This morning we started off at one of our favorite restaurants, Cafe Un Deux Trois (123 W. 44th St, New York, NY 10036). Patrice was unimpressed with the french toast but I ordered the Norwegian Benedict which was as good as I remembered. After that we headed south to the New York City Fire Museum (278 Spring St, New York, NY 10013). We noticed this place on our way to meet with my cousin Rob yesterday and had to come back for a visit. Previously we had visited fire museums in Memphis and Phoenix. This one was interesting and on a par with the Memphis museum but not even close to Phoenix. In Phoenix they call it the “Hall of Flame” and it is a remarkable collection of refurbished fire trucks. The NYC exhibit was interesting and worth the trip but if you are a fire enthusiast go to Phoenix instead.
On our way to the museum we saw this interesting statue.
We also walked by a flea market with this scary sign:
And here are the culprits:
After the museum we headed to nearby Daryl Roth theater. Enroute we walked through the artist community know as Soho. It has this name because it is SOuth of HOuston Street (pronounced “House Ton” because these people have never been to Texas or aren’t willing to acknowledge that it exists). Showing at the theater is a new play called “Gloria: A Life”. This is the life story of Gloria Steinem (staring Christine Lahti as Gloria). The play was very inspiring. I have to admit I felt a little odd because at most only 20% of the audience were men. The show was 90 minutes long and followed by a 20 minute “Talk Circle” in which the audience was welcome to contribute. The initial speaker was Faye Wattleton, a long time friend of Gloria Steinem and former CEO of Planned Parenthood. Ms. Wattleton was seated next to Patrice during the performance.
After a rest at the hotel we had dinner with my friend Allen at Mari Vanna (41 E 20th St, New York, NY 10003) a Russian restaurant with excellent food. We traveled 2,800 miles to have dinner with a friend from LA.
The Salmon Blini (essentially crepes) were spectacular. The remainder of the dishes were also good but the blini stood out. Dessert wasn’t too bad either. We had what they call “Broken Flower Pot”. It looked exactly like that but the chocolate was pure heaven.
Not sure how we will top this day but we will try.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 