Topic: NYC

[StrapHanger]

Pretty sure Amtrak wifi doesn't support media streaming anyway.  Often it barely supports email.

R&R, I don't download illegally either, and I too am reluctant to purchase video content that I know I won't re-watch, but FWIW, I found it worth buying some stuff for the iPad for my own frequent train travel.  You can get the whole first season of Homeland, for example, for about $20 through iTunes.  You might decide it's well worth it to make some purchases on iTunes to help break up the trip.

[Loretto]

You can rent movies through iTunes and have them downloaded onto your computer before you leave.

[rockandroller]

oooh, really? SQUEE

[tedders55]

I'm a cheapskate, and I don't download things illegally, so I don't really know what I would download that I could watch on the train. I'd like to watch some movies but don't see a way to do that. I don't think my laptop has the capability to play DVDs or I'd just bring the LOTR box set and nerd out watching the commentary tracks, which I am only about halfway through on the 2nd movie.

Also, a sort of legal option that the movie industry doesn't like is to convert movies you own (DVD, blu-ray) to a file on your computer.  As long as you convert the file to a version that is playable on your iPad you can have them available.  It is a time consuming process, but the availability is nice.  Here is some more information

MPAA doesn't like this as it then is rather simple to then illeagaly share the media.  However as you paid for the property (in this case the movie) you should be able to enjoy said property anywhere.

[rockandroller]

I don't buy movies so that's not really an option, but thx. Other than the LOTR box set, which was a gift, most of the DVDs we have are children's movies/shows. I have a couple of concert films my DH has gotten me that I haven't watched but I'm probably not going to want to watch those on the train.

[mrnyc]

hey there -- im busy at work lately but will get back with this soon. im not a fan, but my spouse has gone to the allman beacon thing, you will be able to get tix no worries as long as you are flexible.

in the meantime, make sure you stock up on the most useful free local apps:

for transit get nyc kick-lite for the subway. also hopstop for point to point, mta weekender for service change notices and lastly i have downloaded the 5 borough bus maps from the mta website, they are pdf files. at least grab the manhattan bus map if you can.

for food get menupages for menus, info, gps maps and remarks and that is all you need, it is great, not 100% inclusive, but has all your choices at least. additionally you will want the village voice, timeout ny and brooklyn L magazine for events (food too). i use new york magazine's website a lot too, not sure if they have an app.

[rockandroller]

xoxo thank you mrnyc!

[mrnyc]

oh look i just came across this in the post today - these links are to a list and some chatter about upcoming 2013 restaurant openings:


http://m.nypost.com/p/entertainment/food/more_openings_xTV5rliYhNKkuBZKsEEV9K

http://m.nypost.com/p/entertainment/food/swine_dining_zw9WNu97dSEt0Q4ABKrK2K

[kennybabes]

Was in NYC for New Years. 

Friends turned me on to Hop Stop...an app for smart phones

http://www.hopstop.com/?action=mobile_android

definitely worth the cost FREE..  Put in your destination and it will step by step you to the right subway and where to change, and walking directions at either end.

AND it works for Cleveland RTA and other major international cities such as London.

[rockandroller]

thx. downloading hopstop now.

[mrnyc]

"A" list:

Eataly - a must do, overwhelming to the senses & wallet, i get a lot of italian imports at half of eataly prices in the chelsea market.

Bar Boulud - before the beacon i take? i like cafe luxembourg as its more lively, but of course the food is better at boulud.

Rocking Horse Cafe - ha my hood & my bklyn/cleve friend's old college roomate's family owns this. lively, good drinks & stacked-tower style mex. honestly, we go to suenos across the street instead or ofrenda in the village (my fav & owner/chef started in ny bussing tables).

The Meatball Shop - good but u will need a nap.

Porchetta - i only peeked at this place, looks good but i go to faicco's for this.

Mission Chinese Food - i would love to tell you but there is always a line of 20-somethings down the block! dont waste time for that (although orchard is interesting to see & plenty to do nearby).

Parm - as good as anything along mulberry st. will be fun at the least.

