Red Baron likes to wake up in the city that never sleeps. Last Saturday, when I
awoke in my son's apartment in Manhattan - too early - I looked out of the
window and admired the new building of the World Trade Center and, in
particular, Miss Liberty and Ellis Island in the distance. It was there where
some of the Höferts had entered the States at the end of the 19th century.
Yes, I still remember my first trip to the States in 1957 when my father made
contact with a cousin living on Long Island. He came to Manhattan one evening,
and we met in a restaurant. The cousin only spoke rudimentary German, whereas my
father had never learned English. So I tried hard to get a conversation going, stretching my school English. But that is history.
I forget about blogging when I am with my son. I rather like to profit from
his wisdom and knowledge. Our conversations are usually intense, both knowing
that we cannot solve the problems of this world. Two dates are permanently fixed
during my visits to New York: Dinner at the
Redeye Grill and an
evening of Jazz. On our way to the restaurant (it was already dark), my son took
a photo of me
manspreading
"on" the
Bad Men Monument.
I had my usual lobster at the
Redeye Grill, which was exceptionally big
this time*. Red Baron forgot about his cholesterol and the green sauce served
with the lobster, dipping the delicious bites in liquid butter while my son
enjoyed his usual tuna. We had good memories of a bottle
of
Holy Cow from Washington State on a previous occasion, but
the wine was no longer on the list. This time, we downed our meals with a bottle
of
Sauvignon Blanc from the
Cakebread Cellars.
*I read that there is an overproduction of lobster on the Atlantic
coast, but I did not notice a price slump on the bill.
While I know the "official" New York so well, my son always likes to show
me the "non-tourist" places he has discovered in New York.
On Saturday, we went to East Village, formerly known as
Little Germany. On our way, we had a drink at one of the oldest pubs in Manhattan,
McSorley's Old Ale House:
There we were in good company:
Then, we passed houses built at the end of the 19th century,
the Exhibition of the American Gangster,
paid tribute to the great Charlie Parker at his former residence,
commemorated in Tompkins Square Park the disaster of
Passenger Steamboat General Slocum on the East River on June 15, 1904, where more than
1000 passengers from Little Germany on their way to a Lutheran church
picnic perished,
and eventually had lunch at a Bavarian-style restaurant,
Zum Schneider,
on Avenue C, E 7 Street.
The restaurant was overcrowded. We just found two seats at a table packed with
Americans who already had a couple of beers. My son and I ordered
Radi and
Reibekuchen:
We were impressed when a lady at our table not only ordered a
Schweinshaxn but dug into the fatty food with a healthy? appetite:
At
Zum Schneider, the selection of German beers on tap is
impressive. I immediately sent an e-mail to my friend Kendall Schneider to
make him aware of the place belonging to his clan?
On Saturday evening, we listened (no photos allowed) to a jazz performance of
the Heath Brothers at the
Village Vanguard with 88-year-old
Jimmy Heath
(tenor and soprano saxophone), his brother
Albert "Tootie" Heath, about my age (drums), Michael Weiss (piano), and David Wong (bass). Jimmy
is a former jazz professor at the City University of New York and a
composer. He started the session by saying he was eight years older than the
Village Vanguard. Red Baron admired those old hands still having fun with
their instruments and the public.
Another highlight
of my stay was Sunday's visit to the
Black Forest Brooklyn. I had blogged about the start-up of the restaurant in January and
went there to try the Black Forest cake, where Ayana and Tobias Holler had so
many problems finding the right cherries in the States.
The cake smelled so good that I forgot to take a photo until I had eaten half
of it. But the necessary cherry is still there.
At the
Black Forest Brooklyn, they serve the famous Monkey 47 Dry Gin
from the Black Forest and the 77 Whiskey from Breuckelen (the former Dutch
name for Brooklyn):
What a difference between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Here are those canyons of
steel; there,
you have broad streets lined with trees and three to four-story buildings. In
Manhattan, there is a hectic life, even on Sundays with all those tourists, while in
downtown Brooklyn, there is a stress-free, friendly, and spacious
neighborhood. Enjoy the picture gallery:
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Downtown on Fulton Street
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The Brooklyn opera
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Exotic, bold reliefs
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Our afternoon ended on Coney Island:
Famous Nathan's:
On our way home, we strolled along the 6th Avenue street market with
impressive smoked turkey drums ...
... and humble German Bratwurst.
*