songbird's crazy world

As I've mentioned before, I am genetically programmed to crave Jewish deli.  It is the soul food of my people. So when Drew suggested we grab a bite at Pastrami Plus, I was out the door and in the car before he finished buttoning his coat. Pastrami Plus is a very unpretentious place.  As in, it's a hole in the wall.  A deli counter, a handful of tables and a few ancient posters on the walls.  To be honest, most folks order take-out. We usually do take out, too, but on this particular night we chose to dine in. Service here is . .  . well, the young lady who was serving customers at the counter also waits tables, so don't expect white glove service, but she was pleasant and got the job done. Be advised, the restaurant is "kosher style", not strictly kosher, but you'd never know the difference unless you saw the occasional cheeseburger leave the grill.  (Yes, that was the sound of a dozen generations of Jewish bubbies rolling over in their graves.) Our m...

So last Sunday we took the train into the city for an afternoon/evening of theater and dining. From the abundance of pedestrians wheeling suitcases in the vicinity of Penn Station, it's clear that tourist season has begun.  It only gets more crowded from now until the end of December. We walked up 7th Avenue towards our destination, the Cort Theater.  Along the way we stopped at a couple of food carts -- I wanted a pretzel and Drew wanted a hot dog.  Lots of business on the street these days -- food carts, guys selling t-shirts, scarves and hats, handbags, lithographs of the city, caricatures drawn while you wait...In Times Square you also see costumed characters.  All sorts of cartoon characters, such as Mickey Mouse, Hello Kitty, Woody and Buzz from Toy Story, and today we even saw Minions!  Also saw the Statute of Liberty, "Elvis" and the famed "Naked Cowboy".  Even saw a couple of mean-looking aliens ready to take over the galaxy. Our destination,...

I used to come here often, and loved it.  But I hadn't been back in years.  Then a friend suggested a get-together at Gasho, and we were on our way. If you've been reading this blog awhile, you know I really enjoy Benihana.  Teppanyaki cooking appeals to me.  Throughout our evening at Gasho, I could not help but compare the two restaurants -- and Benihana won easily. Let's start with the physical surroundings.  Small, cramped parking lot.  Unlit walkways from the parking lot to the restaurant's front door.   Cramped, overcrowded dining room.  And despite all the teppanyaki grills in use, the room was cold! At Benihana, all of the grill tables seat 12, so unless you are a very large party, you will be sharing with others.  I like that Gasho has some smaller tables available, as a party of six we had a table to ourselves. That, unfortunately, was the highlight of the evening. I won't say anything was truly awful, just that it ...

Applebees is one of the better chains, I usually enjoy my meal here. Went there a few weeks ago, and as always, a nice dinner.  We started with house salad.  A nice mixture of greens and grape tomatoes, topped with croutons and shredded cheese.  Drew had bleu cheese dressing, I had honey mustard.  They have a variety of dressings.  But strangely no Russian or Thousand Island. Drew ordered a steak -- no surprise there.  This time he chose "marsala" -- the steak was topped with mushrooms in a wine sauce.  It was served with a side of rice.  When he ordered, the waitress told him the steak was served with mashed potatoes, but since he liked the rice . . . I ordered a very decadent dish, four cheese macaroni and cheese topped with honey pepper chicken tenders.  The chicken tenders were excellent, juicy chicken in a sweet and savory batter. The mac and cheese -- curly pasta in a smooth, mild cheese sauce.   The dish is finished wit...

Yes, we love movies.  Big Important Movies vying for an Oscar.  Classic movies we've seen 1,000 times.  Blockbusters that are mindless and fun.  Musicals.  Cartoons.  Movies. And so after seeing the very serious "12 Years A Slave",   the next film to entertain us was "Thor: The Dark World", yet another Marvel Comics production.  another slice of Stan Lee's genius. Stop here if you don't want to read any spoilers. I'm even going to discuss the "Easter Eggs". Yes, there are TWO Easter Eggs.  Considering that's been Marvel's habit of late, you can't really say you're surprised. So the movie alternates between the grandiose, Shakespearean world of  Asgard and modern London.  In Thor's realm, the evil Malekith and the Dark Elves seek to destroy Asgard and all of the other realms, including Earth.  Somehow Jane Foster of Earth literally gets sucked into this situation and must be rescued by Thor.  Thor must...

Easily one of the most famous pizza restaurants in the city, John's sits in the heart of the Theater District.  It's located in a beautiful building that once housed a church.  Make sure to look up at the domed ceiling. The place caters to a theater-going crowd, and tends to be crowded just before and after shows.  We went on a Thursday evening around 8:30.  We were a large party but were seated almost immediately. The menu offers a variety of Italian dishes.  Garlic bread served as an appetizer was very pungent and topped with gooey mozarella.  A salad "for two" was easily shared by four.  I've always liked the pizza rolls, but was disappointed that this appetizer was not served until the entrees were on the table.  Chicken parm was adequate but not outstanding -- the cheese on top were overly-browned, almost to the point of being burnt. The specialty here is pizza.  Thin crust, brick oven pizza.  Served hot, crispy and deliciou...

Spring forward, fall back. We all know the saying.  It's how we implement Daylight Saving Time. Every spring we move the clock ahead one hour so that we have an "extra" hour of daylight in the evening.  In the fall we return to standard time. We're on standard time now.  I've spent the better part of the last two weeks trying to get used to the time change.  Instead of going to work in the dark, I'm now leaving the office by moonlight.   So I got to thinking about it... Daylight Saving Time has been in use in some parts of the world since WW I.  It was used effectively during WW II.  It's been a common practice in most of the United States since the 1950's and 1960's.  Traditionally we moved ahead during the last weekend in April, and moved back to standard time at the end of October.  In 1986 that was changed to the first weekend in April.  In 2007 it was changed again -- we observe Daylight Saving Time from the second weekend i...