Pok Pok Ny - no. do not go to out of yr way brooklyn for this. if you want the best thai and have half a day to burn on a short trip go to shripraphai in queens instead, the train is right there as is the united nations of food that is along roosevelt ave.

No Name Bar - omg no. you are from cleveland. do not go hours and hours way out of your way to greenpoint the cle of nyc. time is your enemy. have some ramen in the east village at ippudo or if thats mobbed setagaya. or soba ya for soba. all are awesome. if you are around grand central or go to gari make sure to go to sakagura izakaya afterward, very very cool place and good. it has a more youthful sister izakaya in the east village called decibel you would love too.

Bobwhite Lunch & Supper Counter - what is it with this place? i just brought my bro out for xmas and he was asking about it too (we didnt go we went to obscura antiques instead). i peeked in its clean and modern with homestyle food. eh. seems like hype. if you go do report. i like esperanto on ave c.

Please Don’t Tell (PDT) cocktail bar - fun. be sure to have a crif dog they are excellent. there are craft drinks bars in every nabe these days. we have employees only and my fav little branch.

Shake Shack or Milk Burger - who doesnt like a burger n shake? beware ss is no in n out.

Spotted Pig - my hood again. gnudi or that burger? cant lose. the rest is hit or miss. clubby, cute and fun. definately go and only sit downstairs.

Le Pain Quotidien - its a chain from belgium. ok but not go out of your way special. have some challah or matzoh ball soup at the b&h diner counter and order a egg cream at the gem spa newsstand. thats an old school evdon approved breakfast (although no doubt he has complaints lol!)

Tasty Dumpling - two thumbs up.  across the st from chinatown park. there are two dried beef jerky shops nearby i like too. get some for the ride home. but you can get dumplings anyplace. there is a decent dumpling joint in the ev next to the physical graffiti apt bldg. ps -- if its a saturday go to jin fong for dim sum, its good and fun. or dim sum go go if u want made to order instead of the carts.


ps -- you might want to visit the cleveland chefs at locanda verde and tremont restaurants!

[rockandroller]

Tim Bando left Tremont and is back in Cleveland cooking at Deagan's.

Thx for all this other very valuable knowledge, helps me pare and focus my list quite a bit.

[mrnyc]

* good tohear.

well, there is still this new place:

Yesterday The Cleveland opened on (yup, you guessed it!) Cleveland Place. The new Soho restaurant features American favorites like rubbed skirt steak, roasted chicken, and sautéed kale. Owners Paul Shaked and Hudson Solomon hope to begin lunch service in a few months. 25 Cleveland Pl.

[Jax]

No Momofuku on the list?

[eastvillagedon]

Le Pain Quotidien - its a chain from belgium. ok but not go out of your way special. have some challah or matzoh ball soup at the b&h diner counter and order a egg cream at the gem spa newsstand. thats an old school evdon approved breakfast (although no doubt he has complaints lol!)

ha ha...I haven't been in b&h in ages. Is it still there?? I didn't know Le Pain Quotidian was from Belgium. The Cobb Salad is good, but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat there. It's just that they're everywhere and convenient (and not expensive). Likewise for Shake Shack--it's overrated. You can probably get better burgers in Cleveland, which undoubtedly has its share of "upscale" burger joints by now, as well as in New York.

Also there's a restaurant in the E. Village called Calliope that the foodie set has been raving about for the past year (I hardly ever eat out anymore!)--
http://www.calliopenyc.com/

[StrapHanger]

Some other thoughts, R&R:

Along the line of Jax, I'd really consider adding a David Chang place to your list. 
You might also check out the Fatty Crab in mrnyc's neighborhood, which is a lot of fun, and great Malaysian street food inspired fare.

As for burger places, I like Shake Shack fine, but not enough to wait outside.  I much prefer either a quality old school NYC burger place (my favorite is JG Melon on the UES, but there are several others), or one of the better hipster ones, like Burger Joint in the Parker Meridian in midtown, which is painfully, self-consciously ironic in its atmosphere, but still fun.

I definitely second Porchetta.  They are masters at their craft.

