Brooklyn Reunion

Katie and her 3 college roommates came to Brooklyn this weekend to enjoy the city and run the Tunnel to Towers charity run. It poured rain on Sunday so no photos of the Tunnel to Towers run. But here are some from Saturday.

Waiting for falafel and fries!

Taim falafel, YUM!

visiting Highline Park. Katie was bummed she didn't see any naked people at the Standard Hotel;-)

Arial view from Highline

Double Dutch? Have another look! Yes, that's right, those ladies are jumping rope WITH THEIR HAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Birthday dinner

Dumont

The blog hiatus is over. And I think it is only right that this first post begin where so many have...at a restaurant.

To celebrate Captain Carnivore's first week of work, we headed to Dumont in Williamsburg for a burger and mac and cheese. Oh my goodness we were not disappointed.

Matt: The Dumont burger is the top burger in Brooklyn. Using an 80/20 mix of at least sirloin and chuck, this burger lives up to the hype it has received from 'A Hamburger Today' and Mr. Cutlets to name a few. This burger was cooked perfectly. I put it at about 6-8 oz and served with lettuce and pickled onions (which were pink). But the real deal are the pickles. House made pickle chips have a slight spice of freshness to them, and are complimented by a pickle spear as well. This is rare, chips AND a spear! At $14.00 ($12.50 plus $1.50 for cheese) the burger is not cheap, though the quality of the meat and enjoyable outside garden surely will make me a repeat customer.

Erin: Equally, I was not disappointed by the mac and cheese. In fact, I am prepared to rate it as the best mac and cheese in the city. Definitely better than the mac and cheese restaurant (though that is enjoyable too). It is made with radiatore pasta, which held the cheddar, gruyere and parm cheeses quite nicely. The browned parm on the top meant a perfect balance between crunchy and smooth cheesy goodness. Adding to the wonderfulness, I ordered a side of pickles. A whole plate of Dumont's aforementioned onions, sweet pickle chips and dill pickle spears arrived. All pared really well with the mac!

I ran into a colleague who also recommends the spare ribs.

Whether enjoying the outside patio seating or the inside hipster paradise with comfy booths and candle light, the ambiance is great too. Check out their website for some cool photos.

3 Years On

What kind of NY Adventures have I been having lately? Just the regular day to day adventures really, nothing really blog worthy. Seems I've either been working or spending time out of NYC. That pattern will continue for a while longer. But by the end of the month, NY Adventures should be back.

BUT, I can say that I have now worked in New York for more than three years. My anniversary was last Friday. Can you believe it? I can't!! Three years ago, I was wondering how on earth I'd find an apartment. Indeed that took me two months so my 3 year anniversary of living in the city is still a few months away.

So, have I become more of a New Yorker? I don't know. I certainly appreciate the city more and more every day. I was thrilled to take a friend who just moved to the city for coal oven pizza and then take a walk to Washington Square Park. "Oh my gosh, I've seen this in the movies! I'm living in New York," she said. Cool, a New York moment for her. I love those too. The city can wear on you but as long as I am still having New York moments the city is will still be a good place to be.

Atlanta

Girl's weekend in Atlanta over the Labor Day holiday. Katy, Noelle and I had a great time. Noelle's new house is wonderful! Are we actually old enough to own houses, be concerned about molding, mulching and buying mowers?

Downtown Atlanta was hopping this weekend. Univ of Alabama and Virgina Tech football fans were in town for a big game, as were thousands of Science Fiction fans who were in town for some kind of big conference. It was a crazy mix. Lessons learned: 1. don't mess with southerners when it comes to college football. 2. different strokes for different folks--why on earth would someone dress up like a warrior or Luigi from Mario Brothers??

We visited Centennial Plaza, where the Olympic medal ceremonies took place, as well as the Coke Museum store (didn't want to pay the $25 or wait in a HUGE line to visit the museum.) Instead, we took a tour of CNN, which was fun for people who know a lot about tv and those who don't:-)




















































Cooking was also on the schedule. Watch out Paula, there is a new cook in the south! Here Noelle shows Katy how to make mouth watering chicken.








































On Sunday evening, we challenged Noelle's boyfriend and his buddies to Rock Star, a video game where you sing and play the guitar and drums to various well known songs. I had never played before. It was SO cool! Maybe Santa will bring me a Play Station so I can be a Rock Star in Brooklyn. I am obviously a guitar star in the making.

Yankees

I was most negligent in never posting about my first visit to the new Yankees stadium back in July.

First, the game, Detroit Tigers vs Yankees. That part of the day wasn't so great. Tigers lost:-(

But the new stadium, that was great!! Yes, I get it, old Yankee Stadium had heart, the crowd felt overwhelming for the opposing team, it had a great history. But the new stadium is wide open and the seats in the upper deck aren't so narrow that it's scary move around.

Can't wait to go back next year. Maybe the result of the game will be different:-)