Levant East at Thor
at Hotel Rivington
Rivington (btwn Ludlow and Essex)
Moment in time: 3/13/2010 8:00 PM
Gorgeous Guests:Nick Friend
Lee Sunday Evans
Ethan Downing
Adriene Levin
Lisa Smith
and ME
Exquisite Edibles:Arugula Salad with Tomato, Parmesan, Steak and Balsamic Reduction
Roast Chicken with Polenta and Brussel Sprouts
Pan-seared Gnocchi with Pancetta and Snow Peas
Butternut Squash soup (with toasted seeds!)
*Martini Week Specialty:Pear-adise - Grey Goose, champagne, white cranberry juice and a slice of pear
When we arrived and asked about the Martini Week specials, the cocktail waitress said, "Oh, we're not participating in that." Meg took care of it. 12 (or possibly 13) martinis later, we had saved a terrific total of approximately $90. Bam! And they provided paradise as promised.
Pre-dinner query: If you could create a new toothpaste flavor, what would it be?
Amazing Answers: Lemon-Lime, Raspberry-Peach Swirl, Green Tea, Rose, New Car, Banana Bread, Willy Wonka and Quick & Easy.
Questions at Dinner:-If you could pick one food to have zero calories/fat, what would it be?Peanut butter- Ethan D, bacon- Nick, Lisa- cheese, Adriane- ice cream, or anything being passed at a cocktail party.
-Think of one of your all-time LEAST favorite celebrities or public figures. Now imagine that you can control his/her actions for one day. What would you make him/her do and why?Lisa would stop Sarah Palin from leaving her house.
-Would you rather lose all the photographs (digital and otherwise) of yourself in existence OR have every photograph ever taken of you streaming live, in an endless loop, in Times Square? There was a strong leaning towards the Times Square option. Narcissists? Maybe. Nostalgic? That, too. Although, Adriane chose to let them burn! We also realized this would be a great marketing ploy for Kodak -- pick one (attractive, interesting) person and have their entire life stream in Times Square all day long and they will become the most famous person ever.
What is your best "only in New York" story?Nick's story was mind-blowing. Lisa's was epic. Here they both are in their own words.
Nick:
I went to a clothing boutique in NoLita, that also has an outlet in Williamsburg and a new one in San Francisco. My friend is in the changing room, and I'm looking through the clothes by myself, while the saleswoman fiddles with the register. I'd seen the clothes before, which have that style that says, "Upscale Camping finds its way to a Williamsburg boutique and hangs out with some Native Americans and Lumberjacks and smokes the peace pipe" and mention to myself in a whisper that "Dave would love this place!"
At which point, the saleswoman walks over and asks if I'm from the Bay area. I respond that I am, quizzically, and then she further asks if I happened to mean Dave Clifford. I'm dumbstruck. Floored. Flabbergasted. Flummoxed! That is exactly who I was talking about, my high school metal shop teacher!
After a few exchanges, she asks me if I know of a band called "Our Lady the Highway". I respond that I have their bumper sticker on my car. This saleswoman dated Dominic, the lead singer! Moreover, I'd seen them last 10 years prior at a bar in San Francisco when I was underage and quite impressionable. It turns out we've spoken!
Reunited in the oddest of circumstances.
And yes, Dave truly would love the clothes ;)
Lisa:
I'd gone out to dinner with a group of girlfriends for NYE, but dinner was finished around 11 and we hadn't really made any plans for anything afterwards, so we all split up. One friend and I decided it was lame to go home, so we decided to try our luck at Times Square. It was snowing really hard out, and we were dressed in formal dresses and shoes and had coats and balloons and cameras, etc - so I didn't realize that I dropped my whole purse right outside the restaurant. I realized on the subway that it was gone but we didn't know what to do, so we decided to stick with the Times Square plan. When we got there, of course it was a madhouse and we tried to stand right by the subway entrance but these cops told us we couldn't stand there. We tried to charm them and gain their sympathy with my lost purse story, and finally they said "you can stand here if you kiss us at midnight." Why not? We agreed to it... and luckily they were some cute cops, because sure enough at midnight they collected on their bargain.
Since my keys, cell phone, wallet were all in my lost purse, I went with my friend home to her apartment to figure out what to do. We called my cell, and unbelievably a man with an English accent answered! He said he'd actually seen me drop the bag in the snow from across the park, but by the time he got there I was gone, so he'd taken it and had been trying to google me all evening (an impossible task due to my extremely common name). He agreed to meet me at Bloomingdale's the next day to return my things, which were all there, completely intact.
Knowing that my items were safe, I really wanted to just go home and sleep in my own bed. My apartment was only a block away from my friend's, and I knew my roommate and her boyfriend were there so even though I didn't have my keys, I decided to go home. It was still snowing, and I was wearing open-toe dress shoes, and when I rang the buzzer downstairs, nobody answered. I rang and rang for almost an hour with no answer. I thought I was going to freeze to death, so I finally had to go to the doorman across the street, call a locksmith, and pay them $100 to crowbar the door open. When I got upstairs I didn't want to pay anymore for the apartment door so I banged on that for another half hour until my roommate FINALLY woke up and opened the door.
A New Nifty Note:We've decided to start evaluating the bathrooms at each establishment we visit. Thor, with its dark, basement, private chambers, gets 7 of 10.
Love,
ME
