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starlady# Lunch at Pret a Manger, because I have loved their sandwiches since I first had them in London eleven years ago, and no I don't care that they're apparently the Starbucks of sandwich shops in Manhattan nowadays.
# Ob!stop at Book-Off, though I resisted temptation bravely. Or more precisely, I couldn't remember which volumes of 20th Century Boys I still need.
# My friend B and I went up to The Frick Collection--the student rate is pretty good, only $10. I hadn't been there in, oh, at least five years; the first and only time I went was with my mother. That was a good day. Anyway, currently they have an exhibition of Picasso drawings in the basement galleries and have created a new glassed-in portico gallery which has a small but fine exhibition of early European porcelain, well worth seeing in the sun. I enjoyed the Picassos, since now that I've learned that African art heavily influenced Cubism I can finally begin to understand it, though I suspect I'll never like it much.
But the real draw of the Frick is the permanent collection of Old Masters, Asian art, and decorative art objects amassed by Henry Clay Frick before his death. I love these personal tycoon museums, partly because they have such a strong personal vision, and the Frick is certainly the least eccentric of the three I've been to in the States (the Barnes Foundation and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum being the other two). The house and the collection suit each other, comfortably and brilliantly, and moving through them offers a very different experience than the cattle call of many major museums. Also it has my very favorite Vermeer (Officer and Laughing Girl) in a perfect spot just off the grand staircase. I could stare at that painting for days, it's so lovely. And they have two others, which are also wonderful but not as good.
# My favorite coffee shop on the East Coast, joe the art of coffee, has opened a new location on the Upper East Side, so recently that they're still sanding the walls in between customers. I can't decide whether I like joe or Ritual better; but damn, joe is good.
# McNally Jackson on Prince Street! What the hell is wrong with Berkeley that there are no bookstores this good there? And where are they hiding in San Francisco? I couldn't remember which Joanna Russ novels I own in late '70s and early '80s paperbacks, so again, no purchases, but their SFF shelf alone is better than B&N, despite the fact that they only have three bookcases total.
# Failed excursion to Family Recipe turned into yet another delicious meal at Hampton Chutney Co. I swear I end up there every other time I am in the city, and I never regret it because the dosas and chai and chutney are so damn good.
# Home again home again, jiggety-jig. As ever, I am grateful for friends who will drag me out of my vacation cocoon.
# Ob!stop at Book-Off, though I resisted temptation bravely. Or more precisely, I couldn't remember which volumes of 20th Century Boys I still need.
# My friend B and I went up to The Frick Collection--the student rate is pretty good, only $10. I hadn't been there in, oh, at least five years; the first and only time I went was with my mother. That was a good day. Anyway, currently they have an exhibition of Picasso drawings in the basement galleries and have created a new glassed-in portico gallery which has a small but fine exhibition of early European porcelain, well worth seeing in the sun. I enjoyed the Picassos, since now that I've learned that African art heavily influenced Cubism I can finally begin to understand it, though I suspect I'll never like it much.
But the real draw of the Frick is the permanent collection of Old Masters, Asian art, and decorative art objects amassed by Henry Clay Frick before his death. I love these personal tycoon museums, partly because they have such a strong personal vision, and the Frick is certainly the least eccentric of the three I've been to in the States (the Barnes Foundation and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum being the other two). The house and the collection suit each other, comfortably and brilliantly, and moving through them offers a very different experience than the cattle call of many major museums. Also it has my very favorite Vermeer (Officer and Laughing Girl) in a perfect spot just off the grand staircase. I could stare at that painting for days, it's so lovely. And they have two others, which are also wonderful but not as good.
# My favorite coffee shop on the East Coast, joe the art of coffee, has opened a new location on the Upper East Side, so recently that they're still sanding the walls in between customers. I can't decide whether I like joe or Ritual better; but damn, joe is good.
# McNally Jackson on Prince Street! What the hell is wrong with Berkeley that there are no bookstores this good there? And where are they hiding in San Francisco? I couldn't remember which Joanna Russ novels I own in late '70s and early '80s paperbacks, so again, no purchases, but their SFF shelf alone is better than B&N, despite the fact that they only have three bookcases total.
# Failed excursion to Family Recipe turned into yet another delicious meal at Hampton Chutney Co. I swear I end up there every other time I am in the city, and I never regret it because the dosas and chai and chutney are so damn good.
# Home again home again, jiggety-jig. As ever, I am grateful for friends who will drag me out of my vacation cocoon.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-05 16:53 (UTC)I've never been to Hamptons Chutney, although I was always in its neighborhood, because I have sort of a fanatical devotion to Chennai Garden (they catered our wedding). It's probably irrational.
And now I just miss home. *wipes tear*
(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-05 16:59 (UTC)I'm actually going back up tomorrow, though, and to Philly again on Saturday, so I shouldn't complain.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-05 17:06 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-05 17:24 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-05 17:22 (UTC)And also Pret a Manger, without any shame at all. If nothing else, it's Manhattan's most omnipresent answer to the question, "Where can I get a vegetarian sandwich very quickly and with a minimum of human interaction?"
(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-05 17:24 (UTC)And yes, Pret forever!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-05 18:12 (UTC)I remember Pret fondly from the research month I spent mostly in London, twelve years ago, and subsisted on BL sandwiches, Pret sandwiches, and not quite Japanese noodle dishes from one place near KCL. Heh.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-05 19:17 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-06 01:33 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-06 07:27 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-05 19:36 (UTC)---L.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-06 01:34 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-06 23:45 (UTC)---L.
re: McNally Jackson
Date: 2012-01-05 23:26 (UTC)Re: McNally Jackson
Date: 2012-01-06 01:33 (UTC)