Back To Life In Gotham

First line of business: our winter respite in Florida. Once there we travelled all over the place; Orlando, Clearwater, Tallahassee, and Barney, Georgia. It was nice to see so much family, some of whom I hadn’t seen since our wedding four years ago. And we didn’t even get to everyone we wanted to see! Next time…  We did get to meet my cousin Mackenzie’s new baby boy, who everyone says looks like our cousin Jason.   And Aunt Elaine gave us a quick, but invaluable, lesson on gourds while we were there. 

A close second is the few hours we spent on Clearwater Beach, but the highlight of the trip for me was visiting Florida State University. The Seminoles had just finished an undefeated season and won the first national championship since 1999 and we hadn’t been back to FSU in seven years. Plus, we somehow convinced Michael to come along who kept us laughing the whole time.  We went on a great walking tour of campus led by a sweet, overachieving student. It was wild to be there again. It felt like the familiar college I had attended, but so much had also changed, especially around town surrounding the campus.  We also hit up Governor’s Square Mall to visit Aeropostale, the retail store where Jen and I worked and first met.  While the store remains in the same space, it has been completely gutted and remodeled which was disappointing because it didn’t feel like the same store. It was raining the night we drove around town and the wipers were so bad on Michael and Mom’s Pilot that I could hardly see the road in front of me, not to mention the scenery around us.

Although Florida did have some cold days recently, as you know the weather in New York and Florida during winter are two extremes. Spending one week in a polar opposite climate, combined with air travel, we learned, can wreak havoc on the equilibrium. It took our sinuses about a week to re-acclimate to the dry, wintery NYC weather. But with the migraines, sleep deprivation, and congestion behind us, we finally feel back to normal. PTL!

Since I don’t work there anymore, it had been a while since I was in Manhattan. Craving a dose of the Big City, Jen and I took a trip yesterday to a place I had read about in Food and Wine magazine called Gotham West Market. It just opened a few weeks ago and is located in the 1^st floor retail space of the luxury apartment tower, Gotham West. Gotham West is not just the name of the market or tower but apparently what people are calling this up-and-coming area of Hell’s Kitchen (between the Theater District and the Hudson River).  There are no trains that run west of 8^th Ave, the walk to 11^th Ave and 45^th St. felt a bit long. The winter weather and tourist overflow from Times Square didn’t help things either, but the walk was worth it in the end.

We were greeted outside by a sandwich board that read, “I’m sorry for what I said when I was hungry,” a message that hits close to home. Entering the market, I noticed its vintage, industrial design and delicious smell. It’s set up with the open kitchens of eight local, artisanal restaurants surrounding rows of picnic tables where patrons can enjoy their food. After making our rounds and perusing the small retail area, we decided to try a ramen noodle bowl from the Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop. It was good, not even comparable to the 10 cent flavored ramen packets from the grocery store, but a little pricey for the portion size. But we were in the bottom of a luxury building in Manhattan after all. We explored a bit more and ended our visit with a piece of rosemary olive oil short bread from the Blue Bottle Coffee Co. It was the perfect marriage of my love for short bread and the sweet savory combination so this was pretty much heaven for me… we need that recipe.    

Overall the Gotham West Market is worth experiencing. It’s actually close to the Intrepid Museum so it would be good for a quick bite before or after a visit there.