I love New York!
Published:Sunday | December 4, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Laura Tanna, Contributor
We can see St Patrick's Cathedral from our window on the 32nd floor of the Waldorf Towers in the historic Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Park Avenue and 50th Street, mid-town Manhattan. Even better, Prime Minister Andrew Holness greets us at breakfast this morning as he prepares for a day of meetings, speeches and an appearance at the American Friends of Jamaica (AFJ) gala to raise funds for health, education and development in Jamaica.
He joins a distinguished list of hotel guests. To quote from the booklet, More Than a Century of Tradition and Style: "Only Buckingham Palace has hosted more heads of state."
The art deco details on doors, ceilings, and decorations make this hotel worth a walk-through even if one isn't a guest. The Park Avenue lobby floor displays a mosaic, Wheel of Life, depicting human existence from birth to old age and death, something you can view at leisure if you stop at the Peacock Alley Restaurant and Bar.
All the cuisine we try in the hotel's various locales is excellent, including that in the Bull & Bear steak house which has a cozy, clubby feel to it, some tables facing Lexington Avenue and 49th Street.
The AFJ gala, itself, is terrific. Prime Minister Holness and guest of honour, Denis O'Brien, both give excellent short speeches, Prince Charles comments delightfully about Jamaica via video, as does former President Bill Clinton. The food at Capitale is great and Third World Band has everyone dancing. Former guest of honour Orville Richard Burrell aka Shaggy even gets up to sing for the 300 guests who have a fabulous time. Hats off to gala chair Manuela Goren and AFJ Executive Director Caron Chung!
Book party
The evening before, Ambassador Brenda Johnson and her charming husband, Howard, host a book party in their elegant upper-East Side apartment to present Jackie Ranston's Behind The Scenes at King's House to New Yorkers. Since Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) underwrote publication costs with proceeds to The King's House Foundation (TKHF), the synergy of representatives from the AFJ, JNBS and TKHF with local guests makes for a delightful mix, including the lovely New York-based AFJ volunteers Donna Cooper, Maxine Greaves and Patrice Gordon, who donate their time to sell the books. Former AFJ President, Ambassador Glen Holden, though not in attendance, makes his presence felt when it is announced that he is donating US$5,000 to TKHF, while Ambassadors Sue and Charles Cobb contribute another US$1,000.
I'm in NY for the gala and book party as a director of both the AFJ and TKHF, although the highlight of any New York City visit for me is the Metropolitan Museum of Art at 82nd Street and Fifth Avenue. I always pop in to revisit their magnificent collection of impressionist paintings, but this time our first stop is to see The Making of a Collection: Islamic Art at the Metropolitan (November 1, 2011- February 5, 2012) in the new galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and, later, South Asia which just opened. Open Monday to Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m., this museum is filled with exhibitions to everyone's taste - Heroic Africans, Master Painters of India, etc - and is a must-visit. Full admission fees are recommended but not mandatory if entry charges are a problem.
Arresting art collections
Four blocks north at 86th and Fifth is Neue Galerie: Museum for German and Austrian Art celebrating its 10th anniversary with The Ronald S. Lauder Collection from the 3rd century BC to the 20th century German, Austria and France, until April 2, 2012, closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on other days. While many of the German works from the early 1900s are too gruesome for my taste, perhaps reflecting the angst of that period, the room with different styles of full body armour from the middle ages, even armour for two mounted horses, is quite spectacular. But the real secret of this elegant house is the Cafe Sabarsky, an authentic Viennese café where lunch or delicious pastries are available from 11:30 a.m. on, but be warned, it fills quickly at noon.
The Fifth Avenue bus runs south to glorious shops or shop windows from 59th down. A French friend arrives from Paris for the week's events. I take her to Bergdorf Goodman, arguably the most luxurious store on Fifth Avenue. The Christmas department, with its rooms of festive trees and decorations, blows her away. She keeps saying they have nothing like this in France, which I find difficult to believe in this age of global commercialisation, but Bergdorf Goodman, really, is quite a wonderland.
Our hotel recommends Fresco by Scotto for modern Tuscan, Italian cuisine at 34 East 52nd Street Tel: (212) 935-3434 and who should we meet there but Shaggy dining with friends! Don't confuse it with Fresco's take-out place next door. The restaurant has colourful murals throughout, plus we are seated at the table where George Steinbrenner of the Yankees always planned his strategy. Another restaurant I recommend is Shun Lee Palace, 155 East 55th Street, Tel: (212) 371-8844, one of the first beautifully decorated mid-town Chinese restaurants with fine food and ambiance, always a treat, especially the grilled scallops and the grand marnier prawns.
Classic eatery
Our last night, we end the visit at one of the last classic French restaurants in New York, La Grenouille at 3 East 52nd Street, Tel: (212) 752-1495. I've booked in advance and, though our table expands from three to five the last day, the owner and staff are gracious. Meals are prix fixe, expensive and include a choice from a variety of appetisers, main courses and desserts but these are selections of classic cuisine, everything from seared fois gras to individual soufflés.
On our first visit since celebrating my mother's 75th birthday there 19 years ago, the experience is still superb. Alas, we don't have time to see the hilarious play Chinglish, nor the opera Satyagraha, both highly recommended, but maybe you can when you get to New York!