Posts Tagged ‘nightlife’

Luxury at XVI

For a rather luxurious dining experience, imagine the courtyard of Louis XVI, the  perfect place for a night on the town or an after work treat. Paris may have its sidewalk cafes with views of the Eiffel tower, but NYC is the place for dining in the clouds.  Rooftops are the hideaway of choice for some of New York s most exclusive restaurants, and we at JSD were invited to attend one of the trendiest spots, XVI.  Located on the 16th floor of west 251st the venue on a Friday night is positively swarming with professionals and socialites.

On this particular evening we enjoyed the sounds of DJ Pace, who spun an eclectic string of pop and dance hits.  He is but one in a rotating assortment of DJs who will grace the locale in the next few weeks. Our scantily,  yet tastefully, uniformed waitress milled about the couch littered inner sanctum laden with some of the venues gourmet delectables. We started our evening with a round of cocktails. I opted for the Knickerbocker Special, a refreshing mix of rum, raspberry syrup and lime. My companion took a walk on the wilder side with an El Diablo, a heady mix of Resposado Tequila, Lime and a splash of ginger.  Both items served chilled over ice, were a perfect complement to the light summer breeze.

We sipped and admired the opulent décor, which was modeled after the estate and lavish lifestyle of King Louis the 16th.  Louis legendary decadence and overspending eventually cost the despot his head, at the guillotine.  If you’re a fashion and decor geek like me you will appreciated the custom furnishings and columns. The golden accents, rugs and seating are all reminiscent of France’s most luxurious and infamous period. In addition to the beautiful surroundings the equally lovely and cheerful waitstaff roam the venue eager to grant you every request. It’s very much like being an invited guest in the King’s court.

It wasn’t long after the last sips of our beverages that we felt the urge to sample the edible offerings. XVI is not the place for a multi course sit down dinner.  It is instead the right space for small plates sized to share with a lucky companion or 2.  We started with the Smoked Duck on flatbread.  The thinly sliced duck rests on a bed of molten goat cheese and herbs.  This was our favorite dish, savory and divine!

We followed the Duck with the Salumi tray.  The Salumi and Artisanal cheeses are served in a personalized assortment of your choosing and accompanied by Ficelle, Cornichons and Grainy Mustard—Delicious and decadent finger food at its best. Lastly we tempted our palates with the Lobster and Basil Crostini. Succulent lobster meat is placed gingerly on toasted bread with a generous sprinkling of fresh tomatoes. This is a perfect dish for a seafood lover, especially if cerviche is a favorite. Great tasting food relaxed atmosphere and comfortable surroundings add to the charm of this beautiful venue.  With the official opening still weeks away the space has already been featured in photo shoots, a video and will be the locale for a corporate gathering and movie screening.  Created as a taste of the luxurious lavish France of Louis the XVI the venue is everything one would want for a glamorous event, or just an evening as it were. However, be forewarned–this is not a space for penny pinchers, opulence does not come cheap. But trust us when we say, XVI is worth every penny.

I <3 NYC Series: Big Beauty

Ralph Lauren, by Fanny LittmarckNew York is one of the most popular metros of the world. Name anything and New York has an immense significance in that particular field. Be it fashion, commerce, media, culture, art, Hollywood etc.  Two places I love are Manhattan and Queens. They list among my favorite destinations of New York, but I’d like to stretch more on Manhattan as the experience there has been close to heart. The tall sky scrapers are a beauty to watch. Standing on one of the tallest tower and viewing the entire city makes you feel on top of the world. Moreover you find the wealthiest people residing in this particular area of New York City which makes you feel superior. Manhattan’s neighborhoods are also fun to visit. Neighborhoods such as SoHo are very famous for shopping, and being a diehard shopaholic this place is close to my heart. There are varieties of stuff available here and you simply cannot stop your money flying out of your wallet! There is a particular place famous for its gay population named Chelsea and what I love about this place is the large number of gays in this area as well as I find this place the best to experience night life in New York City. Also, Chinese being one of my favorite cuisines, I love visiting Chinatown, which is heavily flooded with Chinese population and you get to savor world best Chinese food.

