A gem in the West Village

I don't get food cravings often but when I do, they are very specific.  Earlier this week I needed to eat a half-dozen natural oysters.  I was willing to be flexible on toppings - lemon juice or vinaigrette would be fine, but I just knew that oysters had to feature somewhere on my menu.

Now, I've been to a couple of good seafood restaurants in New York, but to satisfy this particular craving I was keen to try somewhere new.  Enter Pearl Oyster Bar on Cornelia Street in the West Village.  It's a vintage restaurant by New York standards - it has been going strong for 17 years already, but I had never been there until tonight.

I have to say from the outset, Pearl Oyster Bar suits its name from top to bottom - it is a real neighbourhood gem.  Walk by too fast and you'd probably miss the place, were it not for the crowds of people milling around and waiting for a table.  The bartenders that manage the beautiful marble bar at the front of the restaurant keep everyone well hydrated while they wait, so nobody seems to mind much.

Despite its obvious popularity, I didn't discover this restaurant by word of mouth; rather, I simply Googled "best seafood in New York", et voila!  The internet is full of diner reviews and articles singing the praises of Pearl's chef-owner Rebecca Charles, particularly for her lobster rolls which seem to be the restaurant's best-seller (and not just for lunch).  Rebecca spent some time in Maine and she's recreated the state's signature sandwich for hungry New Yorkers, but her repertoire also includes a number of other seaside-inspired recipes, including those in her fantastic cookbook, Lobster Rolls and Blueberry Pie.

The lobster rolls will have to wait for next time though, because tonight I only had eyes for six plump oysters, laid out on the half-shell and spritzed with a bit of lemon.  Blissful.  Main course were delicious pan-fried scallops with asparagus, mushroom and creamy mashed potatoes on the side.  And for dessert?  A quinelle (oh yes, I know my cooking terms) of the most decadent and rich chocolate mousse, with the lightest of whipped cream perched on top.  A perfect combination.

I can never say where my next food craving will take me, but I can assure you that I will come back to Pearl to revisit the very affordable food and wine menu, and to enjoy the friendly service that greeted me tonight.

The intimacy of the holidays

"City Crowd, Cop and Ear" by A. Robert Bermelin (1980)
Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Thanks to holiday tourism, Manhattan's population increases by anything up to five times during the November to January period.  Great for the economy, but a nightmare for your nerves!

Having said that, I've started my holiday season in a very positive state of mind.  After all, November is my favourite month of the year in New York.  The weather is cooler, the clothes are more snuggly, and there's holiday anticipation in the air.

I spent the weekend pulling my winter clothes out of storage and donating whatever summer clothes no longer fit, or which had otherwise seen better days.  I'm no fashionista, but it's great to be back in opaque tights and knee-high boots again.

My first batch of home-made pumpkin soup is now in my fridge, ready to heat and serve after a busy day at work.  Such domesticity has a shelf-life about as long as the soup itself, but let's ignore that.

Central Park is at its most colourful right now, and the Fall Foliage map is a great reference point to see all the trees at their best.

It seems that every day I get emails reminding me to order my Thanksgiving turkey - and every side-dish I could possibly imagine!  I worked out that this year will be my 7th Thanksgiving celebration, which sounds terribly lucky.  While I'd usually prefer savoury dishes over sweet, I can never refuse roasted sweet potatoes topped with toasted marshmallows and brown sugar.  Don't knock 'em till you've tried 'em, honestly!

Equally irresistible are the ticket offers for The Nutcracker and the Radio City Musical Hall Christmas Spectacular, both of which I absolutely love and would see multiple times over.

And I was also a bit excited that the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree has been selected on a farm in Pennsylvania, and the 85-foot monster will be felled tomorrow.  The tree-lighting ceremony will be held in New York on 3 December, bringing traffic to a standstill and driving all the locals crazy.  I usually avoid Rockefeller Plaza like the plague, but there is something magical about the ice skating rink and the Christmas tree - even just the promise of them is exciting.

