T.V.O.D.TM “Jesus blood never failed me yet” Volume V: Chapter 5   May 1999

Saturday, May 1, Bryan becomes a milliner ... we’re up before noon as we’re meeting Ronni Leopold at Ariston Flowers on Fifth Avenue.  She and Bryan are picking up the lilies of the valley, for the hat Bryan is making for her party this evening.  Bryan spends the next 3 hours working on her hat.
 

At the same time, I take a walk on Second Avenue during one of the first of this season's street fairs.  Beside having some fried dough, I finally get a chance to see the interior of the Middle Collegiate Church (Second Avenue near 7th Street).  Organized in 1628, they are an ecumenical church affiliated with the Reformed Church in America; the current building dates from 1891 and is just beautiful.  Their literature states they “welcome all into full membership and active participation in the life and ministry of the church, whatever your age, race, sexual orientation, lifestyle or culture … we regard this diversity as a great asset to the church.”  As they would have to be in the East Village!

  Anyway, we went to Ronni’s 50th birthday party at Pangea and Bryan’s hat was a huge hit.  We stayed an hour, having margaritas before leaving.  Our original intent was dinner at Cyclo, the Vietnamese restaurant currently getting raves on First Avenue.  But it was not to be; lines were long there (more than an hour) as well as at other places.

We killed some time at Standard Bar (where we had drinks with Danger and Susan before his birthday dinner) while awaiting a table at Brunetta’s but our timing was still off.  In the end, we wound up back at Pangea for dinner!

Sunday, May 2, we’re up at noon.  I get an interesting phone call from my second cousin Andrew and his wife Colleen.   [Now, isn't that terrible; it's like me being Anthony, he's Andy.]  They were at a communion party on Saturday and had seen many of my cousins; in addition, my mother told them about my web site so they called for info.  They’re a great couple and I hope they take me up on my invitation to come into the city.

It’s a perfect city day outside, hardly any wind and 70 degrees; we take a nice walk into the Lower East Side.  We start down Avenue A; our first stop is Las Venus – “20th Century Pop Culture” – at 163 Ludlow Street.  Bryan finds what he believes to be an unmarked McCoy ceramic duck; but it’s only $8 so worth the chance.

We had thought to have lunch at Baby Jupiter on Stanton Street but they were on a kitchen changeover.  So we kill time at the bar next door (where we had great cold hard cider from the very cute bartender); to our surprise we see Danger and Susan walking by while we’re drinking!  They come in to join us for a round and then it’s off for dinner.

But now we return to our original plan of the day – dinner at Grand Sichuan at 125 Canal Street at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge.  Former NY Times Restaurant Critic (and now Gourmet editor) Ruth Reichl had always recommended this “modest storefront” as one of the few really authentic Szechuan (ah, spelling, spelling – 411 couldn’t find the restaurant because of it) restaurants in the city.

And although our food was wonderful (appetizers were huge egg rolls and sublime dumplings floating in hot oil; entrees were orange-flavored chicken and spicy sichuan chicken), the adventurous might try their beef tendons (acclaimed in every review that we read) or the tea-smoked duck.  Maybe next time.

BTW, cash only and no bar (although beer is available).  Also, my original choice for entrée was “country chicken” until the waitress explained (via pictogram to Bryan) that it was turtle!  Learn something new every day.  We then take a leisurely walk back up Second Avenue, getting back into the apartment by 8 pm.

Monday, May 3, Bryan goes to his final night of bowling for the season; I watched the fourth to last Melrose Place.  At 9 pm, I headed off to Port Authority and the bowling alley; "Alley of the Dolls" were only halfway into their first game when I arrived.  Oh, yes, that's the name of their team which is solidly in second place; no matter what happens this evening, the first three places are set.  And I must give a plug to the bowling alley itself; I was surprised to find such a nice venue in the middle of the bus terminal.  But it's clean, the "greasy spoon" food counter is sufficiently appetizing and the management is gay-friendly.  What more could anyone want?

