Winter NYC Visit and Bento

Over our recent weekend visit to NYC, we concentrated on Chinatown and nearby Delancey Street on day one, and the Art Deco glories of midtown on day two.

It was warming fun to start each morning with a big coffee shop breakfast: eggs, home fries and of course, lox and bagels:

Hopping on the subway down to Delancey Street, we were delighted by these beautiful aquatic mosaics by artist Ming Fay. As Fay explains, "Shad Crossing details two giant shad fish "swimming", along with another wall mosaic of blue waters. In the late 19th century, these shad were found along the Hudson River when new immigrants came to New York, most of them settled on the Lower East side."

As a steady rain picked up, we navigated over to Chinatown. New Year's decorations were everywhere on display, with gold and red tones full of bright cheer and confidence:

These elegant ladies decorated an herbalist's window:

Bright produce and flowers glowed in the rain:

Lovely hints of spring:

At Aji Chiban, a colorful selection of candies and sweet-salty-gingery treats:

The next day, we explored Midtown, including Kinokuniya's rich assortment of Japanese books, stationary, decorative papers and small but sweet selection of bento boxes. My last post touched on delightful discoveries at this shop; today I used my new Kutusitanyanko bento set for the first time:

In the blue box, a mix of baby salad greens, yellow peppers, avocado and daikon heart garnish; in the yellow, crab shumai with mixed vegetable pickles, chrysanthemum greens and a purple grape skewer; scallions and enokis in the little ivory box and for dessert, apple slices glazed with honey and almond slices, and a Mozartkugeln chocolate.

We found these lovey-dovey pigeons in Bryant Park: (photos by Jamison)

Some current street food selections:

Close to Grand Central Station, the Gothic details on this building reminded me of architecture I loved in Italy:

Close by, a distinctively New York architectural expression: the Art Deco skyscraper. The diverse influences of this style--Far and Middle Eastern, organic and linear, ancient and machine age--combined into something so unique and beautiful. These details seem to surge and radiate with a refined, urbane vitality:

At the Chrysler Building, one feels inside a temple of modernism, a lost age of the

 future:

After all this time travel, we were hungry for lunch. I suggested the Oyster Bar in the lower level of Grand Central as we are both seafood fanatics, and it was close by. I've always loved their fried oysters; Jamison ordered scallops and lobster in a rich, creamy, paprika-laced sauce:

The view of the station's famous celestial ceiling from our table:

Grand Central is a cornucopia of edible treats, to include a wonderful food hall with any number of delights:

Near our hotel in Koreatown, a view of the Empire State Building at night:

As Korean food lovers, this was a great location. The haemul dolsot bibimbab at Han Bat had the most deliciously crispy rice and savory seafood. Yum!

 Looking forward to our next visit!