cherrypatter nyc

so my friend indulged me last night as i began what i hope is a multi-trip tour to check out the food in chinatown and i’m excited that we found two places that are indeed worthy of a write up — and .  they were excellent.  as an added bonus, on our way back out of eastern chinatown, we stumbled upon this great little project from our very own new york city’s department of transportation through its urban art program. 

called the pike loop, a robot-built installation in nyc, this project features this funky little robot in the middle of the street building a brick wall (the photo above is from the storefront for art and architecture which is sponsoring the exhibit).  watching the  robot in action is especially entertaining — my friend took the video with her iphone — as it zooms back and forth with a great swooshing noise.   basically, the robot takes a brick and then adds it to the wall in a specific formation, assisted by some hunky guys who i assume are with the zurich architecture firm gramazio & kohler, architecture and digital fabrication. 

just another reason why i think we’re lucky to have  janette sadik-kahn, maybe new york city’s most dynamic and probably most interesting transportation commissioner ever. she’s a green freak and obsessed with removing street lanes from the city — i love that.     for the pike look robot, if you want to see it in action, you better come by soon as it stops working next week though the brick wall will be up for viewing through mid-november.  pike loop, a robot-built installation in nyc on pike street between division street and east broadway.  construction period continues through october 27th (9 a.m. to 7 p.m.).  installation remains through november 14, 2009.

there are other great reasons to come to this part of chinatown that is just north of the manhattan bridge.  there is of course great food (and i hope to put together a mini guide soon), but also it just feels a little like china.  there are almost no tourists, and you come across random scenes like this — women burning their trash from the day on the street.  not exactly a sustainable approach but it sure is a good way save money for trash removal. 

amber marlow blatt, the host of this amazing podcast that i am addicted to called hey brooklyn! where she interviews creative types of all sorts on a weekly basis (she has this great radio voice!), is a pretty die hard brooklyn fan, and pretty obsessed about her own neighborhood park slope.   she also is behind the very fun blog the amber show, and even her daily activities are highly entertaining so i love reading her as well.   i was thrilled that she was willing to let us know about her favorite spots along 5th avenue and beyond.   thanks amber! 

shopping:

top places for clothes?

the bargain rack at target!  really, i’m the worst dressed person in brooklyn, maybe second next to the scary guy that runs around in ripped pants asking for change.  would anyone like to help me?  i will be your pet project. 

go to place for house gifts?

cog & pearl.  everything is well curated, and they have some really beautiful things for the younger, hipper, etsy-loving set.  All of my girlfriends get really excited when i bring them into this place.

favorite place for cards/stationery?

scaredy kat on 5th avenue, and lion in the sun on 7th avenue.  both have fantastic stationery selections and fun, tiny gift things, too.

flowers?

key foods on 7th.   yup, it’s a grocery store!  they have a great selection outside, and you can buy a few bunches of different flowers and make your own arrangements for not a lot of money.  if you don’t want to diy, the guys will put a bouquet together for you, and they’re pretty good at it. 

click here for more: interview: amber marlow blatt of the amber show

although in theory i would love to be one of those crafty people, i just don’t have it in me to create a costume from scratch — at least a cute one.   so unfortunately, the kids will have to make do with store bought or some pretty basic stuff that i have been able to round up.   now, if i had a bigger halloween budget, i would indulge in john derian’s most glorious costumes which range in price from $57 to $198.  the peter pan, pirate and zoro are all especially beautiful, but the dragon, d’artagnan  and the indian versions are pretty sweet too.   

as promised, i’m back with post number two on my all time favorite shop john derian, and this time it’s the dry goods shop located right next door to  the main shop.   in addition to the costumes, this space is full of bedding and linens including john robshaw textiles and pillows, towels by matteo and les indiennes pillows and covers.  there are also some great stuffed birds, giraffes, snakes and seals by i golfini della nonna for that excellent baby gift.

the john derian dry goods shop carries some clothing like blouses from layla, linen embroidered aprons with plenty of animal imagery (dogs, cats and mice), and some other goodies for the women in your life like  rodin body oil, leather pouches, scarves, virginia johnson bags and even some jewelry. 

i’m not quite sure how they decide what goes into the main shop and into the dry goods shop as there are plenty of things that could fit in both stores like the victorian era glass dome with a model sail boat and drawings by hugo guinness.  whatever. it doesn’t really matter as long as it’s all nearby.   john derian dry goods, 10 east 2nd street between 2nd avenue and the bowery, manhattan, new york, .

