Erie Basin is the quintessential, antique jewelry store / gallery in a remote part of Brooklyn, Red Hook. I had my heart set on checking the store out in person on my last trip to New York. In my naivete, I thought I could jump on a train to get there. Thankfully, my brother has a car and we drove over from Williamsburg. I would have never made it there. I heard you can take the new Ikea ferry over from Manhattan. 

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In my non-stop food adventure in New York last weekend, one of my absolute favorite stops was a long, leisurely lunch at Mario Batali’s Casa Mono. If you didn’t think he was already king of New York with all his restaurants scattered around, after eating at Casa Mono you will be convinced. I have been wanting to go here for years, but always heard the wait for a table was horrific. They take reservations so planning ahead is key. It didn’t seem all that busy the day we went at 1:30pm on a Friday, but for dinner you will definitely need a reservation.

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When was the last time you received a hand written thank you card from a restaurant?  Let alone a James Beard Award Winning Chef, Dan Barber of Blue Hill Farms? ‘Wow’ is all I have to say. As if the quality of the meal wasn’t enough, they just about outdid themselves with this final gesture of gratitude. 

The card is so farm chic too. 

It is confirmed once again, the Obama’s have good taste!  I happened to eat at the same restaurant as them, on the same night, hours later, on my trip last weekend to New York. I did not know this until the next morning since our reservations were for 10pm.  

Earlier that evening I had met a dear friend from high school for a drink in Nolita.  We had a mini-reunion after almost 10 years of silence. Living on opposite coasts didn’t help, but Facebook is good for something. A yellow cab whisked me off to my next destination to meet up with friends at Blue Hill New York. 

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