Monday, August 22, 2011

Another summer Friday

Last Friday, intead of checking out a new lunch place, I made plans to meet some gal pals at a Diners Deck restaurant downtown.  So I decided to find a museum nearby--I opted for the National Museum of the American Indian, down near Battery Park.  It's a Smithsonian museum, so it's free, inside the old Customs House.  It's a lovely old building, and a picturesque spot for a museum. 

The rotunda is gorgeous and there's a nice area that shows you the evolution of the building itself, plus there's a nice seating area, so you can catch your breath either before or after looking at the exhibits.  I opted to save the rotunda for last, since I saw a gallery exhibiting glasswork by Preston Singletary.    He was descended from the Tlingit, and devoted a lot of his work to celebrating that heritage.  Unfortunately, you couldn't take photos in there, since it was a special exhibit.  There were many gorgeous pieces--I especially liked the vases that had intricate detailing that you could only see by shining a spotlight directly over them and seeing the shadows created.  They were lovely.

Once you leave the glasswork exhibit, you enter the main permanent collection, called the Infinity of Nations.  The permanent collection is a little overwhelming, with over 700 artifacts from various tribes and countries.  The pieces range from pottery from 1500 B.C. to replicate garments made in the 1960s.  Since everything is behind glass, it lends a rather sterile quality to the exhibit.  You can't get quite close enough to see the detailing and how the pieces are put together (you also can't really get good photos).  I was extremely impressed with all of the many representations of the Native life, but I didn't really get a sense of it because of the modern display methods.  If that doesn't make sense, sorry.  I guess I could've used more music and maybe different groupings of the treasures would've had more impact for me.  I will say that I didn't see the exhibit in the correct order--I should've gone out of the glasswork exhibit the way I came in and then entered the Infinity of Nations area, but I went through backwards.  So that could be part of the reason why I found it so overwhelming and a tad confusing.  But there are many gorgeous things there and I highly recommend checking this museum out.  Oh, and definitely check out the Coat Room, which is stunning, and the Gift Shop, which had a more personal feeling to me...








After I finished at the musuem, I decided to walk over to the department store, Century 21, to find some cheap jeans.  Yikes, it's crowded there!  Believe it or not, I had never been there before, either!  But I did find some nice inexpensive jeans that actually fit, and I got a shot of the in-progress Freedom Tower, along with a shot of Trinity Church, as I was walking along.

After my extended time in Century 21 (gosh, it takes a long time to get through the checkout line there!), I sat outside for a few minutes, waiting in a nice park until it was time to head over to the Diners Deck restaurant my gal pal and I were going to check out for dinner.  I had been dying to try this particular place for awhile, so I'm glad we finally found the time to give it a try.  Plus, by now, I was starving!!!

 After a very nice walk across William Street,  I finally found Crepes du Nord, a creperie and wine bar near Wall Street.  It's an extremely small spot, but very attractive.  The building has been placed on the National Registry of Historic Places, which is fun.  I think there's a different restaurant on the other side, but I couldn't tell and I forgot to ask our server.  I got a nice glass of Gruner Vetliner and waited for my gal pal.

The menu is divided into savory crepes and sweet crepes, along with a few other menu items (Caesar salad, burger, salmon).  It was really hard to decide what I wanted, but once I saw that they served a sweet lemon crepe for dessert, I decided to get a 'lighter' crepe for dinner.  Ha.  Lighter is a relative term.  :)

So, I got the ratatouille crepe, that also had some ricotta in it.  It was delicious, made with buckwheat flour and very vibrant ratatouille. The out-of-this-world sweet lemon crepe was spectacular.  I definitely want to go back and try all of the other tasty-sounding treats...

To end the evening, there was a sudden monsoon as we were paying our bill at the restaurant, so they kindly let us stay until the rain let up a bit.  Once it let up, we walked a few blocks to the nearest subway.  As we waited for a train, we decided to stand under one of the huge fans to get some air.  A couple of young gents were there, and one asked if he could 'share the fan with us.'  Awww.  The other gent, who clearly was not that into us, stayed away because he 'doesn't like fans.'  When the first boy asked 'where are you headed?', the uninterested boy said 'uptown.  let's go' and pulled interested boy away.  Oh well.  Almost got a flirting there.  :)  We got on the train and sat there.  And sat there.  And sat there.  Finally, the conductor came on to tell us that because there was flooding uptown, we would be waiting awhile before moving.  We were probably on the train for over an hour, waiting to move, then crawling along.  But at least we missed the flooding.  Ah, New York.