a&g merch is a funky furniture and home shop in the center of the bedford section of williamsburg.  it’s always worth going in to take a look to see what’s going on, and usually a&g merch will have something that you just must have, or could use.   while not as capitivating as the future perfect, a&g merch is just much more affordable making a purchase actually possible.  on the big furniture side of things, they have a great selection of couches (a nice alternative to the standards of crate and barrel and west elm), including one from gus modern and the jane love seat all of which have lots of fabric options.  on my visit this summer, they had a bedford lounge covered in a very luxurious eggplant and a brooklyn heights sofa in a reddish gold tweed.  the prices seem to range from $1,500 up to $3,000.

a&g merch has plenty of this and that too. in the kitchen arena, they have a sun tea maker, souvenir mugs, a gnome citronella candle, pig shaped wooden bowls and lace placemats.   they also had lots of cute little decorative ceramics and vases in what must be a small animal obsession with owls, squirrels, reindeer and birds all on display.   for the more adventuresome, a&g merch had some wall decals of squids and skulls and paper mache billy goat heads.

a&g merch were also featuring the very cool stuff from re-co bklyn, a collaborative among three brooklyn craftsmen who use reclaimed and salvaged materials to create unique benches and side tables.   a&g merch also has pieces from brooklyn-based alsdesigns and a few different desks from the super stripped down to fancier works in walnut and other rich woods.  they have plenty of office chairs, relaxing chairs like this  komet roebling lounge chair ottoman and even some colorful glass side tables to round things out.  it’s a good spot for filling in the holes in your home!  a&g merch, 111 n. 6th street near berry streeet, brooklyn, new york, .

since i don’t work in manhattan, and those food trucks are just not making it into gowanus during the week, i haven’t had the chance to try too many (so far just rickshaw dumpling truck and the treats truck; nothing exciting).  given all the publicity, i am still on the look out via twitter for some of the others like calexico, nyc cravings, street sweets and the big gay ice cream truck (now i have to wait till next season since he’s retired it for the colder months).

A few weeks ago, i was pretty excited when miraculously my conference ended early and i was able to  snag a quick visit to the schnitzel & things truck. They had just won the  ”rookie of the year” from the vendy awards so i was feeling pretty pleased with my luck!  Work might not even have noticed i was gone.  as an added bonus, now that j. is working in manhattan again (lucky dog), we were able to meet up for a few minutes in madison square park.

Back to fried austrian treats . . .  By the time i got to the  front of the line, schnitzel & things had run out of bread, so i opted for the pork schnitzel platter.   this is a ginormous, well-pounded hunk of pig (maybe 10+ inches across) lightly breaded, freshly fried.   the cutlet came with a slice of lemon and some parsley and even though it took me 15 minutes to find a seat, it was still pretty darn delicious.  while not exactly tender – you really had to dig into it for cutting – each morsel was chewy (in a good way) and flavorful. i especially loved the schnitzel & things spicy sriracha mayo and just wished the serving size for sauce hadn’t been so paltry.  other sauces that sounded good included a pesto mayo and a ginger, scallion and garlic relish.

schnitzel & things sides were not as exciting but certainly worth continuing to check out.  i did like the roasted beets with feta and a tangy vinaigrette.     next time, i’ll stick to the cutlets and maybe  try the chicken or the cod.   There have been rumors of veal too — now that would be good!  schnitzel & things‘ location varies daily but they tend to have one midtown day, two on park avenue (in the 40s and the upper 20s) and they even seem to visit dumbo most fridays. follow them on for current locations.

i know that it seems like all i do is eat at the frankie restaurants (frankies 457, prime meats), and now fort defiance but at least we do it for good reason. in fact, we ate at fort defiance three times in a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner which is pretty much a record for us.   we were very very happy with the food for the most part, and we also love the space.   situated on a key van brunt corner, (very close to baked, and facing a trio of cute shops including erie basin), fort defiance’s exterior has been painted a great shade of bright blue, and the interior is dominated by the dark wood bar area, and then there are maybe 20 small tables (it is not ideal for a group).  the room has lots of light during the day, and old-world charm at night. 

