New York, New York
Some observations:
Our hotel (W Tuscany) had a serve yourself hot chocolate station by reception in late afternoon and early evening. Complete with baby marshmallows. Try to time your arrival with a pre-briefed companion to collect one also (ostensibly for himself, but you should confiscate it as soon as the ultra-speedy-lift reaches your floor).
Stuart Weitzman is a god. I love his shoes and boots, especially when shoes cost under 80 bucks, and boots under 110. Which means I didn't pay sales tax in NYC. I'd show you photographs, but they were last season's and his website is updated to the new collection now. I know he also designs for Russell & Bromley here in the UK, but it's not quite the same. When you've tracked a pair of shoes through Saks, his store on 5th, and Bloomingdales (all on foot) you know you're a fan...
Smith & Wollenskys serve portions too large for comfort, but I'll happily die trying to fill my face. And if you avoid the potatoes I'm sure it's Atkins/ GI/ weirdo diet friendly (note: sentence not actually verified).
Remember the iconic regard in which we hold Taro (our local Japanese)? Well, there was a restaurant near our hotel (Hane Sushi) which Mr W nearly rated above Taro for sashimi. I didn't - they don't have many tofu dishes - but good attempt there, and I'd recommend it. Even without the awesome dollar - pound exchange rate it's not expensive. From a non-raw-fish perspective, their beef negimaki and beef teriyaki are well worth trying. I went non-kosher for the evening, and didn't regret it! Oh, and they deliver...
In my personal opinion, Banana Republic's spring collection is not as good as their winter collections have been in the past. Their petite range fits me perfectly, and on previous visits I've had no problems picking up trousers. This time they just didn't have the range of trouser cuts in the petite range. The collection was pretty fully stocked for the five foot five and over, which makes me think the petites range just isn't as well catered for this season. Hmph. So my intentions to pick up five or so pairs of trousers and banish the oldest and baggiest pairs from my wardrobe were foiled. Similarly, no good skirts. More selection is available online but I suspect they don't deliver to the UK. Darn.
Whenever you go, ask some v hip and trendy friends for bar recommendations. We met up with said trendsters at a bar that was sooo cool it didn't have a sign outside and appeared to be the side entrance into a public library. The cocktails were lovely. Mr W started ordering off-menu (the "bartender's choice") pretty soon and enjoyed all manner of extremely alcoholic exotic drinks which had been lovingly prepared and presented. Apparently the bar was owned by the same bunch who opened Milk and Honey both in NY and then in London. We arrived about eight pm and got a booth immediately. When we left, the place was getting lively - crowds by the bar and live jazz music. It seems that unlike in SF where everyone is home and in bed early, in NY the night has almost Spanish timekeeping. Nixta said this was because of NY's relative position in the time zones - it's the earliest place in the US so to make contact with the rest of the US it's sensible for them to work as late as possible. Or something - the hot apple cider might have mixed up his words!
Same as last time, once we'd done our obligatory stop at Banana Republic's flagship store, whipped through Saks, and were in need of some less corporate, more individual stuff, we headed to SoHo. Obviously there are some chains (Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, Bloomingdales, DKNY, Diesel etc etc) in SoHo, and we did visit the Diesel kids/ babies/ embryos shop to stock up on baby clothes (some good friends are expecting in May) and couldn't resist the little outfits. It's so much easier buying for babies than for people. However, most of the fun in SoHo is not running into every chain store you see.
We've visited the Dos Caminos in SoHo before (right on Houston Street, at Broadway) and that was when I didn't like guacamole. This time, two years later and with an impressively expanded diet, I ate and loved the guacamole. We had it mildly spicy - and it was good. Mr W had a side of chillies (yes, the guy with stomach problems had extra chillies). I loved going here - the size of the bowl in which they serve the salsa is nothing short of remarkable, and then *poof* it's all gone.
Yes, I loved SoHo.
Our hotel (W Tuscany) had a serve yourself hot chocolate station by reception in late afternoon and early evening. Complete with baby marshmallows. Try to time your arrival with a pre-briefed companion to collect one also (ostensibly for himself, but you should confiscate it as soon as the ultra-speedy-lift reaches your floor).
Stuart Weitzman is a god. I love his shoes and boots, especially when shoes cost under 80 bucks, and boots under 110. Which means I didn't pay sales tax in NYC. I'd show you photographs, but they were last season's and his website is updated to the new collection now. I know he also designs for Russell & Bromley here in the UK, but it's not quite the same. When you've tracked a pair of shoes through Saks, his store on 5th, and Bloomingdales (all on foot) you know you're a fan...
Smith & Wollenskys serve portions too large for comfort, but I'll happily die trying to fill my face. And if you avoid the potatoes I'm sure it's Atkins/ GI/ weirdo diet friendly (note: sentence not actually verified).
Remember the iconic regard in which we hold Taro (our local Japanese)? Well, there was a restaurant near our hotel (Hane Sushi) which Mr W nearly rated above Taro for sashimi. I didn't - they don't have many tofu dishes - but good attempt there, and I'd recommend it. Even without the awesome dollar - pound exchange rate it's not expensive. From a non-raw-fish perspective, their beef negimaki and beef teriyaki are well worth trying. I went non-kosher for the evening, and didn't regret it! Oh, and they deliver...
In my personal opinion, Banana Republic's spring collection is not as good as their winter collections have been in the past. Their petite range fits me perfectly, and on previous visits I've had no problems picking up trousers. This time they just didn't have the range of trouser cuts in the petite range. The collection was pretty fully stocked for the five foot five and over, which makes me think the petites range just isn't as well catered for this season. Hmph. So my intentions to pick up five or so pairs of trousers and banish the oldest and baggiest pairs from my wardrobe were foiled. Similarly, no good skirts. More selection is available online but I suspect they don't deliver to the UK. Darn.
Whenever you go, ask some v hip and trendy friends for bar recommendations. We met up with said trendsters at a bar that was sooo cool it didn't have a sign outside and appeared to be the side entrance into a public library. The cocktails were lovely. Mr W started ordering off-menu (the "bartender's choice") pretty soon and enjoyed all manner of extremely alcoholic exotic drinks which had been lovingly prepared and presented. Apparently the bar was owned by the same bunch who opened Milk and Honey both in NY and then in London. We arrived about eight pm and got a booth immediately. When we left, the place was getting lively - crowds by the bar and live jazz music. It seems that unlike in SF where everyone is home and in bed early, in NY the night has almost Spanish timekeeping. Nixta said this was because of NY's relative position in the time zones - it's the earliest place in the US so to make contact with the rest of the US it's sensible for them to work as late as possible. Or something - the hot apple cider might have mixed up his words!
Same as last time, once we'd done our obligatory stop at Banana Republic's flagship store, whipped through Saks, and were in need of some less corporate, more individual stuff, we headed to SoHo. Obviously there are some chains (Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, Bloomingdales, DKNY, Diesel etc etc) in SoHo, and we did visit the Diesel kids/ babies/ embryos shop to stock up on baby clothes (some good friends are expecting in May) and couldn't resist the little outfits. It's so much easier buying for babies than for people. However, most of the fun in SoHo is not running into every chain store you see.
We've visited the Dos Caminos in SoHo before (right on Houston Street, at Broadway) and that was when I didn't like guacamole. This time, two years later and with an impressively expanded diet, I ate and loved the guacamole. We had it mildly spicy - and it was good. Mr W had a side of chillies (yes, the guy with stomach problems had extra chillies). I loved going here - the size of the bowl in which they serve the salsa is nothing short of remarkable, and then *poof* it's all gone.
Yes, I loved SoHo.
posted by Chaya at 1:47 pm
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