Best I Had a Visitor!

No more going to Utah! Boston or Tennessee! Time for a visitor...

Ladies and Gentlemen, after a nearly four-year absence, Andrew came back to New York and it went well.

Welcomed with a rootbeer...

...within an hour I was teaching him about Shakeshack. Taking calls and teaching burger lessons, that's how I do.

The streets, they're friendly.

And Thursday night? A trip to Brooklyn (previously hinted at) for a little visit to Dumont.

Jeff and Hillary: Keepin' it real as always.

Wait...was Broek visiting, too? NO! Broek's a New Yorker now!

But Lars was in town again...that's his style, appearing unexpectedly, enriching lives, brightening faces.

Well-protected from the elements, the back patio is open year round.

Audrey scribbled.

A table heavy-laden with desserts!

Post-Dumont we took advantage of the environs and paid a visit to the Barcade.

Rampage! This and Double Dragon, they had to be the most popular arcade games of my late gradeschool years.

This one is called Ladybug, a variation of Pac Man. I found its innovations thrilling, but the game made a fool of me. But at least I can practice it online now.

Friday? Lots of walking. A visit to B&H

I tried a 28mm Elmarit on my M8...can you tell?

Andrew tried out keyboards.

A walk down the Highline

And, drumroll, lunch at the Noodle Bar. Color me pleased that Andrew took to it immediately.

They've got tamales now. Take my word for it, these are (left to right): pork shoulder & kimchi, chicken mole, and rajas y queso. The winner? The chicken mole, actually. Surprise, surprise, Chang's crew can do Mexican.

fingerling potatoes, poached egg, and bacon...before:

And after (I love this dish):

and here's the chilled spicy noodles. You really can't chill up a better bowl of noodles in spicy oil, spinach, chinese sausage, and candied cashews than this one.

Then, a visit to the MoMA.

Would you believe this is a drawing?

At home, Andrew kept seeing art everywhere he looked.

Friday night: Rene Marie at the Jazz Standard. Excellent show.

The Standard doesn't have a Minimum BUT they do have the Blue Smoke menu, which renders the concept of a minimum entirely unnecessary. This is how I spent my first twenty minutes at the club: staring down the menu, choosing between too many equally-delicious sounding options until I nodded off (or so it seems). Eventually I chose Fried Chicken.

Saturday Morning: A beautiful opportunity seized! Breakfast had with Keith and Keri at Kitchenette.

Check out the ridiculous breakfasts: gingerbread pancakes, sweet potato waffles, cinnamon roll french toast.

Andrew is a baker, we did some bread investigations. Here's a fine loaf from the Grandaisy Bakery. I'm going to have more of this sort of thing for the rest of my life. There. I just decided that. I like bread that has lots of holes and a hard crust.

That Saturday night, a very important event: Dinner at the Ssam Bar with Emily, Kathryn, and Carol. We ate like Kings and Queens! Pork buns, ham, kimchi apple salad, spicy rice cakes, skate, pork shoulder steak, Brussels sprouts...uhm...I think that was it. No, wait! Rib sandwiches! (and an attack on the Milk Bar resulting in slices of chocolate malted cake, grasshopper cheesecake pie, and a few samples of the salt and pepper soft serve)

A ride home on the bus.

Sunday, after services, a visit to Lincoln Center.

Andrew found himself fascinated by the fur coats of New York City. Particularly this lady's.

After much discussion, we faced the facts: We wanted Noodle Bar again. Thank goodness for Vacation Rules!

Tried the new Duck Salad. Pretty tight.

Those rice cakes? Comped! It seems that the manager recognizes me now? Or he's that friendly to everyone?

Andrew didn't leave until Monday, but I worked Monday. I don't know anything that happened that day. Except he watched some Friday Night Lights, ate french fries, and had gelato.