Tuesday, May 4, we have an early cocktail at Dick’s before deciding on Spanish tapas for dinner at La Paella (214 East 9th Street).  We’ve eaten there once before; it’s highly authentic plus has great sangria.  We had four tapas; white asparagus, an egg-and-potato frittata, a wonderful assortment of dried and smoked meats and shrimp wrapped in bacon.  I also had a bowl of gazpacho and we split a nice size carafe of sangria.  The bill was a relatively modest fifty bucks and we were quite full.

Wednesday, May 5, a drink at Pangea after setting the vcr for Star Trek: Voyager, then sushi and sashimi at Mie.

Thursday, May 6, we have time for a haircut (for me) and drinks before meeting Bryan’s friend Greg for dinner; we’ve made reservations at John’s Italian (for one of the two smoking tables and Donn “Waiter Boy” as our server).  Food there is traditional, fattening and quite regular, but good if basic Italian red sauce is your thing.  Still, with Donny it’s always fun.

Friday, May 7, I get a phone call from my friend (and old radio partner) Bill Abbate.  He and his wife Alice have a new brother for Zack, James William Avery Chae Abbate.  He was actually born two weeks ago; shows you how out of touch I’ve been with my friends in Boston!

Bryan and I meet back at the apartment around 7 pm; he has brought me a card (touching), a Ty beanie baby that has Rosebud’s pout, and a dozen gourgeous roses (two-tone cream and pink).  Yeah!  That’s the way to start the weekend; next of course is to go for martinis at Dick’s.  Around 9 pm, we climb into the apartment as every New Yorker knows to avoid the bridge-and-tunnel crowd.

Saturday, May 8, we’re up at 8 am as Bryan has to attend a disaster recovery test for the bank in Jersey City.  Speaking of Republic National Bank, it looks like they’re soon to be sold; but an expected Friday announcement never materialized.  I go down to the shop for a few hours while he does the test; by 12:30 pm, he’s done and we’re back in NYC by 2 pm.

We were going to have lunch at Florent but there’s a huge crowd there; we actually sit for ten minutes with no service before leaving.  Instead it’s lunch at a corner diner (not so good) and a walk around the Chelsea Market which is lots of fun.

Afterward, I’m feeling extremely lazy and we don’t do much until dinner at La Balconata on 6th Street around 9 pm (after watching the current and last week’s Star Trek: Deep Space Nine).  While there, I promise Vicky, the owner, that we will send a letter to the NY Times Restaurant Critic Eric Asimov recommending her.

Sunday, May 9, Mother’s Day … we’re up around noon and head over to my mother’s to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day; we stop briefly at Dreyer’s Farm (behind the Cranford home) so Bryan can buy plants for our garden and so I can get a plant for mom.

We’re only there a short time however; by 6 pm we’re on our way back home.  After Bryan is done planting, we head into the East Village for dinner.  Although we intended to go to Life, we wind up at Café Yola instead (337 E. 10th Street).  This was our original intent awhile back when we had pizza at Orologio instead.

Well, we are treated to a very fine meal indeed.  The menu is mainly northern Italian with fish being predominant.  Bryan has some superb grilled shrimp over garlic white beans followed by fettucine with portobello mushrooms; I have crostini with truffle oil along with goat cheese, brie and a salad with half a peach; it’s a great introduction to my entrée of paparedelle (big flat noodles) in a truffle oil sauce.  Along with a trio of perfect sorbet (mango, pineapple and blood orange) and espresso, and four glasses of wine, our bill is only $68.  Quite nice, and although B and I ordered two of the only things we really wanted (although if you like fish, you’ll love this place), I think we’ll be back.

Monday, May 10, at work at the normal time.  Bryan’s suspicions over the weekend were correct; Republic National Bank of NY will be taken over by HSBC.  From their website:

Headquartered in London, HSBC Holdings plc is one of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations.  The HSBC Group's international network comprises more than 5,000 offices in 79 countries and territories, operating under well-established names in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa.

We’re not sure what that will mean for his job, but our stake in RNB stock (purchased for $38 at the end of January) has almost doubled.  We sell this morning at $68, netting us almost $10,000 profit in slightly over two months.  Part of it goes into Compaq (100 shares at $26.25); we’ll figure out the rest later.

