went romping around Jackson heights yesterday to do some neighborhood exploration.  Parts of the neighborhood are very Indian, while other parts are very Latino.  There is delicious smelling food everywhere.  First food stop was for a snack at a taco truck.  Can't beat $2 for a sizable chorizo taco.

Second food stop was at the Himalayan Yak, a restaurant advertising primarily Tibetan and Nepali food.  We tried the Shapta (chili beef) and a vegetarian Thali.  The chili beef was pretty good, the Thali was nothing to write home about.

 

Last stop was at Lety's Bakery, where everyone had rave reviews of the almond cheesecake.  They certainly gave a generous portion, and the cheesecake was good, although there wasn't much of an almond flavor to it.

Stowe, VT

Here's a belated blog update from the family ski trip to Vermont last weekend...

Day 1: Skiing

Skiing was good.  Nice trails, decent snow.  It was sprinkling rain all day, so we were pretty damp by the end, but good times were had by all.

Day 2: Eating

Weather was not so hot the second day, with rain all morning turning into a snowstorm in the afternoon.  So, we went to take in some of Vermont's famous sweets at the Lake Champlain chocolate store and the Ben and Jerry's factory.  Not a bad day at all!

Lake Champlain Chocolates

Enjoying a sample of new flavor Cho-cow-late chip

Day 3: Snowed in!!

Of course, one of the biggest snowstorms of the season hits on the day that we are supposed to drive home.  We got approximately two feet of snow in 24 hours. This caused us to leave a bit later than we had planned, but thanks to the dexterous driving of my Aunt Arlyn, we all made it home safely.

Atlantic City

Today was a day of two firsts: 1) first trip to Atlantic City and 2) first casino experience.  Being the high-roller that I am, I went all-in for a total of five dollars, which was the comp money we received from the bus line we took to the casino. 

 

Between the two of us, Brandon and I came out with $10.30 which we promptly spent at the candy store below that has the world's largest gummi worm (note: we did not buy said gummi worm).

Experimental jazz and a chocolate carrot cake

Went to another free concert at the Lincoln Center atrium last night.  Kahil El'Zabar, described by the biography on his own website as "one of the most prolific jazz innovators of his generation" seemed very promising.  In the end, it wasn't really my style, but it was interesting.  My favorite piece was the one when he was on the drum  pictured below. Tonight's project was a chocolate carrot cake.  Sadly, it fell apart when coming out of the pan, but it was nothing that a good dose of frosting couldn't fix :)