I'm back!

After the cold, the wind, the snow, the illness, the wind again, the illness again, here I am.


I have to say I have managed to discover a few little places to hang out...

The Aria Wine Bar, on Perry Street, in the West Village will make you feel good no matter in which mood you're in when you get there. And if you're sick, with an agonizing fever, the barman, Lars (from Finland) will make you a delicious mixture of Cognac, lemon and hot water as a replacement for "tea" ;)

For those who want to enjoy a "healthy" meal, in the sense that it provides plenty of protein, vegetables, and fat (good and bad :) ), try eating at the Peruvian rotisserie Pio Pio. There are a few in Manhattan...The Upper West side venue is bigger, Murray Hill is quite tiny and cozy. Both give the same quality of food every time and ensure consistency in their offering.

OH ! Did you almost get blow away this Saturday Feb 19th ??? Was that wind or what ? Today was much better, calmer. My walk was far more enjoyable....

Is Christmas over yet ?

Before you say it, yes yes I know, I have been somewhat....absent :)

Vacations were so enjoyable, time flew by, and I never took the time to post the pictures of my December 2010 adventures!

In mid December (of last year ! ) I went on several wandering walks in the Upper East Side of New York City.
There could not have been a more Christmasy atmosphere then when I was there.
The hip shops of Manhattan really have surpassed themselves in terms of extravagant windows displays.
A special Bravo to Bergdorf Goodman and their great perspective effects (of course, how could we expect less when we see the price of a pair of shoes there!), as well as Van Cleef & Arpels.

See my little fresque below for a taste of these magnificent windows exhibitions.

This Van Cleef & Arpels was also quite impressive with an interesting perspective on the jewelry being displayed, navigating in the tumultuous seas of...Greece...? ... (see the monument in the background in the upper left corner).

The Rockefeller Center still had our faithful friend, the Christmas tree was as magnificent as always, being honored by the visit of hundreds and hundreds of tourists... I found myself being stuck between a million people, who were all trying to go to the same place as I (i.e. out of there). We then found ourselves taking mini steps, one at a time, each of us very intimately close to the other. If supernatural beings had been watching us, they would have witnessed the fabulous spectacle of "The March Of The Imbeciles", as we were far from being as majestic as "The March Of The Penguins".

Stay tuned for tips on how we should start this year 2011!!

And be ready for the soon to be Chinese Year of the Metal Rabbit! 

"The year of the Metal Rabbit promises to bring some much needed peace and tranquility. If you are like most people, you probably feel like you were on a roller coaster in 2010, the year of the Tiger. That will generally not be the case in 2011, as the Rabbit is everything the Tiger is not.

Let there be peace, and let it begin with me is the Rabbit motto. [...]"

Let's think about that one...2010 certainly was exciting!

The Cold Has Arrived

Temperature today in New York City: -10 Celsius, 15 Fahrenheit. I think we can say that winter is now mingling with us.

An interesting thing to note is how everyone seems to be affected by this cold. I don't give it much attention, it must disappoint it. My down jacket, my fur hat and my comfortable boots make me this invincible New Yorker that nothing will stop.
And so I go about my wandering in the streets of New York.
First stop this week: Union Square Holiday Market. What can you find there? A lot...It ranges from gifts to strange objects to food. Walking around the shops, I awed at the spice market, with its bowls of free leafs tea and freshly ground spices that make for this colorful painting of delicate scents. The numerous artisans showing their artifacts, paintings, eclectic clothes make the visit absolutely delightful. If you happen to get cold walking around, you can either walk faster or stop at the Nunu Cocoa shop in the Ali Baba's cave of Union Square. I made the executive decision of getting their hot chocolate. Conclusion is: I would be a great CEO! It was smooth, tasty, full bodied, like a delicate while passionate syrup comforting my palate.

Now on the fit side of life...
I was delighted to see last morning how happy and festive it was at Bryant Park's ice rink. This is a must. There is nothing more stimulating than waking up early, and being on the ice at 8:00, with the sun enlightening your senses and ideas while you enjoy the elegant glide on the ice.
The music spans from the 40's to Frank Sinatra, and later in the day on to more Jazzy styles. So the morning enjoyment is definitely of consequence in your yet to come New York day of madness. I think a daily session would be ideal. Refreshes your lungs, starts the body alchemy of energy flow, and simply is more interesting than waking up, having coffee and rushing to work like any other New Yorker...Don't you think?

So don't loose sight of your fitness while sipping on a hot chocolate or a dry martini!!
;)

Rockefeller Tree Lighting

The Tree Lighting

The real beginning of the Christmas season always is when the Rockefeller Center lights up the gigantic Christmas tree put up each year in Rockefeller Plaza.
It's an event all over town...Everyone wants to come to the celebration of the Rockefeller tree lighting. Tickets are sold, everyone wants to see the event, the performances, the celebrities.
If you don't understand why there is so much fuss around this, try looking at some sample videos taken last night.
This Christmas tree, a Norway Pruce to be precise, is lit by around 30 000 Christmas lights! Now I really hope they're not all on a single wire because if they are, it must take time to find out which of the LEDs actually needs to be replaced :) This Oh so marvelous tree also has the privilege, the honor, of being ultimately decorated in its peak by a Swarovski crystal star...to make sure it shines enough, on top of the lights.
I'm being sarcastic and cynical, however I do agree that the lighting of the tree was a very magical moment. To see all these lights at once is an exhilarating feeling, and is well worth bearing with the crowd.