Bryan has been so good at picking stock that we celebrate with Mexican food at Maryann’s; I’m so full afterward that I do nothing but watch the taped episode of Melrose Place (only two more to go) and a Discovery Channel documentary on the Empire State Building.

Tuesday, May 11, more stock decisions … I pick up 50 shares of “The Sidewalk.com” at $65 immediately upon its release; we’ll see if it follows the normal internet IPO scenario.  After work, it’s dinner at Pangea; no complaints there.

Bryan and his boss Michelle walked all the way from work down to the Chelsea Market (down on Ninth Avenue and 15th Street) before he came home.  [from sidewalk.com]:

With the aromas of freshly baked breads and cookies, soups, produce and flowers drifting through the post-industrial halls of this once-abandoned factory, browsing through Chelsea Market is a sensory delight.  Essentially a giant food mall, the market includes Sarabeth's Bakery, Amy's Bread, Bowery Kitchen Supplies, Buonitalia, Chelsea Market Baskets, Chelsea Wholesale Flower Market, the Chelsea Wine Vault, the Cleaver Company, Eleni's Cookies, Hale & Hearty Soups, the Lobster Place, Manhattan Fruit Exchange, MK Wholesale Meats, Night Bagel, Ronnybrook Farm Dairy [this is the finest milk in the area, according to no less than Martha Stewart], Ruthy's Cheesecake, Grandma's Recipe Rugelach, Scheffres Hospitality Products, and Silver's Hardware.

Wednesday, May 12, the middle of a week of fine weather.  Dinner at Flamingo East on Second Avenue.  The restaurant went through some kind of culture shock last year and halved their very fine menu.  Recently, some of the items have returned along with some very good pasta dishes but the quality still hasn’t returned.  My grilled shrimp on tender mango slices with fresh mint was quite good, but the duck breast was a bit chewy and not very innovative.  Bryan had their very consistent and very good sesame-encrusted calamari which were very tender; he followed it with a very dull chicken breast in a brown sauce.  Even the chocolate “sin” cake was somewhat dry with not enough crème anglais.

We return home to watch Star Trek: Voyager (taped while at dinner).  A Jeri Ryan star vehicle, it just didn’t have much in the way of writing.  I kept falling asleep during it, so by midnight I gave up the ghost.

Thursday, May 13, Bryan is meeting AIDS activist Mark Harrington (sorry, Mark, but I had to say that) for dinner at Radio Perfecto, one of a number of small eateries on Avenue A; he has a nice dinner but just isn’t too impressed with the restaurant.

Friday, May 14, driving music is the classic reggae dub album, King Tubbys meets Rockers Uptown by Augustus Pablo.  Featuring the massive bass duo Robby Shakespear and Aston "Family Man" Barrett and other greats, this is one "heavy" dub album.  But ominously, I read this in Entertainment Weekly:

Died:  reggae pioneer Augustus Pablo, 46, of myasthenia gravis, a nerve disorder, in Kingston, Jamaica.  Pablo, born Horace Swaby, was influential as a composer and producer of the mystical instrumentals labeled dub.

Saturday, May 15 … I watch one of the final episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. After taking a brief drive around Chelsea (and finding no parking) we found a space right near the Chelsea Lobster Company (formerly Claire’s and now partially owned by Albert O’s brother, Mark Oram).  The restaurant is at 156 Seventh Avenue.  [Note: it has since closed.]

For starters we had cosmopolitans along with shellfish for me (3 Malpeque and 3 Blue Point oysters and half a dozen little necks) and a seared piece of rare tuna for Bryan.  For entrees it was linguine with clams and pesto for me and a crispy red snapper in Thai sauce for Bryan.  Afterward, Bryan enjoyed a huge glass of fresh strawberries and whipped cream.  Total cost (with four drinks) was $93; by then it was almost 11 pm and we headed home.

Sunday, May 16; we’re up and at the Lunch Box around 1 pm.  It’s a beautiful day for a walk so we take in Thompkins Square Park to see the boys and the dogs then decide on a drink at Dick’s around 4.  Kurt, the bartender, tells us about the street fair in the Christopher Street area.  We’d been there last year with Uncle Ralph and had a great time so off we went on another walk; but the fair was Saturday!