I'm sure you can get plenty of good pizza recommendations from the crew here too if you're interested,  both sit down and slice places.  There are plenty of good ones without the silly waits you finds at some of the more famous ones.

[rockandroller]

I don't like seafood and don't eat shellfish so anything with crab in the name is probably out. I did the Parker meridian burger place on my last trip and wasn't impressed.

I am not sure about wait times and reservations for the Chang places. R how much seafood would be on the menu.Also, though i will be solo much of the time, my schedule is likely up in the air until just before I arrive because my friends in the city are very bad at planning ahead so it's hard to get an itin together right now.

Would love pizza recs. went to the famous place in Brooklyn last trip, looking to stay in manhattan this time I think

[eastvillagedon]

"Most of the places recommended are not what I would be looking for - too expensive, or beer-focused or seafood-focused..."

for "not...too expensive" you should definitely cross out The Modern, Joel Robuchon and Perry St from your original list. I think they average over $100 per person.

[eastvillagedon]

okay, definitely cross off L'Atelier De Joël Robuchon. It closed in June!

[rockandroller]

Wow, yeah, out of my price range.

[Jax]

Momofuku Noodle Bar is reasonably priced although the menus don't explicitly list prices for some reason. They also have an online reservation system.

http://momofuku.com/new-york/noodle-bar/dinner/

[eastvillagedon]

^yes, it's Momofuku Ko that's expensive.

[StrapHanger]

I don't think the David Chang places are particularly sea-food heavy.  Not sure about the waits these days.  I think I've only been to the Noodle Bar, and it was too long ago. I keep meaning to get to more.

Not exactly a household name, but there's a nifty meat-centric Belgian place (i.e., far more than the generic mussels and frites stuff) in Murray Hill called Resto which served me well a few times several years ago: http://www.restonyc.com/  I'm a fan of good Belgian food generally (central Europe meets French; kind of like Alsatian I guess), but not sure how universally appealing it is.

Also, if you're into the genre, the Austrian cafe (http://www.neuegalerie.org/cafes/sabarsky) at the Neue Gallerie at 86th and 5th Ave after a run through the awesome little museum makes a great art and food duo.

For pizza, you can get so many recommendations, and at a certain point it's just so subjective which are better than others (among the good ones; god knows there is plenty of crap).  Best just to keep a list of some good places and then hit one or two when convenient.  You're likely familiar with a lot of the good ones anyway, and I have no hidden special finds, but in case useful here are some of my favorites:
*For slices, I like Bleecker Street pizza (Bleecker and 7th Ave); the classic Joe's (Bleecker and 6th), and the Sicilian slices at Artichoke (one location on East 14th, one on MacDougal) [though I find their famous signature slices kind of disgusting]. 
*For sit down, I dig the modern pies at Kesta (Bleecker near 6th), the excellent thin American pies at Posto (2nd Ave and 18th), the classic John's (Bleecker) and the coal fired classic Arturos.  Lots of good Neopolitan places as well. The real best to me is Franny's in Brooklyn, which is probably off your route a little bit.  But oh so good.

[mrnyc]

i was just thinking when you are out and about you might want to try some newer pizza places with a distinct specialty:  don antonio, forcella or pizzaarte -- they do naples/la montanara style pizza:

"First they flatten the dough, fry it (no fried taste) then put on the sauce, cheese and whatever, and then they bake it. this is exactly how they make it in Naples-a crisp, non soggy crust. Very tasty and very authentic..if its Naples style pizza you want."

also, ovest on w27th is another good neapolitan if you are visiting the chelsea galleries/highline or try naples45 if you are at grand central.

^which reminds me of a good point, dont go too out of your way for pizza, because there is bound to be something good near your travels whereever you are when the pizza craving moment strikes you.

[eastvillagedon]

^or if you're starving and really wanna go cheap and hardcore, try one of the many new 99-cents-a-slice places that have opened in recent years (although I would avoid a chain called Joey Pepperoni's--a likely name. Too greasy). Sure, they're not exactly what ya'd call "artisanal" , but I really don't think they're that qualitatively different from the standard-issue pizza places that have been around for ages which now charge $2.50 for a plain slice (except for Joe's in the Village, which Straphanger mentioned--it's excellent). I remember when those places charged 50 cents. Everyone was annoyed when they went to 75 cents, and outraged at $1.00!

