Sake to me

Atlanta was a lot of fun, but I'm glad to be back in NYC. Went to a "springtime sake pairing" Monday night at Kyotofu with the GastroSnobs crowd. This restaurant is actually a Japanese dessert bar, and sometimes on Monday nights they hold special events (like sake tastings). The space has nice energy; we were seated at the front bar with a view of the kitchen as well as 9th Avenue. My inner art director appreciated the detailed orchestration of the event -- the cocktails, the flowers, the menus etc. were all very well-coordinated. The menu was 5 food courses, each paired with a sake. One of the courses featured some tofu chicken balls that were pretty tasty, but I think my favorite dish was a strawberry anmitsu. Parting gift was a chocolate souffle cupcake, recently named the Best in New York! We all had a good time & look forward to their next event.


Me & Gail, under the cherry blossom tree.


Ahh, the anmitsu.

Jackass moment of the day

A guy who's relatively new to the agency was sitting near me in a large group meeting a couple of weeks ago, and during the meeting he attempted to scoot closer to the table ... but wound up flipping his chair over and landing on the floor. Needless to say, he was really embarrassed. I didn't think it was that big of a deal. In advertising, mortifying situations seem to crop up all the time, and you just have to keep a sense of humor and move on.

I wore these earrings as a pair today, until I looked at myself in the ladies' room mirror around 1 pm:


Of course, two people who'll be reporting in to me started work here this morning. A little while ago, I asked one of them if she'd noticed my earrings didn't match. She said she did, but didn't want to mention it to me in case I was purposely "making a statement." Not sure what statement that would be; perhaps that I don't know how to dress myself and accessorize?

Atlanta: where it's actually spring but the marathons start too damn early

Was down in the ATL this weekend. Had dinner Friday at Goldfish. The live entertainment was a guy playing keyboards and singing a mixture of recent hits and songs from the 70s. The crowning jewel in his set was Sir Mix-a-lot's "Baby Got Back." This alone was worth the price of my airfare.

Weather Saturday was sunny and high 80s. Unseasonably warm, but I wasn't complaining given the lingering chill of NYC! Nora & I took a walk along the Chattahoochee River and sat in the sun. Had dinner with Jan and the Cartersville chicks at Bazzaar and stopped by Joseph's condo in Midtown for dessert and drinks.

The inaugural ING Georgia Marathon was Sunday. The race started at 7 am. As in, before dawn. Brian ran, and we stood at Mile 23 by Piedmont Park to cheer him on. Felt kinda bad for the runners because there weren't many spectators, and apparently the water stations had limited supplies (not optimal since Sunday was another sunny, 80+ degree day). Brian came back to the park after he finished the race, and we had some celebratory drinks outside at Prince of Wales.


Still hoofing at Mile 23.


"Rehydrating" with a Bloody Mary.

Big red

Robyn invited me to a wine tasting Tues. night at Xicala. I like this bar -- it's probably one of my top 3 favorite NYC wine bars. It's teeny, but very charming. Anyway, the tasting was 4 Spanish red wines paired with Spanish cheeses. Not a bad way to pass time on a freezing cold evening.

Spotted: Philip Seymour Hoffman Wed. afternoon at 49th & 8th. He looked pretty disheveled, and he walked past me very quickly. So actually, the person I saw may have been a red-headed bum (but I think he was the Oscar winner).

Make it stop

Temps broke 70 in NYC on Wed. We had drinks outside that night to celebrate. However, within 24 hours it was back in the 20s and snowing. Followed by a couple more days of "wintry mix.” Really over this freezing weather.


Philadelphians have a better attitude towards the snow than I do.

Walk like an Egyptian

Went to see the King Tut exhibit before I left. Perhaps it’s because my mom’s a Social Studies teacher/National Geographic junkie or because I vaguely remember some of the Tut-mania of the 70s, but admittedly I’ve been pretty obsessed with seeing King Tut for over a year. When we had research in Florida last year, the exhibit was in Ft. Lauderdale. However the allure of spending a few more hours at the beach in Miami ultimately won out over a morning in a museum. And I knew that the exhibit was eventually coming to Philadelphia… which brings us to today.

My favorite piece was the coffin for someone believed to be King Tut’s great grandmother. Overall, the exhibit was actually smaller than I expected, but I was really astounded by:
- The pristine condition of some of the artifacts. I mean, they’re 3000 years old and they looked better than the furniture in my apt.
- The detail of the artifacts. Really, really intricate carvings and inlay work.

City of Brotherly Love

Sarah had a banner first week in Philly, so I took the train down to Sat. to pay her a visit. I’ve gone to Philadelphia several times for business, but really haven’t spent much time in the city (kinda silly since it’s so close to NYC).

Sarah’s apt. is near Rittenhouse Square. We walked around and shopped on Sat. afternoon. We met some of Sarah’s INSEAD colleagues for dinner (and large volumes of red wine) at tapas restaurant Bar Ferdinand. The space has some really nice tile mosaics. We later went to Zee Bar for more drinks and miscellaneous carousing with Wharton students. Sunday had a headache, but managed to go to cute Irish pub The Black Sheep for brunch.


Skyline view from Sarah's apt.


Side street.

City Hall.


INSEAD peeps.

Philly's positives:
- Lots of cabs
- Decent bars & restaurants

Philly's negatives:
- Less comprehensive street and sidewalk clean-up plan after snowfall than NYC (slush & ice were everywhere)
- A fairly racially segregated city

Unexpectedly crazy Wednesday

Robyn picked this month’s Dining Out spot, Chubo. We had dinner there Wed. night. I ordered the escolar. Cute place, good food & wine, great service. Later, Satsko threw a surprise birthday party for Warren at the new restaurant on Eldridge. Gail & I stopped by to spread the love, and we felt the effects the next day.

