Naming a Charity

When selecting a name for a charity, it is very important to sound it out. For instance, let's say you are a Hot Rod/Motorcycle organization trying to raise scholarship money for children. You should probably avoid calling it, "Kruisin' for Kidz". Just saying.

Taking a bite out of the Big Apple....

Let's face it. It's no big secret that I love to eat. Every city I visit, I've got a list at least 12 deep of places to eat based on type, price, location, and cuisine. I spend weeks and months (if i've got it) searching, researching, calling concierges/friends/family/random persons on the street, stalking food bloggers, anything that I think will help me on my quest to find the perfect meal. As a matter of fact, I spend so much time on the food, I have no idea what landmarks, museums or historical monuments are when I see it. ("ummm...yeah...it's some statue that was erected to honor some person who is no longer living...")

Proudly, I can say that I visited not ONE, but TWO sights of interest while in New York that had NOTHING to do with food! My friend, Carrie, and I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge after a particularly heavy breakfast:

As much as I hate waiting in line for the Empire State Building, I have to say, there's something to be said about the views from the top. It's breathtaking at night!!!

Of course to get to the top, I made Carrie walk up the final 6 flights of stairs because I was not about to wait another 35 minutes in line to take the elevators.

Oh wait...did I mention the gross amount of food we had while in New York?? Sadly, I really had no idea how great Jean Georges truly was because I never had the opportunity to dine at any of his restaurants. In an effort to remedy that situation, I made reservations for Jean Georges for lunch ($24 pre-fixe menu):

We started with an amuse bouche of pineapple & mozzarella; pea soup in chicken broth; and a fried dumpling. My favorite was the pineapple & mozzarella!

I had the foie gras with a mango or pineapple chutney. I'm really going to miss foie gras when they ban it in California.

The highlight of my day HAD to be my halibut with snow peas, mushrooms, in chili oil sauce. I'm buying his cookbook in hopes that this recipe will be in there. This place was a definite must visit!!

me, jean georges, carrie

We had meals at other places such like Shopsin's, Katz's deli, Kitchen Club in Soho but none of those other places came close to touching the greatness of Jean Georges.

I have to admit that the Mac & Cheese pancakes from Shopsins (above) is really intriguing. I never would've thought of that combination but just hearing mac & cheese made everything else sound so good!

Katz's deli pastrami is ridiculously yummy. The omelette shown above probably contains enough calories to fuel my body through 5 triathlons...

My friend, Henry, was kind enough to take carrie & i to Kitchen Club. I had the bento.

After every meal, it is important to finish things off with dessert. We tracked down the Dessert Truck at St. Mark's. I had the goat cheese cake. One word: "yum".

Jean Georges: http://www.jean-georges.com/

Kitchen Club: http://www.thekitchenclub.com/

Shopsin's: http://www.shopsins.com/

Dessert Truck: http://www.desserttruck.com/

New York Welcome!

I flew into New York before 6:00am on a very rainy Friday. My heart sunk with the prospect of navigating my way through the city in pouring rain. Luckily, I had booked William, (718.775.2611) to pick me up. He was awesome - prompt and communicated with me from the time my plane landed until he found me in front of the terminal. He was a bit difficult to understand due to his thick Columbian accent but was extremely polite and professional. (Case in point: Jelp. He had picked up a client who was an owner/investor in Jelp...you know...the company in California. Oh, right...Yelp.)

Sheraton Manhattan Times Square. I really hate that hotel. It is such a dump. Added to that was some ridiculous claim that they didn't have a single room available for me until that afternoon. It's one thing if I wasn't in the industry but the fact that I understood hotel speak and knew he was blowing smoke up my butt, added to the fact that i didn't sleep on the red-eye really nearly made me lose my mind....then again, I wasn't VIP or have any status with this hotel chain so what could I expect? He asked for a business card with cellphone number to call me when a room was ready. I gave him one...and got a call a couple of hours later to check in. That was better than I was expecting but it didn't change the fact that i was still tired. :(

I killed some time while i waited for Carrie to fly in by participating in my favorite past time - shopping. I decided to join a "garment district tour" (http://www.shopgotham.com/) at 10:00am. They handed out the list of stores we'd be hitting and I have to admit, I poo-poo'ed the list with a hint of snobbery. I know some of you are thinking, "wow?? jenny struck out??" Please...needless to say that in a group of 10 women - all complete strangers, I "won". Again. Added to that i kept spurring other women on with why they should buy what they had on (if it looked good). I did well for the shopkeeps. You can always count on me to upsell...well, when I'm not busy upselling myself.

My best buy was the Japanese crushed wool sweater above. Regularly, $540. I got it for a cool $40. I was going to get a basic cardigan that retails for $780 but I still couldn't stomach the idea of paying out $150 for it. No way.

These pair of shoes were on sale for about $110. I didn't pay that much...because why would i pay $110 for SATIN shoes?? Right. I wouldn't. What happened was that I bought a pair of shoes that were high heels, black leather that was almost biker chic. I tried on the right shoe and it was like I was cinderella. a perfect fit. I get back to the hotel to show Carrie my score only to discover that they were TWO right side shoes. I mean...at least if they were left feet shoes, I'd understand...and could probably work with it. As it was...not so much. *SIGH*...loved those shoes but these are infinitely more practical.

