New York City: The Trip Beyond the Art

Guess where Jennifer and I went?

I went to New York City on business several times in the early 1990’s.  My company hired an ad agency on Madison Avenue, actually overlooking Madison Park.  I would go up there for annual meetings and special campaigns. Jennifer, likewise, was there on business multiple times in the early 2000’s. She had clients there. But we had never gone to New York together until recently. 

The mission was Art. Basically, we wanted to invest our time around the Metropolitan Museum (The Met), the Guggenheim Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Within those parameters Jennifer planned a wonderful trip for us.

The first day was a travel day. We ubered to our hotel, the historic Warwick Hotel near the center of Manhattan. The hotel was built by William Randolph Hearst in the 1920’s.  It was originally intended as a residential high-rise for wealthy and/or famous people. The hotel came later. 

Our room was on the 30th floor and offered “no view”, which meant we could look out our windows and see nothing but scaffolding and the brick sides of closely adjacent buildings. The elevators are the smallest I’ve been in in a long time. They safely accommodate six people, fewer with more luggage. But I found them quaint. They seem small today but they were “normal” sized elevators when I was a kid.

Above the floor buttons sat a small tablet display advertising the hotel chain with upbeat, exotic music playing inside this small space. It became annoying and faded into the background but not the first day. The 30th floor itself was a small hallway connecting 8 rooms or so. Our room was an elegantly spacious bedroom with a small bath, nice even for New York standards.

The floor's small hallway featured photos of the famous and rich that either lived in the Warwick or visited there. Penthouse views in the floors above us were supposedly spectacular, especially with Central Park being about a block away. 

There was also a 1920’s style heavy rotary telephone on the ornate desk below the photos. I couldn’t help but pick up the receiver and feel the weight in my hand.  Substantial. I put it to my ear.  It was ringing. I immediately hung up. I guess it was calling the front desk or something. Sorry, my bad.

The hotel was superbly located for everything we wanted to do. La Bonne Soupe, the French restaurant we made reservations for, was less than a block away. It was an intimate place, very few tables. I had not really eaten much that day except for a mediocre airport egg and cheese biscuit that morning so I went all in. The appetizer was delicious. I have a weakness for crab cakes and this was one of the best I’ve ever had. It had some sort of slightly sweet sauce on it. This was followed by Boeuf Bourguignon served with mashed potatoes. 

The mashed potatoes rival Jennifer’s mother’s, which were the best I’ve ever had.  Very creamy with lots of butter. Jennifer enjoyed a Caesar Salad and Chicken Cordon Bleu, which was wonderful but the portion was far more than she could finish.  She ordered Grand Marnier Crème Brûlée which we both shared as an exquisite dessert. We had arrived early but by the time we left the place was filled. 

Jennifer made a quick shopping run to 5th Avenue which was, you guessed it, only a block away. I took a shower and relaxed. It takes hot water a long time to reach the 30th floor but eventually it made it about halfway through my shower.  We both had a comfortable night’s sleep.

Our first full day in Manhattan started with a typical New York diner experience which was a half-block away. Jennifer had a bagel with lox and cream cheese. I enjoyed two scrambled eggs and four pieces of bacon.  It was not bacon to my standards. It was slightly limp and more chewy than crispy, but it was still delicious. To my surprise they had grits which I ordered. The coffee was not bad, a little weak but Jennifer and I are used to Sumatra, even though I don’t drink coffee daily anymore. Anyway, it was a great way to start the day.

And what a day! Sunny and very mild. Two perfect summer days for walking around Manhattan.

After returning to our room and situating ourselves for the day ahead, we enjoyed a long walk through about two-thirds of Central Park. We passed a small lake with a fancy restaurant next to it which I actually ate at on one of my business trips back in the day. It was odd seeing it again and thinking of a meal there long ago overlooking the water, surrounded by trees with tall buildings beyond.

Entrance to the historic Warwick Hotel.

Warwick's 30th floor. I think there were 8 rooms up here. Very quiet. The elevators are to the left and you walk out into the telephone and photo space. A nearby wall mirror not only expands the sense of space but gives you a chance to check yourself out before going out into the city.

Grand Marnier Crème Brûlée at La Bonne Soupe. Tastes as decadent as it looks.

Central Park is something miraculous, really, in the heart of the megapolis. 

Wonderful old wooded areas and large grassy fields.

Jennifer at the Alice in Wonderland statue, we just happened upon this but Lewis Carroll has been a favorite of my wife since her childhood.

Jennifer's Barbabietole with my delicious and experimental Beef Carpaccio (raw prime?) at Il Corso. Jennifer was also enjoying beet salad with a local pilsner. A quaint little Italian place.

After about a 1.3 mile walk we found ourselves at The Met, which borders the park up toward midtown. Touring there took up most of the day and I’ll blog about that experience separately. Suffice it to say that you cannot possibly see The Met in one day and actually take in all the magnificence. But we gave it a good try.

We are not art wimps. Art was the whole reason I wanted to go on this trip. Since we were so close, we walked on up to visit the Guggenheim Museum. That deserves a separate post, too. But walking inside the museums for several hours added several miles to our day. We took a taxi back to the Warwick and still put in about 7 miles that day.

By the time we got back to the hotel Randolph’s, its bar, was open. We had a couple of draft beers and talked. It had been an amazing day. Central Park and two of the finest art museums in the world. Pretty incredible! Still, I don’t think I could have looked at another art form of any kind. My brain was beyond saturated. I joked that I felt like all those paintings had been dumped on top of me at once.  

