Bye Bye NYC, Hello TLV

Our lovely family is going to be on the airplane to Tel-Aviv in half an hour! We are so exited, especially Bubik. She laughs with her 2 teeth every time I'm telling her "Bubik nosaat le Tel-Aviv!"*.Finally we are going to have some new scenery to get inspired from. As much as we love New York City, this is a place where we work and lately there was too much of it! Kind of draining. But oto-to**, we are going to be recharging and partying our heads off in one of the most welcoming cities in the world, while savta** is babysitting :) Those who never been to Tel-Aviv and are not familiar with this city, will be able to learn all about it in my further posts. 

In a meanwhile lets talk a little more about NYC. There are two places I have recently visited that I would like to share. The best sushi in NYC, period, is Sushi of Gari.  402 E 78th St, NYC (212) 517-5340 (the original location). 

This place well deserves its Michelin star together with a wide recognition from many of Manhattanites. Chef's sushi 

omakase is probably the best choice you can make to get your overall impression.This will consist of 12 pieces of 

sushi out of this world.Though it wasn't our first time we still like to order omakase and to be surprised. No soy sause 

is used at this place, as one of the rules of the chef, and you will have no regrets.

Israeli Rock does exists!

Who knows me well enough, is aware that I have never really liked Israeli Rock. I can not exactly explain why, but I just didn't want to accept its existence. I would always rather listen to Eyal Golan and Shlomi Shabat or any other mizrachi performer. This is my inner frecha in me is speaking. I grew up in Bat-Yam. Deal with it. :) 

Well, things changed few days ago when we went to Yom Azmaut party to see Mashina and Dag Nahash. And what can I say, probably not enough... 

First of all, comes out I know all Mashina songs by heart! YooHoo! I didn't expect that from myself! When you listen to them life with another hundreds of Israelis around you, it is "ashkara"* gets to you. All of a sudden I felt at home, the way I didn't feel for a long time. Especially when people around me were trying to squeeze in closer to the stage and push in all directions "be si hahuzpa"*(of course I pushed back in order to protect my space "be si hahuzpa"). Then somebody screamed from behind "boena! eize simla yaffa esh la zoti! kusit haval al hazman!" pointing on a singer Yael Dekelbaum, who  was performing, while I was exactly thinking "what an ugly dress she is wearing". Then the lovely president of America-Israel came on stage to present Mashina and asked from Israelis not to be Israelis and to book their tickets for the next performance on May 30th, by Mush Ben Ari ASAP. Israeli flags were being waved in the crowd. It felt good. 

Mashina performed the best of their songs, and though Yuval Banai looked very weird when he was dancing( not sure if he imagined himself a bird, a dolphin, or just being in the 80s), he gave the audience his 100%. The vibe was amazing and reached its peak when him and Yael Dekelbaum (who pretty much annoyed me in the beginning) gave the performance of their lives with a blues song "kulam omrim li tizaer"*. Terrific performance! I was reluctantly looking at the watch, realizing that we need to leave soon to let our babysitter go, and I was just hoping that the time would freeze and we would stay more.

We didn't see almost anything from "HaDag Nahash" and we totally missed Matisiahu, but we still left happy and satisfied :)

I'm glad to admit - Israeli Rock exists! See some pictures and videos inside.

    Terminal 5 before the performance

Morimoto

One of the best spent evenings of last January was our 3rd anniversary dinner at Morimoto restaurant in meatpacking district.Since our beautiful Galia came out into this world, this type of nights became rare and therefore much more appreciated. The restaurant is run by the famous Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto and Stephen Starr and designed by not less famous architect Tadao Ando. So eating deliciously in style was a given.

We have ordered an Omakase, "i'll leave it to you" from Japanese, with a tasting of Sake and of course some rose champagne, that for some reason wasn't rose at all.

The dishes were arriving one by one, and even that I didn't bring my D90 in order not to look touristy and bloggish, I couldn't help myself, but snap pictures with iPhone. Overall impression: highly recommended ,but don't order rolls, surprise yourself...

