70Park in NY up to Par
May 25, 2011
Must be the location. As described in the previous entry, Cupertino has no flair. Regardless of Apple’s great design capabilities, NY is just a way cooler place to visit. When business drags me up to New York City (especially when I am due at 270 Park Ave), I like a good location in the middle of the action. 70 Park Avenue fits the bill.
Though my room was smaller, and the HVAC system appears to be the same one as the one in the Cypress, there is something about the style of 70Park that is just appealing. Artsy, edgy, well lit, and sprinkled with noise form the street. Quintessential New York.
I arrived very late from a dinner with friends in New Haven on the Metro North train into Grand Central. A quick walk in the sultry summer air put me at the hotel after midnight. Checkin was great. And I was greeted in my room with a much needed cheese plate, a personal note, and a bottle of wine. You go 70Park!
As previously described, 70Park is not big, and all of the rooms that I have stayed in have shower curtains instead of glass cubicles. But they retain their favored place to stay in NY rating and their five showerheads. I will be back.
Here is the small but very stylish bathroom. Filled with mirrors (like the whole property) and thus seeming way bigger than it actually is. The shower? Meh.
It turns out that my trip to NY was mostly a bust other than seeing my friends in Connecticut. My meeting never happened due to some kind of crisis with the people I was supposed to meet. So I shlepped over to the Guggenheim to see the “Great Upheaval” exhibit. Ah Kandinsky. The exhibit was superbly constructed and a great snack at the Wright Cafe topped off the day perfectly.
On the mixology front, there is decidedly mixed news. The hotel book thing found in hotels everywhere now features a section on mixology. Uh oh. We are getting outted. Even the guggenheim cafe serves a Negroni off the menu! What are we elitists to do?!
Negroni
1 oz gin
1 oz sweet vermouth
1 oz Campari bitters
Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass 3/4 filled with cracked ice. Add a splash of soda water if desired. Garnish with a half slice of orange.
Less whining about Boston
August 20, 2010
I admit it. I’m spoiled.
Though my brief sojourn in Boston was not picture perfect in terms of hotels, the trip overall was great. My meeting was productive and finished early. My rental car was white and was a car I would never contemplate buying in a million years. My friend’s GPS unit was on crack, but the drive it led us on was beautiful. The weather was perfect.
After the meeting ended, I hightailed it over to the Isabella Gardner Museum in a rental car caravan with a fellow uber-geek. The museum is one of my favorite on the planet—such calm and peace radiate from the courtyard garden. We needn’t have rushed it turns out. The museum was hosting its “third thursday after hours” event and we had plenty of time to look at the gorgeous art, relax in the garden, and listen to a superb sitar-based band play some music while sipping a glass of chilled wine.
Dinner was very good too (at a new restaurant called Woodward). Things were a bit more frenetic and crowded than usual due to Restaurant Week.
Then the perfect ending at a superb mixology bar called Drink. I’ve been there twice before and each time the knowledgeable bartenders make the visit special. This time I was concentrating on drinks made with the difficult-to-find Picon (my favorite is the liberal). I was served a new one by Will called the “Jayco.”
A Jayco is almost like a margherita in flavor, only more sophisticated with a subtle spiciness that defies description:
1.75 Bianco Tequilla
.75 Fresh Lemon Juice
.5 Picon
.25 Grenadine (don’t even think about using Rose’s…make your own)
Shake and serve in an ice filled collins with a splash of soda (1-1.5). Yum.
So I may whine about hotels, but actually life on the road can be great.
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