For me, even though there are five times the number of people pushing and shoving for spots on the subway and space on the sidewalk, November in New York will always be an affair to remember.

Give it a rest!

Much like Garfield, I've always been more partial to lasagne than Mondays, but I have to say that I'm facing this week with renewed vigour.  I think this is largely the result of putting myself to bed at 8pm on Saturday and Sunday nights this past weekend.  Two consecutive evenings of excellent sleep seem to have done the trick.  New York City may not sleep but at some point, its residents must.

Back in the early 1800s, the hustle-bustle of New York City ended at 14th Street and everything north of that was farmland.  The air was fresher, you could swim in the East River without contracting something nasty, and the wide open spaces that weren't being farmed were being used for horse riding and for quiet walks.  And it was to areas like these that busy New Yorkers flocked when they needed rest and recuperation.

The Mount Vernon Hotel is one of the oldest buildings in New York.  Built as a carriage house in 1799, the building once sat on a sprawling estate owned by the daughter of former US President John Adams.  The property chanegd hands a number of times over the years and the carriage house operated as a hotel from 1826 to 1833, and was a hugely popular spot for daytrippers from the southern parts of Manhattan.

Mount Vernon's location, on what is now residential East 61st Street, may seem quiet by New York standards, but it's still opposite one of the busiest Bed, Bath & Beyond stores in the City, and in the shadow of the bustling Queensboro Bridge which is trafficked by 183,000 cars and nearly 800 bicycles per day. 

In fact, if you ride the tram over the Queensboro Bridge to Roosevelt Island, and look out the northern side of the tram as you pull away from Manhattan, you get a great birds-eye view of the Hotel.  See?  My sincere thanks to the lovely Gaynor Shaw for her excellent photography!

These days, the Mount Vernon Hotel is run as a museum - a time capsule, really.  When you go there, you're transported back to a quieter period, when New Yorkers would check in early morning and spend the day in pure leisure.  Ladies would retire to the upper rooms for reading, sewing, listening to music, or catching up on the local gossip.  Men would sit downstairs and play card games, smoke cigars, and (no doubt) enjoy a pint or two of the local brews.

Male visitors to Mount Vernon would have been especially fortunate because their downstairs location put them in easy reach of the delicious smells emanating from the busy hotel kitchen.  The small complement of hotel staff would serve a lunch of delicacies such as turtle soup, or roasted meats and vegetables - all included in the daily hotel rate.

In those days, it was rare for visitors to stay overnight at the Mount Vernon Hotel.  It really was just a retreat for the day - a chance to recharge your batteries before once more heading back into the fray.  But one story I particularly liked was that of Scottish traveller, James Stuart, who stayed overnight at Mount Vernon as part of a three-year tour around America.  During his US visit, Stuart was enormously critical of American manners (or lack thereof) and he documented his many complaints throughout his rather rare volume, Three Years in America. Of course I had to buy the first volume of this work from the Museum bookstore afterwards, to see how he finds New Yorkers.  I suspect it will make rather compelling reading.

Mount Vernon Hotel has been beautifully restored and is staffed by friendly, knowledgable tour guides.  Admission to the Museum is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors and students with appropriate ID.  Children under 12 can get in for free, but must be accompanied by an adult.  The Hotel also runs education programs for NYC school students, and there is a donation box in the lobby.  Even if you just deposit a couple of dollars, your contribution will ensure these valuable programs continue.

Another thing to bear in mind is that you're not allowed to take photographs inside the Hotel but outside photos are fine.  The Hotel maintains a beautifully-landscaped back garden that gets a lot of sun.  Sure, the garden is much smaller than the estate's originally 23 acres, but for a New Yorker who is more accustomed to living in a one-room studio apartment, it was a very restful oasis indeed.

Should I stay or should I go?

The T Schreiber Studio and Theater was founded in 1969 to strengthen the dramatic arts in New York City.  The Studio and its adjacent theatre have won countless industry awards for their classes, scene studies, and workshops.  The company also puts on small-scale theatrical productions that are fertile grounds for stage and screen actors, directors, and playwrights to hone their crafts.  And did I mention this gem establishment is also located in my neighbourhood of Chelsea? Another excellent selling point, if you ask me.