Enjoy the reportage below:

                      Rose which didn't look like Rose...

Happy New Year!

Dear All!

The 2013 is here and I hope all of you have celebrated as much as you possibly could!
We had it in two parts:
first one was a very cute and cosy celebration with friends (where Galushki proved herself as a rare party animal, compared to a 18 month old boy who happened to be at the party as well and peacefully  fell asleep at 9 pm).
second one at home while watching TV with a small "tazik of Olivie salad" (the Russians among you will get my nostalgic note), a wonderful bottle of Brut Rose Champagne, a fireplace, chocolate and of course my grandmothers crystal flutes.
Both were wonderful and I thank our beautiful friends for making this evening so special! and of course Galushki who was an amazing girl the whole night!

BF 2012

Was going through latest photos in our camera and founds these from our BF stroll in the city. To those who don't live in US, Black Friday is an official beginning of winter holidays in US! Everybody shops and everybody sells. Stores around the country start their winter sales. All of a sudden parks and public squares get filled up with pretty stalls of hand made jewelry, clothes, furniture, chocolates, teas etc. These are the perfect markets to buy gifts and stuff. This year, due to having our little Bubik with us, we decided to spend our Black Friday in central park away from the crowds - but only after grabbing 2 hot chocolates at a Briant park stall where all the crowds are...:) 

Press below to look at some pretty photos we made.

Ice skating at Briant Park has already started.

Recipe for a perfect breakfast.

So here are the benefits of living in the city- you can take a short car/subway ride to Houston st. straight to Russ & Daughters deli! This is what my hubby did this morning and consequently surprised me with this amazing breakfast! By the time me and Bubik were waking up, wondering where our Aba has disappeared, Aba was stubbornly waiting in line, making a list of delicacies to buy, which was getting bigger and bigger the longer he was waiting...:)

So what do you need for perfect breakfast? Element of surprise of course.. and..

 

2 bagels & 3 bialys

Russ & Daughters

Russ & Daughters@179 E. Houston St. New York, NY 10002|Tel 212.475.4880, is probably one of the oldest Jewish delis in NYC. Established in 1914, they are still serving the best  lox, herring fish, liver pate, dry fruits or chocolates. Non ending lines is a constant here, but it is well worth to wait.
Once in a while, Sunday morning, we stop at R&D for a fresh super heebster and chopped liver bagels, as well as for some other goodies for our fridge! Get prepared, the sandwich or bagel menu is authentically thought out in a jewish-yidish theme. Yammi!

    

Cafe Sabarsky

Cafe Sabarsky  is a NYC jem, hidden in Neue Gallery on Museum mile. Fortunately most of the tourists pass it by to Metropolitan and Guggenheim museums without even noticing this true Viennese eatery.

Le Bernadin

So here is one of the most expensive best restaurants in NYC - Le Bernadin by Eric Ripert. This is your one in a life time opportunity to have an orgasm a total blast from eating...I'm not kidding.. Three Micheline stars do not get awarded to anyone, but only to seven restaurants in New York, whereas the other six do not compare to the taste experience you will get here in Le Bernadin
( Daniel was a proper disappointment).
For complete extravaganza, first time visitors should order tasting menu with wine pairing. You will receive 7 or 8 courses including desert. Your wine will be served by one of the few best sommeliers out there. Trust me, you will get high somewhere towards the middle of your meal, by the end of it you will be happy and laughing, full but not heavy. You will leave completely empty pocketed satisfied and you will surely come back when you will have some extra bucks. You are most likely to meet here a starchitect, a famous businessman or just couples celebrating their birthdays, anniversaries etc.
Remember to have a proper attire, man should wear jackets.

P.S. it was very embarrassing to take pictures of food in a restaurant of this caliber, however after few glasses of wine, we didn't care much.  Lack of focus to be blamed on wine as well..