A Day in Brooklyn and NYC: Visiting the Waterfalls

Yesterday was the opening of the new NYC Waterfalls, a temporary art exhibit that will be on display from June 26^th to October 13^th.

The four waterfalls are located in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, and were created by a Danish Artist Olafur Eliasson. They are quite beautiful, and highlight that New York is a very special island. More information can be found at http://www.nycwaterfalls.org/.

My wife, son (19) and I decided to take advantage of this new exhibit to spend a day of food and fun in the city.

We decided to start out in Brooklyn, and headed to Grimaldi’s for some Coal Brick Oven Pizza. We had never been to Grimaldi’s and have in fact never spent much time in Brooklyn although I was born there—it’s a bit of a foreign planet for me. This area is called DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), and is a great area of New York to visit with cobblestone streets, great views of Manhattan, interesting shops, and of course, some great food. (Note: I read that next years Top Chef is rumored to be hosted in Dumbo.)

Missed the exit for 495 in getting there, and ended up on Astoria Boulevard, but that led to some good fortune as gas there was cheap (about 35 cents less than CT- of course everywhere in the country is cheaper), and after the station owner asked if that was our son in the back and we said yes, he handed us small Mr. Softee ice cream cones—he said his friend owns a truck and stops by to give him some ice cream regularly. Anyway, this was clearly a sign of good things to come!

We found a free parking spot right next to Cadman Plaza Park (note: I hate paying crazy $ for parking in NYC, and am an expert parallel parker) and then headed over to Grimaldi’s for lunch. Our good luck continued, as we were able to get right into the restaurant (it was about 2 pm—and our understanding is that there’s usually about a 30 minute wait), and ordered a large pepperoni pie.

Grimaldi’s is a cozy little pizza joint, about 20 tables, with lots of pictures and memorabilia on the walls. We sat at a table underneath a picture of Mayor’s Bloomberg and Guiliani, and looked across the room at the Sinatra shrine! We watched them make the pie, and slide them into the coal oven on long wooden paddles. We ordered a “classic” pepperoni. What sets Grimaldi’s pizza’s apart is the large chunks of fresh mozzarella, chopped tomatoes and fresh basil that you can smell the instant you open the door.

The pie was delicious with a crisp, slightly burnt charcoal crust. While not the best pizza I have ever eaten (probably DiFara’s in Brooklyn, or Pepe’s white clam pie in New Haven, or perhaps Eduardo’s Stuffed Spinach deep dish pie in Chicago), it would make the Top 10 list!

After finishing our meal, we headed to the new Brooklyn Bridge Park to view the Waterfalls. From the park, we could see all four (the closest being under the Brooklyn Bridge), and enjoyed the fantastic view. We had planned on eating some homemade ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, but were stuffed from lunch, and thought we’d return later in the day (although we never made it—this will need to be a future trip).

We did, however, continue on our journey and walked to the bridge entrance. We conveniently passed Jacques Torres on our way to the bridge, and grabbed a large dark chocolate chunk cookie and chocolate nut bark for some extra energy. Both were quite amazing and provided some needed extra energy for what was a very full day!

We walked over this historic bridge which is a terrific way to view the Manhattan skyline and enter the city. It also provided us with excellent views of three of the waterfalls. After crossing the bridge, we headed down to Bowling Green to get another view of the falls and check out the American Indian Museum, http://www.nmai.si.edu/, which we had never been to before. This free museum is a branch of the Smithsonian, and is located in the Old US Customs House at the tip of the island.

It was a bit hot out, so we stopped for some refreshing “bubble tea” from one of the vendor carts close to St. Paul’s church. While not quite as good as the Ten Ren tea shops in Chinatown, it was very refreshing, and hit the spot.

The American Indian Museum has beautiful, well displayed exhibits of both contemporary and historical Indian culture and art. The two story museum is a nice place to spend a couple of hours, and the “security guards” working there have really taken to this museum. They are amazingly knowledgeable about the American Indians and the pieces displayed, and very thrilled to share their knowledge with visitors, as well as interested in learning more about you.

It was now about 7:30 pm, and we started making our way back to Brooklyn. We stopped at the Seaport to view of the waterfalls from the NY side, while sitting and enjoying a beer. With the boats headed up and down the east river, ferrying folks to and from the waterfalls and home from work, it was a spectacular sight.

