Tag: Cuisine

Sunday: Back in Fort Lauderdale . . . . .

Greetings, gentle readers.

AAC CPA and I are back on terra firma and again ensconced  at the Ritz-Carlton in Fort Lauderdale where we began this adventure 8 days ago. We disembarked Celebrity Silhouette early this morning (around 8:00 AM) and were in checked-in at the hotel and unpacked by 9:15. How’s that for good travel karma?

(We heard from a fellow passenger – who wasn’t able to disembark as early as we – that disembarkation had a bit of an immigration kerfuffle and everything stopped mid-morning, and he and his party were delayed from getting off the ship for quite some time. No fun, that.)

Since I haven’t posted for a couple of days, I should tell you that the remainder of our cruise was quite lovely. Today’s post will be, mostly, about all the food we consumed. For Friday lunch, we ate at Murano, arguably the best table on the high seas and certainly the best restaurant on the ship. I wasn’t hungry (of course), so I had 2 appetizers: a crab salad, followed by a risotto, both of which were deeeelicious.

Murano Lunch 2
Crab Salad with Avocado

Murano lunch 3
Porcini and Morel Risotto peaking through a truffle foam

Then we may have made a tactical error: we were invited to (and attended) a special Champagne Tea on Friday afternoon. Did we really need all those tea sandwiches, scones and pastries? Not really, but we cut back to save ourselves and our waistlines – we cut the tea.

On Friday night, we began our evening with cocktails back at the Molecular Bar, followed by dinner at Tuscan Grille, both of which were delightful although, for some unexplained reason, we had lost our appetites (which didn’t stop us from over-ordering, as usual). We had an amazing window table at the very back of the ship. 

Molecular Bar
Wacky and wonderful cocktails at Molecular Bar

Tuscan Grill
Our window table at Tuscan Grille (in the rear)

Tuscan Grille specializes in pastas and steaks and it didn’t disappoint. After sharing a Caprese and a “Chop Chop Italian Salad”, we split 2 pastas as a middle course: a fabulous Spaghetti alla Bolognese and Pappardella Alfredo con Aragosta (that’s lobster), which was dreamy. For the main, we split a grilled filet mignon and seafood skewers with Tuscan fries and Mediterranean vegetables as sides. No need for desserts.

Oh, and the holidays were getting closer and closer as every day something new appeared somewhere on the ship:

Celebrity Noel

Saturday was the last day at sea and the last day of the cruise. The passengers seemed to move into high gear so as not to miss out on anything. It was very high voltage.

The “highlight” of the last day – if one can call it that – was the “Egg Drop Competition”, in which various teams built protective devices into which 2 raw eggs were placed. Said device was then dropped from the 7th floor of the ship’s atrium down to the 3rd floor. Their devices had to land within the target range (“x” marks the spot), at which point a designated team member had to extract the eggs which were, hopefully, intact (ie., no “egg casualties”). Then the assembled onlookers would rate each team on a scale of 1 – 5. Some of the voting was brutal and mean (schadenfreude, anyone?). Some of the devices were very clever, as were some of the team names: “Eggstacy”, “Great Eggspectations” “Eggsasperation” and so on. I have no pictures to post, as they would not do justice to the event.

After all that excitement, it was time to start packing. Yes, all good things must end. We had made arrangements to have a farewell gala dinner with our group at Murano. Because there were 8 of us, we were given the private “wine cellar” for our last supper. It was definitely the finest meal of the cruise and there was quite a bit of hilarity around the table as well. Some of what we had:

Murano Scallop
How about Diver Scallop Wellington Style to start the meal?

Murano Rack
Followed by a sensational herb crusted lamb rack

Oh, and followed by a cheese course, just ’cause (no pix, unfortunately, but we all know what it looks like).

Murano Dessert
Six shots for dessert for 2

After all that, it was time for “au revoirs” and “toodle-loos”. We’ll meet again, don’t know when, don’t know where, but it was just one of those things.

Oh, and btw, remember that I was telling you about the over the moon pastries that were offered with breakfast every morning? Take a look:

Celebrity Pastry

Here’s your Rorschach question for today: What do you see when you look into the pastry?

Next time, I’ll regale you with tales of our final 2 days in Fort Lauderdale before winging it back to lil’ ol’ New York City.

 

Monday – At Sea but Not AT Sea

So you probably know that AAC CPA and I love traveling by ship and what we especially like are sea days. Our friend, Kurt, invited us to join him on Celebrity Silhouette for this 7-day cruise round-trip from and to Ft. Lauderdale and visiting 3 ports in the Caribbean. The best part for us is those sea days: 3 of them, in fact. Today is the first of them, and it’s been delightful. Nothing to do and all day to do it!

