Tag: new york

Birthday Celebration Day #1 “Don’t You Just Love to Fly?”

by reissmd, posted in New York City

Patrice and I headed to New York today in order to  celebrate her ??? birthday.  Her actual birthday was yesterday.  So if you forgot to call or message her forget it, it’s too late, and you are on her no fly zone list.  Don’t worry she got congratulatory messages from her credit card company and insurance agent.  

As a special birthday gift we both get rewarded by flying when  the government has been shut down resulting in TSA agents and Air Traffic Controllers working without pay.    

We had a pleasant ride to LAX.  Our taxi arrived on time and we seemed to have a great driver.  Apparently there is an app that he uses that critiques his driving.  A couple of times we heard this mysterious voice announce, “Rolling stop detected”.  Wow, glad I don’t have one of those in my car.  I can just imagine what it might be telling me: “You might want to drive a little slower” or “Is your turning signal broken?”. 

Boarding was uneventful as was the flight.   Unfortunately the ride from JFK to our hotel was less than ideal.  A crash on the highway slowed our voyage.   But it wasn’t a total loss because we learned some interesting phrases from our cab driver.  At one point I checked Google maps and it said we were 1.1 miles from the hotel but the estimated arrival was 24 minutes. 

Don’t these people know it is my wife’s birthday and we need to get to the city?

After checking in at the hotel we got a quick bite to eat and then tried to get tickets to a Broadway show.  With travel being so unpredictable we didn’t want to buy tickets in advance, in case our flight got canceled. So we tried to get rush tickets at a variety of shows. We failed at 3 locations and finally were successful at getting the last 2 tickets for the show “Chess”.  We heard a lukewarm review from one of Patrice’s friends but we thought what the heck, what else do we have to do?  The show is a fictitious story about a chess match between an American and a Russian that supposedly happened in 1979.  All I can say is that we won’t be asking Patrice’s friend for show recommendations.  We loved the show even though we got the last 2 seats and had to sit on opposite sides of the theater (Patrice here, that was the best part).  

The set of “Chess” before the show began.

After the show we decided to stop by for some late night gelato at a store next to the hotel.  We arrived there at about 11:15 pm and saw about 50 people on line.  We decided that we didn’t need gelato that much and came back to the room so I could write the blog. 

People on line for gelato at 11:15 pm.

Great first day of our birthday celebration.  More fun planned for tomorrow.

Ciao

New York and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation Day 2 “A Day of Culture” November 6, 2019

by reissmd, posted in New York City, Uncategorized

This morning our guilt from last night’s never-ending meal at The Modern, was a tremendous burden so we got up early (about 11 AM) and went to the gym for a work out. After that we headed out for some food of course. Patrice found a place called “Friedman’s Kitchen and Bar” (233 W 49th St, New York, NY 10019) which was on the way from our hotel to the Museum of Modern Art (our destination for today). I was in the mood for a good New York deli, so I was all in favor.

The place looked good and the staff was friendly but I have to admit I was a bit confused by the menu which featured Grilled Fish Tacos, Chicken Tostada Bowl, and Chicken Banh Mi. I asked our hostess if the restaurant was named after the owner (“No, his name is Mr. Phillips”). She explained that the restaurant was named after Milton Friedman, the famous economist. Now I was really confused, I inquired if Milton Friedman was a gourmet among his other more notable talents. She said she didn’t know about that but she said he was known for the phrase, “There is no such thing as a free lunch”. Now it all made sense and my hopes for a Senior Discount was quickly forgotten. We got to meet the owner, Mr. Phillips, who, like his staff was a very friendly young man. The food was good and like I said the staff was great.

Our server, Matthew, Patrice, and Hostess, Jess.

After lunch we headed to MOMA. The museum recently reopened after being closed for 4 months as part of a $450 million renovation. The place looks fantastic. The design is very contemporary (hmmm, who would have guessed that?) and the layout is very user friendly. The exhibits are on 6 floors (there is a gift shop and theaters on a lower floor below the street level entrance) that are all very easy to access and laid out in a circular design letting you see all the exhibits without missing anything.

We got to see Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”, Dali’s “The Persistence of Memory”, and Warhol’s “Campbell Soup Cans”. You can also see all three of those masterpieces in our home. Of course the ones in our home are a little less valuable than the originals at MOMA. The one exception in the Campbell Soup Can in our house which is a needlepoint made by my sister, Annette, and given to me as a gift.

Starry Night by Van Gogh
Dali’s “Persistence of Memory”
Campbell’s Soup Can by Andy Warhol (I like mine better).

There were some things in MOMA that left me a little befuddled regarding their art value.

Is a man’s hairy armpit art?
What about a leg sticking out of the wall?
I think these two clocks were entitled, “A Waste of Time”.

We were just about to leave MOMA when Patrice and I got into a big fight. I found two things on exhibit that she made me throw out recently. Just think what we could do with the money we could have had from selling these two treasures (see below).

I knew my note pad had value.
“Pine Cone” An obvious treasure but not recognized by my wife.

I am sure you have had enough of my whining and complaining for one day. After all, it’s time for DINNER.

New York and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation Day 1 “The Real Reason We Came to New York” November 5, 2019

by reissmd, posted in New York City, Uncategorized

As many of you know 2 of our 3 children have Crohn’s disease. This is an ailment that causes intestinal inflammation resulting in abdominal pain, diarrhea, difficulty absorbing nutrients among other wonderful experiences. Because of them we are very active raising money for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation (Team Reiss brought in $74,180 for the nation’s second highest total for the Take Steps program this year). We also participate on a committee that determines which scientific studies are funded by the Foundation. It is this later function that brings us to New York. But let’s be honest, the real reason is to enjoy this marvelous city.

Tonight we had an incredible meal at “The Modern” (9 West 53rd Street). We were also here in May of 2017 at which time I blogged about our dinner. Towards the end of our meal tonight, I looked for that post from 2017 and saw that we had a very similar experience at that time. We had a spectacular meal. The food was great, the service superb and the presentation was incredible.

Here is what we were served tonight:

Buckwheat Tartelette. Don’t ask me any questions. We were told to eat these with our hands and in one bite. I promptly complied. That is why you just see one in the photo (Patrice was a bit slower than me).
“Eggs on Eggs on Eggs” when it was brought to the table.
Remove the top and you find, three different types of eggs. Amazing combination.
Pretzel Croissant. Meant to cleanse our palette but with the Dijon Mustard Butter inside it did more than that.

Below you can see the Pole Beans which Patrice said was wonderful. I had the Foie Gras Tart which was beyond words. By the way if it is still Un-PC to eat Foie Gras it was Patrice who had it and I had the beans (yuck).

Pole Beans
Foie Gras Tart

More appetizers followed.

Matustake Mushroom Fricassee (Robert)
Seared Scallops (Patrice)

Then on to the main course.

Sautéed Sea Bass (we both had this)

And for dessert:

Vanilla Bavarois (Patrice)
Dark Chocolate Chantilly (Robert)

Of course they had to acknowledge Patrice’s birthday.

Happy Birthday Patrice
But just in case we had any room in our tummies they sent us home with these luscious Coconut and Mango Shumai.

Enough food?

Until tomorrow.

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