[rockandroller]

Thanks all. Trip is fast approaching!

[rockandroller]

I wanted to thank you all for your great ideas and suggestions for my trip. Unfortunately, we've run in to a sudden and very bad financial situation so all extraneous spending has been instantly curtailed. This means my NYC trip is not happening. Not sure if or when I will be able to reschedule. But maybe this thread can serve others well in their travels there.

As a side note, though I know there's nothing I can do about the train ticket, what do you all recommend in terms of sites where I might be able to try to sell my concert ticket? I don't think craigs is reputable enough, especially the NYC craig's, for me to try to sell it there. Is there a more ticket-focused site?

[KJP]

I wanted to thank you all for your great ideas and suggestions for my trip. Unfortunately, we've run in to a sudden and very bad financial situation so all extraneous spending has been instantly curtailed. This means my NYC trip is not happening. Not sure if or when I will be able to reschedule. But maybe this thread can serve others well in their travels there.

As a side note, though I know there's nothing I can do about the train ticket, what do you all recommend in terms of sites where I might be able to try to sell my concert ticket? I don't think craigs is reputable enough, especially the NYC craig's, for me to try to sell it there. Is there a more ticket-focused site?

Why can't you get a refund for the train ticket? Amtrak issues ticket refunds.

[StrapHanger]

It's typically super easy to cancel too.  Until recently, there wasn't even a fee for day-of cancellations.  Though depending on how you paid, you may end up with an annoying "e-voucher" that you have to turn into cash through additional steps (or apply to future travel).

And more importantly, I hope things are OK and that you guys are fully back on your feet soon, financially. 

[rockandroller]

You can cancel a train ticket? Who knew. I will go look into it.

[rockandroller]

Holy crap you guys, thank you so much! I just cancelled and only have to pay a 10% cancellation fee. I just assumed it was like air travel and you were screwed. I feel much better about cancelling now.

strap, thanks for the well wishes. Me too. very tough right now.

[KJP]

Holy crap you guys, thank you so much! I just cancelled and only have to pay a 10% cancellation fee. I just assumed it was like air travel and you were screwed. I feel much better about cancelling now.

strap, thanks for the well wishes. Me too. very tough right now.

I keep telling ya the virtues of train travel! I hope your financial situation improves soon and you can take this trip.

[mrnyc]

you might try to sell your tix on stubhub.

[rockandroller]

Thx. I posted it there yesterday actually

[eastvillagedon]

Yesterday's NY Times featured a story about big shot NYC chef Andrew Carmellini and the fancy schmancy new restaurant he's about to open--it turns out he's from Cleveland (but I guess all you foodies already knew that!)--

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/13/dining/andrew-carmellinis-food-does-the-talking.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

"Mr. Carmellini’s sense of how a restaurant is supposed to feel, and how a dish is supposed to taste, runs deep. Venture into a conversation about his upbringing, and he’ll talk mostly about food. His mother, of Polish extraction, would regularly bake mulberry pies (with fruit that she and her son had picked from the nearby fields) and potica, a yeasty Polish poppy-seed cake. Paul Carmellini, his father, would gather family members together in Cleveland during the holiday season for days of sharing homemade wine, grappa, sausage and brovada, a Friulian dish of fermented turnips.

By the time he hit high school, Andrew Carmellini was already washing pots in a Cleveland catering hall. “They gave me free beer,” he said. “Which is nice, when you’re 14 and 15.”

While still in his teens, he joined the kitchen crew at a local Italian restaurant. “I was good,” he recalled. “I was a good line cook. I could bang out 500 covers, no problem.” He spent time, later, at Chez François in Vermilion, Ohio, but signs of restlessness had already begun to emerge: he enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America, and one day he and a friend journeyed into Manhattan with the sole objective of dining at Le Cirque."