The Big Apple

I love New York. I can never decide if I like Paris or NYC better. I will go out on a limb and say the food is more interesting in New York. At least it is more diverse. Paris excels at, this is no shocker, French cuisine and French wine. New York excels at everything else.

I was there for a meeting and not for dining, alas. My favorite place to stay, that does not break the bank, is the Hudson Hotel. It is just off of Columbus Circle. The cabbie from the airport asked me why I liked to stay there. It struck me as an odd question. I like the design of the Hudson. Entering the building is like entering a space ship. At the top of the escalator, is a huge crystal chandelier with pictures of light bulbs attached to it and the walls are covered in ivy. It's kind of weird, but warm and inviting nonetheless. The Hudson Bar exemplifies cool design as well. It's like Louis Quatorze meets Philippe Starck. And you cannot beat it for people watching. Someone told me it was regularly featured on Sex in the City. I don't know about that because I never got past season 3 (gasp!). Anyway, the rooms at the Hudson are tiny but also very stylish. The wall between the bedroom and the bathroom is transparent glass. There is a sheer curtain divider between the two. Kind of sexy if you like to watch your sweetie shower. Of course I'm always at the Hudson by myself. Hmmm. Maybe I need to fix that. Now about the food...

Fortunately I had time to eat dinner w/ my friends at Sushi Yasuda. We each ordered the 12 piece special which allowed us to choose 12 pieces of sushi and a roll from the specials menu. I ate things I've never seen on other menus like pompano and trout. I could be wrong, but I do not recall seeing rainbow trout on sushi menus before. There were at least two kinds of sea bass. My all time favorite sushi is freshwater eel. I love that stuff, but it is hard to find outstanding examples of it. Not only did this place have wonderful unagi but they also had two kinds of sea eel, one dark and one white. I liked the dark one better. It was more substantial in flavor and similar to the freshwater eel but perhaps lighter in texture and flavor. The tuna was easily the best piece of tuna I've ever put in my mouth. It was as tender as butter and it melted on my tongue. The entire meal felt like a discovery.

Yasuda turned out to be my only dining experience. I planned to eat at Carnegie Deli for lunch but my meeting ran long and I had to catch a cab back to LaGuardia. Next time, I will definitely have that giant corned beef sandwich. Now there is something you don't really find down here in Dixie...a really fine Reuben sandwich! If you know of one, let me know.