I had quite a fun and rather active weekend (as I often do, I am not a sit around the house kind of girl). Saturday morning my friend picked me up in her Zipcar and we went zipping off to the wilds of Edison, NJ for a Depression glass antique show. We looked at some exquisite pieces-bought the ones we coveted most and drooled over many others. It was held in a school with floor to ceiling windows in it's lobby which showed the glass ware to perfection. Shelf after shelf of sparkling glass in beautiful colors shimmering in the sunlight.
We knew we didn't want to waste calories on anything Edison, NJ had to offer and planned on lunch back in the City (a good plan as all we saw on the way to/from Edison were dreadful chains such as Panera Bread, Cheesecake Factory, and California Pizza Kitchen-the list goes on but you get the point and I just cannot continue as my blood has curdles just thinking about them). We went to Crosby Bar which is the tres charmant restaurant in the (new) Crosby St Hotel in Soho. The hotel and restaurant are done up in quirky oversized pieces of color. In the lobby there is a giant head of letters; in the restaurant there are terrific displays of hanging globe fixtures of varying textures; heights and colors (designed to look pretty 70's and they do, but not bad 70's, no really, I promise), in the private meeting rooms the wallpaper has blown asymmetrical flowered wallpaper in bright colors...that kind of thing.
Page one of the menu was brunch and I was terrified that at 3 pm I would have to suffer with that but when I turned the page I saw the lunch choices. Whew. We had a lovely time with adorable and enthusiastic waiters who genuinely wanted to please. My friend started out with the roasted tomato soup which was delicious, then she had the beet and goat cheese salad which looked gorgeous and she said was also delicious. I was intrigued by it as it said the greens were smoked but she said they were just cooked and they looked like a lump of dark overcooked greens to me and were hidden under the raw greens. I had the tuna tartar which came with shredded raddichio and a spice I couldn't place, toasted peasant bread and a raw quail egg nestled in the tuna chunks and the grilled shrimp Mediterranean style (grilled shrimp with perfectly crisp tender haricot vert and candy sweet tomatoes in different colors). For dessert, she had the almond cake with it's sour cherry and creme fraiche garnish but the were quite willing to rearrange things for me-I asked for and received the almond cake with chocolate ice cream and both were divine. The almond cake was so perfect with the chocolate as to me that is a classic pairing anyway. The almond cake was 2 tiny discs of almond cake with some sort of firm cream inside-my friend ate it all bit I opened it up and whisked off the unidentified cream as it would have distracted from the chocolate ice cream which as dark and silky.
During lunch the also charming events manager come to say hello and sent us each a glass of Piper Heidsick which was, bien sur, marvelous. My boss is contemplating hosting a dinner there, you see and I went to test out the food, which passed with flying colors.
After lunch we looked at the private rooms, chattered about table placement and then wandered around Soho a bit. We went to visit Fragments, as I have a friend who works there and then to George Jensen where I learned there are some very good looking pieces. I had always thought they were just about 60's Danish Modern, which I don't like. At all. Then it was time to meet our respective husbands and we got stuck in some traffic at Canal Street but all worked out well.
And the weather was glorious-finally!!!
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