I'm sure I'd have PETA crawling up my butt over this but I bought this scarf. Somehow, midway through the freaking shopping trip, the other women realized that I was trying to upsell them or they thought it was funny that I was so mad that I was the only one "winning" that they told me how fantastic this looked on me. Unfortunately, it really was warm and comfy. I loved this thing. it looks ridiculous on the hanger but it really does look fabulous on.

Here's another sweater that I bought. Wool angora...it fit me like a glove. Other people tried it on but it just made them look short. *SIGH*. There was no way I was leaving without it.

I highly recommend going on this trip, if for no other reason than to just get into the showrooms of some famous designers. A good time to go is in the spring or fall when a lot of people are trying to get rid of inventory.

Proud Purchase...

Not to get all Crazy Japanese Slasher on you, but I bought a new toy in Japan. I happen to find a knife place near Tsukiji Market and needed to get my mom a Kuri cutter (chestnut cutter). Don't ask. Anyhow, I really wanted to buy a knife from Japan since I used to always favor using my mom's knives from Japan over all the other crap she had in her drawer.

I do realize that I know absolutely nothing about cooking and my knife skills are pretty much relegated to the skills of someone in the 3rd grade. Furthermore, the sales guy knew ZERO english except "Stainless steel" or "Carbon Steel". I told him "Carbon Steel" despite the fact that it'd be more of a pain in the butt to keep it rust free (that was another english word he used in describing the stainless steel). He also said something about a blue steel core but I wasn't sure I understood that correctly.

Anyhow, he showed me a line up (after I eplained to him that it'd be for HOME, NON PROFESSIONAL use). I ended up picking each one of the four and testing the feel of each one. I decided which one I liked best and asked Erin for her input. She chose the "pretty one" which just so happened to be the one that felt the best. Needless to say, it was also the most expensive out of the four knives.

I haven't used it yet but let's all hope I don't slice my fingers off! It's super sharp...

Dear Tsukiji Market...

Dear Tsukiji Fish Market:

I’m not quite sure how to begin…I’m still feeling a bit overwhelmed from my trip to Tsukiji. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such a frenzy of activity, hustle, and bustle. I still feel a little un-nerved.

I think you need to build lanes and roads throughout the market. I nearly got killed several times just from cross traffic. Those crazy little carts that you drive like maniacs through the market are just a death hazard waiting to happen. I swear to you…the fact that more tourists aren’t killed there is shocking to me. Those on suicide missions should definitely visit here.

Furthermore, we tried to wait in line for Sushi Dai but were told that it would be a FOUR (4) hour wait. Who waits 4 hours for sushi?? I don’t care how good you think you are…you really aren’t that good. Thank goodness for Sushi Daiwa and the ONE (1) hour I had to wait for that. The service was great and as evidenced from the photos, the sushi was, too! PLUS, they actually said that my Japanese was good! (Unlike that Kyoto Lady who told me to speak proper Japanese and gave me an evil stink eye…that old bat!!)

Anyhow, I just thought you should know that since Tsukiji is a tourist destination (whether you like it or not), you really should try a little harder to make it a little safer for people like me.

Thank you for your kind consideration,

Jenny

Sushi Daiwa

Tsukiji Market Building

Tokyo, 13 Japan

03.3479.5820

5:30am - 1:30pm, Mon - Sat

Sushi Dai (next door)

5:00am - 2:00pm

coupons

Dear Oishii Eats...

Dear Oishii Eats:

Thank you so very much for your recommendation for Suteki Rando. http://oishiieats.blogspot.com/2006/06/loner-meal-2-kobe-beef-garlic-butter.html

Wow. I had no idea how dangerous this place would be for me. I had a set which included a salad (or soup), side of veggies, prime beef, dessert…oh and I did order the side of garlic butter rice as well.

Not to try to make you jealous (actually, I lie…I really am trying to make you jealous), I’ve enclosed some photos from my recent dinner at Suteki Rando. I hope it brings back many good memories for you. I can practically taste the buttery meat just looking at the photos again.

Your Friend,

Jenny

Dear Morizuya...

Dear Morizuya Ryokan (www.morizuya.com):

First of all, I’d like to thank you for taking such good care of me and my friends. Your hospitality and helpfulness provided us with such a positive experience that we can’t wait to come back!

Upon our arrival into the town, the lady from the Kinosaki tourist board greeted us and took our bags which they delivered to the hotel right at 3:05pm - only 5 minutes after our official check in!! Since we arrived at about 1:00pm it gave us about 2 hours to walk around the quaint village to do some scouting for our shopping trip the next day.

We enjoyed the opportunity to wear the yukata and the accoutrement which you so graciously provided for our stay. It was a bit of a challenge for a couple of us but I think we got the hang of it right away! We looked awfully sharp in our yukatas, don’t you think?

Thanks for the tip and for the passes to the different onsens. Experiencing more than one onsen helped us get just a taste of something new and different. Oh, and the outdoor hotspring was definitely something not to be missed. The crisp cool mountain air combined with the hot steamy onsen really helped to relax the muscles!

The meals that you provided for us was absolutely amazing!! I don’t know how I finished it. It was a never ending meal for us. As you can see from Christy’s photos, she was very enthusiastic at first…barely crossing over the finish line. Breakfast was just as delicious as dinner and plentiful as well. I don’t think I’ve ever had dessert for breakfast!!

Thank you again for your hospitality. I can’t wait to come back!

Sincerely,

Jenny