Visiting NYC in a few Weeks

[westwall]

Traffic is awful in Midtown and parking is outrageous. But New York is a great city.

Manhattan is safe. I've never once felt threatened there.

Harlem too, is nice.

Is it really, now? Last time I went through it, more than thirty years ago, it was in pretty bad shape.

They've cleaned it up pretty good now. Yeah, there are a few spots that are still pretty nasty, but overall it is pretty nice now. Kind of a hidden gem. Give them a few more years and it will be really nice.

 

[fbj]

Need some on-site intel:

We’ll be heading up the Hudson River Valley and visiting West Point on one of the trips.

I see that there are multiple roads to take that all seem to wind up in the same area:

Can anyone compare/contrast the Taconic Parkway, I 87, and State Highway 9? Looks like 87 and 9 are the ones to take if you’re going to make stops along the way up to Hudson; the other seems to be the “express route”.

Any stunning insights into NYC we should look at

Thanks,

I;m going back on April 29th. I was just in NYC on March 9th and enjoyed it.

If you like seafood I recommend Bubba Gump Seafood Restaurant

 

[usmbguest5318]

I forgot to mention this...how could I? If you are driving north out of NYC, just a stone's throw north of the Tappan Zee Bridge on US 9 is the historic town of Sleepy Hollow, NY. Washington Irving is buried there and the Old Dutch Church graveyard next door is the setting for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. (Remember I mentioned Route 9 in mentioning a few things to do north of The Point in the Hudson Valley -- the Tappan Zee crosses Hudson and 9 parallels it.)

Another thing that may appeal to you is winery visiting. NY has some nice wineries in the Hudson Valley. Google's going to be your friend on that one, for I haven't been to them. I merely know they are there.

 

[rightwinger]

Need some on-site intel:

We’ll be heading up the Hudson River Valley and visiting West Point on one of the trips.

I see that there are multiple roads to take that all seem to wind up in the same area:

Can anyone compare/contrast the Taconic Parkway, I 87, and State Highway 9? Looks like 87 and 9 are the ones to take if you’re going to make stops along the way up to Hudson; the other seems to be the “express route”.

Any stunning insights into NYC we should look at

Thanks,

87 is fastest but not scenic
Route 9 has traffic lights every half mile

Taconic and Palisades Parkway are nicer drives

 

[candycorn]

Need some on-site intel:

We’ll be heading up the Hudson River Valley and visiting West Point on one of the trips.

I see that there are multiple roads to take that all seem to wind up in the same area:

Can anyone compare/contrast the Taconic Parkway, I 87, and State Highway 9? Looks like 87 and 9 are the ones to take if you’re going to make stops along the way up to Hudson; the other seems to be the “express route”.

Any stunning insights into NYC we should look at

Thanks,

87 is fastest but not scenic
Route 9 has traffic lights every half mile

Taconic and Palisades Parkway are nicer drives

Read on Google that Taconic was dangerous...doesn't look treacherous at all. any truth to that?

 

[candycorn]

Any stunning insights into NYC we should look at

Go out to eat at any of the following:

• Chef’s Table at Brooklyn
• Eleven Madison Park -- This one is always fun because it's a tasting menu and it's always only what's most freshly available that day.
• Jean-Georges
• Per Se
• Masa
• Le Bernardin
• Benoit -- my current fav

Call for reservations today.

Go to Le Bain in the evening. Alternatively, Dream Downtown has two great options: Electric Room and PHD. Between them I prefer the Room, but PHD is nice when I've got guests I'm showing around. My kids like Avenue.

“CHEF’S TABLE AT BROOKLYN”? Is that the name of the place?

Thanks . Any opinion on the the road up to Hudson?

“CHEF’S TABLE AT BROOKLYN”? Is that the name of the place?

Yes, that is the name of the restaurant. It's basically a really good restaurant that seats patrons in a chicly austere meant to evoke in one's mind what it might be like to eat at a counter in the kitchen at a fine restaurant.

Memories of eating out:
Back in the old days, the days when dining out was part of what one did regularly as a member of the social set, regulars at a "white tablecloth" restaurant might on occasion show up unannounced when there is no available table in the dining room and one was yet genuinely famished. As a courtesy, the chef might once in a while (or more often if one was, outside of the eatery, genuinely friends with the chef) offer one a place at the staff table or at his table -- literally just a plain table where the chef planned menus, placed orders, etc. -- in the back of the kitchen.

