NYC. December 8th and 9th, 2020. The Beekman.

We took this trip in December when positivity rates were trending upward and things were getting so bad that there was talk about NYC closing indoor dining. We definitely took a little more risk on this trip than we did on the previous one, but I think the fact that we ended up eating outside in 30 degree weather shows that we were still pretty conservative in our Covid protocols.

December 8th, 2020

For my birthday, Tzvi planned a one-night getaway to the city. He got my parents to agree to babysit and then booked a night at a hotel without telling me. He actually told me a couple of days ago, and it was a great surprise.

We left the house around 9:30 and headed into the city. We parked in Midtown and then walked to Bryant Park. Our first stop was to get hot chocolate and macarons at the newly opened Angelina bakery (which we had also visited when we went to Paris). It was just as delicious as I remembered it being in Paris and the shop has the French charm that makes you feel like you’re back in the 7th arrondissement. The hot chocolate is just so thick; there’s a reason they call it “drinking chocolate.”

From there we walked around the Christmas markets in Bryant Park, and then got tuna sandwiches and a box of donuts from the Breads Bakery kiosk. We found a table in the sun next to the ice skating rink and ate our lunch. It was cold, but ok in the sun. The tuna sandwiches were good, and all of the donuts were delicious - almost like being back in Israel for Chanukah.

After lunch we walked to Rockeffeller Center to see the tree. The tree has gotten a lot of flack this year, but all dressed up in lights it actually looks really nice. We then took a walk around the new FAO Schwartz and bough some gifts for the girls. They have a new version of the piano from Big which doesn’t actually make noise so it was kind of lame.

We got back in the car and drove all the way downtown to the Beekman Hotel. It’s technically a Hyatt so Tzvi booked a premium suite on points (because you had to go to the top tier suite to get a bathtub). We had to do a temperature check when we walked into the hotel, but those things never work and said we were like 93 degrees.

The hotel is gorgeous and is in an art deco building from the late 1800s. It was originally an office building and has crazy ornate details and an incredible center concourse. It’s all decked out for Christmas and makes you really feel like it’s holiday time. Our room is a corner suite with an outer living room, a separate bedroom and a bathroom with a huge shower and freestanding bathtub.

While driving down to the hotel I decided to take the time to pump, except as soon as I started, I realized that my pump battery was almost dead and I had forgotten a charger. We asked the hotel if they had any kind of chargers and they didn’t, so we decided to set off on an adventure to see if I could buy a new charger. It’s a pretty standard plug, so we though we’d be able to find something. First we tried CVS; they didn’t have anything, but they did have a hand pump (for $50!) so we figured we’d come back for that as a worst case scenario. At CVS they suggested we try the dollar store down the block, but all they had were USB cables. The people there directed us to a hardware store another block away; they said they would usually carry it, but they were out, so they told us to try an electronics store a block back toward the hotel. That store actually did have it, and for only $12 (a price that the woman seemed to make up on the spot), but they were cash only, so Tzvi had to go search for an ATM. Finally we made it back to the hotel and thankfully the charger worked. Tired from our almost hour long journey, Tzvi laid down on the bed, which was when he looked at the night table and realized that the clock radio on the night table used the same charger as my pump. Oy.

We relaxed a little and enjoyed our room. We watched A Little Princess as we got ready for dinner (Tzvi had never seen it and was making snide comments about my love for the movie).

Around 630 we went downstairs and checked out the hotel bar. As per New York guidelines they were running at 50% capacity. Tables were spaced pretty far apart and it looked like a lot of people were wearing masks while sitting. We decided it was probably low risk, so we took a table and ordered drinks, but since New York doesn’t let you drink without food, we also ordered a hummus and crudite appetizer. Tzvi had a gin cocktail with allspice dram that was very wintry and I had a gin drink with cranberry and yuzu. Both were delicious and it was just so nice to be drinking inside at a fancy bar like old times.

After drinks we walked all the way downtown to Water Street, basically across the street from Tzvi’s office. It was the first time he had seen the building in 9 months, which is just crazy. It’s weird how empty eveyrthihng is, but you still feel the holiday magic walking around NYC and seeing it all decorated for the holidays. There are so many Christmas trees everywhere, and we even found a menorah outside the Stock Exchange on Wall Street (hey, wait a minute…).

Tzvi had made a reservation at a restaurant called Ampia Rooftop, which has cool outdoor greenhouses, except when we got there they told us that the rooftop was closed because it was too cold. They said they tried to call us (they didn’t) and said we could have space in the indoor dining room. Thanks, but no thanks.

We set off walking and scrambled to figure out what to do. We realized we were a few blocks from Wall Street Grill, so we called and asked if they had any outdoor tables. They said they had one table, and it was available, but “people usually prefer to eat indoors.” Of course they do. When we got to the restaurant we found it was hoppin’ indoors (maybe this is why Covid numbers are going up?). We were taken to the terrace upstairs, which has one table big enough for four people. There was a heater directly above the table and we were actually pretty warm sitting next to each other. It was great - we had our own private dining space.

Risotto

Fried Beef

Steak

Chocolate Cake

We both ordered wine and then shared a fried shredded beef appetizer and a short rib risotto appetizer. For our mains we both ordered the surprise steak special, which was delicious. For dessert we had a chocolate cake that came with some ice cream and whipped cream; the dessert was fine but the weakest part of the meal. We hadn’t been there in a while and we were really pleasantly surprised with how tasty everything was and how nice the experience was.

We walked back to the hotel, pretty exhausted from the day, took a bath and went to bed.

December 9th, 2020

We woke up late, like after 8 am. We didn’t wake up to crying in the middle of the night. We didn’t need to take Hallie to pee at 2 am. I didn’t need to feed a tiny human at 5 o’clock in the morning. In other words, we had a gloriously restful night.

Around 10am we went downstairs and checked out breakfast, which was in the same space where we had drinks. There was no one eating in the restaurant, so we felt pretty okay having breakfast there. I had avocado toast with nuts and seeds and Tzvi had shakshuka that came with a huge piece of saaj bread and a tzatziki sauce. Both were good, but Tzvi’s was so spicy he needed to get a second container of tzatziki.

After breakfast we packed up and then took a walk to the Oculus, which I had never been to before. It’s really huge and cavernous and white and kind of makes you feel like you’ve moved into the afterlife. Kind of weird. We walked around and shopped and then walked underground to Brookfield Place, which is basically a fancy mall. From there we walked back at the hotel, making a stop at Aroma to get an iced Aroma and a tuna sandwich. I think the downtown NYC Aroma is the last one left outside of Miami. It’s definitely not as good as it used to be (and not as good as Israel), but it was still good.

We checked out of the hotel, got in the car and headed home. Nice to get away.