dining in the city ...

My professional life takes me to different cities and to many places within the cities I visit.

My base office New York has been fun in the socializing dimension ever since I joined. I regretfully missed out on the Waldorf Astoria holiday party recently due to my latest project (the first one out of town and a significant one for me). Here are some quick review notes on some of the places in the city that I've been to:

Marquis - at Times Square

This place is run alike any other Marriott flagship property - professionally !
The decor was pretty up to date. ....though I would still love to have some NYC taste to it.

We were mostly in the ballroom for our event. As I had done some quickie research in advance, I knew that they had New York's only revolving restaurant and lounge - The View. I decided to visit it for dinner. Food wasn't as great but the revolving view is refreshing.

It's a tourist magnet ! Consider it as a New York hour for the tourists. Yea baby, 58 min/ revolution. The range of people I could interact with were not only from throughout US but also from Europe.

Service was satisfactory and one of my friends admired the signature drink the bartender provided ( the Floradora). I realised that this was a good place to come and kick back after the vexations of a long work day or after shopping in Manhattan !


Hilton , 1335 Avenues of Americas-
The ballroom in the middle east part of the city was plain vanilla. It wasn't as well-decorated as the Marquis one. However, the place was much more spacious vis-a-vis the Marriott Marquis.

The facade needs renovation as it projects an old image, and lacks the energy that must radiate with a Hilton at New York. It consumes a prime chunk of real estate piece and hence, shouldn't be an eye-sore!

I didn't get a chance to explore their restaurant as I was busy networking. btw, I got to know that we had a band and I got to meet our band's manager at this place.


Gansevoort , Meatpacking district -
Exceptional rooftop bar that I adore in the meatpacking district. I liked the energy exuberated by the place and the kind of crowd it attracted. Sweeping views will leave any visitor with a lasting impression of the New York City Skyline.

Surprisingly, during my second visit to this place, I ran into Conan O'Brien at the entrance :). This was when we had a social event at the Garden of the Ono for financial services practitioners. Ono was a dimly lit, sleek, sophisticated, and Asian-inspired wonder world.

I love the outdoors more (both the rooftop and the Garden) and hence, would recommend this place only for the summer or early fall ! Visit the place well dressed - trendy, hip, and fun ! Suits or work clothes are fine too...

Trinity Place - financial district area
A financial district restaurant/bar with a difference. The service was great. Finger food was tasty. We had a whole room booked for us and we were about 20 people. I couldn't spend too much time here as I had to join some friend's bday party for sake-bombing (as their DD)!

Zanzibar -

Tell the waitress I'll come back to Zanzibar.... Billy Joel in his album 52nd Street, the first ever album on a Compact Disc (CD) in Japan in the early 80s.

This drove me to this classy midtown eastern place for an evening social despite of hectic schedule that workday.

The structure of the building is old but the decor is creative to make it look trendy hip. There is a total of 4 rooms to hang out at.
1 st room - huge circular fireplace ( anybody wanna make some smokes?)
2nd room - Suede chairs with tiny red ottomans to eat.
3rd room - large bar with a DJ
4th room - sarfari afica theme room to lounge.
We had booked the whole of the 2nd room for about 20 people.

An acquaintance liked their vodka gimlets....It's a good happy hour place as the food wasn't great. Also, I despised the service quality. Apparently, cost pressures have led the joint-owner to employ curt, non-service-oriented employees.

Mesa -

Cramped! is what I remember the first thing about the seating arrangement we were provided for our dinner place. We were about 12 and accordingly, reservations were made. Not only did they not do any reservations or planning (as we had to wait more than my tolerance limit) but also we were given a place of 8 and asked to fit in 12. It was awful !

The food was not great - didn't have many healthy or vegetarian options. I had a starter of a pumpkin soup and main course again had some pumpkin element. Their desert platter is a must-taste.

Rio Di Zio Tribeca Churrascaria - Tribeca/SoHo

Ambience:
Decor is bright and trendy. Liqor serving is good. One of my colleagues enjoyed the frosted beer glasses they had. Red wine choice was good.

Food options:
It's a steakhouse - so its a big meathouse ... ! Salad bar was awesome ! Delicious vegetarian specialties abound and they even have sushi (which is actually really good). The main course barely had healthy options. I am a vegetarian and the chef could make up a primavera pasta for me.

Misc comments:
This was my first time at a Brazilian steakhouse. The cooked meat is brought in full to the table and you are asked if you wanted a slice of it. I got to know a new system of cards (green or red) by which you would indicate the server about whether you are full or not.


My flight's announcement's been made and I have to leave. I will write the rest at a later date.

100th anniversary for the Times Square ball-drop event

Details of the ball are in this video here

It was indeed exciting to check out the ball at the Macy's store in Herald Square before it was up there on Times Square for the New Years' eve. I plan to check out the whole event from my firm's office at Broadway. A noteworthy aspect about the ball is that it is GREEN i.e., it is made with some 9.5k energy efficient bulbs. I bet Philips had an agenda to advertise for free by entering in this feature. This is also a true indication of where NYC wants to project itself as a pioneer and leader in energy efficiency.

Revelers began celebrating New Year's Eve in Times Square as early as 1904, but it was in 1907 that the New Year's Eve Ball made its maiden descent from the flagpole atop One Times Square. This original Ball, constructed of iron and wood and adorned with 100 25-watt light bulbs, was 5 feet in diameter and weighed 700 pounds. In 1920, a 400 pound ball made entirely of iron replaced the original. The Ball has been lowered every year since 1907.

This year, the temperature is expected to be around 25 to 35 and the fog isn't going to be there. Hence, I am expecting a good visibility from the office - which is about 7 streets away.


Silence before the storm - the silent Broadway before the madhouse... (around 2 pm) !

The celebration was scheduled to include countdowns with entertainment gurus Carson Daly and Ryan Seacrest, who will be joined by New Year's Eve legend Dick Clark, and performances by Kid Rock, Jordin Sparks, Carrie Underwood and The Bravery. In addition, the USO Troupe of Metropolitan New York will perform and a "salute to armed forces" was planned.

About a million revelers are expected to pack the streets of the city for this event. Also new to this year's celebration is that confetti (about a ton of it) dropped when the clock strikes midnight will include wishes for the New Year written by people around the world.

I am all excited to check it out at midnight.... though I wont be a part of the madhouse downstairs on the streets !

To see what I see, you can go to earthcams here.