New York City
The cruise ended this morning. We’ll get back to it in a couple days for a recap, but today it was “on to New York for more adventures.”
It turns out it was more about “on to New York for more food.”
First stop was lunch at Barney Greengrass. When I lived here in the late 70s, I didn’t let a weekend slip by without a meal at Barney Greengrass. It was the gold standard for deli food — particularly fish. It has not slipped a notch.
Next stop was Zabars. I just went there to look and drool. It also has not changed.
We are staying at the St. Regis, because I was able to use Starwood points. The room is nice and they provided us a courtesy Bentley ride over to Asiate for dinner on the 35th floor of the Mandarin Oriental.
It had beautiful décor, impeccable service, and amazing views. Even without that, if you like great Asian fusion prix fixed 8 course tasting meals, then this is the spot for you. Bring lots of money.
Unfortunately, the service at the St. Regis, something they have always been know for, has dropped dramatically.
The concierge almost felt put out when I asked for help with our theater tickets (because we did not order through them). The butler took 1/2 hour to bring coffee that has always taken maybe five minutes. Then she rushed out without even pouring.
I wanted a bowl of cold cereal, but that couldn’t get here until late morning. So I had to pass. 45 minutes later they showed up with it anyway. It sounds like cutbacks to me. Too bad.
