It's so near, yet I haven't been to the Central Park Zoo since I was a kid. I could only recall the Delacourt Clock so I must have been one hard to?impress little kid, because there's much more to it than it's lovely timepiece.

It's a small place, but packed with wows. We were there in time for the exciting feeding of the seals and some docent info at the penguins and puffins room, where despite myself I had to laugh when a puffin turned its butt to me and sprayed poop. On a cuter note, a tiny baby penguin's beak was peeking out of the rocks getting fed by mama.

Monkey Island is also pretty awesome; a mini haven for baboons toting little babies too. The Rainforest is the largest exhibit, mostly indoor with numerous animals, like tropical birds, just fed boas, toads, poisonous frogs, and bats – which I could just not capture on camera – the legend about vampires might be true after all!

The best part, without a doubt, though was the polar bear, who was swimming in a loop and got so close to the glass that you could imagine running your hands through his fur while taking a nap in the tundra. It was amazing to see an animal so big, so graceful in the water.

Nearby is the Children's Zoo, which is certainly geared towards little kids, hence the name, but it's worth a quick walk through to see llamas, sheep, moo cows, and fatty pigs.

There will be a long line to get in anytime during the summer, and it will be over run by kids (and a few tourists wielding odd tourist street portraits like this) it is their domain after all – we were just there to enjoy a summer Friday and grab a hot dog.

One word of wisdom, though, skip the “onions” – I am apparently not a New Yorker enough to know that hot dog cart “onions” means onions in sickly sweet red sauce.

Still,?I highly recommend the cart eating option as opposed to the Leaping Frog Caf?, an absolute mad house teaming with screaming kids and nannies maneuvering plates of cold fries topped with lumpy chicken fingers. The rest of the zoo, once you get through the line is peaceful and fun even when crowded.

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Posted on August 11, 2008

Mitsuwa Market is a Japanese mall in Edgewater, NJ with an impressive food court,?market and shops. We started, of course, with the food court where I was stopped in my tracks by the tempting offer of spicy cod roe over udon (which I ordered cold). Laura and Shaun meanwhile stood in the long line for ramen and got us a bowl of salt broth ramen. A plate of gyoza was split and Mont Blanc cake for dessert.

Every morsel was incredible. The mild cod roe dish was my favorite but Mike also faired extremely well with his spicy pork and kimchee that he let me try. The filling and creamy ramen was also note worthy and delicious. I'd recommend all three dishes, but if you're more of a visual person, all the menu options are available in plastic form to insure no surprises.

The Mont Blanc was a bit surprising though. It's topping made of red bean paste rather than the french meringue. Mike opted for the cream and bean cakes, hot filled pastries with oddball images on the crusts.

After he had our fill in the food court we strolled a few of the other shops. First was a book store filled with strange and intriguing book covers I couldn't understand. Not just the language, either. I mean, what kind of story calls for a photograph of some roasted chicken and an anime child in a rabbit suit on it? Next door was a store crammed with expensive weird Japanesey stuff. We were tempted but passed on some sweet Totoro stuffed animals there.

We had less will power in the market place where we all managed to fill Mike's trunk. I got some roe, regret not getting octopus sashimi, found a sake we enjoyed at Zenkichi (called Watatake), grabbed a bottle of bright red Sochu, some fancy beers, some cute candies, some Ponzu sauce, red pepper seasoning, and my favorite (hard to find) Hot and Sour Egg Flower Soup Mix. Phew.

The great thing is even if you don't have a car, you can still get to the market from the city via bus. Information here.

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Posted on July 28, 2008

The Bronx Zoo is such a massive place, constantly offering new special exhibits, that no two trips are the same. We went a few years ago on a mellow, chilly late fall day and my recent trip in the dead heat of Summer was completely different.

One of the first places we went where I had never been was The Butterfly Pavilion. I shouldn't have been so surprised but I was astonished by the number of bright, beautiful butterflies there were circling our heads and floating through the flowers. It was a well worth while excursion that was giggle inducing.

We also saw the new much hyped Madagascar exhibit that featured Lemurs of all sorts, huge crocodiles, hissing cockroaches, and more.

Other animals that I had missed on the last trip and was thrilled to see were these bright colored jungle birds, the regal looking baboons, and this wild looking owl like bird. Also new: an odd theme park like installation for kids where they finally get to experience every kid's dream: sitting on a poacher's truck.

While it is certainly crowded in the Summer time, and lines can get long for entrance and certain exhibits (we opted out of the dreary looking one for Gorilla Mountain), it's also nice to see so many people out and about fawning over cute monkeys and enjoying the park with their kids (who had a lot of good fashion on – I snapped some photos of those too).

Well, up to a point at least. Three and a half hours of the public is about my limit.

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Posted on July 14, 2008

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Never has that phrase been more apt than these last several years spent living in New York without outdoor space and hence, no back yard barbecues. In Austin, where we lived for a couple years after college, we'd make burgers and hot dogs all the time on our big shiny gas grill that had a special spot just for baked beans on the left side. Unless you're lucky enough to have a friend with a yard, it's mid summertime when it really hits home that you're missing out on the great American past time of cooking meat over flames.

On a recent weekend trip upstate, my friends and I took full advantage of the great outdoors and the charcoal grill and ate like kings. Beer, chips, salsa, guacamole, honey goat cheese, smoked mozzarella and aged gouda from Stew Leonard's; on the grill: corn on the cob, vegetable kebobs, hot dogs and burgers. The hot dogs were insane. One of the best things I have eaten all year–it's so easy to forget the difference cooking over charcoal flames can make. I'll be thinking about those hot dogs until I'm able to have another which, sadly, might not be for quite a while.

In addition to the traditional BBQ goodies we ate this year, Mike wowed us all with his brand new Dutch Oven (master camp cooker C.W. 'Butch' Welch, better known as CeeDub, refers to it as his “ten inch doo”): a cast iron pot that goes directly onto the coals, much like cowboys used to cook with on the open range. With a few dry and wet ingredients, he made a superb blueberry cobbler which we topped with Grand Union brand “Chocolately Chippy” ice cream. Any fan of outdoor cooking would be wise to get a Dutch Oven for his or her next cook or camp out.

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Posted on June 30, 2008

Cooper Hewitt's latest exhibition delves into the world of Rococo. The work ranges from the 1700's, when the style was originated with beauiful silver pieces and drawings and shows the influence of the style through the ages.

The last decade has produced much that nods to the decadent rococo stylings. A lovely 2003 radiator by Joris Laarman is a great example. The art nouveau period is also covered with some exquisite jewelry and posters.

Rococo: The Continuing Curve is interesting and tries to cover a lot of ground but feels a bit skimpy becuase it's spread so thin. For example, only two of the great rock posters from the sixties that use the extravagent rococo style are on display, where the space and the mind beg for more.

Still, it's worth checking out and even more so if you add to it a trip to the nearby Neue Gallery where the equally skimpy Klimt exhibit offers a few of his awe inspiring paintings such as Pale Face and Hope II and many, many nude sketches.

The most interesting part of the exhibit was the information about the Floge Sisters, who designed his robes and the other amazing garments that are pictured in the Wiener Werkstatte jewelry exhibit on the first floor.

And of course, the Sabarsky Cafe is always a must.

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Posted on June 16, 2008