We then continue our path back to Brooklyn, walking over the bridge as daylight fell, and the night lights of the city were turned on. Although we were tired, the walk was very relaxing and beautiful.

When back in Brooklyn at about 9 pm, more than a little tired, we headed for Heche en Dumbo for a quick bite. Heche en Dumbo (“made in Dumbo”, www.hechoendumbo.com, ) is a Mexican restaurant located in a former General Store in Dumbo. The menu features high quality organically grown food, and is excellent. We shared an assortment of unusual taco’s (e.g. a taco stuffed with Berkshire pork steamed in a banana leaf with pickled red onion), sopa’s and burrito’s which were very tasty and delicious.

After dinner, we headed back to home extremely well fed (albeit a bit exhausted), having experienced a full day of fantastic food and fun in while experiencing the New York Waterfalls.

Food Bully Manifesto

Eating is one of life’s greatest pleasures: certainly in the top 2, and for most people more frequent. This blog is for people who understand that food is fun…. If not, you probably won’t be interested (and the feeling would be mutual).

Each day / every meal and eating occasion presents a number of new food opportunities—and this site is all about how to make the most of them. It takes some work (advance research, planning, & scheduling) in order to have the best opportunity for success, and thus realize the most pleasure from food.

All phases of the food lifecycle are great: planning what to eat, shopping for food, eating at home or in a restaurant, watching or reading about food and how to make it, as well as identifying places to have great food.

Great food can be expensive or cheap—but it’s not necessary to shell out $100 per meal to eat well, and have wonderful eating experiences. Given the choice, I’d prefer having fantastic food for less, and more typically find myself disappointed when I’m paying top dollar (I guess my perspective is that an expensive meal should be memorable, and most of the time they are not).

Eating experiences are greatly enhanced when they are part of a broader daily agenda that could include local sightseeing, a day out with friends, or a family vacation. For instance, my wife and I recently spent a day off taking a trip to Arthur Avenue for Italian Food at Roberto’s, with some shopping at the local meat, bread, cheese, and bakery markets, and an afternoon visit to the Bronx Botanical Gardens to see the Darwin exhibit, and the Henry Moore sculptures. (Note: you’ll hear much more about these types of trips, with some suggested itineraries on this blog!)

At the end of the day, food is special when you put it in your mouth and the deliciousness of that taste is instantly clear and unmistakeable, your mind and body are craving for more, and you just want to keep enjoying that taste as long as you can.

This is the quest of the Food Bully.

About me:

. Nearing the half-century mark

. 25+ years consulting with fortune 500 clients from around the world

. Lots of travel to what are considered “great”(e.g. London) and “not-so-great” (e.g. Midland, Michigan) eating locations, for both business and pleasure

. While on the road, I have always sought out eating experiences (both costly, and cheap) that are the “best” in town—tell me a place, I’ll give you some great ideas.

. I usually try to seek out what the area is known for (e.g. seafood in Seattle, Italian in Boston, ribs in Kansas City, etc.), verses the hot new restaurant (although I’ll do both if possible).

. I think of food all day long: what to eat, where to eat, what to buy, where to buy it, how to plan an integrated meal, pairing food with wine, etc.

Why I’m the Food Bully:

. I’m food anal…

. If I shopping, I want to smell, touch and feel, so if a family member comes home with less than quality ingredients, there may be hell to pay (of course, this assumes that they can be entrusted with this important activity)

. If I’m traveling to a new city or location, I’ll be finding out what’s best in town, special events that may be happening, and most importantly where to eat, and seeing how this can be best integrated with business and / or family trips.

. If I’m cooking, I want to make sure that timing is well coordinated so that everything comes out perfect

. If others are cooking they do so at their own risk; I’ve been accused of hovering, typically have a recommendation or two, I may suggest alternate approaches… you get the picture…

. And, if we’re at a restaurant, well, just make sure you order the right dish.

The punchline: My daughter named me the “Food Bully”, and the name seems to have stuck

Why you should visit this blog:

. You too are a food obsessed bully

. You understand that there are too many food experiences out there and we can benefit from sharing

. You might get a couple of laughs

How you can participate

. Let me know your great eating experiences

. Ask questions and I’ll try to respond.

. I plan to share a daily food experience on this blog (subject to the more mundane pleasures of my consulting work)

. Together, we can leverage off of our mutual obsession and Bully away!