Grand Central Terminal

When you live in Connecticut and you take Metro North into the City, Grand Central Terminal is your gateway to Manhattan. Many times I've found myself head-down, rushing through like a New Yorker in an awful hurry to get somewhere else. It's a shame because the grandeur of old railroads stations like this one beat any airport or other travel hub I've ever seen.

I decided to slow down and to explore new spaces outside my usual route and to savor the small details that make the inside (and the outside) of this building a cavernous gem for train weary travelers.















Nothing else to say here















love this eerie dim reflection of the oyster bar















So clean! So empty! You can almost hear the hum of the light casting that fluorescent green glow.















Forgotten tracks? This hallway seems abandoned on the weekend.















Detail above a staircase.















View to food court seating. I love the subway montage on the tabletops.

how many lightbulbs...

are in use at Grand Central Terminal?

grand central market

midday analog

The in-house repairman at GCT once had 800 clocks under his watch.

lights down, curtain up

This weekend I popped in briefly at the Murray Moss shop/gallery in Soho. I thought the chandelier in the window looked familiar, but seeing it up close and at eye-level was oddly disorienting. Some of you may recognize these as the clustered Swarovski "sputniks" that ascend at the start of any Metropolitan Opera performance at Lincoln Center.

Last summer all of the Met's 1960's chandeliers were dismantled and carefully shipped back to Vienna to be cleaned and repaired. The chandelier in Moss is an exact replica, produced just in case any misfortune struck while in transit. It's an amazing opportunity to see these glimmering crystal rays up-close and they both are available for purchase if you're in the market for a simply stunning chandelier.

Moss
150 Greene Street
New York, NY 10012

fluevog love

It's a non-intuitive thing to buy shoes online, but Zappos free shipping & returns cured me of that hang-up a few years ago. Recently I had my eye on another pair of Fluevogs, but this time I purchased them direct from the company website. I was so excited when these beauties arrived in the mail, I neglected to notice that there was a handwritten message and 2 pieces of flair!

Also immediately after ordering, I had the benefit of a in-store sales associate who emailed me explaining the sizing for my order ran small and narrow. I upgraded to a larger size and avoided purchasing what I'm sure would have been a return. All in all, a super satisfying bit of online retail therapy through a company with a voggin' cool personality.

4 stars transformed by design

It's a historic morning for news so I bought an actual print copy of the NYTimes. It's also Wednesday and overwhelmed by where to start on inauguration coverage, I glanced over the Dining section, where Frank Bruni declares Daniel is still 4 star "extraordinary" and transformed by it's new modern design, a décor that noticeably more sleek and neutral. I admit getting a tad nostalgic upon hearing of the change.

It's been just over 4 years since we got engaged at a sumptuously tented table at Daniel. This restaurant treated us like royalty (bien sur) and as it does with all patrons,not just the rich and famous ones. Simply put, it was a magical evening. There's more to it than just the sublime food, the service level is tremendous. Our meal at Daniel reminded me of the long multi-course dinners we had on my first trip to France.

No, I can't.

harry winston's confidence is inspiring! it's only inauguration day and already obama brings a new dawn of bling for us all.

evermore

Happy 200th birthday Edgar Allen Poe! I never knew he lived in Baltimore, hence his famous poem became the namesake of the city's NFL team.

less meat-tarianism

Wednesdays I usually check out the dining section of the NYTimes and I browse The Minimalist column and Bitten blog by Mark Bittman. Bittman has authored a number of "How to Cook Everything" cookbooks and I like how he makes cooking an easy endeavor, where it's possible to produce simple, yet flavorful dishes. For me, it has made cooking at home a more approachable task, without requiring hours in the kitchen or an endless list of ingredients. Yesterday he came to the suburbs (thanks to WSHU) and spoke about his new book Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating with More Than 75 Recipes in which he wants to convince Americans to eat less meat and dairy. It's not about becoming vegetarian, but just evaluating your daily intake and changing the make-up of your diet.

the one less traveled by

the best way to get around Morningside is in a golf cart... even in the winter.

vinho do porto

Last night the forecast predicted 3-6" of snow. We ended with less than that, under a layer of ice. Shoveling our gravel driveway was like scraping off the hard top shell of a crème brûlée. After dinner we went over to a neighbor's home and were lucky enough to sample this very serious bottle of port.

isabelle et vincent

The weekend after Christmas we had guests for dessert and I'm not much of a pastry chef so I headed straight to the french pâtisserie Isabelle et Vincent in Fairfield, CT. The glass platter was a holiday gift from my grandparents. It's supposed to be for cheese, but I thought it was lovely for sweets. Besides these 4 pastries, we also got a great baguette and some mini macaroons. Those bites of airy sugar are $60 lb, so you are forewarned! My other favorite Connecticut bakery is in Woodbury, Ovens of France. I've only been to each bakery once, so I can't name a favorite... yet.

hawaii 5-0

One of the holiday gifts that threw me for a loop was the roll of quarters ( I used to hoard these back in my college days) from my aunt in Hilo. Turns out it's the final quarter for Hawaii from the 50 State Quarters Program!

What's on the back?
Hawaiian monarch King Kamehameha I stretching his hand toward the eight major Hawaiian Islands. Inscriptions are the state motto "UA MAU KE EA O KA ‘ĀINA I KA PONO," ("The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness").

welcoming 2009 to the table

I've been under the weather since new year's eve, but i just loved these hand-drawn placecards that Joan made on the fly before dinner. Dorns has a party hat on his card, but we also argued it could be a slice of pizza.