the new yorker finger painting

I saw this video before my copy of the New Yorker arrived in the mail. So yesterday the cover was a bit of letdown after witnessing the process behind it. I guess the video from Brushes Viewer just stole the show.





View Brushes App >>

are you a visual thinker?

I started Suzuki violin at 4 yrs old and at that age you learn to play by listening to recordings. Back in my day, this meant a lot of wear and tear on our cassette player! Even after I could read music, recitals and other performances demanded playing from memory. To this day I can still see entire sheets of notes and staffs creating a visual road map that assisted me through performances.

Unlike this video, there wasn't much improv in the classical music I learned... even in a cadenza.

to the end...

cliffside resort
greenport, ny

clear, but
chilly waters

to the end...
of north fork

(orient point)













leaving
port jeff behind

I'll leave you with the superbe sounds of blur & the dreamy françoise hardy taking it "to the end."

a peaceful ending at shinn vineyards

We had hoped to try many North Fork Long Island wines, but only made it to Paumanok Vineyards and Shinn Estate Vineyards. Shinn is a little further off the beaten track and it was such a nice experience to sit down and have the wine tasting come to you! Many of the other wineries can be busy and noisy and you are stuck standing at a crammed bar in order to work through the tasting list. We were a bit rushed trying the reserve wines (with a ferry departure looming over us), but did manage to have a conversation with owner Barbara Shinn who shared behind-the-scenes stories on their recent Food+Wine spread (November '08) and made us want to come back and stay in their farmhouse b&b and sample chef David Page's cooking!

Shinn Estate Vineyards
2000 Oregon Road Mattituck, NY 11952
631-804-0367

http://www.shinnestatevineyards.com/

greenport roundup

In Greenport we lunched at the same spot as the NY Road Rats Hot Rod Club and this was just one of many food stops we made while eating our way in and around Greenport. Besides Aldo's here's what we sampled:

Claudio's Clam Bar:
There's a lot of debate about this waterfront empire in Greenport. We simply liked the name Crabby Jerry's, but it wasn't open for the season yet. We tried the Clam Bar instead managed to snag a table right at the water's edge and I enjoyed my crabcake and the stuffed clams. I suppose it's not for everyone, but it worked for road-weary tourists who wanted to sit by the water and relax with a beer and some seafood. They'll even refund your $10 parking fee!
111 Main St, Greenport, NY 11944
http://www.claudios.com/

D'Latte:
Their gelato saved our evening after a disappointly uneven meal at the Frisky Oyster. They also serve coffee and other baked goods, but we didn't get a chance to sample.
218 Main Street Greenport, NY 11944

Frisky Oyster:
With a name like the Frisky Oyster, we wanted to love this trendy dinner spot on Front Street. We even wanted to eat oysters, but sadly this restaurant only features them one way: "oysters friskafella" with the bi-valve baked in a salty cheese and spinach mixture. It was overpowering way to feature these stars of Long Island coastline. While the service was fine and the restaurant was jammed at 8:30pm, we all found the food coming out the kitchen way too uneven to justify the prices and the hype.
27 Front St Greenport, NY 11944
http://www.thefriskyoyster.com/

Salamander's General Store:
We unsuccessfully went in search of Sang Lee Vinegar, but the whole time I could smell fried chicken and I will be pre-ordering that when I'm back for our next adventure. The cinnamon & sugar donut was a group favorite and there were cases filled with other prepared foods that looked delicious. It's a great place to stock up for a picnic by the sea!
414 1st St. Greenport, NY (631) 477-3711














Catapano Dairy Farm
We wanted to check out the baby goats, but the ones doing the hard work were not as happy to see us. I got a log of a pepper goat cheese ($8) which was a little sweet and had a just a hint of fiery spice. I hope we can convince Caseus or Villa Gourmet to stock it!
33705 North Rd (County Rte 48) Peconic, NY 11958
http://www.catapanodairyfarm.com/

Pat & Steve's Family Restaurant
63 N Ferry Rd Shelter Island, NY 11964
It rained the entire time we were on Shelter Island, but we had a great breakfast and an even better time talking with the sassy servers at this local establishment.