first, the coffee was excellent. using counter culture beans, those baristas knew how to brew a very excellent cup of coffee.  their skill somewhat made up for the serious attitude toward the kids.  this is not a family-friendly spot — at least if you’re not a hipster.  maybe if we had some tattoos that would have made up for it but if you can help it i wouldn’t bring anyone here under 16 if you want to feel welcome.  we enjoyed ourselves despite the service.  for breakfast, we loved the egg and emmenthal sandwich.   the pastries were not so exciting (most of them came from trois pommes patisserie), but there were other interesting items like beans on toast and a few other eggy options that seem worth another visit.  

lunch is sandwich time.  we had the fort defiance blt which was pretty darn good.    the muffuletta has been written about quite a bit so that seems worth trying as well as a tuna sandwich served with aioli, red onions and an egg.  my caponata which was spilled over perfectly grilled toast and romano cheese was excellent. i don’t usually like eggplant, but the pieces were firm, and the sauce somewhat tangy filled with tomatos and a delicious vinegar.   fort defiance also boasts of having the best seltzer in brooklyn with their own specially calibrated machine.  they had pineapple soda on one visit, and also sell egg creams.

i think my favorite time to visit fort defiance was for dinner and this was sans kids so maybe that made all the difference.  the evening menu is super limited, and changes daily.  j. had the braised pork shank (of unusual size) with red cabbage and bacon, and i got the grilled bratwurst with spaetzle and mustard sauce. we were two very happy meat-eating creatures.  my bratwurst was bursting and firm, and the spaetzle made me feel like we were back in berlin. we also tried their incredible salad of butternut squash, frisee and goat cheese with a mushroom vinaigrette.  the mixture of textures, and bracing flavors were perfectly paired with that sweet, slightly carmelized squash.  dessert, not surprising given the pastry issue, was not as exciting at fort defiance.  we had the made-in-house apple strudel mit schlag but it was no competition for the the ethereal stuff at café sabarksy.

but i think what i really loved about fort defiance was that it is an excellent bar with old-fashioned delicious drinks.  i went a little loopy (which never happens these days) on a mix of jack rose apple brandy, lime and homemade grenadine.    j’s cloister gin with grapefruit, lemon and chartreuse was not quite as addictive.  however, if i didn’t have little ones waking me up, i definitely would have opted for a mint julep or even a tom collins to end our night.   looks like yesterday’s menu featured a pumpkin soup with bacon and kale, “sunday sauce” with a pork and lamb ragu, as well as a rabbit and chorizo hash.  hmmmm. maybe we need to get a babysitter for next weekend.  fort defiance, 365 van brunt street between sullivan and wolcott streets, brooklyn, new york, .

i only occasionally read up on history, and only when the books are really really good (like this one) so i am no presidential expert.   but for my top 3 presidents, lincoln always seems to make the list shockingly.   now i only wish i knew if he were actually as good as his reputation.   i am sure when i have hours and hours to myself i will catch up on all the great lincoln analysis out there, but for now, i thought this new-york historical society exhibit which shows how lincoln owed his political success to the empire state might be kind of fun.   who knew lincoln and new york were connected?

 the exhibit looks nice and scholarly so in an hour or so you too can be an expert in how lincoln really shaped the development of new york (he might be terribly disappointed if he knew how our governance was going these days), and what new york did for him.  and to take a break from all that seriousness though fascinating stuff, i’ve highlighted some great food options and even a little interesting shopping in the “independent shop” challenged upper west side in my mini guide below.  lincoln and new york, new-york historical society, 170 central park west near 77th street, manhattan, new york, .

while not the most exciting part of manhattan, for shopping anyways, i do tend to be up on the upper west side periodically for one reason or another so it is always good to know where to eat first and foremost and if there is any place to check out that’s just a bonus.  i’ve covered the upper west side before, near lincoln center and for picnic ideas too, but this post will focus in on that area right next to central park, in case you’re checking out the very interesting lincoln exhibit at the new-york historical society, or venturing to the american museum of natural history(a frequent favorite of ours in the winter). here are some suggestions below, and at the bottom of the post you can click for my newish map with a detailed legend.

food:

shake shack:not as fun as the madison square park location, but it’s a lot warmer and the burgers, fries and concretes are just as good. 366 columbus avenue at 77th street, manhattan, new york, .

