Saturday, August 31, 2013
Slept in. Breakfast to go from Russ and Daughters (212-475-4880, 179 E Houston Street, New York, New York): pastrami-cured salmon with chive cream cheese on sesame bagel, $13 after a $1 top. Delicious, but overpriced for a bagel with salmon and cream cheese. Service and experience was nice, though. They seem to have the world's thickest waxed paper. I sat at a nearby intersection and ate my bagel listening to car drivers stuck in heavy traffic. Not long afterwards Brian asked if I wanted to join him for brunch. I had just eaten but I said I would join and have a small bite. Brunch with Brian at Family Recipe (212-529-3133, 231 Eldridge Street, New York, New York): ginger shiitake and kale dumplings, crispy bao buns, and for Brian a bloody samurai (a take on the bloody mary). The food was excellent; I recommend it. The business card is made from a very thin wood (perhaps balsa)—very sexy. We did not order dessert, but with our check we received a nice surprise: two lemongrass macarons - such a nice touch. Brian's parents arrived today from Portland via an airport in New Jersey, and they were coincidentally booked at my nearby hotel. We met them in the lobby as they were finishing check-in, and the four of us hung out in their room chatting. Kelly joined us with perfect timing exactly after Brian had said, "Where is he?" We intended to get an early dinner at Spitzer's but along the way we encountered Antibes Bistro (212-533-6088, 112 Suffolk St New York, NY 10002) which had just opened and was enticingly empty and consequently promised more quiet than Spitzer's could. We ordered an asparagus appetizer, coriander salmon, chicken under brick, and seared New York strip. Koko joined us mid-meal. Afterwards we walked to Il Laboratorio del Gelato for dessert, then back to Brian and Kelly's place to chat more. Around 10 PM I returned to the hotel and showered and napped. Around midnight I took the subway to W 43rd and 6th and had a late meal at The Halal Guys: gyros and chicken over rice with white sauce, bottled water. I went to Boxers at 742 9th Ave at 50th Street in Hell's Kitchen thinking that Cazwell was spinning but learned upon arriving that he was doing a show in Columbus, Ohio, and that DJ Paisley Dalton (who spun when I was at Easternbloc on Thursday) was spinning in his place. I met Luis and Miguel. A sexy gogo boy wearing only a hand towel and shoes danced atop a covered pool table. After a long island iced tea, I met Drew (whom I met on last October's Atlantis cruise) at Barrage and was introduced to Dan, Dana, and Greg. Afterwards Drew and Dan and I danced at The Ritz where I met Marcus and Grady. Rode the subway home. Just before arriving at the hotel thick raindrops began to fall and lightning bolts filled the sky behind the Williamsburg bridge. To bed extremely late.