Manished out

Manish Subramanian, a classmate from B-school and a good friend, and his wife Aparna, were in town this week. Given what enthusiastic party animals they are, this turned out to be a really active weekend. But first things first – I forgot to write about a lovely evening in Little Italy, courtesy Sonia, last week. So here goes.

Lombardi’s Pizza
We had had Lombardi’s Pizza at Sonia’s place before, and enjoyed it every time. Perfect thin crusts, just a suggestion of cheese, and a little sprinkling of ingredients meant that these Pizzas were unlike your normal over-stuffed American Pizza, and much closer to the real Italian stuff we so enjoyed two summer ago. So when Sonia suggested driving down to the place itself and having the Pizza’s fresh, it didn’t take a lot of convincing. My cousin Murali was also visiting, and so we dragged him along too. He’s not a big Pizza fan, but I guess the poor man didn’t have a choice.

Murali and I got off with the kids while Sandhya and Sonia went off to find parking. The kids walked into this wonderful old-world Pizzeria and went straight to the bar. I was about to stop them when I noticed the bartender greet them quite cheerfully. Dhruv and Rishab climbed onto a bar stool and struck up a cheerful conversation with the man, who must’ve been in his early twenties. I was quite surprised by how confident Dhruv was – he’s normally quite shy in such situations.

Sonia and Sandhya joined us a few minutes later, and we took our places at a large round table. I then noticed a small plaque that informed visitors that Lombardi’s was the first place to be granted a license to make Pizzas in the US, over 100 years ago (1905, to be precise). Even if it wasn’t the first, that is an impressive record.

We ordered an assortment of Pizzas, some Bruschetta, and a salad. Some of us had wine, while Sandhya had Sangria. The Pizzas were everything that we expected and more – Lombardi’s is definitely a must-see for anyone in New York.

I felt like having some Tiramisu after dinner, but Sonia refused to let me. “Wait till you see the place I’m taking you,” she said, with more than a hint of the mysterious. Since her surprises have always been good, I didn’t protest.

We then walked around the corner to “Rice to Riches” a place that looks like a Chic Salon at first glance. Inside, it’s anything but. Claiming to be “off the eaten path”, it has nothing but Rice Pudding in different flavors, shapes and sizes. I thought that Sonia had finally made a bad pick. After all, Rice Pudding? Who would’ve thunk it? It turned out fantastic. Of course, given all the flavors it took us ages to choose, but when it finally came, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Off piano buying
Michael had been asking me to seriously consider investing in a piano (digital or otherwise) and since we recently got our tax refund, I decided to take the plunge. He said he’d come with me to help me pick one, and so on Friday afternoon, I met him at Sam Ash, a specialty store on 48th Street, just off 7th Avenue. Only New York seems to have stores like Sam Ash – one in each field. Like B&H is for Photography stuff, the place was just full of the most esoteric, yet high-end, equipment that you might want. They didn’t have the entry level model we were interested in, unfortunately, and we returned empty handed. I later took the chance of ordering it online without seeing, and it’s probably the first time I’ve ordered a 140 lb, $800 product without even so much as seeing it.

Friday / Saturday with Manish and Aparna
Manish and Aparna showed up at Sonia’s place on Friday, and she invited us home for dinner that evening. We had initially planned to go out after dinner, but ended up just sitting around chatting. Dhruv went to sleep in their place, and we left him there. He woke the next morning and happily played there for several hours before we went and got him back.

My allergies bothered me quite a bit that morning, and I just took it easy. JV wanted us to come over for an Omelet Brunch, but I just wasn’t up to it. We were going out for dinner and to a bar later in the evening, and I wanted to be fully rested.

At around 7:30 in the evening, we left Dhruv with a sitter at Sonia’s place, and the six of us went out. We parked at the intersection of 27th Street and 5th Avenue – we were going to ilili (http://www.ililinyc.com/) – a Mediterranean Fusion restaurant on 5th Avenue. As we left the car I noticed that we had parked opposite the “Museum of Sex”. The posters for the place were most interesting, and we should check it out sometime soon.

Ilili turned out to be quite an amazing place. We sat in the lounge, instead of the restaurant, and ordered several appetizers. The chef was quite amazing, and even a bowl of Brussels Sprouts turned out fantastic. The Baba Ghannouj, Falafel, Dolma and Warm Eggplant were excellent. The best part of the evening, food and drink wise, was the Martini I had – a “not so bloody martini” – it had a jalapeno that gave it a really fascinating spicy flavor that I haven’t had before. I say “food and drink wise” because the best part of the evening was definitely the crowd and the ambience. We had a couple of models behind us, for example, and almost everyone I saw was interesting. A memorable evening, no doubt.