We weren’t too pleased about this, but after a nice walk around the area and a drink at Pieces on Christopher Street (only the bartender was cute though) we stopped at Café Balducci.  Yes, the incredible Italian deli, Balducci’s, now has a little café across the street at 445 Sixth Avenue.  I have an incredible piece of bread with steak tips mixed with roasted pieces of garlic; with a little lettuce it’s one of the best sandwiches I’ve had in ages.  Bryan has a ham and cheese under foccaccia and I can’t resist picking up a cannoli for later.

We only have a little more than an hour at home before we’re to meet Dangerboy to see his girlfriend Susan act.  Yes, Susan Merlucci was in two of the seven “playlets” all revolving around the them of boxing at the Blue Velvet Boxing Club.  Located at 23 West 24th Street, this a real boxing gym and the acting takes place up in the ring.  It’s an interesting concept; the producer Seth Kramer also wrote three of the plays and is a part owner of the gym.  Like any concept, it had its highs and lows but overall was not a bad way to spend a couple of hours.

Afterward, we went to dinner with Scott and Susan at Cremecaffe on Second Avenue near 4th Street; we’ve eaten there before with them.  The food is tasty (particularly the carbonara that Scott and I both had; Bryan is very impressed with his tomato sauce containing porcini mushrooms), the chianti very tasty, and the company impeccable.  We’re done by 11 pm; they go south, we go north.

Monday, May 17, it's the banquet for Bryan's bowling league, so I race into the city, change and we make it there before the opening at 7 pm.  It’s at a penthouse apartment at 177 Prince Street, upstairs from Quilty’s restaurant (yes, the former location of Ahnell’s, site of many famous dinners with me).

A huge apartment (with walls that have been torn out) plus a full rooftop with views from the Empire State Building to the World Trade Center.  Of course, the open bar doesn’t hurt and the hors d’hoerves are great.  Dinner is at tables on the roof and then back downstairs for their awards ceremonies.  Bryan was in charge of getting gifts for the raffle and has done a great job; but by 11 pm we’re ready to leave.

Tuesday, May 18, up and at work at a normal time.  Bryan gets home before me and is napping upon my arrival around 7 pm; around 8, I watch the taping of the previous night’s broadcast of the penultimate episode of Melrose Place.  Then it’s off to Pangea for dinner; for some reason the food is even more finely flavored than normal and we really enjoy the blackened tuna steak for Bryan and linguine in olives and capers for me (after a cold tomato and orange soup).  Then a quick stop at Dick’s where we see Mark Harrington.

Wednesday, May 19, working on the church newsletter until after 6 pm so that Bryan has to subway home.  Ever since Republic’s sale to HSBC, no one works long hours there!  Around 8 pm, we go to Dick’s for cosmopolitans and then, for no apparent reason, we decide to have dinner at Orson’s (across the street from Pangea).

We haven’t been in this agreeable Art Deco style bistro in quite some time.  Bryan had drinks there with Donn a couple of months ago, but we hadn’t eaten there since the quality had gone down.  But Donn had said that it had gotten better again so I guess we should not have been too surprised to see him having dinner there!  He had just gotten off the train from visiting his family in Northampton MA.  Well, more cosmopolitans and some very good food later (including a chipotle grilled shrimp and grapefruit salad for both Bryan and I), we headed home after a quick nightcap at Dick’s.

Thursday, May 20, most of the day is taken up with the church newsletter (ok, ok, I like to futz a lot!) and I get back into the apartment around 7 pm; we watch the hour-long season finales of Friends and Frasier.

Our initial idea for dinner is Chinese at Tina's on Third Avenue but once we get there we decide it’s too late or we’re not in the mood.  So we go across the street to Café Centosette; B and I both have a very tasty, if not traditional, gazpacho then a penne special (with green olives and shrimp in tomato sauce) for Bryan and their signature chicken breast in mustard sauce.

