Wednesday, March 11, 2009

New York, Part 3

Here is another wonderful bookstore I found in NYC:At the Argosy

Argosy Bookstore
The Argosy Book Store at 116 East 59th Street.

Old volumes at the Argosy

Leatherbound at the Argosy

Marbled endpapers 3

Michael and I had an incredibly good meal at Pane e Vino on Lexington Avenue:Red cocktail at Pane e Vino
I gave our waiter, Davide, the vague order of "a fruity cocktail, maybe something with orange in it." He brought this. I have no idea what it was, but it was delicious.

Shrimp and mussels at Pane e VIno
This was our appetizer. Charbroiled shrimp with mussels in a white wine, lemon and butter sauce. It was mouthwateringly good.

We each had a rigatoni dish for dinner. I had mine with bolognese sauce and he ordered it with eggplant and tomatoes at the suggestion of our waiter. It was so tasty, I forgot to take a picture of it.

After asking if we wanted to order dessert (we didn't), our wonderful waiter brought us dessert wines and homemade biscotti, on the house:
Homemade biscotti and dessert wineRomantic candlelit atmosphere, fabulous food, exceptional service...it really was an impeccable dining experience.

Sharon

Saturday, March 7, 2009

New York, Part Two

Gray day in NYC
Early evening in the City.

Some beautiful wrought ironwork on the Upper East Side,
near where we stayed:Wrought iron on the Upper East Side

I had no idea New York was such a European-style city:

New York sidewalkscape
This looks like it could be in Amsterdam or Paris.

Apartment building in NYC

Gracie's Marketplace on the Upper East Side:
Gracie's Market Upper East Side
Artisanal cheeses at Gracie's Market
Pastries at Gracie's Market
Flowers at Gracie's Market

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

New York, Part One

Michael and I just returned from New York.New York City

NYC cityscapes

I found this wonderful little bookstore right on Rockefeller Plaza:Librarie de France
I had read about it online, so it was a treat stumbling across it.

Librarie de France window
Sadly, after 73 years in business it is closing. Opened in 1935, it was the first retail tenant in Rockefeller Plaza. Their lease is up and the new rent will be upwards of $1,000 per square foot, so they are closing their doors.

Old French books.jpg
It was full of beautiful old French and Spanish books.

Beautiful Deco light fixture on a beautiful Deco building, Midtown.NYC Deco light fixture

This is Tender Buttons, one of my favorite places in NYC:
Tender Buttons 63rd

IMG_2121
This narrow basement shop is nothing but buttons, floor to ceiling and end to end. IMG_2120
IMG_2119
Along the opposite wall, they display rare and unusual buttons in frames. These are my favorites.

More later...

Sharon