Take a look at the Studio's alumni page, and I'm sure you'll recognise a number of the famous faces that have come through the doors over the past 45 years (Edward Norton, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Peter Sarsgaard, just to name a few - and they also serve as Honorary Board Members now).  I also love that the company maintains a page on its website called "Look Who's Working!", to track the career development of their peers.  A wonderful, supportive idea!

You'll be relieved to learn that I don't have any desires to tread the boards myself any time soon; rather, my purpose for visiting the Studio and Theater tonight (tucked away on the 7th floor of an unremarkable building) was to see "Philadelphia, Here I Come" by Irish playwright Brian Friel.   It's the first play in the company's 2014-15 season and I ended up sitting in the very front row, almost eyeball-to-eyeball with the actors in such a small theatre space.  I loved every minute of it.

The play was written in 1964, and is set in a small town in Ireland.  It takes place on the night before a young man leaves his home (and his widowed father) to join his aunt and uncle in Philadelphia.  The relationship between father and son is already pretty strained, and the young man's impending trip weighs heavily on both of them.

Family dynamics aside, if you've ever left home and gone somewhere new, you will relate to this play immediately.  The clever thing is that two actors actually play the young man.  One of them performs his physical self and interacts with the other characters, and the other actor is the young man's inner self - voicing all those things the young man thinks and feels, but would never say aloud.

For me, the play really made sense.  I have felt the push-pull of knowing you need to leave home, but not being able to articulate a decent reason why.  Just like in the play, right before a trip I've also specifically noticed those "lasts" - the last time I'll sleep in my own bed, the last time I'll hang the laundry outside, the last time I'll play with the dog.  And just like the young man in the play, I know how it feels when ordinary moments suddenly take on real gravity - like you're committing them to a film that you'll replay in your mind over and over.

The original Broadway production of "Philadelphia, Here I Come" opened in 1966 and ran for over 300 performances.  It was nominated for two Tony Awards and a film version was released in 1975.  The cast in this latest production have rich material to play with - tragic, comic, and a pleasant Irish brogue to boot.  All the actors did a wonderful job in their roles.

I'm so glad I finally discovered the T Schreiber Studio and Theatre, and I'm going to get myself on their mailing list, to be sure!

New York immigration, in black and white

If you've been reading this website for any length of time, you'll know what a sucker I am for any stories about New York.  If they're based here, feature characters from here, or even if they make a fleeting reference to New York, I'm all over them.

So it goes without saying that when The Film Society of Lincoln Center emailed last week, inviting me to purchase a ticket to the 15th Anniversary screening of "La Ciudad" ("The City"), I was intrigued.  I'd never heard of the film before, but the invitation email described it as an immigration film about New York's Latin American community, "and a powerful exploration of what it means to be an American today".  The late (and very great) critic Roger Ebert even declared it to be "a movie to treasure", so of course I was sold.

Even though the rain was pouring outside on this dreary Wednesday, the mood inside Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theatre was buzzing.  Such was the popularity of tonight's event that the only seats available when I arrived were in the very front row of the theatre.  Initial disappointment quickly turned to wide-eyed wonder as four unrelated stories came to life on the screen in haunting black-and-white.  "La Ciudad" was filmed over a seven year period and for the most part, the cast is comprised of non-professional immigrant workers.

In a panel discussion after the screening, two of the film's performers, its director David Riker, and Producer, Paul Mezey, cast their minds back 15 years and shared their stories on the uniqueness of the film-making experience.