The Seafood Barge:
Another place with uneven reviews. We wondered if some people mistakenly ate at the Old Barge, as we almost did! We loved the food here, it's white tablecloth service in a more casual waterfront ambience. We finally dined on local Pipes Cove oysters on the half shell with a lemongrass mignonette and my absolute trip favorite was the lobster knuckle sliders dotted with vanilla bean.
62980 Main Road Southold, NY 11971
http://www.seafoodbarge.com/

Places for next time:
Love Lane Kitchen
North Form Table and Inn
Shinn Farmhouse B&B
Sang Lee Farms
Vine Wine Bar

spinning circles in greenport

B gets the brass ring, D loves his new hat and my lunch from Claudio's Clam Bar stays where it belongs. I now realize I haven't been on many carousels and this one whirled just a little faster than I expected. Everyone else seemed to have a ball!

aldo's: closed is the new open

Deterred by the lack of lights and the prominently placed CLOSED (Nishiki brand) sign in the window, I almost caused us to miss Aldo's in Greenport, NY. If you are lucky enough to get the 'good' macchiato be sure to at least taste it before adding any sugar. And note when ordering two cups, the plural is cappuccini.

We watched this white-haired propiertor rummage around in his pile of bills and coins on the back counter (who needs a cash register?) and noticed that it doesn't quite seem like he's moved in to this space yet. Apparently a few others are scratching their head as well, but it doesn't matter, if you see Aldo and the door's unlocked, go in and get a serious cup of coffee.

More on Aldo Maiorana

Aldo's
136 Front St
Greenport, NY 11944
(631) 477-6300

exotics

Admit it, these exotic truffles from Vosges look quite tempting!! 16 pieces of chocolate perfection.

But wait- there is one missing! That's what we thought too. I am pleased to announce we didn't get gypped and instead rescued the kirsch + dark chocolate to be eaten another day. The dried Michigan cherry topping the Chef Pascal simply got stuck to the vellum packaging as the lid was lifted. Take note... if you're lucky enough to get your own purple box.

I'll report back on the other part of this tasty birthday gift when we have some time to make pancakes.

cliff walk & ocean drive

The sun wasn't out much for our few days in Newport, but Sunday all the bad weather cleared out and it was a sunny, but windy day. Just before we haded back home we hit the Cliff Walk to check out a few of the big homes and take in some sea air. It was a specatactular view along the coastline.




















That little black speck in the white foam is a surfer. what a brave soul. It must be freezing out there

































We guessed this tent is up for Salve Regina's graduation and if so, that is one heck of a backdrop for a diploma ceremony! I sat on this very tree over 15 years ago, the last time I was in Newport. I had spent the night in a Salve dorm room and later announced it was the prettiest campus I'd ever seen.


















There were loads of families out to enjoy mother's day sunshine, but this puppy stole the show every where he ran.
























Are we in Hawaii? Nope, just watching some crazy guys in wet suits looking for a ride on the Rhode Island surf.

























...And we're off the island and heading back home! As our final seafood stop, I wanted to go to the Sea Swirl in Mystic, but we hit Bill's Seafood in Westbrook instead.

breakfast on broadway

When traveling with others, I try to remain flexible because you can't always set your own agenda. Sunday was our last day in Newport and I was excited to call my own shots. I wanted to try Norey's for breakfast. It was closed. We saw the Hungry Monkey already looked quite full so we went across the street to Jack and Josie's. it looks more like an internet cafe, but we were quite happy with our meal and the quiet ambience. I had hot cakes stuffed with lemon zest and ricotta with a bit of cool sour cream on the side.























I was glad we wandered futher afield from downtown to check out the Broadway restaurants. I fell in love with the Gulf sign inside Salvation Cafe and noticed Tucker's Bistro where I had hoped to eat on Thursday, but alas we didn't make it to Newport early enough.

