The Hurricane Report

Preparation, Bunkering Down, Aftermath. A Photo Essay.

Friday, 3pm. Raiding the wine room, Morgan trollies through the office, aiding fellow Food & Wine worker bees in their last minute preparations and saving them a trip to the liquor store.



A last minute Saturday morning jaunt/supply run around the East Village leaves us well stocked and prepared to bunker down.



A long night. Many movies. Too many potato chips. Far more Anderson Cooper than is healthy - which is to say any at all. NY1 and the soothing sounds of crazy New Yorkers calling in to complain. Sleep comes around 3am.

9am - Bloomburg has tweeted "The eye of the storm is upon us. The worst of the storm is here. Do not go outside." or some such nonsense. It appears to be simply drizzling. I go back to sleep.

A 12pm walkabout. People begin to trickle out of their buildings, the city awakens, and it is thirsty. Many bars kindly accommodate.



We survived Hurricane Irene (such as it was)! Lucien is open and brunch is on the way! A toast was certainly in order!

Trying to Think of a New Way To Say it

Summer in the City. What else is there to say?


Great walks. Long meandering, frozen yogurt fueled days.
Plain with rainbow. No compromises or substitutions.




Coffee from Ninth Street keeps one going as well.





If you're hanging out on the Highline,






Chelsea Market, and all the delights therein,



are awfully convenient.



Champagne with friends is another good fueling option.



If you have a rooftop, enjoy the bubbly there. It is so choice, if you have the means, I highly recommend it.




New York City offers a myriad of rewards for the curious wanderer. I have been taking this moment of freedom in my life to walk and absorb the city and I've been rewarded a million times over. These pictures capture a fragment of the fullness of my days lately.























Embrace the underemployment. Such is MirandasMantraàlaMoment. Take a walk.


Eat a Wasabi Pickle on a Stick.



Go to Central Park.




go to Tiffany's...







and let that bright summer sky just blind you.

Why Yelp Is Awesome

Sure, it's tempting to say that Yelp sucks because in so many ways it does! Dubious business practices, shady synergistic relationships with the 'unbaisedly' reviewed restaurants and bars on their site, generally creating buzz often about formerly awesome places that because of yelp become overcrowded and stupidly busy/impossible to enjoy. It's a morally ambiguous site that ruins once-awesome hangouts. Yes, ok, granted.

HOWEVER, the witticisms, the gems, the WORDS people. Unpublishables have a home at yelp, where aspiring gourmands can anonymously and lightheartedly pontificate about their favorite gustatory joys and gleefully BASH any establishment that dared to give them less-than-stellar service. I've started a little collection of some of my favorite phrases and opinions, and I'd like to share them with you - a little piece of Monday morning candy to take the edge off. I find that these particular starlight mints are best enjoyed out of context, but if you just HAVE to know more about the person/place, let me know and I'll fill you in.

In the meantime, unwrap and enjoy!

Droplets Of Wisdom from Yelp.com

"Let me just first say that I love rum...I'm basically a rum connoisseur."

"Will I be back? Yeah, probably, if you want to hear some good music while creepily grinding up against random girls, there are worse places to do it."

"this place is a toilet."

"As far as cocktails themselves, both were finely made, leaving very sophisticated after taste. This is probably where I see they use most ingredients to create cocktails."

"The best way to have a very New York experience is to live in the city and discover secret places"

Great stuff, huh?

And here you go, a refreshing palate cleanser as seen on my morning stroll this morning. He doesn't need to yelp, he just speaks his mind by wearing a sign on his head ;

Perks Chapter 2!

This week's score : Taken Cabernet Sauvignon, 2008, Napa Valley
(already opened so we just had to drink it right away tonight)



First impressions? Deep deep bloody purple, it even looks heavy.

Smells awesome - perfume-y, woody, rich. herbal even? Stewed prunes and pine and simmering bing cherries.

Drinking it (immediately and asap) its texture is the most striking thing. Oily, almost chewy and very pleasantly tannic. Spicy finish, it's really winter-y but I'm very into it on this cool-for-New-York-in-August day.

Verdict : YUM!

And now we google it to see if I'd buy it ....

oooo ! It's a $30 bottle. Well yes, I'd buy it. Actually that sounds like a really fair price, it's a delicious, full wine, and very true to the varietal. Ok I'm sounding snobby and gross now so just I guess if you have $30 to spend on a bottle, this is not a bad way to spend it!

In other news, scenes from work!

The beer cart, coming around to 'get rid of all the beer because we have too much' in the booze room. Yes a beer placed on your desk at 5pm is just another perk. I'll take it!



And the way that our mail room looks at 6pm on a Friday night - it becomes a help-yourself prosecco tasting station. Not so pretty but a GREAT idea, no?



and a pretty scene from the walk home! spontaneous sand art in Washington Square Park! Excellent weekend treat.