Here’s what I saw from our veranda first thing this morning:
Celebrity AM Shot
  Aren’t sea days the best?

We started with a lovely breakfast at our designated restaurant, Luminae. Everyone there is so friendly and eager to please. Of course, there is way too much food. I thought I’d just have a couple of eggs (over medium) but how did it happen that out from the kitchen came home fries, hash browns, a broiled tomato, sautéed mushrooms, corned beef hash and rye toast? I haven’t even mentioned the pastry cart, from which this nuclear Danish leapt onto my plate.

From there, we went to visit our concierge, Jola (from Belgium), who’s been amazing. AAC CPA and I have decided that we want to host our group (there are 8 of us altogether) for a Thanksgiving dinner in our cabin. It looks like that’s going to happen, so now we’re determining the logistics. Stay tuned, as I think it’s going to be a fun experience.

On the way back to the cabin from Michael’s Club, we passed by the Molecular Bar and vowed to have a cocktail there this evening.

Celebrity Molecular
  Wouldn’t you want to drink at this watering hole?

Then back to the cabin, as we like lolling around the suite. We have a wonderful butler, Alex, who’s taking excellent care of us. The cabin was all made up and we could just set up with some nice morning music (Duke Ellington) and some light reading on the veranda.

Celebrity AAC on Veranda
   AAC CPA peruses the Sunday NY Times on Monday.

Before we knew it, it was time to eat again. We exercised some restraint, because we have great dinner plans tonight – the 1st of our specialty restaurants: Qsine, which has a really cool dining concept. Here’s how they describe the food: “Flavours originate from around the world to fuse in delighting ways at Qsine. Sushi lollipops, lobster escargot and popcorn fish and chips all feature on a menu designed to evoke your senses.” Who wouldn’t want to try that?

Celebrity Qsine1
And here’s the entrance to Qsine

Celebrity Qsine2
And here’s some of the wacky innovative Qsine cuisine

After lunch, it was time for a stroll up on decks 14 and 15, where the pools and other fun things are. Did you know that there’s a real grass lawn up on deck 15? And that’s where the Lawn Club Grill is located and where we’ll be having dinner on Tuesday evening. They also have some funny furniture up there:

Celebrity AAC Chair
AAC CPA channels Edith Ann, “and that’s the truth!”

Later, it was time for AAC CPA to try out the veranda Jacuzzi, for real this time. You may recall that Kurt photoshopped AAC CPA into the Jacuzzi, which appeared in a recent blog entry. Here’s the real deal:

Celebrity Jacuzzi.jpg
Isn’t he a cutie?

And here’s a late day view from the veranda, much like this morning’s but yet different:

Celebrity PM Shot
   Watching the world go by

Now it’s time for a little nappy and then it’s a dress-up night. We’re going to try and have that cocktail at the Molecular Bar and then off to Qsine.

Oh, and yes, tomorrow mid-afternoon we make our first post, San Juan.

San Juan
Lovely San Juan

Watch this space for more schmoozin’ and cruisin’. Buh-bye for now.

 

 

 

 

A Little Taste of Paris Down in Soho

Gentle Readers:

Who knew that I’d be blogging for a 2nd time in the past 12 hours, but I wanted to share our day with you and, also, pivot towards the other two prongs (“PRONGS”???) of this blog: food and art. I hope you won’t mind.

First of all, today presented a bit of a challenge, as it was the housekeeper’s day to be here and, although she doesn’t mind when we’re underfoot, AAC CPA doesn’t care for it at all. Please understand, we have a fabulous housekeeper – Nalini – and she’s been with us for more years that we can count. Nay, AAC just likes to have the place – the entire place, that is – to himself. So he’d rather clear out than share it. The fact that he shares it with me is a minor miracle, in fact.

NOTE: If opera isn’t your thing, please skip to below the CULTURE TIP below. 🙂

So, our first stop today was the Metropolitan Opera, where we’d been invited to a “working rehearsal” of Il Trovatore, with Anna Netrebko and Dimitri Hvorostovsky in the leading roles. We are very fortunate to be able to attend these rehearsals, as I very much enjoy the opera. AAC CPA is a bit more discerning. Yes, it’s true he’s attended something like 6 Ring Cycles over the years, but ask him to attend a mediocre performance of La Boheme and he’ll go right to sleep.

A working rehearsal, unlike a dress rehearsal or regular performance, means that there will be stops, things will be cleaned up, lights will be set and who knows what other mayhem may occur. Sure enough, there were some interesting repeats today. And you should have heard that Anvil Chorus!! And those men who worked the anvils – mamma mia!!!!

