NYC — South Street Seaport and Aldea

Aug. 10:  New York City is arguably the greatest place on earth.  This assumes that you like cosmopolitan cities.  And that you also are fond of outspoken and forthright people.  And part of the reason why I am more than halfway willing to stand behind my statement that New York City is the greatest place on earth, is because I am from New York (that’s New Yawk in case you didn’t know).  I actually grew up on Long Island.  But since there is no break between Long Island and the Manhattan, it’s fair game to say I am from New Yawk.

I debated whether to create a blog for my son’s and my time in NY.  In some ways, it felt like it wasn’t “enough” since it’s a two day excursion from another trip that wasn’t really vacation (family drama – we all have – none of us like it).  But I did decide to blog about it (obviously), because I think my days in NY show how my travel style is flexible and an adventure can be had in non-expected circumstances.

Not every trip has to be planned for months and be a masterpiece and the best trip ever.  Some are just what they are and super fun for that experience.  And passing this theme along to readers is a good thing.

I digress, and now, returning to New Yawk. . .

For the over twenty years that I have lived elsewhere, I still come back every year or so to visit my family.  I usually am with my son Woody and we try to tack on a couple days to take the train westbound and bathe ourselves in New York City energy.

Now to be honest, in 42 years, I have gotten to only a smattering of the museums and art exhibits and theatre that New York offers up in such delicious abundance.  Whatever smattering I have sampled, I have loved it all.  Yet I find that with a child, even a young adult son, it seems best to leave things fluid schedule wise.  Plus, there is always the option to enjoy yourself people watching, if schedules go awry.  There’s a million places to people watch, all of them are interesting.  Plus getting from place to another is fun, not to mention, great exercise.  Have you ever noticed how much New Yorker’s walk?  I have read that the average New Yorker walks five miles a day.  That’s a lot!

In recent years, my son Woody has become an official foodie.  Growing up eating organic and well prepared food primed him for such.  And as my tastes and knowledge of global cuisines expanded, it naturally rubbed off on him.  Last year I took him to Jean George for his birthday and he became immediately interested in Michelin starred restaurants.  In fact, we ended up on the same trip discovering a true gem, Aquavit http://www.aquavit.org/, whose chef I am sure is going places.  All this foodie talk is to say that the one thing we did plan for, was doing a mini gastronomic tour woven into the people watching.

Woody selected Café China for our first experience.  The décor makes you feel like you are in Shanghai although you are eating Cantonese food.  They don’t accept reservations for parties of less than six.  So we took our chances, showed up for lunch, and were told there was a ten minute wait.  The restaurant was cozy and bustling with activity.  The menu had some unique items on it such as jellyfish and duck tongue and pork tripe.  We decided to do some edgy dishes and some more traditional dishes.  We started with bone-in rabbit, cucumber salad, and ginger flavored bitter melon.  These were all cold dishes.  For hot dishes we ordered eggplant in garlic sauce and fried tilapia.

We both enjoyed the food yet, to be completely honest, it wasn’t what you would think of when you think Michelin.  Neither of us ended up liking the bitter melon, but that was just personal preference.  The rest of the food was quite tasty.  Not at all spicy though and a couple of the dishes were advertised as fiery hot.  I asked the waiter and he explained that most people don’t like hot food, so they tone it down.  Fair enough, but there are lots of dishes advertised as not hot, so for those of us who want hot food, they should provide it.  The service was friendly.  The fish was exactly like what I have had on any given beachside restaurant in Mexico.

In short, let me say that Café China is enjoyable for a casual meal with an ethnic flare.  But if you are really wanting a gastronomic experience, it falls short.

We were in midtown and wanted to get downtown to South Street Seaport.  On our walk to Café China, we saw rows of bicycles for rent and got very excited.  I had even downloaded the app, so we were raring to go with them.  After lunch, we went over to one station and I spent a few minutes at the kiosk trying to figure out what the deal was.  I am not sure exactly who the bikes are intended for, but I think they are not for tourists.  I was not opposed to paying for 24 hours, even though we didn’t need them that long.  And I did think their $1200 damage fee was a bit steep (Paris’ is $150), but I didn’t plan on damaging the bike.  But what prevented us from going for it, is that you can only use the bikes for 30 minute intervals.  If you went over 30 minutes, there would be steep fees that CitiBike would not elaborate on.  I guess if you just need to get from one place to another in short order, like the way you would use a cab, it works.  But we actually wanted to make some distance and I knew we wouldn’t be at South Street Seaport in 30 minutes, so we ended up passing up the CitiBike experience.

Instead we took the subway and walked over to the Freedom Towers.  I have watched them being constructed over the last fifteen years and this was the first time I have seen them completed.  This whole part of the city has seen a revival in the last decade and I love it.  I appreciate that New Yorkers have chosen to breathe new life into an area that underwent so much trauma not so long ago.  The Freedom Towers represent resiliency and pride – both qualities New Yorkers are known for.

South Street Seaport was full of people, but had a lot less activity than midtown. It provided us with a peaceful spot to sit down for a bit.  Looking over at Brooklyn is a relatively quaint view.  And the cute rows of streets that feature fresh fish, artisan cheese, honey and trendy specialty shops could have been taken out of Seattle or Portland.  Really, it had gentrified quite a bit since the last time I was there (when Jesus was a baby).  We enjoyed strolling through the shops and seeing gourmet chocolate bars in all sorts of flavors and bottles of beer from a local microbrewery (who knew?).  What was most striking to me, is that New York had a very safe feeling, different from the New York that I grew up with.  I am proud to say that NYC has become a place where families and hipsters and yuppies (and anyone else I left out) can peacefully coexist.

