New York City Boy, 1

My friend Dutch graduated from Stern with his MBA and decided to have a big blowout party at 21. That was impetus for this NYC trip. Like most of my trips to the city it was a chuck-your-bags-in-the-hotel and hit-the-city-running trip.


Friday -- DFW to La Guardia to Triborough to FDR to midtown, check in.

GO!

Bread and Olive
24 W 45th St
New York, NY 10036
(212) 391-7772




Midtown is notoriously underrepresented in culinary genius. However, Bread & Olive disrespects this trend. Great middle eastern fare that will not damage your wallet, a plus for the NYC on a budget luncher. Creamy, lemony garlic-spiked hummous. Smoky, tangy, chunky baba gannoush. A lovely and insanely addictive goat cheese and sesame bread roll from Lebanon called keshik. First rate shawarma and a very interesting lemonade made with rose water. All for less than cab fare to the LES.

Avenue Q
Golden Theatre
252 West 45th St.
New York, NY 10036





This adult puppet musical won an award, now I see why it did. By far one of the most entertaining plays I've seen on Broadway. Interesting life lessons told through quite talented stage performers, all armed with Sesame Street-like puppets. It must have been technically challenging for the performers to maintain their own character presence while creating a sometimes contrasting character with their hands.

If you find yourself in NYC, see it. You can't really say you've lived a full life until you've seen puppets having sex on stage. (Well, maybe you could but its still funny as hell and you should see it :)

Ono
18 Ninth Ave
New York, NY 10014
(212) 660-6766

I remember when the Meat Packing District was strictly off-limits, you didnt dare traverse this area of town, and that was not so long ago. Now, it is IT. Ono is the anchor Japanese in Hotel Gansevoort, the uber-trendy hotel island of IT.



Galina, Paula - Ono NYC

Everytime I go to NYC I come back and say that I have had the best "fill in the blank". This time, sushi. Ono has the best sushi I have had. Its incomprehensibly fresh, immaculately prepared and presented. Definitely worth the mortgage payment you will fork out.

Aside from the sushi, Ono is just cool; the high energy post-disco era thump, the decor of muted dark tones, silk screens and 100-pound blocks of salt set the stage for the most beautifully scruffy model-esque creatures stuffed into $400 True Religion jeans that I've ever seen.

Yellowtail, eel and uni memories still linger.



Rooftop, Hotel Gansevoort
18 9th Ave at 13th St.
New York, NY 10014

What does one do after a 11:45 seating at Ono when its nearly 1 am? Of course, you take the elevator to the rooftop patio and bar atop the Hotel Gansevoort to see more beautiful people, drunk beautiful people packed in like jean-clad sardines with $16 cocktails, attempting not to be impressed by the 360 degree view of lower Manhattan.



Galina, Hotel Gansevoort NYC

Its quite the fitting end to your first 16 hours in the city that never sleeps.

Sleep.

Bread & Olive
Avenue Q
Ono
Hotel Gansevoort