(In the days of segregation, many a black ate in the kitchen at restaurants that wouldn't seat them in the dining room. A friend joked -- I think, he was joking -- black folks were from whom white chefs learned how to fry chicken and cook collard greens, and, most importantly for the business, how to turn "poor" cuts into the most profitable things on the menu. Have you ever had veal cheeks or pig ears? You should if you haven't.)

In other establishments, the chef's table was the table for two set right outside the dining room entrance to the kitchen. The table served the same purpose, of course, but unless they were "starving," paying "social" customers' never wanted to sit there, understandably, because of the noise and the traffic. One simply could not sit there and hold a conversation in the politely hushed tones appropriate to a restaurant.

Gourmands, restaurant critics and social climbers -- one had to start somewhere if one had to "climb" -- didn't mind. Indeed, it was rather customary that in consolation for taking such a dreadful table, or as an apology for seating one in the kitchen, the chef would bestow one with an amuse bouche or three over the course of the standard five course meal. On rarer occasions, one might be offered a complimentary bottle of wine -- typically a bottle a purveyor had left for evaluation -- that wasn't on the wine list if one routinely bought wine and was known to be a connoisseur.

For friends of the house or chef, sitting at the chef's table could become a real saporific adventure. That happened when, after being seated, one was asked something like, "What would you like this evening? We are out of crab tonight, but we have sole, mussels, scallops, lamb, veal, chicken, beef, and pork, or we could prepare a pasta or hearty soup using any of those things as the main, if you'd like." One'd choose a protein and leave everything else up to the chef. One was in for among the best dining experiences imaginable when that happened.

With critics, that little bit of"putting on the dog" like that bought the chef some benefit of the doubt, if you will, always useful in case something came out the kitchen that wasn't quite up to snuff. Moreover, back then, there was basically no such thing as a food critic who wasn't also a lush. LOL Remember what I said about the wine? Well libated critics write good reviews, even if only because they have at least enough integrity not to write something scathing about a meal they can barely remember. LOL

Regardless of how and why one found oneself at the chef's table, however, sitting there was always a treat for the tastebuds. Chefs are artists and they love to show off, but they can't do really do that for a whole restaurant of diners -- it's not cost or time effective for them to do so -- but in exchange for accepting the bad table and making it profitable, one got to sample a much more interesting assortment of the chef's talent.

Skipping forward some 30 or so years during which time large quantities of Americans became familiar with tapas, teppanyaki, sushi bars, and, of course, "suffering" at the chef's table, and, voila, we have tasting menu restaurants. Chef's Table at Brooklyn has a modern, swanky teppanyaki-sushi bar feel that invites socializing with others, which, as a business traveller who occasionally eats alone, it's a great place for doing that, though as all restaurants, it's best enjoyed with a friend, at CTB, ideally one with whom one won't trade business secrets or salacious gossip. I wouldn't recommend it for groups larger than three or four (reserve corner seats if there are four of you) due to the seating arrangements, however it's fine fine for couples dining out together but sort of separately.

Any opinion on the the road up to Hudson?

I'm sorry. I can't really say much at all about driving around the Hudson Valley. The most I've done are short car rides from Airhaven (just east of Poughkeepsie) to Poughkeepsie, Hyde Park and whatnot in the immediate area.

If you're of a mind to drive north of the Point, FDR's home and a Vanderbilt museum are in Hyde Park, which with its two lane roads and ubiquitous escarpments, the Hyde Park area offers one bucolically charming view after another. The Culinary Institute of America has a Hyde Park branch and it has a bevy of restaurants from which you may choose. All of that stuff is roughly an hour's drive north of The Point on US 9. (I'd say take US 9W to go north instead of 9 so you can avoid IBM. If Vasser is on your itinerary, however, may as well go with US 9.)

What's taking you to The Point, BTW? Going over Memorial Day weekend, by any chance? If so, congratulations to your Ring Knocker.

Not sure. We're going to some function at the place on the 29th.

 

[usmbguest5318]

Traffic is awful in Midtown and parking is outrageous. But New York is a great city.

Manhattan is safe. I've never once felt threatened there.

Harlem too, is nice.

Redundant. All of Harlem is in Manhattan. So is all of Midtown.

 

[Toro]

jillian has always given me some great ideas for the City.

I recommend staying away from Times Square, or anything around it. Yes, you have to see it once. But after that, it's just a giant tourist trap.

 

[rightwinger]

jillian has always given me some great ideas for the City.

I recommend staying away from Times Square, or anything around it. Yes, you have to see it once. But after that, it's just a giant tourist trap.

You gotta do Times Square and that is where all the theaters are

 

[fbj]

jillian has always given me some great ideas for the City.