A few years ago, I had crossed the Brooklyn Bridge on foot, but Woody was not with me that night.  So it was time to do it again!  Incredible how many people were crossing.  The pedestrian path was literally brimming with people.  Of all ages and sizes and ethnicities.  Here we are back to the people watching again.  The crowds thinned once we got past the halfway point.  Yet, we were determined to get to Brooklyn. 

The metal railings are beginning to get full of locks, just like the metal railings in Paris!  Although these railings had not only locks, but also cloth and hair ties and iPod cords.  But the idea is the same and that is to make one’s mark by decorating the bridge!  Although New York may be a bit more diverse.  In Paris the locks represent romantic bonds (no pun intended), whereas New York seems more eclectic.

The bridge itself is a bit over one mile long, but with all that it took to enter and exit, we walked a lot more than a mile.  Also, it was so hot, we were just baking.  The clouds can be deceptive.  The sky looks grey and in a picture, one would conclude it’s cool.  Not the case – with the humidity it was sweltering!  We did get a little bit of relief when we stood over the water and felt the breeze.  As soon as we got back toward land, we continued to bake. 

We hailed a cab and went to Union Square.  Wandering around admiring the statues was a good time.  We also noticed how people are willing to take a nap anywhere.  Seeing people just totally conked out on benches is commonplace in NYC.  The Farmer’s Market was going on, although it was wrapping up for the day.  My mouth was watering as I took in the sight of the juicy peaches and ruby red heirloom tomatoes.  I was seriously hoping that we would be sampling some of the Farmer’s Market items at dinner.

Scenes From Around Union Square

Which brings me to dinner.  In my research for a future visit to Portugal, I came across a cookbook, My Portugal that looked like a lot of fun.  So I got it and then I discovered that the author, George Mendes is the chef of Aldea, a Michelin starred restaurant in NYC.  I was sold!  Aldea was put on my TDL for this trip and we had a reservation to ensure we’d be there.  I also recall George writing about that, while he can’t get food from his garden like he did when he was a child, that he supports the Union Square Farmer’s Market.

We were the first people there and for a while, I was concerned that the restaurant wasn’t doing well.  However about 30 minutes later, the restaurant filled up and then it was rather noisy, with a few people yakking so loud that it was disturbing.  That’s not a dig on Aldea, that behavior is indicative of many Americans – quite obnoxious!

We loved the food.  The service was excellent.  The décor was lovely.  It was not formal and perhaps the presentation was a step down from haute cuisine.  This being said, the overall experience was absolutely positive.  And while it’s not a must do when in NYC, it should be considered if you are desiring Portuguese cuisine or an outstanding meal in the Union Square district.

While the eight course tasting meal looked divine, we just weren’t that hungry (still working off the Chinese food) and we opted for the four course prix fixe.  You will see that Portuguese food overlaps with other more known cuisines.  Yet certain ingredients are showcased and the familiar spices may be combined in different ways, making the food unique to the region.

Salt cod is the one food that defines Portuguese cooking (like pizza does Italian, or tacos does Mexican).  So we ordered up bacalhau a bras.  This was salt cod custard topped with a farm fresh egg and crispy potato accented with black olives.  The portions were modest, yet with this tasting like comfort food, I easily could have downed a few more servings.

Well, we did get some of those juicy peaches in the summer peach and pea salad.  The peach was made into a coulis.  And the fresh mackerel – did I die and go to heaven?

I ordered the charred octopus.  One of the recipes I had made from his cookbook was octopus confit.  It takes some culinary talent to make octopus taste and good.  And George had the knack.  It was very tender and flavorful.

And we made sure to get some of those heirloom tomatoes, in the form of tomato cucumber gazpacho (with peekytoe crab no less).  Each dish was more delicious than the next one.

Portugal is a small country and most of its landmass touches water.  Mostly the Atlantic and in part the Mediterranean.  One of the benefits of so much coastline is the abundance of fresh fish.  In keeping with the seafaring culture, we opted for a lobster tail dish and sea scallop dish.  The meat of the lobster tail was completely intact and removed from the shell.  We were impressed.  It had just the right amount of sauce to bring out the flavors without drowning them.  The waiter poured the shellfish jus over the scallops at the table (French technique), and again, the sauce complemented the delicate yet distinctive flavor of the scallops.

While I did indulge in the white peach cremeux, I passed on the other dessert.  The cremeux dessert had a sliver of olive oil cake, charred peach and a subtle verjus sorbet.  It satiated me, without over sugaring me.  Woody can attest to that the ‘sonhos’ are decadent and not for one on a diet.  They are Portuguese ‘little dreams’ beignets with salted caramel and strawberry curd.

I had fantasies of meeting George Mendes and letting him know the backstory of how I discovered Aldea.  But alas, he was busy, busy in the kitchen.  It was an open kitchen and I became content to peek in and catch a glimpse of him cooking away.

Penn Station was about 20 blocks uptown.  In the spirit of being a New Yorker and wanting to get our five or more walking miles in today, we walked there and took the opportunity to absorb the night time action.  We plan on heading back to NYC one more day during our week in Long Island.  One day just isn’t enough.