sushi of gari:  j. and i love this place for their amazing omakase (no reason to go here for just plain sushi) but it’s not traditional and it is pricey.  definitely a special treat for us.  cannot wait to go back for that tuna with tofu.  370 columbus avenue between 77th and 78th streets, manhattan, new york, .

westside cheese company, i’ve been reading a lot about this cheese and antiques shop lately so i’m very curious to check it out.  228a columbus avenue at 71st street, manhattan, new york, .

fatty crab: definitely go for the amazing take on malaysian with excellent cocktails and lots of porky things. don’t expect great service.  2170 broadway between 76th and 77th streets, manhattan, new york, .

shops:

pookie & sebastian: although their “love story” is a bit much, they always have very trendy, interesting clothes at somewhat affordable prices, and the stock changes often.  322 columbus avenue between 75th and 76th streets, manhattan, new york, .

roam, a great all-around gift shop with a little bit of everything, and especially strong on the kids shoes (small but excellent collection) and some of their ceramics.  488 amsterdam avenue between 83rd and 84th streets, manhattan, new york, .

maxible & mandible: one funky science shop filled with fossils, rocks, dinosaur teeth and lots and lots of posters – anatomy, the periodic table, and the stars. 451 columbus avenue between 81st and 82nd streets, manhattan, new york, .

 

with a heavy emphasis on all things metal, city foundry is a treasure trove crammed full of meticulously curated mid century modern and industrial influenced furniture, lights and other more random bits and pieces.   although i’ve walked by a zillion times, only recently did i venture into their newly opened annex focusing on objects from the machine age.  city foundry’s annex is a little less cluttered and thus a little more appealing to me, and i’m glad that i did. i think now that i won’t be able to stay away since there is so much to love in there.

the city foundry annex has tons of seating options, and if you’re looking for stools (especially without a back) you’re in luck.  i liked the one pictured up top which is a medical examination stool from the ’40s.  if we had more room, or higher ceilings, i would definitely buy some of those polished stainless steel letters that were taken from a corporate building sign even though they are pricey at $125 a pop.  and city foundry has all sorts of other fun home furnishings including globes, leather medicine balls, anatomical eye models, rotary telephones and even life size mannequins.   in addition to visiting the store, city foundry also sells many of their pieces through 1stdibs.

lastly, city foundry has been exhibiting these amazing robot sculptures created by gordon bennett for bennett robot works.  made from a mixture of new and old found objects, these robots contain all sorts of materials including bakelite, glass, rubber and glass, and they are each unique, one-of-a-kind pieces.   according to bennett, the works are “inspired by norman bel geddes and raymond loewy whose visions of the ‘modern age’ helped shape industrial design of the ’40s and ’50s.” 

 bennett gives them all names, and the number two above is adlake kero, and according to bennett’s price list the cost is in the several thousand dollar range.   oh, this is when i really crave more space. our very cookie cutter apartment just wouldn’t handle one of these so maybe someday we can save up and get a new apartment just so we can have our very own robot.  city foundry, 365 atlantic avenue between hoyt and bond streets. city foundry annex, 435 atlantic avenue between bond and nevins streets, both in brooklyn, new york, .

alsun and mary are the women behind the great little shop shoe garden, which has a really great collection of kids’ shoes, and is a place i desperately need to visit of s’s toes are going to start popping out of his sneakers.  of this duo, alsun is a mom to two kids, a 5-year old boy aramis and an an 8-year old beatrice.  before coming to new york, alsun lived in tokyo for many years and is originally from dublin, ireland.  her business career was in finance and technology on wall street.  she started this business to keep sane, have fun and to show her kids that you can be a mom and have a career, and also to keep her options open as the kids get older and she finds herself having more time to do more than school runs and play dates! 

alsun lives close to nolita, soho and chinatown (no trendy real estate acronym yet).  alsun and mary were kind enough (thanks so much!) to answer a bunch of shopping and food questions about their favorite spots in new york recently, and here’s their run down.

shops: 

top places for clothes and shoes?

 scoop, bbl in nolita, kisan in soho. 

go to place for house gifts?

calypso home – their scented candles are great or if you know someone’s home they have beautiful and different cushions or throws.

 

favorite stationery spot?

kate’s paperie (pictured above) flowers?

blue water flowers on lafayette street – and such nice guys.

 

click here for more: interview: alsun keogh and mary mcfadden at shoe garden