Rainy Sunday

On Sunday, I met Giggles, Frenchie, Stamps and one of my favorite couples, Guinness and Soju, for dim sum at the Golden Unicorn in Chinatown.  The key to dim sum is to arrive early for if you arrive at noon you'll be part of the mob scene waiting for your number to be called ("Num-bah Foh-tee See-x").  We met at 11:00 am and were quickly seated.  Giggles's friend joined us a bit later and Frenchie asked how they knew each other to which Giggles admitted they had been brought together by eHarmony.  Unfortunately they did not end up as happy as that annoying couple on the commercial (Ann Marie and Lee I think) but they now do dim sum.  Meanwhile, Stamps was aggressively in pursuit of pork buns (cha siu baau) asking the bewildered man in his strange green blazer who usually takes the drink orders "Can you send over the cart with the pork buns?"  She was fidgeting impatiently and her eyes darted wildly, scanning the restaurant to find a cart stacked with steamer baskets and willing it to come to our table.  Finally, Stamps and pork buns were united and we secured 3 servings. Guinness helped himself to one and was in the midst of inhaling the precious delicacy when someone at the table (I can't remember who) pointed out he was eating the wrapper which he had neglected to remove.  He looked incredulously at Soju and said "Why didn't you remove it!" apparently having lost the ability upon marriage to not eat the paper.  He was not alone as eHarm, not having learned from Guinness, also managed to eat the paper.  After, we had thoroughly gorged ourselves, Guinness had presents for the ladies, fulfilling our sweet discounted Avon product orders as our personal 40-something, male Avon consultant (he works in the head office). We ooh'd and ahh'd over eye creams and bath gels while eHarm looked baffled.  "We're having a Tupperware party next week if you want to join" said Stamps to eHarm. 

After dim sum, Giggles, eHarm, Stamps and me walked across the Manhattan Bridge.  I would not do this again as the scenery is so-so and the sound of the subway barreling down the tracks right next to you every two minutes is LOUD!  Here are some of the sites:

Chinatown:

Graffiti:

We dropped off eHarm at the subway and set out to explore DUMBO, which is a silly acronym for "Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass" and also happens to be the trendy Brooklyn neighborhood du jour.  We stopped for a beverage at Baco Cafe - chai tea for Stamps, iced coffee for Giggles and sparkling water with lemon for me.

We also met this dog sitting patiently outside a furniture store:

We were in a cute shop when the skies opened up and it started to pour. I saw the drops when I left my place this morning, but I was running late and refused to go back upstairs to get an umbrella. My jaw dropped as the rain was really coming down. Giggles needed a washroom and ran outside to find a restaurant/bar with only her tiny, pastel-pink, polka dotted umbrella to shield her from the rain. After making a couple purchases (I got an awesome $15 silver and turquoise beaded ring), me and Stamps squeezed together under her umbrella and ran to two different bars along the street in search of Giggles, but both places were closed for weddings. Finally, at the end of the street, there was a Mexican restaurant called Pedro’s where we sought refuge and texted Giggles to meet. Giggles stumbled into Pedro's with a new, much larger umbrella purchased at a barber shop.  We sat at the bar until the rain subsided and ordered drinks – a Michelada made with Negro Modelo for Stamps, Margarita on the Rocks with salt for Giggles and a Corona with lime for me.  Views from my barstool:

Look at that rain...

Love the hot chili lights....

When the rain had stopped, we headed to the Brooklyn Bridge to return to Manhattan, stopping to buy chips for Giggles as she was getting a bit drunk off her one margarita.  It rained again while crossing the bridge and Giggles handed me her pretty pink umbrella, which I gladly accepted despite mocking it earlier.

Dinner time!  After we briefly crashed in Giggles’s apartment and recharged with Austin Powers on TV and drinks – vodka and Perrier for Stamps, tea for Giggles and tea for me – we took a cab to the East Village to try the pizza at Motorino. Pizza is very important to me and through the years my pizza tastes have evolved from the mini-frozen discs you nuke in the microwave, to big-chain pizzas to really great wood/coal oven pizzas with artisanal cheeses and organic ingredients. We waited for close to an hour in the rain, huddled together under our umbrellas, for the chance to eat at the best new pizzeria in NYC according to Time Out New York magazine.  It was well worth it!

For appetizers, I ordered the sweet corn and Stamps and Giggles had the warm, spicy octopus and potato.

The sweet corn was perfectly cooked with a beautiful grill marks, brushed with oreganata butter and topped with grated pecorino.  I had a bite of the spicy octuopus which was well seasoned and tender.  We then eagerly waited for our pies – Soppressata Picante for Stamps, Prosciutto di Parma for Giggles and Margherita for me.

This was the Eat, Pray, Love dining experience I was waiting for!  This authentic napoletana pizza had a thicker doughier crust on the periphery, but was thinner and floppier beneath the toppings, so I attacked my pie with a knife and fork and when I drew closer to the crust, I picked it up and ate with my hands.  The crust, oft discarded by pizza eaters to the side of the plate, had a lovely smokey flavor and slight char from the special wood burning oven used by Motorino which was different than that of the pizzas baked in traditional NY coal burning ovens (think Lombardi's).  The sauce was well balanced and the globs of fresh mozzarella were soft and stringy.  There were specks of fresh basil and good garlic flavor which I chose to enhance with several generous shakes of red pepper flakes and a bit of salt.  I was in pizza heaven and polished off the entire portion, including the crust which was too delicious to waste.  Giggles and Stamps also enjoyed their pizza though they lack my ridiculous pizza eating capabilities and were unable to finish.  I can think it's safe to say, we will be back!

It was a long day with my ladies and we finally parted ways - West Village for Stamps, Financial District for Giggles and Murray Hill for me.  The delivery guy took pity on me and ran out onto 1st Ave in the torrential downpour to hail me a taxi, as he was already soaked (chivalry is not dead!).  I got home, showered, put on my favorite pink and white striped pajama pants and called my parents.  It was a weekend of friends, relaxation and carbs, which is all amazing - but now I needed a dose of family.