Italian food was in store for the evening but I am not much of a pasta guy. Jennifer enjoyed Barbabietole followed by Branzino Livornese. I had Beef Carpaccio for an appetizer and Vitello Milanese.  My beef was a sliver of a thin round raw prime covered in arugula, a sauce and two large slices of cheese. But for the mashed potatoes last night, this was the highlight so far. Il Corso was a wonderful, casual but cultured, dining experience.

Day Two in Manhattan began exactly as the day before, with breakfast at Astro, this nice New York blue-collar diner. We both had exactly the same thing as the day before. The main objective for the day was MoMA but it did not open until 10:30. So we had time to walk from our hotel down to 5th Avenue which was hustling with people and traffic and shopping and construction and general noise. Not my kind of place, really.

But here we were.  Jennifer wanted to walk down to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The place is so famous for a variety of reasons. Not the least are the funerals held there including Babe Ruth (1948), Robert F. Kennedy (1968), and a memorial service in 2001 for 343 NYC Firefighters who died in the attack on the Twin Towers. The awe-inspiring architecture replete with awesome stained glass art easily gave this vast space a sense of the sacred. It was so calm and peaceful and such a contrast with everything happening outside. 

We spent about a half hour in that sanctuary before walking a bit further down the avenue to the New York Public Library. It had just opened and there was a short queue waiting to go inside. I noticed the top of the Empire State Building further down and we decided to walk closer. It was a beautiful summer day, not too hot, gorgeous sky. So we walked far enough to get a major building that was hiding the Empire State except for its cap. I was able to get a decent photo of it. We returned to the public library building and entered it. We did not linger there but a quick tour revealed a portrait of Truman Capote which I paused to take a proper photo of.

St. Patrick's Cathedral on 5th Avenue. A massive yet deeply calming sacredness.

MoMA was open by then so we walked back and entered there. Again, that will involve another post. But I will comment on our lunch there. Whereas lunch the day before at The Met had been worse than eating at Subway, MoMA has a real restaurant. The highlight of all my dining in New York happened there. Jennifer and I ordered the same sandwich which was served like pizza pieces and was very satisfying. My appetizer was small potatoes pulled apart (not sliced) and laying upward open. Pulled pieces of trout were plentifully spread over them with a perfect horseradish sauce. Trout is one of my favorite meats and nothing topped that.

The day before we met a nice gentleman outside the Guggenheim that told us of a waterfall hidden away on a side street off 5th Avenue, not far from MoMA. We managed to navigate ourselves close and then we heard the falls before we saw them.  Paley Park is a truly magical little space with small trees in the middle of Manhattan that feels serene “in the middle of that chaos” as the old man put it. Water tumbled down about 15 feet or so of brick wall with just enough splash to allow the sound of water to wash out the traffic noise. You could close your eyes and be in nature. It was a fun little adventure. The space itself was crowded with people at little tables having a late lunch. 

Truman Capote's portrait (1971) in one of the reading rooms at the New York Public Library. 

A great lunch at MoMA.

Pulled small potatoes sitting in a mild but distinctive horseradish sauce with Trout sprinkled over all of it. Best thing I ate the whole trip. 

Paley Park was an unexpected surprise on a tip given to us by a resident New Yorker outside the Guggenheim.

Returning to our room which was but a short walk away, we relaxed and tried to figure out what we wanted for dinner.  Our minds were both blown by all the art and other scenes we had taken in and we had fed ourselves pretty well. Nothing sounded interesting. Until Jennifer came up with The Elgin which was three blocks away, a local sports bar. 

The bar itself was packed but we were taken to a table immediately. More people, mostly local young adults, kept a steady stream into the restaurant. We had a couple of draft beers and two delicious burgers with fries. Mine was lamb which was amazingly tender though not quite as flavorful as Jennifer’s regular burger.  It was a great last meal in the city because it gave us a taste of where the locals hung out. A vibrant atmosphere with giant TVs showing some soccer match and the early rounds of the US Open while lots of alcohol and conversation filled the space.

We taxied back to LaGuardia early the next morning and had protein shakes at the airport for breakfast.  Our flight was going to be delayed an hour and half. So, literally as another Delta flight to Atlanta was boarding, we transferred to two seats next to each other near the wing (for a fee). As that flight pulled away from the terminal it was announced that we would have to re-dock as the flight was overweight. That took about 45 minutes but eventually we were off, arriving in Atlanta only 15 minutes later than our original flight was scheduled to have landed.

It was a great trip with Jennifer and high time she and I visited the Big Apple. We were planning to see a massive Gerhard Richter exhibit at The Met in 2020 but COVID forced a cancellation of plans. We didn’t see a single Richter anywhere on this make-up trip but the standard collections of all three museums are definitely worth seeing. There are masterpieces to be found nowhere else. Along with a great, historic hotel experience, a diversity of fine restaurants close-by and some surprisingly natural experiences along the way. It was a fun trip. Now I have all that marvelous art on my mind. 

The Warwick is close to Radio City Musical Hall and the NBC Studios where The Tonight Show is broadcast.

Burgers in a youthful sports bar atmosphere. My lamb burger was especially tender.

At Central Park's Alice In Wonderland statue, August 2026. Ready for some art!

(to be continued)