Next week, no museum.  Tennis instead!  I'm sure there will be photos...

Friday, August 19, 2011

Better Late Than Never--LAST Friday's museum fun! :)

As I decide which museum to check out today, I realize that I didn't post about last week's summer Friday!  I actually didn't have a Diners Deck lunch last week, since it was the last day for two co-workers (the office had a going-away pizza party for them).  I considered just bagging the whole summer experiment, but then I decided to stop being a lazybutt and went downtown to the Rubin Museum of Art. 


Again, I have always wanted to check out the Rubin, but have never made it there before.  It is devoted to Tibetan and other Himalayan art, along with the surrounding regions.  There is a lot of religious art, along with textiles, sculptures and paintings.  There is also a Tibetan Shrine Room, and a room with replicas of art from the Dalai Lama's retreat.  A lot of the art is from the 12th and 13th centuries, along with more current work as well.


I was told the building used to be a Barney's department store--I don't know anything about that, but it is a lovely space.  The museum is very nicely laid out, with an attractive circular staircase in the middle of the rooms.  Each floor has its own exhibit, with the second and third floors devoted to their permanent collections, and the fourth and fifth floors with special exhibitions.  Currently, the special exhibitions are works of Naxi religious art from China, and the art of Tibetan carpets.

The Rubin does a nice job of putting labels on the art, and also educational flyers throughout to explain the art and the philosophy behind the art.  I picked up a nice flyer on religious symbols and figures and what they mean in the art.  It was really helpful as I went through the rest of the museum. 








I took a lot of fantastic photos (above are just a few samples--you are allowed to take photos of the permanent collections, but not the special collections) and really enjoyed myself at the Rubin.  It's designed very thoughtfully, with the art grouped well, but also well-spaced, so you don't get overwhelmed.  It has a nice, airy atmosphere, and also a contemplative feel, which pairs nicely with the religious art.  I didn't get a good shot of the Tibetan Shrine Room, which was dark and moody, with music and slight aromas of incense, but it was very calming to spend a few minutes in there to reflect.  I highly recommend making a visit to the Rubin.

I used my iPhone and the Eat St app to try to find a food truck nearby for lunch, but all the trucks in the vicinity were taco trucks, and I wasn't in the mood for tacos.  So, I wandered over to Trader Joe's, picked up some dinner fixins, and headed home to finish up another fun summer Friday...

Monday, August 15, 2011

Surreal Life

Most mornings, I wake up and turn on a sports talkshow to start my day.  For some reason, I decided to start my day last Friday by checking Facebook on my new iPhone.  And there I saw the news that a friend from high school had died.

There are so many levels to what happened and to how I feel.  To me, my high school theater friend John Oswald is gone.  To the world, Warrant lead singer Jani Lane has died alone in a hotel room.  To see the life and death of an old friend splashed out across tabloids is so surreal.  It's strange enough that a classmate of mine became a rock star, then a pitiable reality show figure.  But now his family and friends are going to be subjected to the weird extreme grief plus rumor-mongoring that is so popular online nowadays.  If only people could've written about John when he was vital and alive, and left him alone when he was struggling with his demons.  It just all seems so backwards.

I have so many memories of a talented and charming boy.  We did musicals and plays together, we had classes together.  We did the hustle in sixth grade study hall.  When we had to slow dance in gym class (yikes!), we would generally pick each other as a partner.  We auditioned together for a Kent State scholarship and even accompanied each other's musical auditions (he sang "Hey There" and I sang, ugh, "What I Did For Love."  I think you can guess who got the performance scholarship and who didn't).  We rehearsed a lot at my house--my mom and sister were so fond of him.  He chose not to accept his scholarship and left Ohio to pursue his music.  The next time I heard about him was when I was in grad school and my sister called me and said "Turn on MTV!  I think John Oswald is on!!"  What a trip that was--seeing John on MTV!

