Spoiled. I feel completely spoiled.
Yesterday morning I met Michael and Traci White for brunch…at Tavern on the Green. That was just the beginning of a magical day. The whole day was a dream.
I was running a few minutes late. My dyslexia kicked in and I read the address incorrectly (I only have that problem with numbers for some reason.). I knew Tavern on the Green was in Central Park but I wasn’t sure exactly where. For the record, it is on the west side of the park at 68th street. My eyes read 68th as 86th – so when I got there, as expected, there was no Tavern on the Green to be found.
This mishap had me running late, so I jumped in a cab and headed south down the west side of the park.
I got to Tavern on the Green and Traci was waiting outside for me. We went in and set down a few minutes in the bar before being shown to the dinning room. The stain glass and lights…the dark woods…everything was beautiful. I’ve seen Tavern on the Green in several movies but I never got a true feeling for the space and location. It is tucked just inside Central Park under tall trees that act as a canopy.
The Michael and Traci treated me to a delicious brunch and each of us soaked it all in while we caught up about my move, their daughter Madeline and Michael’s school schedule and projects. Yesterday they took in Spamalot, so we compared notes from the show and spent a while quoting Monty Python lines back and forth over a delicious spread of food.
Visit: www.tavernonthegreen.com
After brunch Traci decided that she wanted to take a horse drawn carriage ride through Central Park and they asked me to come along. It was their anniversary and I tried insisting that they spend the time together, but they wouldn’t hear of it. So, I joined the ride.
While we’d been inside eating the sun had broken through the rainy skies and the weather was gorgeous. Pulled by horse with a one blue eye and one brown one, our carriage went along the Central Park West. The driver pointed out John Lennon’s former residence and then took us back inside the park and along the sidewalk memorial mosaic that says, Imagine.
The runners, joggers, walkers and strollers were out in full force enjoying the break in the rain. The grassy lawn areas were filling up with sun bathers as the carriage pulled back along the sidewalk by Tavern on the Green. The ride was shorter than Traci had wanted but we all enjoyed it.
We walked through the park in the direction of the Zoo. We parted ways when I thought we were close (ended up we were way off). As we said goodbye Traci and Michael reinforced a second invitation for me to join them…this time for dinner. They had reservations at a restaurant that I hadn’t heard of…they’d already made the reservation for three in hopes that I would say yes.
The restaurant was Nobu owned my film industry mega-talent Robert DiNiro. It is located in the Tribeca area of Manhattan, which is lower on the island. Tribeca is where Mr. DiNiro resides and he has done a lot and given back to the community again and again over the last few years. I had never heard of Nobu and actually Michael and Traci had started to cancel the reservation and look for something else when their concierge said he would strongly recommend that they kept it. He said the wait list is remarkable and it remains impossible for him to get hotel guests in there.
So, they kept it and asked that I not blow them off and spend another meal with them.
I accepted.
I met them at their hotel….the absolutely gorgeous Sofitel…it was like the waiting room of Heaven. Everything was so sleek and elegant.
Visit: www.sofitel.com
We walked two doors down and had a drink at the famed Algonquin hotel, which was something Michael had always wanted to do. We walked into the dark and rich bar of the Algonquin and enjoyed a martini before heading to Nobu.
Visit: www.thealgonquin.com
We arrived right on time and were shown to the back of the restaurant and taken into the private dining area.
Amazing.
Remarkable.
Exhilarating.
Divine.
Pure.
Delicious.
Mesmerizing.
Enchanting.
Glorious.
In my 30 years on this earth I’ve had great meals but nothing…absolutely like this. For me, a good meal means that the breadsticks were fresh the last time I was at the Olive Garden (Ha ha. That’s actually an exaggeration…I have had wonderful meals in great non-chain restaurants, but this was different.).
THIS was not just a meal – it was truly an experience. Everything…every sip, every bite seemed to be the building block the next course would be built upon. I can’t even describe it…nothing I can write would justify it. It was just...incredible. I have never tasted such flavors.
I let Michael and Traci do all the ordering. I found several things on the menu that I recognized but opted instead to surrender to the experience of Sushi and Japanese cuisine. For those who know me well, you know when it comes to meals I’m seldom break from the norm…ok, never break from the norm. If I can’t pronounce it or if it doesn’t have a picture I can point to on the menu, the likelihood of me ordering it is very slim.
I’m sure I sound unsophisticated and very, very common…but that’s me - at least when it comes to what I eat. But, like I said, I broke the pattern…I stepped out and I was rewarded for opening myself up to new things.
Visit: www.noburestaurants.com
As we left the restaurant we passed famed indie-actor Benicio Del Toro coming in and checking on his reservation. This made Traci happy, since she’d spent most of the walk through Central Park earlier in the day trying to spot a celebrity.
We took a cab back uptown to the Sofitel where Traci and I waited in the bar as Michael ran upstairs. In the sunken bar of the hotel, I had a Godiva chocolate martini that was like kissing the love of your life.
When Michael us they made the decision to try a posh French dessert restaurant three doors down called B D . There, in the warm red-painted atmosphere, I turned the menu back over to them. Michael ordered me the best brandy…twice. There was gentle bite and dark glow to it. As the desserts arrived I realized he had chosen it to be the most amazing companion to what we were able to eat. Every bite was rhapsody. Michael and I ordered rich, delicious desserts and Traci had the most incredible fruit and cheese plate. We passed the plates and loaded forks around the table again and again…enjoying each any every combination.
Perfect bites of fork-sized Heaven.
I spent the evening feeling like I was flying and dancing through the most exotic experience. The food, the surroundings, the conversation…everything seemed orchestrated to create the most intense evening of food and
Because of that “dancing through the most exotic experience” feeling I had going, Michael and Traci put me in a cab to go home.
As I rode back to my little apartment in Spanish Harlem I wore a tender smile. I mentioned be spoiled earlier…that’s true in some sense, but I also felt incredibly treasured. Over both brunch at Tavern on the Green and dinner at Nobu, Michael and Traci both spoke repeatedly of the investment of time, love, dedication, energy and passion I had put into making Michael’s books and appearances successful. They said that the days experiences were not how any of us lived every day but that they wanted me to be a part of it as a “thank you” for all I had done during my time in Atlanta.
I was truly touched. It was an incredibly special day. I can’t thank them enough.