We had made reservations at Zinc Bar for 10 pm, so we left at around 9:45, and got there a few minutes before the hour. Zinc Bar is a block away from Café Wha? but is far more understated on the outside. We paid our cover charge and entered to find the place largely empty. “Uh-oh!” we thought to ourselves – thinking we had made a mistake coming there – crowds = popularity = a guaranteed good time, in my lexicon. We decided to stay anyway, and took and nice curved couch in the middle, right in front of where the band would be.

“Is there a stand-up comic?” Aparna asked.

“Why?”

“If there is one, he’s definitely going to pick on us, if we sit here.”

I looked around, and remembered the evening at Café Wha? None of us wanted to be singled out for attention.

Manish went off -- to “try to figure out the place,” he said. He came back to reassure us that there was no stand-up comic and we sat back and waited for the band to get going.

I was really keen on going to the Zinc Bar on Friday, because some of New York’s best African bands play there on Fridays, and I’ve been tripping on African music of late. Saturdays is Brazilian Jazz, and the band turned out quite good. The Vocalist was so-so, but the keyboardist and drummer were good, but we were all riveted by the female bass-guitarist. A bit of a mix between Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek, she had a lot of talent and ‘tude. The band played three 45-minute sets, and in the second set, they were joined by an excellent African-American trumpet player who took the whole evening to a whole new level.

While we were there, we were joined by a couple of Aparna’s cousins – a girl and her husband, and a single young man. Despite the fact that they didn’t know us, we got along surprisingly cordially, and thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

At around 11:30, we left Zinc Bar and decided we were hungry. Kathi Roll Company was just around the corner, and we made a beeline for the place, and joined the long line that was just out the door. A couple of Unda-Aloo rolls later, we headed back outside. Sandhya and Aparna decided they needed something sweet to eat, and went across the street to get some Crêpes. Aparna’s cousin and her husband had left by this time, and Manish, Aparna’s other cousin and I decided to step into Panchito’s Mexican bar and get a Tequila shot to keep us warm. We joined the ladies outside a few minutes later, and finished off some lovely Banana and Chocolate Crêpes standing on the street.

The general consensus after that was that we should go to Café Wha? and so that’s where we went. The place was winding down, and we paid a small amount to get in. The skeleton band that was left by that time was playing quite badly, and we staying for a while, and then left. We got home at around 3 AM, after a really wonderful evening – starting from ilili, through Zinc Bar, Kathi Rolls, Crêpes, and finally Café Wha?

Sunday with the Harlem Gospel Choir
On Sunday, we headed to Times Square for brunch with the Harlem Gospel Choir. While it’s considered quite “touristy”, Sonia agreed to come along because they’re really well regarded. The Brunch was so-so (for a vegetarian), but the music was great. The group comprises seven women and two men, each with the superlative operatic voices of a Gospel Choir singer. Add a generous helping of evangelical fervor and their performance was really mesmerizing.

Between acts, they worked the crowds, bringing people on stage and getting them involved. At one stage the “Boss” looked in our direction and pointed to JV and Sonia’s daughter. “Could you come up to the stage, please?” he asked. Their daughter was feeling really shy, but the two boys got out of their chairs smartly, and offered to accompany her. That seemed to give her some courage, and I got up to escort them backstage. However, her courage gave up a few steps later, and she turned around. Dhruv and Rishab had no such doubts – they went backstage and then up on stage confidently. The “Boss” was a bit disappointed they weren’t girls, but when I explained that she was shy, he accepted it anyway.

Dhruv and Rishab were now center stage, and being feted by the crowd. They seemed to be enjoying it.

“What’s your name?” the “Boss” asked Rishab.

“Rishab,” he replied.

“And what’s yours?” he asked Dhruv.

“Rishab,” Dhruv replied. He was probably so nervous that he forgot his name!! I thought that Rishab would let it slide, but I had another think coming.

“His name is not Rishab! It’s Dhruv!” he said.

The crowd burst out laughing.

The boys got a present (which was supposed to be for Rishab’s sister) and then left.

I was surprised that Dhruv had had the courage to go up and figure it was because Rishab was there with him. Aparna remarked that the Dhruv she had observed these past few days was a very different animal from the shy kid she had known in the Bay Area. She’s right, and we’re only just realizing it.

Non-stop action
Sunday was a really busy day. After a 3AM late night, I would’ve loved to sleep in, but we had a birthday to attend in Battery Park City that evening for Ramesh and Charu’s daughter. It was a surprise, and after some searching, we thankfully made it there in time. The birthday was in the party room of a brand-new building, the Visionaire. Battery Park City is a really different part of New York, with modern steel and glass buildings set on prime real estate on the Hudson. The school is excellent, the views are fantastic, but I believe it gets really cold by the water in winter. Despite all that it still lacks the crowds and vibrancy of Gramercy or Murray Hill. I can’t make up my mind which is better.

On Sunday evening we had a childhood friend and his wife over for a quiet dinner. I hope we weren’t too tired to be good hosts, since we’d had a hectic weekend by any standard.