The last time I physically saw John was in Detroit (that's where I went to grad school).  I saw that he was doing an autograph signing at a mall outside Detroit--my mom and I drove out there to see him.  I got in line with hundreds of screaming teenage girls.  One girl asked me what I was doing there (since I was clearly way older than anyone else in line).  I said I knew "Jani" and wanted to say hi.  The girls around me started to squeal.  Then, when I got to the front of the line, John was looking down and signing a photo.  I leaned in and whispered, "Hi John."  He looked up and screamed, "Oh my god, it's Tari!!!" and gave me a huge hug.  We talked for awhile, he invited me to his show later that night (I couldn't go--I had to work), then he had to get back to his fans and I left.  As I walked away, the girls around me started screaming and wanted to touch me because John had!  It was one of the strangest experiences of my life.

Although I followed his career and was very proud of his success (and was very worried during his public battles with alcohol), our lives went in completely different directions and I only talked to him one other time.  He called me sometime after 9/11.  We had corresponded briefly on MySpace, before I closed my account because of weirdos.  He wanted to know how I was.  We caught up on each other's lives.  He expressed disappointment that his career seemed stalled.  I told him he needed to come to New York and get back into theater.  There was no reason he couldn't get a show if people like Sebastian Bach were being cast.  He said it sounded like a good idea and he would look into it, and that he was proud I pursued my passion like he did.  And that was that.  I will always regret not calling him to follow up.  Not calling him after reading about some trouble to see if there was something I could do to help.  I look at his cell phone number in my new iPhone and I wonder...

Like so many friends from high school, I love the boy he was.  Maybe I wouldn't have loved the man he became.  But that doesn't matter.  He's sort of frozen in time now, like so many friends who are gone too soon.  I'm sorry there will be no more music and no more opportunities to whisper, "Hi John," and remember simpler days gone by.

Most of my photos of the old days are packed up and I can't get to them, but here are a few shots of the John I remember.  The black and white shots are actually scans of yearbook photos that I shot in high school, the production shots are from Stage Door.  A couple of the other shots are taken from the internet.  Rest in peace, dear John.   I will miss you.










Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Adventures in Dining

I've been very fortunate to eat at two very fine restaurants over the past few days.  You should eat at them, too.  :)


Sunday night, an old friend took me to Cavo, in Astoria.  Down the street from my apartment, in fact.  I've been there a few times and have never been disappointed.  I wasn't disappointed Sunday, either.   Cavo is a lovely spot, celebrated for their gorgeous outdoor garden area, but since the humidity was at about 9000 percent on Sunday, we opted to stay indoors.  In the air conditioning. 


I had a white wine I had never tried before, a verdejo, from Spain.  I thought it was very tasty, nice and crisp and not too fruity.  It was good to drink on its own, and it also went with all the food we ate.  So, thumbs up on the verdejo.


My friend and I decided to get three appetizers, then split a main course, so we'd be able to try as many of the delicious sounding dishes as possible.  For the appetizers, we got the octopus, marinated in lemon juice, grape tomatoes and onions; the trio of dips, which included hummus, tzatsiki and tapenade; and the Sunday special, shrimp fried in phyllo dough, with a honey mustard glaze.  They were all DELICIOUS.  The octopus was tender and rich, but the sauce was nice and light.  The dips were also very rich, with the tapenade being especially delicious.  I'm in a real kalamata olive phase of my life.  That salty deliciousness generally has me at hello.  And the fried shrimp was rocking.  Firstly, they were enormous, but they were also cooked perfectly.  The crunchy phyllo was a great textural contrast, and the sweet stickiness of the glaze paired perfectly.  I would definitely order all three dishes again.


For our main course, we decided to order the sea bass, served on a bed of roasted fennel and artichokes, in a basil pesto sauce.  Again, completely yummy.  It is described as the chef's favorite and I can see why.  It's very light, yet earthy, and filling.  There could've been more artichokes, but that's a quibble.  We also got a side of sauteed spinach, which was pretty unnecessary, because we were starting to get pretty full, but oh well.  It was well-done, with garlic and shallots and lots of olive oil.         



The dessert menu wasn't all that exciting, plus, we were about to explode, so we didn't get dessert.  Next time.  They do have a limoncello dessert, but it didn't sound amazing enough to try to make it fit.  Next time.


We had a very nice time at Cavo--they don't rush you, the space is lovely and the atmosphere is very conducive to conversation.  You should definitely check it out next time you're in Astoria.


Last night, I went with my gal pals to another Diners Deck locale, Candle Cafe, on the Upper East Side.  Candle Cafe is actually owned by the same people who run Candle 79 (where I went for lunch last Friday).  It's much smaller and homier, with a completely different, though still vegan, menu.


