New York food & Drink Exploration

the entrance through the jewelry shop door

Beauty & Essex --> Thank you Jess!  You took me exactly to where my passions lay!  Entering through an estate Jewelry store, a huge (and by huge I mean ginormous) bouncer opens a false wall into a massive bar and restaurant with bar and VIP area up a grand curved staircase and decadent powder rooms below.  This is just my style!  Gaudy, ’70’s glam crystal light fixtures,  a wonderful glowing light design, embroidered raw-silk lined walls, and rustic oak table tops to bring you back to reality.  

 

pure white hides cover the walls of the grand curved staircase to the upper lounge

glorious embroidered thai silk panels line the walls and the lighting was impeccable!

the main dining was PACKED when i was there at 10pm

Jess and I drinking Pink Champagne in the ladies lounge from their hosted bar

Freemans -->  a re:generation restaurant of reclaimed wood, throw back drinks, small taxidermied game, a sneaky entrance through an alley, seriously delicious and hearty dishes.

Eataly -->  A european market at is finest.  From the Butchers case to the Patisserie, anything of European quality and price!  I posted up at the Crudo bar for the most wonderful and expensive brunch of oysters, vino and sashimi-like crudo plate.  The service and the taste knocked my socks off!  To add to the Euro vibe was the buzz of the shoppers and the openness of the patrons to chat and discuss their lives abroad or world travels.  

A referal from some awesome Jerseys Mom’s I met at Eataly’s Crudo Bar suggested that I not miss  La Birreria -->  on the rooftop was an open air tapas gastropub.  It has a casual beer-centric design, great bartenders, a cool sliver of a view of the Empire state building and great beer!   

The Breslin at the Ace Hotel --> Yet another hunker-down, extreme english pub with taxidermied animals, old drinks and farm to table amazing food.  I had the lamb burger as suggested by Chef David Lefevre.  To make it all even more hip, it is located at the Ace Hotel which, at any location is on the Indie Scene cutting edge!

A little more Muscat in your life

Sunrise over Musqat

at the beach

This cool pile of small sandballs is made from a crab. It looked awesome in person

the pretty and shallow warm waters

The Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said coat of arms looks freshly polished!

 Al Alam Palace also known as my new Flat ;)

 

Darren's not so under the water, under water-anchor photo.  This was an awesome find that ended up on Darren's garden paradise patio.

 

the back side of the Qaboos' (pronounced like the last car of a link of trains) palace.  So i guess you could say it is the qaboos of the Qaboos' place!!

 

this was funny once, when I expected to see the family of stick figures...

 

That's why is made it more funny to see a second car right next to the first Camel family car portrait!

 That is ice cream shaped like a flower on top of an amazing mango smoothie (it was like 115 degrees outside)

Omani Dumpster Kitty

Everywhere you go, There you are!

So my friend Darren who lives and works in Musqat (or Muscat), Oman took me to the Omani equal of  Super Walmart!  I was walking through, and though the names and faces were changed, I had been here before!  There was a bakery, meat case, produce section, and dried date kiosk!  Any type of date you'd fancy was there.  It was funny most of the dates were from outside Oman, but having sampled all of them, Omani's were superior!

Wadi Jumping

in search of Wadi Habib (wadi = small natural pond usually back in valley) we found wild hiking, Omani neighbors and singing gypsies, not to mention a rad swimming hole!

the teal blues of the Gulf of Oman

Darren with his Arabian 4 wheeler

Due to recent rain, we weren't able to drive all the way to Wadi Habib since the waters leading up to it were too high.  That then allowed for our adventurous hike to the wadi.  This guy however thought he could - his wife knew better!  Some things translate in any language

Tiny tadpoles :)

The Wadi we got to swim in was the freshest, clearest water, and perfect for the 105+ degree weather

this tiny water fall packed a surprisingly strong current punch!

One of the local houses in the middle of no where.  And one of their goats!

So I say to Darren, "it's kindda creepy, how quite it all is out here.  There could be people watching us from behind the rocks like that one scene from Star Wars where those guys are hiding in the mountains and then they ambush the people"  Next thing you know, as we are walking back to the car, we hear the echoings of someone singing a song (at first is actually sounded as if a goat was dying, but we soon saw the lady walking high in the hills) She was so fast!  She ended up at the car when we got there.  I think she tried to cast a spell on us and the next thing we knew, she was up on top of the next hill!

Can you see her in Blue?  She was so high up there

Workers Union Mass: A mass of hard working men

Walking!  Walking makes New Yorkers some of the most beautiful people I have ever seen.  I am serious!  LA has nothing on the amazing bods that New Yorkers rock.  My biggest goal while in New York was to walk.  Have a look at the ground I covered while experiencing all that NY would share with me.

The day I was heading Uptown from Steve Griffin’s house in Greenwich Village to the Met, I was fortunate enough to walk upon a mass of Union Workers in front of a glorious old church.  It was barely debated in my mind before I crossed the street and jumped into the masses of hard hat-toting men.  I began to snap away.  I even climbed some scaffolding.  One man asked me if I was with the Daily News I laughed and said no.  Then some how the fib began that I was a freelance photographer - I went with it and got a little more bold, beginning to then ask the men if I could take their pictures.  Between their razzing of various co-workers ugly-factor breaking my camera, I found out this was a mass for the fallen workers of the past.  That made this wonderful happen-stance a powerful event in my life.  If only I were really Catholic, hadn’t realized I had left my sun glasses at the shoe store I had been in 6 blocks before and wasn’t trying to get to, I would have stayed.  Until my next wonderful luck of stumbling onto a powerful congregating group, the pictures I got will have to suffice.

I knew I'd like it, but I didn't know how much I'd love it!!  I <3 NEW YORK!!
between the walking, the fashion, the food, not too much of the smell, the random acts of unsuspected kindness, sights and the people in general, New York is now my favorite city I have ever been to!!

A walk on the Brooklyn Bridge

A Stroll through China Town

Standing south of Houston

A NewYorkers roof top looking at the new World Trade Center

the Empire State Building at night

Empire State Building going crazy

The Boys - Take 1

The Boys - Take 2

Brian and Steve! :D (Steve my childhood friend and High School Prom date was the best host ever!!)

What a beautiful building for a Home Depot

That's how they park 'em in NYC!