Part Two: Life after Chinatown

Our adventures in SoHo and Mid-town NYC

From the skylight above its entrance on 57th St. across from Carnegie Hall, the
Buckingham Hotel literally radiates luxury and elegance.

By Walter & Patricia Brooks

We spent four days and nights in the city staying at a wonderful Buckingham hotel at the corner of 57th St. and 6th Avenue, and managed to pull ourselves away from Chinatown and our old village haunts long enough to sample several other quite wonderful restaurants.

The one-of-a-kind duplex located on the top floor, The Penthouse, is a two-bedroom duplex with optional third bedroom, all with private bath. The master suite located on private top floor with 32” flat panel TV and views in all four directions. 1400 square foot fully usable rectangular terrace with City and Central Park Views. The spacious living room has a 42” plasma TV, surround sound CD/DVD system and working fireplace. Add a kitchen with state-of-the-art appliances, plasma TV and separate gazebo dining area for 8 and you may have NYC's poshest vacation home.

The Buckingham Hotel is perfect for a family because it's really a series of apartments, larger than a few homes we've lived in, and the location a block from 5th Avenue and Madison Avenue shopping made for a culture shock change whenever we wished.

If you're tired of hotel rooms the size of a walk-in closet this boutique hotel located in Midtown across from Carnegie Hall has a median room size of 700 square feet which comes out to 33¢ a square foot ... making it the best boutique hotel value in the City. Each suite in the hotel includes a fully equipped kitchen, and there is pre-arrival concierge service, a full-service business center, in-room high speed Internet access, and 24-hour fitness center."

As New York magazine recently said of it, "If only these walls could sing. Since 1929, the Buckingham Hotel has attracted a slew of opera divas and jazz musicians because ...few other boutique hotels are closer to the city's finest venues for theater, music and dance ...Each of the 100 spacious and colorful residential-style suites, which range from 450- to over 800-square feet,feature fully equipped kitchens, free high-speed Internet access and all the electronic equipment needed to play the CD of live performances from Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center that are available at the hotel's impressive library.

"A well-stocked business center, 24-hour gym with sauna, sofa beds in many rooms and a Patron`s Lounge are welcome extras. And fear not: This may be a music-themed, apartment-style hotel, but there will be no sudden sounds of clarinet practice at 3 a.m."

Getting around the city and four more glorious meals

While taxis are inexpensive, especially for three or more passengers, the NYC bus lines are first rate, and I was amazed at the genial cheerfulness and help we received from every transit system driver we encountered. It made me remember how surly most us New Englanders are to visitors.

Piano Due is one of a group of superior restaurants.

The Chouriço is set ablaze on your table at Alfama.

Zoë on Prince St. had that ultimate, architecture and atmosphere you expect from a SoHo bistro.

The Hakubai Japanese Restaurant in The Kitano hotel included attentive service in a private room.

Sushi Samba on lower Park Avenue offers an eclectic combination of Asian and Spanish.

The moda in the Flatotel is handsome and modern, and the patio in the outdoor arcade is delightful.

If you are beginning to get the impression that we visited NYC just to eat - you are correct.

Piano Due is at 151 West 51st Street. We began with Rucola con funghi which is sautéed parmigiano crusted Portobello mushroom (on right), or  soft egg yolk ravioli with ricotta and spinach, a veal chop stuffed with black truffle, fontina cheese, and prosciutto. or seared wild striped bass with a Sicilian and calamata olive broth, these are a few reasons to visit this brand new mid-town restaurant. Click here to see the menu in print-easy format.

Piano Due is the latest chapter in the Michael Cetrulo story. He has literally not only reinterpreted, but reinvented, the art of Italian cooking.

We choose that evening's Menu Degustazione for $85 which turned out to be a perfect, seven course feast with impeccable service. Highly recommended.

Alfama is a wonderful Portuguese restaurant on Hudson St., in the West Village next to the famous White Horse Tavern where Dylan Thomas, the Clancy Bothers and other boyos threw down a few with the likes of us in our misspent youth. The menu is pure Portuguese like nothing we've tasted this side of Oporto.

We started with Amêijoas Alfama, steamed clams in Espumante with chives, chouriço  and dried tomatoes served in a Cataplana and Chouriço Assado com Aguardente, Portuguese sausage flambée table side with aguardente.

Our second course was Sardinha Assada na Brasa, Grilled fresh Portuguese sardines with smashed potatoes and roasted peppers and Bacalhau Primavera, sautêed salt cod stuffed with chouriço, an onion and olive ragout wrapped in puff pastry and served on a bed of creamy spinach.

We're too polite to distress you with descriptions of the Flan and Lemon Meringue Tart we shared for dessert.

Zoë is a superb bistro at 90 Prince St. between Broadway and Mercer Street in SoHo. The wrap of the day was memorable, the wines choices excellent, and the view through the open doorways to the street scene a feast for the eyes.  The architecture and atmosphere is exactly what you expect in a trendy SoHo restaurant.

We visited on Thursday when the luncheon special wrap was Lamb on Rosemary Skewered Moroccan Flat Bread Chick Pea-Arugula Salad Cucumber-Yogurt Dressing Grilled. Equally fine was the Wagyu Steak Sandwich Topped with Balsamic Onions, Shoestring Crisps & Basil Mayonnaise on Grilled Pizza Bread $15.50 and the House Smoked Free Range Chicken Salad Endive, Watercress, Bosc Pear, Goat Cheese, Hazelnuts & Chestnut Honey & Dijon Dressing  $13.75.

The Hakubai restaurant is in the posh Kitano hotel on Park Avenue. The hotel offers an authentic Kaiseki dinner which starts with an appetizer of minced young fish and vegetables, served on hand painted porcelain or pottery. 

Next comes a light soup in a lacquer bowl follows, containing soybean cake, prawn bake mullet roe, and udo. Then, a rare lacquer box will open to reveal sashimi or, when in season, a morsel of fugu (blowfish), considered one of Japan's greatest delicacies. Hassun follows, an array of delicacies such as fish, bamboo shoot sushi or asparagus rolled with salmon.

This is followed by a boiled or simmered dish, with vegetables and fish. A fried dish ends the entrée portion, usually a succulent Teriyaki steak or pork or fresh fish and Aizakana is a selection of tidbits such as bean curd, sea urchin and ginger. Finally a vinegar dish of clams dressed in miso is followed by a course of rice and pickles. The entire experience ranges in price from $80 to $150 per person.

Sushi-Samba, 245 Park Ave. South between 19th and 20th streets, has an innovative menu fusing Japanese, Brazilian and Peruvian cuisines.  Traditional sushi and sashimi are available as are South American style meats, but the real fun is where the cultures cross.

Seviche consists of bites of sashimi splashed with citrus juices.  Chilean sea bass is marinated in miso and sushi rolls come with ingredients such as mango and a wild concoction called barbecue mayonnaise.

The Wall Street Journal called this "Discomfort Food"; entrées that are alive and desserts that explode. Forget feel-good meals. At today's cutting-edge restaurants, the cuisine can make you squirm.

The atmosphere at Sushi-Samba is equal to the excitement of the food.

moda, in the Flatotel at 136 West 52nd St. This very modern restaurant, see the photo above on right, has a covered patio in the walkway between 52 and 53rd Streets where we ate alfresco starting with rare, seared tuna tapenade on spinach drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Our entrées included a rack of excellent grilled shrimp with pepperocini and lemon plus a huge grilled tuna burger with mustard and fries. The last was so huge I ate half on the drive home instead of stopping for dinner.

If you missed Part One of this series click here.