There were so many delicious sounding dishes on the menu, it was very hard to decide!  I highly recommend the lemon ginseng iced tea to start.  Then I finally opted for the Tofu Club, which had grilled tofu, tempeh bacon, lettuce and tomato, with some vegenaise.  Oh, and some incredible housemade pickles.  They were grand.  The sandwich is usually served on whole grain toast, but they made it on foccacia for me, since I'm allergic to oats and oats are in their whole grain bread.  I thought the sandwich tasted delicious on the focaccia.  I also got an order of fries (though they're referred to as fried potatoes on the menu, which makes them sound like something other than fries), which were quite tasty, but nothing out of the ordinary.  The housemade ketchup, on the other hand, was DELICIOUS!  Whoo boy, that was some good ketchup.  :)


One pal got the plate of side orders, so she could try a little bit of everything, and the other got the Paradise Casserole, which was incredible.  It was layers of sweet potatoes, black beans and millet, served over sauteed kale.  Yum yummy.  Oh, and it had country gravy to pour over it.  It deserved a photo.  I might have to get it next time...



We had a little NY street drama before we sat down--two star-crossed lovers, perhaps homeless, were having a bit of a tiff outside the restaurant.  The gent at the front desk was having a hard time explaining to them why they couldn't come in and sit with other patrons.  It just made everything a little more interesting.  :)  Oh, and all the photos were shot with the new iPhone.  They look pretty good, if I do say so myself...                                   

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Summer Friday Experiment

So, I've been reading this book by a single gal of a certain age who took a leave of absence from her job and moved to Europe for eight months.  Clearly, I find that inspiring.  I would love to spend significant amounts of time elsewhere, trying to live my life in a dfferent way.  In fact, I've dreamed about heading over to Europe for the clay court tennis season, and spend all my time sightseeing and watching tennis for months.  Sigh.  That sounds divine.

As I'm reading, I start to feel even more lazy--lately, if I'm not seeing a show (which is more often than not), I'm just laying around my apartment, doing nothing.  So, I decided to break out, if only in a small way.  I made a goal for myself to try one of my Diners Deck restaurants and a museum on each of my remaining summer Fridays.  I can get some good food and good art, and feel like I'm accomplishing a little something.  Yesterday was my first outing.

I went to the Upper East Side to try Candle 79, a vegan restaurant.  The restaurant was really busy for lunch, so I had to take a seat at the bar.  No problem, it never bothers me to eat at a bar.  ;)  Besides, the bartender, Chris, was adorable and quite charming.  Candle 79 has an extensive beverage menu, with housemade sodas, cocktails with and without liquor, and a nice wine list of organic sustainable wine.  After deciding that it might be a bad idea for me to have a cocktail then go to a museum, I opted for the housemade ginger ale.  It was quite delicious, and very potent, with fresh ginger syrup, fresh lemon juice, agave syrup, seltzer and mint.  Yum yummy. 

The lunch menu is also pretty extensive, with lots of appetizers, salads and main courses.  I toyed with getting soup and salad, but the soup of the day was a cold avocado soup, and while I love avocado, I wasn't sure I would love a bowl of it.  So I opted for the not-very-adventurous avocado timbale.  It was a lovely dish, sort of like an elegant seven-layer dip--it had a layer of black beans, a layer of tomato/cucumber salsa and a layer of carmelized onions,which were almost pasta-like in their consistency.  At the bottom, was a smoky adobe sauce.  It was slightly sweet, slighly spicy, and very tasty.   I toyed with trying the peanut butter mousse dessert, which many reviews mentioned as amazing, but I was pretty full.  The tortilla chips served with the timbale were pretty substantial and just the right amount.  So, thumbs up for Candle 79.   With my Diners Deck discount, my meal came to just under $11!  Woo hoo!