After the ceremony, what else could better close the night than venturing into my favorite Thai restaurant in New York City: Pinto, on Christopher Street, West Village. Lovely delicate refined shrimp dumplings will titillate your appetite, to be followed by their incomparable crab cake served with fresh salad. All in all, in every meal you will find your crudites, your proteins, and for anti-oxidants, do not forget to abundantly refresh yourself with their out of this world Strawberry Mojito, shaken to perfection.

Don't forget: don't miss out the Rockefeller Plaza Christmas tree.

Ladies and gentlemen, may the 2010 Christmas season begin!

ThanksGiving

It's been a while since the last post, and we are already through the Thanksgiving long weekend...
So how was your turkey ? Mine was delicious, accompanied with chestnuts, sage and cognac stuffing (or "dressing" in Victorian English please). The key to such delicious meals in general is always to prepare as much as you can yourself, and stay away from all pre-processed food, or pre-prepared food, etc.
I have to admit that when I bought that 25$ chicken (yes, just one whole chicken), I was wondering if it would be worth its price. Well let me tell you that this antibiotic-free, chemicals-free, free range, vegetarian fed chicken has proved to be delicious in every little piece of meat it had. So please, do yourself a favor, buy quality meat. It makes the eating experience unrealistically different, and encourages a greener industry at the same time.

That being said (Have you seen the "Curb your enthusiasm" episode on that expression? Well, watch it, it's funny), in the labyrinth of my daily wandering walks, I turned out to find a very good sushi restaurant in Manhattan: Tono Sushi, on 7th ave. The place is quite small, has excellent music (a lot of Buddha Bar recordings from Buddha Bar Paris...), and the food is very well prepared. Whether you opt for the shrimp shumai or miso soup as appetizer, and decide to follow with sushi or Ramen or Udon Noodle Soup, you will not be disappointed. The young lady who served us on many occasions is charming, and will offer you a booth instead of a small table as soon as other people leave. In my quest to eating healthily in New York, this definitely was a good pit stop.

Now, on to more serious matters. Where do we buy fresh good quality nuts in this city?
The Chelsea Market holds a boutique "The Nutbox", where fresh almonds, walnuts, raisins, cashews, are finally offered at an affordable price. They also have other locations. See here for their website.
Please make sure to eat a few nuts every day. Why? First, they provide vegetable proteins, which are a different type of proteins than those available in meat, and therefore provide you with diversity. Second, they increase your fat burning hormone levels (who doesn't want that??). Third, they provide you with essential monounsaturated fat, magnesium, potassium. Finally, they are delicious!
Just eat them, will you.

More to come this week...

Halloween Parade in NYC - 2010

If you haven't heard of the Halloween Parade happening in New York City every year, you need to look it up!
As usual, everything is a good reason to party and celebrate in this effervescent city, and so...New York has a Halloween Parade.
The Parade starts around Broome Street, Spring Street and moves North on Sixth Avenue.
I live in the West Village, so whether I'm in the mood or not for the Halloween Parade is irrelevant...because the West Village doesn't sleep almost all night on Halloween !
And so I ventured from 8:00pm to midnight on Sixth Avenue,on the 38th Annual Halloween Parade enjoying the floats passing by, celebrating with everyone the music, the costumes, the craziness of the village on Halloween.

Have a look at some pictures here. The official NYC Halloween Parade website here.

Why this blog ?

I thought I would "introduce" this new blog of mine and explain why I felt compelled to start writing here...

Being from Paris, having lived in Montreal (Canada), I come from a background of good food, good wine, all this while keeping a healthy vibe in mind...
So imagine the shock when I move in to New York City, the city that never sleeps, where restaurants, bars are in profusion, and spacious gyms, olympic size swimming pools, tennis courts.....well, not so much.

I found myself looking forward to living the high life, but always wanting to maintain real hard core exercise in my life...And jogging simply isn't enough for me.
And so, my new quest in this concrete jungle is to experience the restaurants, the bars, find fresh grocery stores for my home comfort food, and enjoy my 5 star gym (found after doing 2 weeks trials in a lot of NYC gyms for 2 months!)  :)

So I have decided to share all that...For anyone's interest, for a newcomer's interest in New York City and what this city has to offer to those who want a little bit more than food and drinks, and that don't "require" 8 hours of sleep of course ;) ... Because there are only 24 hours in a day unfortunately...

More to come on where to go, where to eat, where to drink, where to run, where to swim, where to buy a fresh red snapper, where to.....anything!