MoMadness

Despite vowing to focus on the arts for a while, I can’t say we’ve done a good job so far.

We definitely demonstrated our dedication by queueing in 37° (98°F) heat to see a taping of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart (and I will challenge anyone to say that it’s not art!). The Democrats were on the chopping board with a few digs at Obama and, of course, Anthony Weiner – the comedy gift that just keeps giving!

A more legitimate effort perhaps was a trip to the MoMa, motivated by the thought of a lobster slider in the MoMa bar afterwards.

As we arrived at the gallery and bought a ticket, the cashier dug into a bowl of badges and handed us each a black badge with slogans on them. Cool, I thought, free stuff! Then I looked down at my badge, which says “MAKE A SALAD” in big bold letters. What are you trying to say MoMa?

I take a look at Stack’s badge hoping his is equally insulting but instead it advises him in a cursive scrawl to “Look Elsewhere”… What the?! I’m about to go and wring the scrawny salad-eating cashier’s neck so Stack has to try and placate me with the “It’s just art” line. My mood soured, it’s perhaps not surprising that my favourite exhibit was the dark and disturbing German post-war impressionism. To add insult to injury the MoMa bar was too busy and we couldn’t get a table. That’s it.. Art Week is so over!

Our MoMa Badges

At least it was one more thing off the list. Our list, scribbled on a pink Post-it, has proven to be quite motivational. Our remaining days are starting to revolve around crossing items off it. Holed up in the ‘Snice again today we realised the Highline Park was nearby and the temptation to draw a line through another item was strong enough to outweigh the thought of lugging laptops around. Checking out the re-purposed elevated railway was well worth the resulting sore shoulders.

Highline park

Stack on the highline

Railway shadows

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The food-related items, mostly recommendations from friends, don’t seem to survive long on the list. We’ve knocked off burgers at 5 Napkin Burger, where Stack complained he had 4 less napkins than advertised. We ate mouthwatering delicate sushi so we could check off BondSt Sushi, a somewhat pretentious joint where the chilliness of the staff was a long way from the overexcited ninjas of our last sushi adventure.

We finally got a spot and gathered together a foursome for Momofuko’s famous fried chicken dinner. I’d been loitering on their online reservation system for weeks when finally my patience was rewarded but, while fun,  it was ultimately somewhat of a disappointment. I don’t suppose any kind of fried chicken could have lived up to that level of anticipation.

Finally we went to Max Brenner’s, a chocolate restaurant I’d spotted nearby, whose slogan is “Chocolate from the Bald Man”. Indeed there was no hair in our chocolate fondue but Stacker hated the place, being intimidated by the maniacal glee that would overcome most women as they walked through the door.  Luckily, he happened not to be looking at me when I spotted the chocolate-filled syringes…

Well that’s plenty of food talk for now.. Stack has just put a Blue Moon in my hand and it’s time for dinner!

Momofuko’s chicken

ZD at Alta with Torres Mas la Plana

Chocolate Syringes

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