      Off I went, from 79th and Lex, to the Frick Museum, at 70th and Fifth.  It was a lovely day for a walk along Fifth Avenue (thankfully, I had thrown a hat into my bag that morning because it was mighty sunny along Fifth!).  I should walk along Fifth more often.  It's so clean and pretty.  And quiet.  :)

Surprisingly, I've never been to the Frick.  I'm almost embarrassed to admit it.  Frick's collection is right up my artistic alley.  So I'm glad to have finally visited.  It's annoying, though, that they don't allow photography.  You can take pictures in museums all over Europe, but it's frowned on in America in so many places.  I would've loved to get a few shots of the layout of the house--it's quite lovely.  And hard to imagine as a residence.  All of the rooms just look so grand, it didn't inspire notions of kids running around throwing a ball.  ;)

The Fragonard Room was one of my favorite spots--it's very European and palatial.  I was disappointed that the Ingres is out on loan and the Enamel Room was under construction--I did so want to see all of the Limoges in the collection.  But the rest of the art was quite incredible, with Vermeers, Goyas, Gainsboroughs, a Monet, a Renoir, and a couple of James McNeill Whistler's I hadn't seen before  (we did a play about Whistler in grad school, so I know some of his work and enjoy it).  After wandering the galleries, there's a brief video about Frick and his home that was quite nice.   I spent a lovely two hours at the Frick and may even go back when the Ingres returns.  They have a 'pay what you can' period of time on Sundays, so we'll see.

So it was a good way to start to meet my last few Summer Friday goal--I think next week, I may try the Rubin Museum near Union Square.  I just have to find a good Diners Deck restaurant to go with it... :)                                 

Review - Olive and the Bitter Herbs

I went to see the new Charles Busch play at Primary Stages, Olive and the Bitter Herbs.  This seems to be a return to the Allergist’s Wife Busch, as opposed to the Divine Sister Busch.  Which is great, but I don’t know, maybe a bit of fun is lost in the transition.

Not that fun is missing in Olive, but I think Busch is going for more here than in his more pastiche/campy plays.  Here we have a story about a cantankerous lonely older actress and how she is forced to let people into her life.  How each person’s life touches many others.  And, though change is scary, it’s also a necessary evil in your life.  Worthy themes, all.

The play opens with Olive, played by Marcia Jean Kurtz (who, through no fault of her own, will always be the faux-Hedda Nussbaum on ‘Law and Order’ to me) wandering her living room and peering intently into a large mirror.  That mirror will play a large part in the evening.  Julie Halston plays a gal who supplements her company manager career as being a kind of Gal Friday to older actresses who don’t get out much anymore.  David Garrison and Dan Butler are the couple who live next door, and Richard Masur comes in later as the father of the building’s co-op president.

Olive is an abrasive, unpleasant person who doesn’t get along with anyone, and it’s fun watching her try to let her guard down (sometimes successfully, sometimes not)).  She’s witty, smart and funny, like many of Charles’ characters.  I do think that Marcia Jean Kurtz seems to be struggling—with her lines and maybe even with the character.  I’m not sure it’s a natural fit for her, and sometimes the choices she makes ring a little false.  However, the show is still in previews, so maybe this will get worked out.

Julie Halston, is, of course, a complete and utter hoot; although she doesn’t have enough to do early in the piece, her monologue in the second act is nearly worth the price of admission.  I mean, if you’ve seen Julie Halston, you’ve already seen a lot of what she does here, but that doesn’t negate its hilarity. 

David Garrison and Dan Butler are a believable couple, with Garrison the more suave partner and Butler the more extroverted.  An off-to-the-side conversation they have towards the end of the play is hysterical.  At the end of the show, coincidence on top of coincidence start to pile up, and they build to a funny, yet touching revelation.  I’m not sure I bought the very end, but that may be more because of my not responding completely to Kurtz rather than the actual script.  Though I could be wrong.

As usual, Charles has written some sharp and funny dialogue, and he has created some very recognizable characters who retain their individuality.  The play’s also a little overwritten, especially in the second act, where it seems like Charles felt as if there was a lot that needed to be fit in (though maybe it doesn’t).  The supernatural themes could’ve been explored a little more, but I think that’s a directorial issue rather than a dramaturgical one.  There’s a running gag about the building super that doesn’t really pay off, and the show could move a little faster, but these are quibbles.  I laughed a lot and was touched.  Olive doesn’t provide the riotous fun of, say, Divine Sister or Die Mommie Die, but it does give you a pretty authentic slice of NY life and some gentle, touching moments alongside the laughs.

I may even try to see it again after it opens, to see what (if any) changes are made.  But I give the show a thumbs-up and hope it finds a huge audience.  As always.  I suppose I should always state the caveat that I love Charles and be done with it.  J