Friday, May 21, a gorgeous day outside but I’m stuck inside at work, as is Bryan.  I pick him up at work around 6 pm, and after shopping for plant supplies (at Saifee Hardware on First Avenue at 7th Street, the East Village's primary store for gardeners) and haircuts we have our first drinks at 8 pm.  We go back to the apartment for a couple of hours and then go back to Dick’s.  Since no one is there, we go next door to Mie so I can have some sushi (B is dieting).

Saturday, May 22, I get up around 9 and am off to the shop by 11 am.  I spend almost four hours working on the parish newsletter before returning around 4 pm.

Bryan’s up and we head over the Lower East Side street fair; yeah, right, it’s the same street fair on every block of NYC over the summer!  And the food is as hit-and-miss as ever; for instance, we have great roasted corn on the cob but an uncooked corn dog and stale fried dough that we throw away.  But the weather is impeccable so it’s ok, and by the time we get back to the apartment at 6, Bryan is ready to nap again while I watch one of the last episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.   They’re so intent on wrapping up loose ends, however, that they seem to be forgetting about characters now and then!  I’m watching the season finale of NBC's The Pretender when B awakes and we head over to Pangea for some quick food.  And believe it or not, we’re in bed and asleep by 1 am on a Saturday night!

Sunday, May 23, just because we go to bed early doesn’t get us up and out early.  Although I’m up at 9, I basically read and relax until Bryan is up and about.  At noon, it’s brunch at the Telephone Bar & Grill at 149 Second Avenue; vegetarian eggs benedict for B and a country breakfast for me (as well as a “dessert” gazpacho for B which he can’t resist).

The weather has changed unfortunately, so we decide to have a relaxing afternoon and catch a new gay film called “Edge of Seventeen.”  Well, at least my namesake director, Tony Vitale, doesn’t have to feel embarrassed about “Kiss Me Guido.”  This was much worse!  A coming out story set in 1984, it has every cliché known to man and not enough cute bodies.  Not bad, but not enough to make up for this film.  Plus it gives Bryan a chance to continue his diatribe against gay cinema.

But we have fun going out anyway, and we have just an hour to get ready to head uptown to the Guggenheim Museum on 89th Street and Fifth Avenue.  From sidewalk.com:

This season's Guggenheim Works and Process Series closes with a sampling of Merce Cunningham's latest adventure in cyberspace.  BIPED, a deceptively simple name for what is sure to be a millennium-ready correspondence between choreography and the computer, exploits a new angle on digital dancemaking. The choreographer will be on hand with his partner in this endeavor, designer Paul Kaiser, to discuss the results.  The full work premieres on July 21, as part of Lincoln Center Festival's tribute to the 80-year-old artist.

Along with his archivist, the Englishman David Vaughan, and Paul Kaiser's partner (BTW, they invented the "dancing baby") the four of them discuss and, with the help of two of his principal dancers Robert Swinston (also the dance troupe's Assistant to the Choreographer) and Jeannie Steele, demonstrate the various techniques that went into the making of this work.  From the handout:

The décor for Biped is an exploration of the possibilities of the new animation technology of motion capture.  The movement (but not the physical appearance) of the dancers was transposed into digital images.

We have a great time (plus the music is by Gavin Bryars ) and even spend a quick moment at the reception afterward.  By 10 pm, we’re back in the East Village again, but stumped as to where to have dinner.  And, being indecisive, we make the mistake of eating at Little Poland, the little eatery near Dick’s.  Since they’re just about to close, I don’t think we got exactly the best food in the house.  Oh, well.  Once again, by midnight it’s lights out.

Monday, May 24, at work at a normal time.  On the way in, I begin to listen to Estonian composer Arvo Part’s Miserere, a stunning work performed by the Hilliard Ensemble.  Setting Psalm 51, the Dies Irae and the prophetic texts of the 13th century writer Thomas de Celano to music, one of the most stirring lines is
 

Along with Part’s meditative music (a subtle blend of clarinet, bells and organ), it makes for a soul-searching ride to work.

By 5 pm, I’m on the road to pick up Bryan at work and then it’s Dick’s for a cocktail and the final episode of Melrose Place.  A fun way to end the series (although I hear it will be back in tv movie form).

Tuesday, May 25, stocks continue their plummet; after taking a hit on the internet stocks, my First Union stock decides to tank.  Lovely; from rich to poor in one easy week.