Riker said that he relied on the non-professional actors to tell him the authentic immigrant story of New York.  That is, Riker needed his "actors" to show him what a sweatshop was really like (harrowing), or what it was to be a labourer and have to beg for work each day from business owners who may or may not end up paying you.  Or what a mother goes through when she can't get her hands on the $400 she desperately needs to send back home for her sick young daughter.  Or how a homeless, illiterate father can't enrol his daughter in school because he doesn't have a rent receipt or a phone bill to prove that they live in New York.  Or what it feels like to arrive in New York, make a random connection that fills you with confidence, and then lose your way in the concrete jungle - all in the space of 12 hours.  What dialogue there is in the film is largely in Spanish with English subtitles.  But words aren't needed to convey pain, or desperation, or despondency, or frustration - that's all there in the eyes of the performers.  It was really moving.

"La Ciudad" was remastered for tonight's screening, but the film makers have launched a Kickstarter campaign to "rescue" the movie and put it onto DVD for wider distribution, as well as to make the movie available online.  They're already half-way to meeting their $14,000 goal, which is really impressive.  If they succeed in this endeavour, and you can get your hands on a copy of "La Ciudad", I would really recommend you watch it.  The movie isn't fast-paced, and it is subtitled, but it is a remarkably timeless production that offers a perspective of the lives of New Yorkers that you may not otherwise get to know.

The artistic side of the United Nations

Countries, associations and individuals have been donating artwork and historical objects to the United Nations since the very earliest days of the organisation.  

You might recall I shared some of the international artwork with you back in May, and again when there was a photography exhibition on Australian policing at the UN, and also Israel's exhibition of the work of young artists with autism.

En route to an event yesterday I did another dash around the UN and captured some more of its artistic treasures.  You can click the link here to browse the latest album.

Amplifying the New York stories you don't normally hear

October 17 is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.  The theme of this year's commemoration was "Leave No One Behind: Think, Decide, and Act Together Against Extreme Poverty".

I came down to the UN Headquarters today for the New York commemoration of this annual event.  I attended a wonderful lunchtime program hosted by France, Burkina Faso, and the ATD Fourth World Movement (the principal organisation that has spearheaded the annual celebrations since 1987).  The very first International Day was celebrated with the laying of a commemorative stone in Paris, a replica of which was then installed at the UN in New York in 1996.  The inscription on the stone reads:

Wherever men and women are condemned to live in extreme poverty, human rights are violated.  To come together to ensure that these rights be respected is our solemn duty.

ATD Fourth World had been ramping up for the New York event for a while, including with a fantastic online campaign with Thunderclap.  Their efforts resulted in more than five million Twitter and Facebook users committing to send messages about the need to stand with people in poverty and commit to a world that leaves no one behind.  If you're on Twitter, check out the conversations using the hashtags, #endpoverty and #no1behind.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon echoed these messages in his opening remarks today, when he said "where poverty holds sway anywhere, people are held back everywhere".  The Secretary General commented that while we have lifted 750 million people out of poverty in the years 1990-2010, one out of every five people in the world still live on less than USD1.25 per day.  And this does not even begin to address the violence, discrimination and social exclusion that many of these people in poverty face in addition to their economic disadvantage.

What I found most compelling about today's event was that it had a real focus on the lives of people living in poverty in the United States, including the "everyday heroism" that people in New York are exhibiting.  Included on the program of speakers were:

• a lady living in the projects in the Bronx who shared her struggles to keep her children safe in a community with a crumbling playground, no community center, drive-by shootings, and unsafe housing infrastructure;
• a native New Yorker from the "Sure We Can" recycling collective, who questioned whether policy makers would know what it is like to live on food stamps; and
• a military veteran who reflected on the particular resonance he felt for this year's International Day theme, to "leave no one behind".  A four-year volunteer with the Neighbors Together project in Brooklyn, he shared very personal reflections on what it is like to have a criminal record in New York, where one mistake from your past can follow you around forever and leave you facing poverty, joblessness, and hopelessness.

The theme for today's event was developed in close collaboration with people living in poverty around the world, but I was really grateful for the focus on the everyday lives of New Yorkers.

Extreme poverty is a reality for so many people and even though we shine the official spotlight on it every 17 October, I very much enjoyed hearing from people for whom ending extreme poverty - starting in their own community - is a daily commitment.