Jack & Josie's
111 Broadway
http://www.jackandjosies.com/

Norey's
156 Broadway

Hungry Monkey
124 Broadway
http://thehungrymonkeycafe.com/

Salvation Cafe
140 Broadway
http://www.salvationcafe.com/

Tucker's Bistro
150 Broadway
http://www.tuckersbistro.com/


For more dining recommendations here's a great place to start:
http://www.bestofnewport.com/newport-rhode-island-restaurants.htm

downtown walkabout

scales & shells

Friends of ours have a second home in Narragansett and we were lucky that they know Newport well enough to recommend Scales for our dinner. It's all seafood and it's nothing fancy inside, but had a lovely meal. We began with clams and oysters on the half shell. D had a skate wing piccata and I had a toro tuna, cooked medium rare over a wood grill. It was simply the best fish I've eaten since we were at Fore Street in Portland. I also enjoyed their grilled veggie kebab that even has a mini corn-on-the-cob jammed on the end!

A few things to note: Scales does not take reservations (luckily it was off-season and we walked right in around 7PM) and they do not take credit cards. I'm also told there is a fancier version above, called Upscales, but I was would be perfectly happy to return to the same spot.

Scales and Shells
527 Thames Street
Newport, RI 02840
(401) 846-FISH (3474)
http://www.scalesandshells.com/

After dinner we headed to Cafe Zelda for dark and stormies, but the bar also serves food and we had alternately planned to go there first for apps there if we had to wait for a table at Scales.

The Viking

Last weekend I had a business meeting at the Viking Hotel in Newport. We stayed 3 nights on the 4th floor room 4023. Our room had extremly high ceilings and every time you got out of the elevator you could look out onto the Top of Newport rootfop bar (opens Memorial Day, but we snuck out for a peek when we found the door open on Saturday). There is a nice front porch with white rocking Adirondack chairs and a London style cab for zipping guests around the downtown area. I found all of the staff extremely friendly and thought the hotel did a surprisingly tasty job with our banquet meal of losbter and filet in the Colonnade Room.

Hotel Viking
1 Bellevue Ave.
Newport, RI 02840
(401) 847-3300
http://www.hotelviking.com/

Next year's meeting is in to Portsmouth NH, so I am looking forward to finally trying the Friendly Toast for breakfast.

Ryohei Yanagihara

I've worked with plenty of coporate logos and brand guidelines in my 10 years as a graphic designer and I'd love to believe this tale told by another blogger who adores the MOL, Mitsui O.S.K Lines as much as (or maybe even more than) me. My first thought wasn't of a t-shirt, but I was relieved to retrieve my phone in time to snap a shot of the 18-wheeler leaving Secondi's truck stop in Milford. A little research lead me to the Ryohei Yanagihara Museum on the MOL site. Never thought I would get excited shipping illustrations, but the day has finally dawned.

It's really hard to imagine my clients distributing their hi-res logo to adoring fans, but this gato logo has a public relations story that warms my heart. http://www.tikaro.com/2008/05/holy-grail-tshirt-quest-mitsui.html


More on the tale of the alligator >>

derby day 2009

The past few years we've been out of town the weekend of the Kentucky Derby (we spent 2007 in Manchester, VT and 2008 in Portland ME), but this year we got to stay home. Of course no roses here for Derby Day, but we had a surprise. The deer may have chomped on every single tulip I planted, but the flowers still prevailed.

Next week's posts should include some shots from Newport, RI. I'm looking for suggestions on where to eat if you have any recommendations before Thursday.

every cheese has a story

Usually we go to the Villa Gourmet in Milford for our cheese, but we were running Derby Day errands in New Haven and stopped off at Caseus, another favorite shop (and restaurant) for some provisions. Unfortunately it was way too crowded to eat lunch upstairs and I find the lower level a bit too cave-like on a nice day, so we went to Pot au Pho for lunch instead.


















Caseus
93 Whitney Ave
New Haven, CT 06510
(203) 624-3373
www.caseusnewhaven.com

lost and found

D's mom found some old documents at home. A letter (1873) and a family marriage certicate from the beautiful Church of the Transfiguration, in New York City (1935). I thought this illustration looked familiar and I went and dug up my AIA guide to New York City and there it was, starred and tabbed with a hot pink post-it note on that very entry for the Little Church Around the Corner. I remember passing it the semester I studied at Columbia. It's such a charming low slung building in the heart of the City I always wanted to go back and check it out.


The Church of the Transfiguration
"The Little Church Around the Corner"
One East 29th Street
(Fifth & Madison)
New York, New York
http://www.littlechurch.org