Weekend in the Big City

Being that I work so close to New York City, from time to time I stay there on the weekend.   Part of my strategy is to stay during the colder months as this is not high tourism season and thus you can find several affordable hotels.   This particular trip, I had no tourist plans so I devoted my time to discovering new places.  

First of all, I discovered a neat hotel in a really good location – The Mansfield – located at 44^th and Lexington.   This hotel was a short walk to Times Square, 2 blocks to a Subway stop and very close to Grand Central Station.    I actually found this on Expedia at a rate about $70 less than what they were offering via their reservation line. 

My first new discovery was from venturing into the Meatpacking District.  I had been to a fantastic little restaurant there before called 5ninth and during that trip noticed what appeared to be quite a few nice looking places.   So I chose one called Vento – an Italian restaurant in a V-shaped building a major intersection where 3 roads merged.   The atmosphere at this place was nice and the food was good and it was definitely a popular spot.  Whilst there I learned of several other places to check out at later dates.  

Later that evening I met a colleague and friend of mine at a small NYC dive bar called Rudy’s.   This spot on 44^th and 9^th is easily found due to the 8 foot tall pink pig standing guard to the entrance.   Once inside I found that this place had lots to offer for a cool spot – $7 pitchers of beer, free hot dogs and surprisingly friendly patrons.   Definitely a fun place if you are just into inexpensively enjoying yourself and meeting some interesting and nice people.  

The next evening I found my way to a Swedish restaurant called Ulrika’s – located on 60^th between Park and Lexington.   On my flight back from Iceland in February, I sat next to a delightful bird who was originally from Sweden but now teaches voice in NYC.  Being that she was Swedish, I inquired with her about a good authentic place in NYC.  She did not let me down.  I am by no means a Swedish food connoisseur but this place was good from a purely food perspective.   First of all, it was very crowded which for a restaurant is always a good sign but not overly crowded so that it was unpleasant.   Also, my ears noticed a large amount of foreign language resonating which if I were to guess was definitely Scandinavian in nature and most likely Swedish – another good sign that this place was authentic.   My buddy and I dined on some nice gravalax (salmon) for an appetizer and we both tried the Swedish meatballs for a main course.  Fantastic.   I also ventured into the world of Aquavits (a flavor infused alcohol similar to vodka) trying a four flavor sampler.  

The last stop of this evening was to meet a friend at a Moroccan Tapas Bar/Lounge called Kemia.   This was located at 44^th and 9^th as well and was in a basement area beneath a restaurant with the entrance being off 44^th.   Immediately upon descending the stairs I found myself in the kind of space I thoroughly enjoy.  It was dimly lit with small candles providing some light and a very nice décor.   The main area was small stools and couches for lounging about.   Apparently my timing was good because not more than 15 minutes after I arrived, there was a belly dancing show.   The belly dancers first performance involved belly dancing but with a round tray with 8 lit candles resting on her head the entire time.  Now to me, belly dancing and the accompanying music is very beautiful due to the sheer grace.  Couple that with the dancer maintaining a tray of candles on her head the entire time and it was quite an extravagant performance.  The belly dancer continued for 3 or 4 more songs and even involved some of the onlookers into the performance.  Fortunately I evaded selection for this participation.   This place was definitely a gem of a find.

Breaking up the Routine

The type of consulting I do is such that I am in one location for 3 months up to 3 years.  This particular assignment in Islandia, NY is one of the longer term opportunities.  As you can imagine, living in a hotel precludes any home cooked dinners.   And after a while, going to dinner gets to be a little monotonous.   Recently some colleagues of mine and I decided to try something new.   Near where we work is one of those gaming / dining places called Dave and Busters.  You can eat there, sit at the bar and watch sports or go in their good sized game room and play all types of video games and other fun things.   Well, no D&B would be complete without the Pop-a-Shot game where you try to make as many baskets as you can.  Like many games there, you can compete against others.   So hopefully you can see where this is leading.

After a very busy day, one of my colleagues brought up the idea of going for a little Pop-a-shot throw-down.   He plays basketball in the company’s intramural league and me being of Indiana descent where basketball is in my blood was up for the challenge.   Some pre-game smack talk flew back and forth and our other colleagues wanted to come witness this.   We all went and had dinner there first and then as they say, it was time to ‘let the games begin’.   We had a warm-up match and then the real thing.  Best of 3… The first match I was soundly beaten.  The second match I gave the sound beating.  The third and decisive match saw me receive an even more soundly beating.   After all the smack talk, I received a sound whooping and it made it worse as 3 colleagues witnessed it.   

After that we moved on to the NASCAR racing game where up to 6 people can race against each other.  This is definitely another great way to let off some steam and have some mildly competitive fun.  

Editor’s Note:  2 weeks later the wife of one my colleagues was even talking some post game smack about my defeat at Pop-a-shot.   Apparently word had traveled far and wide…