Laurent Kretz

Or: What to do in New York with your mom ??

I know, this is a difficult question. For some, it’s even more difficult when it comes to your mother in law, although the solutions are more simple: loose her in the Ramble of Central Park or enroll her on a hot-dog-eating contest and forget to bring her water. But you don’t want that for your mom, of course.

So my mom came to visit this week in New York, and didn’t want the tourist experience. She came a few times already, each summer actually, so she’s seen the what is to be seen. She now wanted to do what I would do on a regular week.

As I figure I might not be the only one in that case, and although the audience for this specific post might be very niche, here was our program !

Thursday July 3rd: I’ll wait for her with pickles and a mint tea from the Hummus Place, on St Marks Place. My mom is arriving with the Super Shuttle, $21 from JFK you can’t beat that ! We land on the terrace of Cafe Luca, a bit further on St Marks and then have light dinner at Pepe Rosso (free wine for ladies on Thursday nights!).

Friday July 4th: brunch at Yaffa café, a must see in the East Village scene. We then head south to the Bodies exhibit, and then chill out at Pier 17 watching the NYC east river Waterfalls. Time to eat: as my mother is learning Mandarin, we try to practice and get lunch in Chinatown at Dim Sum Go Go. For digestion, we have a healthy walk back home through Chinatown, Nolita (North of Little Italy), Lower East Side and East Village. We then rest home watching a movie (We own the night, not goo) while it rains. In the evening, we head out to see the fireworks on 14th and Avenue C before meeting some friends at Père Pinard on Ludlow and Stanton (promising ourselves to get back there for the roasted Camembert !!!). We then all together enjoy a last (few) drinks at Backroom, a speakeasy supposedly secret bar from Lower East Side.

Saturday: we have a late brunch at Café Mogador only made of mezze: babaganoush, hummus, roasted eggplants, cucumber yogurt, feta cheese and of course Moroccan mint tea ! Once finished, we slowly walk through the village heading to the subway: we’re going to the first PS1 Warm Up of summer 2008 !! Inside the museum, the exhibitions are really interesting this season, so we stay there for a while. After a couple of hours, we start walking through Hunters Point streets and head over to the Water Taxi Beach, to have a drink watching the sun set before the Beach Party. A bit tired, we get back home around 10pm, order in some Thai food from Sea on 1st Ave and watch a good movie (In Bruges, best movie I’ve seen in 2008 so far !).

Sunday: we get up late, and watch the (amazing breath-taking fantastic best-ever) Wimbledon finale between Federer and Nadal. After the second rain interruption, at 2pm, we think it’s time to leave and bet on the winner (I’m supporting Nadal, she’s supporting Federer). We walk west to Washington Square Park (still under construction - what a bad schedule from the city ! - and what a DUMB idea !!), and south to SoHo through West Broadway. We’re lucky and watch the last sets of the tennis finale in front of Felix. We take the subway to 72nd street and enter Central park at the John Lennon’s memorial and I tell my mother about the conspiracy theory behind the murder. We pass by SummerStage and then walk north in Central Park up to 110st Street and then towards St John The Divine’s Cathedral, which renovation is almost finished. We then visit the campus of Columbia University - my mother never saw it and I love the main square between the Memorial Library and the Butler Library. We continue north along the Hudson, pass by General & President Grant’s Tomb, and end up at Dinosaur BBQ (131st Street and Riverside drive) for a feast of hot chicken wings and blue cheese sauce !! We finish up the day by crashing the sofa watching 300.

What a week end !! 5 days to go:

Monday: we meet at the apartment after work, and walk down to Delancey through east village and Lower East Side. We catch the J/M/Z to Williamsburg, wander around the orthodox Jewish area - something you don’t see every where: this Hasidim community (Satmar, Lubavitch) is the largest worldwide and always reminds me of Meah Shaerim in Jerusalem. We walk back north to Bedford, have a beer and dinner at The Lodge (Grand St and Havemeyer). We continue north passing by two cool restaurants where we might come back: Fette Sau, a low key relaxed bbq restaurant with tons of different beers and a cozy simple terrace, and the Roebling Tea Room that has a very appetizing menu, i.e. lots of cheese :). We end up on the terrace of a nice little italian restaurant on the corner of 9th Street and Wythe St.

Tuesday: my mom woke up late and walked alone for the entire day. We meet after work in the City Hall park, close to the fountain and under the beautiful Woolworth Building. We cross the Brooklyn bridge heading to DUMBO, and walk around the Brooklyn bridge park sunset (there happens to be a filmset for Ugly Betty). We have dinner at Water Street Pub and Restaurant. We end up the evening crashing down on sofa for Gone Baby Gone (amazing movie !!).

Wednesday: we meet for lunch midtown, the my mother goes to the MoMa. We meet again after work midtown, cruise down park avenue for the “Heads” exhibit, have a beer at Rodeo Bar on 27th and 3rd avenue. We then have a delicious Indian dinner at Banana Leaf, one of 1,349 indian restaurants on Lexington between 27th St and 29th St (the second Indian corner of Manhattan, with 6th Street). We end up this beautiful night with some drinks at the Rare View on 37th and Lexington, a rooftop bar with a very nice view.

Thursday: after a busy morning doing some shopping and a quiet afternoon reading in the park, my mother meets me at the Apple store on fifth. We walk down fifth avenue and head home to pack: she’s leaving tomorrow ! A last drink and dinner in Lower East Side, and it will have been a busy week !

Hope this program can give you some ideas if you’re visiting New York, or have friends visiting !

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