I recommend staying away from Times Square, or anything around it. Yes, you have to see it once. But after that, it's just a giant tourist trap.

Times Square is beautiful

 

[fbj]

jillian has always given me some great ideas for the City.

I recommend staying away from Times Square, or anything around it. Yes, you have to see it once. But after that, it's just a giant tourist trap.

Times Square is Gorgeous at night

 

[usmbguest5318]

BTW, if will find yourself driving through NJ, you may find this interesting:

• Timeline: A brief history of why you can't pump your own gas in New Jersey

 

[fbj]

BTW, if will find yourself driving through NJ, you may find this interesting:

• Timeline: A brief history of why you can't pump your own gas in New Jersey

That's why my family love going to jersey

 

[candycorn]

After we head to Hudson, we are toying with the idea of seeing Niagra Falls (from the Canadian side). Anyone been? Worth the trip? Do we need a passport if we’re driving?

 

[rightwinger]

After we head to Hudson, we are toying with the idea of seeing Niagra Falls (from the Canadian side). Anyone been? Worth the trip? Do we need a passport if we’re driving?

It is around a seven hour drive from NYC. Worth crossing off your bucket list. I think you need a passport but may get by with a drivers license and birth certificate

While there, you will be able to pay to see the falls from the side above the falls, from the side below the falls, from above, from below on a boat, from inside the falls, from Canada, from the US, at night.....by the time you leave, you are sick of them

 

[candycorn]

After we head to Hudson, we are toying with the idea of seeing Niagra Falls (from the Canadian side). Anyone been? Worth the trip? Do we need a passport if we’re driving?

It is around a seven hour drive from NYC. Worth crossing off your bucket list. I think you need a passport but may get by with a drivers license and birth certificate

While there, you will be able to pay to see the falls from the side above the falls, from the side below the falls, from above, from below on a boat, from inside the falls, from Canada, from the US, at night.....by the time you leave, you are sick of them

The prevailing plan is to hit Cooperstown for 1-2 days then move on to Niagara. We’re crossing the freedom bridge then staying at one of the hotels in Canada facing the Horseshoe falls.

I noticed they put broccoli on their pizza in Canada. Is that some sort of attempt to be unique?

 

[rightwinger]

After we head to Hudson, we are toying with the idea of seeing Niagra Falls (from the Canadian side). Anyone been? Worth the trip? Do we need a passport if we’re driving?

It is around a seven hour drive from NYC. Worth crossing off your bucket list. I think you need a passport but may get by with a drivers license and birth certificate

While there, you will be able to pay to see the falls from the side above the falls, from the side below the falls, from above, from below on a boat, from inside the falls, from Canada, from the US, at night.....by the time you leave, you are sick of them

The prevailing plan is to hit Cooperstown for 1-2 days then move on to Niagara. We’re crossing the freedom bridge then staying at one of the hotels in Canada facing the Horseshoe falls.

I noticed they put broccoli on their pizza in Canada. Is that some sort of attempt to be unique?

Cooperstown itself is worth maybe a day, but the area and Finger Lakes region is very scenic

Doesn't matter what Canadians put on their pizza, it still sucks. NYC pizza is the best...do your pizza pig out there

 

[NoNukes]

Any stunning insights into NYC we should look at

Go out to eat at any of the following:

• Chef’s Table at Brooklyn
• Eleven Madison Park -- This one is always fun because it's a tasting menu and it's always only what's most freshly available that day.
• Jean-Georges
• Per Se
• Masa
• Le Bernardin
• Benoit -- my current fav

Call for reservations today.

Go to Le Bain in the evening. Alternatively, Dream Downtown has two great options: Electric Room and PHD. Between them I prefer the Room, but PHD is nice when I've got guests I'm showing around. My kids like Avenue.

“CHEF’S TABLE AT BROOKLYN”? Is that the name of the place?

Thanks . Any opinion on the the road up to Hudson?

If you like Asian food, there is a Korean bar on Avenue A called Fat Buddha that has great food, live DJs and good drinks. My wife and I love it and go there a few times on our trips to New York, and have to fight to not go there every night. We are there enough during the year that the staff thinks that we are New Yorkers, even though we live in Ireland.

 

[usmbguest5318]

candycorn, how was your trip? What route did you end up choosing to take?

 

[usmbguest5318]

Do we need a passport if we’re driving?

You most certainly do. "Driver's license will do" days for trips to Canada are over.

On the upside, if you overstay your visa, Canadian authorities probably won't hunt you down. LOL