If I cooked, I might buy groceries here

In a somewhat bizarre fashion, NYers get really excited when a new grocery store opens. The first Manhattan Trader Joe's opened Friday in my neighborhood. I only recently heard about this chain of stores... apparently they are popular. I popped in Saturday afternoon. It has the potential to be an interesting store; it was just way too crowded that day.

There's a 3-story Whole Foods only a couple of blocks away; will be interesting to see how Trader Joe's changes its dynamic.

Update: Due to the overwhelming influx of patrons, Trader Joe's has had to resort to crowd control... they are now limiting the # of people who can be in the store at one time, and scores of people wait outside for the ability to be able to enter. Guys, IT'S A GROCERY STORE!!

Repetitive conditioning

Went out with Robyn Thursday to Luxia and Druids. On Friday, went back to Luxia(!!). NYC was awash with St. Patty's Day madness. Everyone wants to be Irish and hang out in a pub, so my strategy was to do the opposite. Gail & I went to Satsko for dinner and a large amount of our fave spring sake, and then we went to Casimir for dessert.

Sat. I ran errands. Minor celeb sighting: girl who played Emily Yokas on Third Watch, eating a cooking while walking on E. 14th St.

Sat. night I took a field trip to the Upper West Side and met Sherri for dinner at Cafe Con Leche. Saw Hustle & Flow via Movies on Demand. Loved how Terrence Howard's character pronounced "man," Super Southern: "may-in."

I planned to shop in Soho Sunday, but it was just too cold and windy. I went home after walking only 4 blocks. Not worth being miserable.

Glogg Glogg

In an effort to beat the St. Patrick's Day rush, I went with the team for a post-Client meeting pint at Keats in East Midtown yesterday afternoon.

Sadly, the nice weather of last week has disappeared. Temps are now low 40s, with 45 mph winds. Very special.

Enda invited me to a Planning dept. reunion last night. And although I am not a Planner, I felt compelled to attend. They met at Flatiron Lounge, a very classy small cocktail lounge. There's a very specialized drink menu, currently featuring "winter" drinks. After walking from the subway in the cold wind, I opted for the Glogg (high-octane Swedish hot mulled wine).

Awesome break-up voice mail

A good site is Overheard in New York. When I was walking down Ave. B Sat. night, I overheard this guy behind me talking on his cell phone leaving a message for his girlfriend:

"Basically our relationship boils down to this. Apparently I make you feel ignored, and then you make me feel like an asshole because of it. This is not very healthy for either of us. So maybe I'll see you tonight and maybe I won't."

It's hard out here for a pimp

Wacky weather continues... on Friday, temps reached a record high of 74 in the City. Was able to eat lunch outside at Blockheads.

Robyn's birthday party was Friday night at Pravda in Soho. Really great subterranean lounge with a Russian vibe. We had an excellent bartender, Francis. I wound up sucking down a few Leninades (citrus vodka, lime juice, grenadine and mint), and they were quite refreshing. I stayed there for snacks too. Food was pretty tasty - potato pancakes with smoked salmon and the like. Although we probably should have called it a night, we went to d.b.a. (one of my hang-outs during the Ammirati days).

Saturday, I was actually with the creatives at Napoleon for a few hours finishing animatics for a Client meeting this morning. When we were done, I went to Brooklyn to visit Shani, and then walked home across the Williamsburg Bridge at sunset (which was very peaceful).

Jen & Scott came into the City Sat. night and we checked out La Caverna, another below-ground place on the Lower East Side that's designed to look like a cave. There are stalactites; I'm not kidding. So we had drinks and hookah there, and then went to Satsko to see Warren and have sake.

Be careful what you blog

Last Thursday, our Clients discovered Sarah's blog. Specifically, they emailed me & Sarah a picture Mario took of us when we were in Austin in Jan. Sarah wound up deleting the entire blog :(

Why Delta is going under

This week Delta announced a major expansion plan for JFK. I flew at Christmas on Delta out of JFK. No joke: the Delta terminal at JFK seems less clean and less safe than airports I've been to in Third World countries. Apparently Delta recognizes this, and $10MM of the expansion will be dedicated to cosmetic renovations like carpet and lighting. This doesn't strike me as a wise business investment... JFK is definitely not the NY airport of choice because it takes 2x+ as long to get to JFK from Manhattan than La Guardia.