Another indie

Last night Clara invited me to a screening of the new film Offside, which is a narrative about six girls in Iran who try to sneak in to see a qualifying match for the 2006 World Cup. They're caught, arrested, held by soldiers inside the stadium, and face punishment. (Iranian authorities do not allow women to attend soccer matches because men may curse or do other things disrespectful to women). Overall the film has a hopeful vibe, and this sentiment was echoed by Hamid Dabashi, an Iranian author and Columbia University professor who spoke and answered audience questions after the film.

I’m glad I saw this film, though I continue to grapple with cultural differences between America and the Middle East, especially when it comes to women. I grew up with incredibly strong female role models, who are well-educated and have careers. I’ve attended UGA football games since I was a small child. I suppose I take all of this (formal schooling, career, going to athletic events and movies) for granted and it's difficult for me to wrap my head around the concept of "gender apartheid."

This being my 2nd screening in as many weeks, I couldn't help compare the two experiences. The Namesake was a very melancholy film. Most the questions after that screening were light and production-related: "How many days did it take to shoot the film?" Offside is practically a comedy. But interestingly, the questions last night were serious: "How were the girls going to be punished?" and even "Any predictions for the future?" reflecting NYC's concern over the current political tension the Bush administration has created between US and Iran (and plenty of other countries).

They're playing my song

Friday night I went to Rodeo Bar. I’ve been going there for over 12 years. The bartender mixes drinks inside an actual horse trailer, and there's quality free live music every night. They serve bad-ass margaritas and roasted peanuts. In short, it's difficult to find something negative to say about this place. Someone I know compared the band that was playing, the Niagras, to the Talking Heads. I guess there's some truth in that. The lead singer has a charismatic stage presence and is quite masterful at commanding audience attention. I only stayed for one set, but it was a fun show.

Last week was Japanese Restaurant week, so we had a GastroSnobs outing at Sumile Saturday night. They offered a 5-course tasting menu, which was a good deal. The food was fine, but the service was way off. Overall I think I'm fairly low-maintenance, but it's annoying when you're in a nice restaurant and the staff is screwing up - repeatedly.

Spent Sunday with Shani and Rick. We went to a spa and had dinner at Artisanal (overdosed on cheese fondue and kielbasa). Then went to Cake Shop to see Baxter's band, The Miracles. Had zero expectations for the music - for all I knew, they were going to be doing Smokey Robinson covers. As it turns out, they have a pretty experimental sound. Baxter was very passionate about playing bass, which was great to see. And I bumped into other ad people at the show. Apparently I’m not the only one who feels Sunday is an under-utilized day for socializing.

The Namesake

Went to a screening of new film The Namesake last night. It's based on the novel by Jhumpa Lairi. The narrative follows an Indian couple in Calcutta and NYC over 25 years. The production notes describe the film like this: “It encompasses, in a deep humane way, the tale of millions of us who have left one home for another, who have known what it is to combine the old ways with the new world, who have left the shadows of our parents to find ourselves for the first time.” Everyone brings their personal experiences into the theatre & that affects how you view films. I related to this story very much and found it to be really intense and quite moving. I don’t think I’ve cried this much watching a movie since I saw E.T. in elementary school. From an executional standpoint, the cinematography is really beautiful and the acting is wonderful. Director is Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding). After the movie, she and the two lead adult actors spoke about the making of the film and answered audience questions. I always love stuff like that. Film opens in NYC, LA and San Fran tomorrow, and hopefully it will roll out to other cities soon.

The wandering frog returns

Sarah is back in the States following the Singapore portion of her INSEAD studies. She's headed to Wharton for a couple of months. Not Manhattan, but at least it’s the Northeast! We fought the Euro-trash crowds for a big welcome back brunch at Pastis.

Spotted: Sean Patterson (president of Wilhelmina) eating with some ridiculously attractive male models and also Robert Verdi (I don’t think he was able to get a table).

Busy day

Duck drove me out to NJ Saturday to visit Kelly, Rob and the kids.


My goddaughter Clancy. She's 3. Notice she's as tall as my waist. I predict she will be able to beat me up by the time she's 4.


Very interested in the pinot grigio. Glad I can be a good influence.

Work was really crazy this week, and I had some ya-yas to get out. Met Jen & Scott for drinks at Industria Argentina in Tribeca, and then went dancing with Clara at Don Hill’s.

All Asian, all the time

A couple of Thursdays ago, I went to Mai House, a new Vietnamese restaurant in Tribeca. The person who invited me is known in the house, so I was able to meet the chefs. They sent out lots of food, including some dishes that aren’t on the menu. Good food, nice atmosphere, fun dining experience.
Spotted: Mario Batali having dinner in the booth behind us.

In case you’re wondering, things aren’t always fabulous every time I leave the house. Went down to Chinatown last Saturday night for Chinese New Year. There wasn’t an event or parade that day; however, I was disappointed that it wasn’t more festive overall in the neighborhood. Had dinner at Oriental Garden. The staff was yelling, and I almost got elbowed in the face a couple of times as servers cleared the table. The environment was pretty hectic/stressful, and the food didn’t change my life. So there you have it.

This is the Year of the Pig. I was born in the Year of the Ox. I found a website that explains the characteristics of the different Chinese Zodiac signs. Essentially, I think I have the traits associated with my sign. Though the site says Ox people “make skilled surgeons, generals and hairdressers.” I thought this was funny. But I guess I am a bit of a drill sergeant in the office …