On Thursday, I had lunch at The Modern, the restaurant at MOMA whose chef, Gabriel Kreuther won the 2009 James Beard Award for Best New York City Chef.
Lunch
Young Pea Salad with Sicilian pistachios and ricotta salata
Upside down Tuna Tarte with fennel, Japanese cucumber, and aioli
Sauvignon Blanc: Momo, Marlborough 2008
The food was bright, extremely fresh and supremely delicious.
The Modern has a beautiful installation of fiber and neon that greets you on the street. When I saw it I knew I came to the right place.
Right next door is the American Folk Art Museum and my next stop.
The Art of Paula Nadelstern
The quilts in this exhibit were unbelievable in their artistry. So complex and mesmerizing. Really amazing work.
From there I walked to Midtown to check out M & J Trimming. This place is palace of trimmings. I was completely overwhelmed and just walked around the store in awe. It was too much for me. I left empty handed and headed back to the hotel. On the walk home I passed the Naked Cowboy on 6th Ave. and Ann Curry outside the NBC studio.
Awoke on Friday to pouring rain, but I didn't let that stop me. Grabbing a hotel umbrella I headed down to Soho.
Purl Patchwork
147 Sullivan St.
What a great little shop. It was full of fabulous fabrics. It may have been pouring outside but it was all sunshine and goodness inside the shop. The hardest part was deciding what to buy. I tried not to get too crazy because I knew there was yarn beckoning just a short hop away.
A short jaunt down the street and I arrived at Purl (137 Sullivan St.)
Yay for yarn and plenty of it. The shop was small but bustling with business and I wasn't the only one visiting from out of town. I picked up some gorgeous Ozark Handspun and Cascade Chunky Baby Alpaca in purple.
My adventure wasn't over yet. With umbrella in one hand and a bag of yarn and fabric in the other I went back out in search of more yarn. From Houston I walked up 6th Ave to 15th St. Within three blocks my shoes and pants were soaked, but I had a destination and I kept walking through the pouring rain
and arrived at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio
The store is ginormous by New York standards and packed with all your favorite Lion Brand yarns and all the colors in stock. After my slog to get there I needed a little knitting break.
The Meandering Scarf was on display featuring Fishermen's Wool. The natural colors are really beautiful. It was the perfect scarf for the hubby. I picked up a pair of the Clover Takumi Velvet knitting needles too. These new needles are highly polished bamboo and are wonderful to knit with. They printed out the pattern for me and I sat down, got to knitting and drying out. The scarf was a little to thin so I decided to cast on for a wider scarf. This was a much needed break but it was over too soon as they close at 5pm on Fridays.
Back out into the rain and into the subway. From 14th St. up to Bryant Park, not for fashion week, but for Kinokuniya, the Japanese bookstore. What a great store. I headed straight for the sewing and craft books then wandered over to school supplies. Our friends' three kids started school last week so I picked up pencil cases, pencils, and erasers. Plus Pokemon cards and stickers. Too much fun in there. Since I walked home from midtown the day before, I figured I could walk back again. Oh boy, 20 plus blocks in the rain with shopping bags is no fun. By the time I got back to the hotel I was sweating, wet from the rain, exhausted and grumpy. A bag of potato chips, a shower, and some TV works wonders to restore a soggy soul. The hubby came home pretty tired too. We had a quick pizza dinner at Serafina and called it a night.
Saturday, the hubby and I walked through Central Park.
Look what I found...an alpaca...in Central Park. It was the petting zoo. There was a sheep too, but when the parade went by (yes a parade up 5th Ave, a Labor Day Parade of the Unions) and the sheep scuttled back into the house.
We made our way to the Met to check out Vermeer's Milkmaid. The Milkmaid was gorgeous. She was all glowy with the way Vermeer captures light. After walking through some antiquities and modern art it was time to grab a bite to eat. We heard good things about the Neue Gallery Cafe, but apparently so had everyone else and the line was too long. We decided to head to Sarabeth's on Madison and 92nd St. The best tomato soup ever! The desserts looked amazing, especially the ice creams, but I will have to wait until next time.
We were headed up to see our friends, who told me about the yarn shop around the corner from their house. Annie & Company Needlepoint & Knitting
Really I was having the most fiberlicious time in the Big Apple. Annie & Co was another great knit store. Friendly people, fantastic selection, and lots of space.
Malabrigo sock yarn
Mountain Colors Mountain Goat.
So I got a daily dose of fiber everyday while in NYC. I must say that every store was full of friendly knitters and fabulous yarn from Soho to the Upper East Side. Even as I was leaving the city I passed by an art installation of sheep near Grand Central Station. Really, a flock of them. I tried to get a picture but you know how traffic is and the shot was blocked, twice, from the car window.
Our next adventure was going to Newark, when our flight home was out of La Guardia. We jumped into a stretch limo at Newark and fought traffic through the Holland Tunnel while trying to dodge traffic around the Yankee Game and the US Open. That limo driver was great. We got to the airport just minutes before our flight. They were paging our names as we ran up to the gate. We were the last two people to get on the plane. Whew!
It's always good to come home.
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