New York City

For my Euro-trip 2009 bestie’s birthday, I wanted to do something special. Even in the ‘ol onion, a girl can be at a loss for ideas. She had an appointment in Tribeca, so I let my inner neighborhood guide me to a cozy spot on Duane called Duane Park. A nod to her N’awlins-based alma matter, chef Beau Houck cooks up creole and Cajun laced classics like the black-eyed pea roasted corn salad served with the BBQ quail and the peach pickled ramp relish served with the pork chop. The herb crusted fried potatoes are a crowd-pleasing side and creole mustard vinaigrette would taste good smothered on basically anything.

Thirsty? Please try the champagne Pom Pom cocktail. It’s celebratory deliciousness. Bored? Well, tighten your top hats ladies and gents because not only is Duane Park a beautiful space with understandable prices and a kind staff, it also has…drum roll please… a Friday night burlesque show.

Move over Moulin Rouge, we have a new Satine south of Houston! She twirls, she high kicks, she is your one-stop cellulite free Friday night fantasy. I kid, but I’m serious. The burlesque show at Duane Park damn near knocked our H&M colored tights off. The show begins at 11:30 and Duane Park offers a special late night menu for the occasion. The center of the restaurant turns into a stage and, I’m no burlesque connoisseur, but rumor has it they only book the best acts in town. In any other instance, this could easily turn trashy, but Duane Park’s pristine white tablecloths, seasonal floral arrangements, thoughtfully chosen mismatched wooden chairs and elegant wall decor make for a most delicate dinner dance show.

Duane Park  157 Duane Street between West Broadway & Hudson;  212-732-5555 for reservations; lunch Monday – Friday, brunch Saturday – Sunday, dinner daily. For Friday night burlesque info, please call Duane Park or visit their website www.duaneparknyc.com

“International comfort food” is the way they describe the cusine at Delicatessen, the fairly new Soho eatery brought to you by the same man – Mark Thomas Amadei – that gave Manhattan (and then South Beach) Cafeteria. There are Cafeteria lovers and Cafeteria haters, so when juding Delicatessen, please do so with an open mind.

The open space exudes style – complete with natural wood panals and white formica tables. The glass garage door style walls didn’t emit even the slightest draft even though I was there on the coldest night of the year. Be sure to check out the downstairs lounge. Green leather banquets, a glass ceiling and an anything-but-ordinary mural by super hottie artist Juan Jose Heredia. And for the most part, the crowd emulates the chic motif — models and hipsters, seeking solace from the woes of being beautiful, lazily pick at their comfort food of choice. Leighton Meister was spotted lunching there as was Whitney Port. Like most Nolita/Soho spots, and despite the clubby nuances, it’s the kind of place where you may find yourself eating your casual Sunday night meal next to Mike Meyers or Julia Stiles. Whatev.

Onto the food! I actually frequent Delicatessen, so I can tell you about basically everything on the menu. (I’ll spare you though.) My favorites are: Cobb Salad, Chicken in a Bucket (fried chicken deliciousness), Halibut Tacos, and Yellowfin Tuna. The Mac n Cheese rivals others in the hood, but it gave me a post-meal belly ache twice, so… The burger comes on a wooden cutting board thingy and yummy but kind of small – fine for pint sized me, but likely inadequate to satiate my dad or brother. From what I can recall, every cocktail tickled my taste buds. And lest I forget about the menu’s superstar: The Ovaltine pudding parfait!

The best part: The Hostesses. They are sweet and smiley and make any eye-rolling, hesistation, intimdation, “if I’m ‘too cool’ for Beatrice you betcha I won’t be caught dead at Delicatessen” tude vanish instantaneously. Because Delicatessen actually isn’t the trendy, only-in-New York-kids kind of place that Cafeteria once was. Delicatessen is sweeter. It comforts me.

And on that note, I’d say they’ve served their purpose.

Delicatessen  54 Prince St @ Lafayette; 212-226-0211; open until midnight

I heard the cocktails at Rouge Tomate, the new S.P.E. certified restaurant on East 60th were amazing. Where locally grown ingrediants are squeezed, pureed and doused in alcohol and a “healthy” cocktail is born. So when I visited on a random Wednesday I expected something more, um…exciting.

The gigantic space marveled me. Natural elements — wood, rainforest scene light panels, unisex bathrooms. Wow. I was greeted by not 1, not 2, not even 3 but 4 staff waiting at the top of the open staircase. The bi-level, 200 person restaurant also has a private dining room, a “cranberry pool”, which looked like someone dumped bulk cranberries from Cosco in a concrete mote.

The staff seemed somewhat stiff as did just about every patron in there. What it lacked in environment though, it made up for in delicious drinks. I had the Pear Crisp (yum!) and an apple something-or-another that was made with whiskey.  If I liked whiskey, I may have loved it. They provided popcorn to snack on. Rowdy football fans at a too-familiar Brooklyn bar snack on similar tasting popcorn every Sunday, so… The scallops were eh. I couldn’t decide whether they were so supposed to be hot or cold. The Spanish Mackerel and Sweet Onion Flatbread was delicious enough to entice me to stay, and I would’ve been seated and eaten a full meal had  the atmosphere not been so soporific I nodded off mid-sentence, nearly spilling my martini on the spotless cream leather.

It was painfully quiet, made worse by the fact that the tables were impossibly far away from one another. I read a review that called Rouge Tomate “sexy.” Unless you have soup cans and a string to whisper sweet nothings into your date’s ear from across the expansive tables, there will be nothing sexy about this cold, sterile restaurant. Downstairs seating is somewhat more intimate, but it’s still like trying to fall in love in a hospital hallway. Even on Grey’s Anatomy they go into the elevator.

Note: A regularly dressed, dare I say peasant-esque, female was either intensely reading or studying at the bar. Shhhhhhhhh.

The spacious lounge/café may, however, be the perfect place for Upper East Siders to rest their weary feet and shopping bags and have a drink after a long day of sale-scouring – being right across from Barney’s and all. A Pear Crisp would taste delicious with my next-to-nothing Jimmy Choos. Plus, you’ll feel less guilty paying for a pricey cocktail knowing that you’ve been saved by ubiquitous sales this holiday season. In the end, I hopped in a cab and headed downtown to dine. But should you seek solace after retail therapy, then by all means, knock your bamboo socks off

Rouge Tomate
10 East 60th St, between Madison and Fifth 
Open daily until 11 p.m. 646-237-8977

and biking. . . walking. . . rollerblading. . .

Have you ever stood in the cross walk around rush hour, steps away from being smooshed by an angry cab driver, coughing from the fumes of exhaust pipes everywhere and wished for a moment in our lovely city without the honking, screetching headache that is the traffic of New York, just wide open streets to play and run amuck?

Wish granted m’dear! It’s true! The Department of Transportation has created Summer Streets. Three Saturdays in August where Park Ave and it’s surrounding streets from Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park will be closed off to any traffic with more horsepower than a skateboard.

Feel free to walk, run, skip, bike, or attend the many fabulous events scheduled. You can learn to ride a bike with other grown ups who never have (don’t be scurred!), feel the burn at one of the many crunch gym fitness classes- right on the asphalt, or stroll along to the sounds of an improptu musical performance. The activities are quite unique, and very New York, reflecting the rich culture that we so often take for granted in our beloved city.

Better yet- get involved! The city still needs volunteers to help patrol, marshall and keep things running smoothly.

Click here to sign up! http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/summerstreets/html/involved/volunteer.shtml

See ya in the streets!