NYC, March 2011, Day 2

I woke up this morning with no definite plans other than eating and getting some work done on the laptop.  Barbie will be arriving from India at seven P.M. and is to meet me at dinner with friends in Brooklyn, but I have something else in mind.  Considering that I have not seen my wife for over a week, I started thinking that it would be cool to surprise her and be at the airport when she came out of customs.

In the meantime, time to wake up.

Casa Denise.  On the couch Oreo awaits our morning hang-out.

Oreo greets me with a nonchalance that only a cat can pull off.  It is as if he has not waited for me return every morning since we were last here in November.

Time to get some food, do some grocery shopping, and maybe hit a Duane Reade for Oreo combatting Day Quil.

Self Portrait.  Elevator reflection.

Self portrait.  NYC sidewalk shadow.

My original destination, the Clinton Street Bakery, had a line in front.  No problem.  I do not mind at all walking one more block to hit the wonderful pizza place we discovered last year, San Marzano.

On the way to lunch, I passed this gentleman walking five dogs.  There was not time to shoot him as he came towards me, but after he passed, you had better believe I was turning with a ready iPhone.

Lower East Side Lunch Candid.  March 2011.  Note the subtle, unobtrusive breast feeding.

What did I order?  The same lunch as last year.  Brussels Sprouts with pancetta, fuji apples and pecorino romano.

Instead of a whole pizza, I got two slices of Bianca; fontina, gorgonzola, speck prosciutto, and caramelized onions.  The way that they place two slices together on a plate tell you that this pizzeria is not your average pizzeria.

This really is the best tasting pizza imaginable, and therefore justifies a close-up.  For Pete's sake, look at the color of the gorgonzola.

I actually saved the second piece for Barbie, went to the store and got the orange juice, bananas, Fiji water, and DayQuil, and decided that, yes, I would hop onto the subway and shoot out to JFK on the cheap.  Barbie is going to get her surprise.  And, nicely, I had always wanted to see how long it takes to get to JFK via the AirTrain.  In several European cities we walk right off the plane and into a train.  It will be good to see a USA equivalent.

Self Portrait.  On the J train, appropriately.

I kind of lucked out.  I hopped on the first train that came, and it happened to be an express.  Less than an hour later, and after seeing a very cool viewing of East New York that I had never seen before, I was headed for the AirTrain.

Seeing airports like this always reminds me of when I was a kid and airports seemed magical.  Now we associate them with arbitrary rules and unnecessary lines.

Now.  Get this.  I left for JFK at 5:40 PM  I arrived at terminal 7 at 6:50 PM.  Barbie's plane was to land at 7:10 PM and I was expecting her to come out of customs around 7:30 PM.  I was walking towards the spot where people come out of customs, where all the limo drivers were standing with pieces of paper with last names on them, and I was plotting where I would stand to wait for her and to perhaps try to generate my own sign with the name, "Howard," on it.

Lo and behold, as I walked towards the gathering of limo drivers, there stood Barbie on her cell phone.  She had landed a half hour early and was trying to call the company that was supposed to pick her up.  Instead of my standing there and surprising her as she walked up, she was standing there and surprised me as I walked up.  Anyway... it was very nice and she was in fact surprised to see me.  I picked up a few of her bags and we blew off the car service and hopped into a taxi.

The only bummer is that I had planned to take her picture as I surprised her, and that moment never happened which means that you, the loyal Wasters, do not get to see my wife's potentially delighted face as I surprised her with an unexpected airport greeting.

Yet another NYC skyline view from the Williamsburg Bridge.  This time near sunset.

Yet another NYC skyline view from the Williamsburg Bridge.

We had just enough time for Barbie to throw on warmer clothes and head to the subway, for we are headed to Brooklyn for dinner with Jesse and Jessi.

As part of our new policy, we have let the locals choose the restaurant.  In this case, Jesse chose Mesa Coyoacán, Williamsburg's finest Mexican restaurant.  It took courage taking people from Los Angeles to a Mexican restaurant in New York.  Others have done it and we have been forced to hide our disappointment.

Jessi started with the Elote Asado; grilled and spiced corn on the cob.

I accidentally started with the Esquites; corn kernels, epazote, chile, mayo and lime juice with Cotija cheese.  Seriously, I did not order it.  I asked if I should order it, and was told that I should not, and then it was brought to me.  And enjoyed.

Barbie and I shared the special appetizer, seared scallops on molé

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Bam!  You see that?  People!  Actually people that I know on the Waste.  Not strangers shot candidly and converted to black and white but actual friends.  I said, "Friends, I have been told to take pictures of people."  There.  It is done.  And if Jesse's ability to look Dahmer-esque is any indication, this is a wise choice.

Something that you might not know about me is that I will order Enchiladas de Molé one hundred times out of one hundred when fortunate enough to be in a restaurant that serves them.  And this restaurant served me Enchiladas de Molé that are as good as any I have ever had.  There are two restaurants in Los Angeles where I love the Enchiladas de Molé, and this dish was on par with them.  I will need to run more tests to find if one is better than another.  For now, sleep easier knowing that there are supremely good Enchiladas de Molé in Los Angeles and New York, if you know where to go.

Barbie got the Tacos de Carnitas.  Excellent.

Jesse got the same as Barbie, while Jessi got this spectacular dish which I think is Chiles en Nogada; roasted poblano pepper stuffed with shredded pork, peaches, pears, apples, and almonds covered in a walnut sauce then topped with pomegranate seeds.  Yeah.  Really.  No joke.  They put all those flavors together and it works.  Amazing dish.

Barbie on the subway, trying to stay warm.  This one makes the Waste because she is flashing the peace symbol.

This one makes the waste because I prefer landscape pics, and you can more easily see that the young man next to her has a unicycle.  Yes, a unicycle.  There is nothing cooler than seeing an actual unicycle.

Until tomorrow...