Wednesday, May 26, a regular day at work and then a walk to Chelsea.  After drinks at Kings and Bed, Bath and Beyond for an alarm clock for Bryan, we go to the gay bookstore of Manhattan, A Different Light.  But shockingly, their gay travel section is old and understocked.  Not even one copy of the Damron Guide!  And the management doesn’t even seem to care (“oh, I thought we had those on order”).

By this point we’re aggravated so we head back to our area of town and dinner at Tieh Fu Guong, a Chinese restaurant at 180 3rd Avenue near 17th Street.  We continue our search for good Chinese in the area (although we still haven’t tried Tina’s, recommended by Danger and Susan).  This is not the place; it starts with very bad mai tais, a sampler platter doesn’t indicate great appetizers, the Mongolian beef is barely.  Bryan, however, enjoys his vegetarian beef with orange flavor.   Vegetarian beef?  Yes, made with soy.  A bad indicator of the restaurant is that my real beef doesn’t taste much different than his fake!

Thursday, May 27, since Bryan’s bank has been sold, people are already starting to leave so it’s a long lunch for Bryan as he says good-bye to his co-worker Kevin.  A large lunch for me means no dinner but drinks at Thai Village on Avenue A between 5th and 6th Streets with Danger and Susan (plus some steamed mussels for me) around 8 pm.   The menu is too new and too short at the moment; they didn’t even have Thai iced tea yet!

Friday, May 28, Bryan is home early but doesn’t have keys.  And as I’m working until normal closing, he goes to see Roberto Benigni’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” to which he reacts as I am afraid I might’ve.  I think it’s rather tough to make a sentimental comedy about the Holocaust.

Around 9 pm, we go for sushi at Mie (including quite superb plum/mint maki).

Saturday, May 29, I call David Littler to wish him a happy birthday but don’t find him home.  Driving music by Gavin Bryars.  Yes, I'm inspired to look him up again in my collection and have pulled out Jesus' Blood never failed me yet with additional vocals by Tom Waits.

Originally done in vinyl in 1975, the cd medium allowed Bryars to extend his work, adding instrumentation and, near the end, Tom Waits singing along with the vocal sample.  An unused sample from a documentary, the vocal track is a loop of an old bum around Elephant + Castle in London.  He's singing the old hymn to himself and the first verses are simply looped, repeating again and again as the music builds and fades beneath him.  In April 1993, Gavin Bryars said,

Although the old man died before he could hear what I had done with his singing, the piece remains as a restrained testament to his spirit and optimism.  The rhythm of his vocal line may be erratic and there is considerable irony in the relationship between what he is singing and his circumstances at the time.  But for me there is great poignancy in his voice and, though I do not share the simple optimism of his faith, I am still touched by the memory of my first encounter with what Grainger would call the 'human-ness' of his voice, and through this piece I try to give it new life.

Sunday, May 30 and dinner is at Brunetta’s in the garden.  We really wish the food were better; his salmon was blasé and my chicken breast in a frittata - indeed, "chicken Brunetta" - was misconceived.

Back at the apartment, watching penultimate (word of the month) episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and “Slaughterhouse-5” on Bravo.

Monday, May 31, Memorial Day; up at 7 am for some reason so decide to hit the shop for a few hours until noon.  Now I have all the computers up and running perfectly.  By 4 pm Bryan and I are having lunch at Atomic Wings, a new Buffalo wings place on First Avenue.  Not bad, either!  We split their signature wings; then B has a veggie burger and me a regular one with fried onions and cheese.  Both are perfect with interesting waffle fries.

Then it’s a hot walk around Union Square; the intent is book shopping at Barnes & Noble, but their ridiculously paltry gay section, and total lack of gay travel books, make us decide to buy nothing.  Continuing our walk (why, when it’s so hot and humid?), we hang out in Thompkins Square Park, watching the boys.

Amazingly, on the way back we actually stop at San Loco on Avenue A for burritos!  By the time we stop for a cocktail at Dick’s, it’s almost 7 pm.

Tuesday, June 1, oops … another month.  We'll see you then.