Times Square – The Heart and Soul of New York City

I truly believe that the mention of New York City would be incomplete without mentioning Times Square. This is my favorite place to hang out in New York. When I first visited Times Square with a bunch of friends from college, I fell in love with it. I find that the people here are friendly, polite and really helpful. There are Broadway shows, movie theaters, art galleries, museums, shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, clubs, bars and loads of other places to visit. Times Square is in the heart of New York City and gives New York a vibrant, bustling, energetic feel. I have visited this place several times now. Times Square comes alive at night, with neon lights, billboards and huge signs everywhere you go. We all know what they say about New York, and Times Square is definitely a place that never sleeps. I particularly enjoy visiting this restaurant in Time square, called the Bubba Gump. The restaurant is based on the  movie “Forest Gump”. This is one of the best chain restaurants in New York. I love this place, and the staff is really friendly. They serve the most amazing shrimp and other seafood. Every time I visit New York, I visit the Times Square and stop by at Bubba Gump.

The City of Bright Lights

My favorite place to hang out in New York City is Times Square. I go there all the time because there is always something new to see. There is so much energy and excitement; it just gives me the “feel of New York City”. I love the lights and the noise and all the people. Everything is open all night and you can hardly tell it’s dark out! It’s like the city’s playground. Even the subway sign is lit up. Everything there is so much fun, even the regular stuff. The billboards are huge and the lights are bright. There is an infinite number of things to look at and it seems like it’s always changing. For this reason, I love bringing people to Times Square that have never been to New York. I also think it’s a great place for people watching; there are so many different types of people there from all walks of life. People who speak different languages, rich, poor, homeless people, all races. It’s such a  rich and interesting mix. I especially love watching the tourists take pictures of everything. I think Times Square is the quintessential New York City that people think of when they are visiting. It has the bright lights, the excitement and the noise that you expect out of the greatest city in the world.

Drunk at an Unfamiliar Restaurant

This is quite possibly one of the funniest stories I’ve ever told (and believe me, I have told it to quite a few people).  My friend Jessie and I had planned a trip to New York because we got this amazing deal on the flight and hotel for booking them together.  Our first night there, we decided to spend the night out on the town just moving from club to club, experiencing nightlife in new york city. Now, this is where it gets interesting: I don’t normally drink beer, I usually just drink mixed drinks (ya know, the kind that sneak up on ya’). Moving on, I had about two or three shots of “purple hooter,” and they tasted so good that I just kept drinking more of them, thinking to myself, these can’t have that much alcohol in them.  To say the least, I was wrong!! Jessie and I were both three sheets to the wind by the time we left the bar, and we were hungry, so we decided to start walking rather than take a taxi back to our hotel.

The restaurant that we picked looked nice and unique from the outside, and I can’t remember the exact name (except I know it had “Africa” in the name). So, we decided to try something different. BIG mistake!! Now, granted, I am going to summarize this the best way that I can remember…as I was not “cognizant,” so to speak, at the time.  Anyway, I didn’t recognize anything on the menu.  I didn’t know any of the names of the food and thus, I had no idea what the food would taste like.  So, we asked our waitress to give us a little more time to look over the menu.  Well, she gave us time alright; we waited more than 20 minutes!! We kept trying to flag her down or catch her attention but the restaurant was kinda busy, so I eventually stood up and said, “Can we please get some service over here, this is America, and I don’t know how it is over in Africa, but here we like or service quick!” In a conventional state of mind, I never would have said this. Unfortunately, I was drunk and hungry (a very dangerous combination). The waitress gave me the dirtiest look and came over a couple of minutes later to take our order.

I don’t remember what the name of the dish was that Jessie and I ordered, but when it came out to us, it was SPICY.  We were both doing everything we could do wash it down with water, but it wasn’t happening! After about 4 or 5 bites, my digestive organs weren’t havin’ it, and I threw up everywhere! Of course, Jessie and I were laughing because we were intoxicated. No one else in the restaurant, including our waitress, seemed to be the least bit amused.  Then I heard someone in the restaurant say, “Sometimes people can make total jack-asses out of themselves; I have never seen two people be so rude in my life!” At this point, we decided it was time for us to count our losses and get out of there. We stood up to leave, and wouldn’t you know, I threw up again! Another woman came over (I assume it was the manager) and said, “Get out, get out now! Don’t ever come back here again!” Well, to this I replied, ”Well, we’re trying to leave and would have been gone a long time ago if I could keep your crappy food down, the food here SUCKS!”  She then leaned in a little closer and said, “If you were my daughter and I was with you right now, I would make you get down on your hands and knees and clean up your own damn puke!”  I started to use my typical smart mouth and wanted to say, “Thank god you aren’t my mother then, because you’re even bigger than Aunt Jemima,” but decided that it would be best if I didn’t get my lights punched out while in NYC!

The next morning, we both woke up with severe hangovers, looked at each other, and I said, “Jessie, let’s never get that drunk again when it’s just the two of us…and for the rest of our trip, we’re sticking to McDonald’s and pizza cause we know what those taste like.”