I can't paint, but I know people who can

One of my co-workers, Dick Chandler, currently has an exhibition on display at an Upper East Side gallery. The opening reception is Friday night.

Synagogue razed

Had drinks with Charles, Howard and Thu tonight at Stanton Social, and then we went to Epicerie for dinner.

On the way to dinner we walked past the First Roumanian-American Congregation (what's left of it). In late Jan. I blogged that the roof of the collapsed while I was at a restaurant around the corner. Ultimately, the building couldn't be saved, so it's being demolished. See pics. Apparently the sanctuary was really beautiful, so it's sad that another piece of Lower East Side history will soon be gone.

And the winner is...

After last week's shenanigans, I didn't feel like going out this wknd. Went to NJ Saturday to visit Kelly, Rob & the kids. This excursion was fairly tiring, so I just met Gail for dinner in Murray Hill when I got back into the City Sat. night and then went home to crash.

Sunday, I ran errands & went shopping in Soho.

Celebrity sighting: Morgan Spurlock, the guy from Super Size Me, at the Tompkins Square Park dog run Sunday afternoon.

Charles came over to watch the Oscars. Jon Stewart did a nice job as host (but I've always liked his humor... I used to watch him on MTV when I was in college). However I thought Crash was a fairly cheesy movie, so it was kinda annoying that it won Best Picture.

Guest Blogger: Inside Mardi Gras

My friend Eric is a native New Orleanian. Fortunately, his family was OK after Katrina, and his home and business survived the hurricane with minimal damage. For the past 6 months, Eric has been providing me with an insider's perspective of what's happening in New Orleans as the city recovers and starts to rebuild (which is very helpful & not necessarily the same thing you see/hear on CNN). See below for Eric's account of the recent Mardi Gras celebrations:

I rode in Krewe of Babylon on Thursday prior to Fat Tuesday. Lots of fun. Thursday night is traditionally smaller crowds compared to the scenes you see on TV for Mardi Gras weekend. The wave of tourists don't arrive until Friday so our parade route was lined with mainly locals. Even then, we still had a healthy crowd of New Orleanians. Sort of tugged at your heart a little seeing people who you know experienced major devastation in their lives but can still put on a smile.

Weather was horrible on Saturday which is a day of one of the "super krewes." Sunday is the other big day. Both super krewes ended up rolling on Sunday. And what a day. Weather was incredible. Perfect. Crowds were one for the record books.

All in all, Mardi Gras was a success. Media were everywhere. When I rode, every two blocks we had a news reporter and/or photographer tracking the action. From what we saw, the media did a good job reporting the events and overall situation.

True, there is a lot of destruction. But the things that make New Orleans unique survived fortunately. From a tourist perspective, you can come to the city and not experience any tragedy. We don't want that of our visitors, but it's possible. New Orleans has a long road ahead but we're making progress.

Please remember much of New Orleans' economy was based upon tourism and conventions. Therefore visitors (and visitors spending $$) are critical right now to help the city get back on track. Upcoming French Quarter Festival and Jazz Fest are excellent excuses for going to NO in the next 2 months.

 

 

Wintry mix

Met Robyn for drinks last night after work at the Biltmore Room in Chelsea. Then we went to an industry production party at Northern Lights Post. The theme was 1920s Hollywood glamour. My favorite pass-around were the potato samosas (were those a popular appetizer in Hollywood in the 20s?) Saw some old colleagues, met some new peeps, played Ms. Pac-Man. Pretty good time overall.

Weather yesterday was rather lame. NY meterologists like to wax poetic & call it a "wintry mix" - basically it's wet snow/sleet/rain/wind that turns the streets and sidewalks into ice. Special.

Fat Tuesday, International Style

How do you celebrate Fat Tuesday with people from France, Canada, Russia, Ireland and Greece (just to name a few countries)? Start things off with drinks and dubious bar food at a British pub Telephone Bar, proceed to crazy karaoke downstairs at Lemongrass Grill, and end with a late night snack from Dizzy Izzy's. Sarah & Grace are giving up alcohol for Lent, so it seems that they wanted to make their last evening of imbibing count.