Note: Tomorrow, Tricia’s super-fabulous poster artist post series begins. I just thought I should let you know — it is so cool & I’m so excited!
Okay, so I know this is an art and design blog, but while I was in DUMBO, Brooklyn for Nerd Nite, I went with my intrepid co-explorer, Misa, to a restaurant called RICE, which apparently has locations in Brooklyn & Manhattan. The food was so tasty, eclectic and good-looking, that I couldn’t help but write up a small report to spread the news.
One reason, why I had to write about his is the dish shown above, Indian Chicken Curry, which mysteriously comes with everything from chicken, to mushrooms, to yogurt, and bananas! I was so surprised to find that all of the eclectic flavors actually fit together!
The other special part about this restaurant is that you can choose the rice you get with your meal. I love, love, love Thai Black Rice (or Purple Sticky Rice, as we called it in Ithaca). In the picture above the Indian Chicken Curry is combined with Thai Black Rice with Edamame (which I believe was cooked to be less sweet than the non-edamame rice), but Misa and I decided the perfect combo would’ve been Indian Chicken Curry with Thai Black Rice (where as my dish, Thai Coconut Curry, would’ve been better with the Edamame Rice).
Above: Indian Chicken Curry with Thai Black Rice with Edamame, Mango Chutney, Thai Coconut Curry with Thai Black Rice.
If you’re in Manhattan, you have dozens of amazing museums at your disposal — so why would you make a trip out to Queens to see a lesser-known museum, with lesser known artwork? One word: PANORAMA. The Queens Museum of Art, located just behind the unisphere in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, home to the New York World’s Fairs of old, has a mixed bag of exhibits, but the Panorama of New York City really steals the show.
The panorama is a giant, 3D, scale, changing (the buildings aren’t glued down, so when the city changes, the panorama changes) map of all boroughs of New York City. (Yes, if you live anywhere in NYC and have a sense of direction, you can find your house!)
Check out the picture above carefully and you can see people on the platform in the background — that should help give you a sense of scale. The entire panorama is bigger than the average Manhattan apartment (according to CNN, the average Manhattan apartment is about 1300 square feet, in which case the panorama seven times larger at 9,335 square feet)! It was created for the 1964 World’s Fair and contains over 895,000 individual structures. The panorama is to scale, 1 inch equaling 100 feet.
Museum Info: Hour long tours of the panorama are offered at 4pm Saturdays and Sundays, but you can visit the Panorama during any museum hours without a tour. Although the museum web-page suggests that museum entry costs about $5, I got in for $2 with a student ID. As for travel, you can get there by bus, train, subway, or car (free parking), all modes of transport are described on the museum’s web-site. You can make a day of it and visit the World’s Fair grounds, right outside the museum’s front door, at the same time.
If you want more info on the panorama, or you want to see a person standing in the middle of it, check out this NY Times article from last year.
Remember to check out all of my articles on Flushing here — more will be added throughout the week!
I know, the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) and the MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art) are the places to go in NYC, but if you want the kind of out-of-city experience you can only find in Manhattan, I recommend The Frick (5th & 70th). Why?
“The Frick Collection is housed in the former residence of Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919), the Pittsburgh coke-and-steel industrialist…. Mr. Frick bequeathed the residence and the works of art he had collected over a period of forty years to the Board of Trustees…” (frick.org; pictures also from the web-site).
If you are student (or someone who considers herself to be a life-long student and still happens to have a seemingly valid Student ID card…), everyday is your lucky day because the entrance fee is a mere $5. If you aren’t a student the fee is $15, though Sundays are “pay as you wish” from 11am-1pm. (Fairly or unfairly, those under 10 aren’t allowed in the museum at all and those under 16 need adult supervision.)
My favorite painting there is (more…)
The Museum of Sex in NYC has an eccentric gift shop (honestly, how could it be anything but?). Sex books, magnets, and (er) other gifts have to be very well designed to not be considered trashy. The Museum of Sex does an excellent job of this, from its (very forward) origami, to its classy book covers, to a magnet of the Museum’s favorite phrase: “Please do not touch, lick, stroke or mount the exhibits.” (If you’re not too shy you can shop online at mosexstore.com.)
(I know, not a Philly post, though two more slightly Philly-related posts will come!)
On my recent trip to Philadelphia I happened to stop in a funky homeware store called Foster’s. It was full of bright colors, fantastically designed kitchen & houseware products, and unique gift items (you know, like Sigmund Freud action figures). You can find this cool place at 399 Market Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania or you can (luckily) shop online at shopfosters.com. (I’ll feature some cool products I found there later this week!)
Need a pretty Mexican Restaurant to coincide with your visit to the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art? Of course you do! Xochitl is the place to go (the picture above is actually from Time Out New York Online) — especially considering it currently has a special Frida Kahlo three course meal filled with all of Frida’s favorite dishes. (Unfortunately, it’s $35 per person!) If you can’t afford that, you can purchase a single appetizer, dessert, or meal that is also included in the Frida full-course meal. For example, I recommend the $7 Sopa Azteca (tortilla soup).
I know this is an art & design site, so it’s a bit out of my realm to advertise a soup, but this soup gets design & creativity points all its own. At Xochitl the soup portion of the dish was poured out of a jug over a bowl of tortilla strips, avocado, and cheese (which delightfully melted in the warm soup).
If you aren’t in Philadelphia, (more…)
BKNY (stands for Bangkok New York) is a Thai place in far Flushing, Queens (the Auburndale / Bayside area). While the food is tasty and not too expensive, the atmosphere is what’s most impressive. The place looks like it could have popped right out of Manhattan, somehow accidentally misplaced in Queens.
The best part?
Pictures and logos on this page were collected from the BKNY web-site which offers more information on menus, pricing, location, etc.
If you are ever in the Lower East Side at… whenever o’clock… stop in at the Yaffa Cafe (97 St. Mark’s Place). It is “Open Always” and it is Always Cool. The decorating is Vintage Random: the wallpaper ranges from flowers to leopard print, the Christmas lights are up year-round, and the paint is cheerfully exuberant.
For more information check out NY Magazine’s Restaurant Listings. (Three images on left gathered from New York Magazine. Two images on right are my own.)
