Tag: lobster

Birthday Celebration Day #2 “Life Can’t Get Better Than This!”

by reissmd, posted in New York City

I started off today with great plans; let Patrice sleep in while I went to workout.  Well, things didn’t quite go as planned but at least I did let her sleep in.  

After Patrice awoke we headed to the lounge where breakfast is included with our room tab.  We got a relatively early start leaving our room at 7:00 AM Los Angeles time but upon arriving at the lounge were told that breakfast ends at 9:30 AM eastern time.   They did supply us with some yogurt but that wasn’t adequate.  I thought we should see if the gelato place from last night had a more reasonable waiting line this morning. Upon arrival we found no one on line or inside the store.  We were greeted by Uriel who offered us samples from a wonderful selection at “Anita’s Gelato” (1561 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10028).  

Turns out Anita is an Israeli woman who has stores all over the world.  In addition to 4 in Manhattan there are stores in Spain, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and other countries.  They even have a store in Los Angeles.   I found out the only store in Los Angeles is in Tarzana. Yes, Spain, UK, Australia, and Tarzana?

Uriel and his co-worker Loïc. Patrice thought she said she spelled her name Loïz. She is Israeli. I Googled it and the only name I found was Loïc, a French male name. The only Israeli name close to that would be Lior. Whatever her name, both she and Uriel were very nice. As was the gelato.

After leaving the gelato place we learned how the NYPD is able to respond to emergencies when confronted by bumper to bumper cars. 

I edited out some people from this photo. Can you see that part of one is still there?

We then saw the ultimate picture of harmony. Check out this gorgeous child.

I of course asked mom and dad if I could take a picture and put it on my blog. I told them that no one looks at my blog so they are safe.

Motivated by the baby in the picture we went to our room for a brief rest (Hey, missing out on breakfast and eating gelato requires some recovery time) and then headed over to see the musical that encouraged us to make this trip, “& Juliet”. We saw the show in Los Angeles and loved it in spite of having horrible seats.   We bought our tickets for tonight’s performance quite a while back. Tickets were available in the 4th row and front row.  We chose the front row seats and realized they were half the price of the 4th row seats because during one of the musical numbers your view is obstructed by a prop.  That was unfortunate but for the remainder of the show you are in musical heaven.  The show was every bit as spectacular as it was in LA. 

Patrice and me at our front row seats hoping the cast will come back and do the show again.

Following the show we went back to the hotel to pick up an umbrella (yes, it started to drizzle) and then we were off to dinner.  Tonight we dined at Milos (125 W 55th St, New York, NY 10019).  This place was recommended by one of my patients.  He told me it’s a bit pricey but he loves it. He goes there every time he is in New York.  I have to admit, it was spectacular, but was very pricey.  

We started by sharing a Lobster Salad. This was amazing.
Patrice had the halibut. Very moist and delicious.
I had the pasta primavera. It wasn’t on the menu but was offered to me when I asked what kinds of vegetarian options they had. That really impressed me (as did the taste of the dish).
We shared the grilled vegetables. Have you ever seen a more lovely display of veggies?
For dessert we had Walnut Cake.
And how can you go to a Greek restaurant without having Baklava?
To help us celebrate Patrice’s birthday they gave us a small fruit platter. I love the candle holder (see above).

As I said the food was expensive but I can be thankful that neither of us are drinkers.  See below.

People really spend this much for wine? I think that is the definition of a drinking problem.

We are back in the room now and ready to call it a night. Until tomorrow.

Ciao

New York City Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation Day #3 “Lobster” 3/25/19

by reissmd, posted in New York City

I have not adjusted to Eastern time yet and not sure if I am on Pacific or still on Australian time. Whatever time zone I am on doesn’t matter since my usual pattern continues, not getting enough sleep while Patrice sleeps like she is an Olympian sleeper.

Last night we were looking for a place for dinner and Patrice said let’s go to someplace close to the hotel. That sounded good but then she said “How about “Palm Too”, it is very close?”. The last time I remember eating at The Palm in Beverly Hills it was in 1979 to celebrate finally selling my 1974 Fiat. The car was a wreck and I was happy to unload it. As I recall the dinner pretty much wiped out most (if not all) of the money I got from the sale of the car. I asked if the Palm Too was related to the The Palm in Beverly Hills and when I was informed that it was I started to get severe pains in my back pocket where my wallet is stored. I remembered that I still need to convince this woman to travel to Cleveland, Detroit and Milwaukee for baseball so I quickly said, “Sounds great!”.

When we went to the Palm in Beverly Hills we saw Kareem Abdul Jabbar. We saw him again at Palm Too but this time it was just a picture on the wall. No other celebrity sightings except for these guys.

Two orders of 4 pound lobsters.

The menu was great but there was one item that was like a light burning into our retinas and that was of course the lobsters. We had a choice of either 3 or 4 lbs. Patrice opted for the 3 pounder but our waiter said that they only had 4 or 5 lbs to offer us tonight. We both chose the 4 pounders and neither of us were disappointed. We had Brussels sprouts to add something green to the table and were not at all impressed by those guys. I am happy to report that Patrice and I have replaced our search for the perfect bread pudding with a search for the perfect Brussels sprouts. We have declared Masa the winner in the bread pudding search and so far the leaders in the Brussels sprouts derby are Zane’s, The Standing Room, and Tin Roof (the first two are in Hermosa Beach and the later is in Manhattan Beach). The Palm Too had excellent lobster but their BS (Brussels Sprouts) needs some work.

Today Patrice suggested we go for a walk. We heard that the Vessel at Hudson Yards was worth a visit. After 16,000 steps we are back at the hotel. The structure is made of 154 interconnected flights of stairs and almost 2,500 stairs. It just opened days ago (March 15, 2019) and you need to get a timed entrance ticket which is free. I am glad they stagger entrance to the structure because having crowds up there would be scary. The views of the city are great. You also get a great view of the Hudson River but I hate to be a negative kind of guy, but who wants to look at it. It is not a very pretty sight from this direction.

The Vessel as viewed near to the entrance.
Patrice and I on the Vessel. Much too close a photo for me. I need a selfie stick. Do they make one that extends about 10 yards?
We stole this idea from a couple of guys from Massachusetts. For a guy like me who is frightened of heights this was a major sacrifice for the enjoyment of my followers.

After the Vessel we headed to the adjacent Hudson Yards mall. This is very upscale, with stores like Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Kate Spade, Tiffany’s, Neiman Marcus, et al. They have some beautiful artwork including this wall piece where you were encouraged to move the sequins to create your own art.

The picture of our art was a blurry. So we stole someone else’s artwork.

The mall also had some upscale ice cream. We loved Van Leeuwen and found out they had a number of outlets in our area of the country.

Good thing we walked 16,000 steps today. After this “lunch” we will need another 30,000 steps to break even.

Today would have been the 103rd birthday of my loving mother, Irene Reiss. Without her, this blog wouldn’t exist. Gone but never forgotten. Today and every day is dedicated to her. xoxoxo