Anvil Chorus
See what I mean?

Madame Netrebko was in fabulous voice, even for a working rehearsal. And her core strength must be awesome, as she slowly lowered herself onto one knee as she sang a beautifully shaped phrase without any stress whatsoever on her beautiful voice. Talk about star quality!!

Netrebko
Anna Nebtrebko in Il Trovatore at Salzburg

We were very fortunate to be able to hear Hvorostovsky. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor in June and canceled all summer performances so that he could begin immediate treatment. While his vocal cords were unimpaired, he was having severe balance issues, which kept him off the stage. While our sopranos faint, jump off parapets, and often portray the weaker sex, we like our baritones sturdy. As it turns out, he’s been able to appear in the 1st three performances of this run of Trovatore, after which he’ll return to London for further treatment. We send him our best and hope for a complete and permanent recovery.

Dimitri
Dimitri Hvorostovsky in Il Trovatore at the Met

We will be at his 3rd performance, which is on Saturday afternoon, October 3rd and, if you have any interest at all, you can attend, too. Or, at least you be there as a part of the Met’s Live in HD series. Cinemas all over the world will have a live transmission of this performance, with lots of fun looks backstage during the breaks. Tickets are around $22.00 (whereas you’d probably pay between $230 – $340 for an orchestra seat at the Met). A good deal, I’d say.

CULTURE TIP: Live in HD

We stayed at the Met ’til the first break, in the middle of Act I, Scene iii (Azucena had just admitted that she’d thrown the wrong baby – her own son!!! – into the fire – don’t ask!), and decided it was time to head downtown for a little taste of Paris in Soho. By that, I mean we decided to have lunch on the patio at Laduree. Do you know it or have you, perhaps, eaten or shopped there when you were in Paris? It’s an institution and you really know that you’re in Paris when you enter its doors. Before you can get to the restaurant, though, you have to pass through the patisserie, which just made my mouth water as I typed that word.

The Laduree in Soho has a lovely shaded patio, where we sat and enjoyed a leisurely lunch of club sandwiches. All around us, people were chatting in French and, if you closed your eyes and took a bite of your sandwich, you would swear you were on the Rue de Rivoli or the Champs-Élysées. It was that good. And, in fact, here’s AAC CPA anticipating his lunch:

IMG_1362
Yes, it’s AAC CPA at Laduree

And here’s lunch:

IMG_1363
Laduree Club Sandwich

Let me just say that Laduree didn’t let us down. We had a very civilized meal on their beautiful patio between the Il Trovatore and the next Italian experience we were about to have.

CUISINE TIP: Laduree

After our delightful lunch, it was time to turn our attention to the world of Italian neorealism. Our new favorite movie house in New York, Film Forum, has just started a Vittorio De Sica retrospective, and this afternoon we went to see what is arguably his greatest film, Ladri di Biciclette (Bicycle Thieves). It is a film that we’ve known about for many years, but just saw for the first time today. Almost plotless, it shows the desperate circumstances in which the working class found itself in post-war Italy. A somber and tragic film and yet laced throughout with moments of humor. Check it out here:

CULTURE TIP: Bicycle Thieves at Film Form

And that was our day. When we got back to the apartment, the place was so clean that you could eat off of the floors. That’s no joke – Nalini is that good.

Now begins the task of packing for London and our crossing on Queen Mary 2. We leave for JFK in 36 hours. Tick, tock, everyone!!

The First Post – Sunday, September 13, 2015

(OK. Telling myself to take a deep breath and then exhale.)

Here goes:

For many years, friends and acquaintances have encouraged me to start a blog, to which I have always replied: “HUH?”

Their arguments are that I do cool and interesting things regarding cuisine, culture and travel, not always in that order, but they are the things that I do do (as Cole Porter might have sung). My friends always seem to take interest in my exploits and, they say, why shouldn’t I share these experiences with others? After all, someone else might just be interested or, even, benefit from these shenanigans. To which I have always replied: “SERIOUSLY?”

I’ve finally decided to stick a big toe in the blog water (ewww) and see what happens. To get started, I (of course) googled “How To Start a Blog”. (I had no clue.) I was directed to check out this thing called “Word Press”, which seems to be the go-to for idiots like me who have no idea what they’re doing, blog-wise. I signed up (for free, just in case my blog is a disaster), chose a design template, and OFF WE GO! (Thank you, Word Press??!!!)

The leading roles in this enterprise will be played by me and my husband, AAC, CPA. And, for his first closeup, here he is aboard Crystal Serenity last Spring (yes, that’s a full moon in the background):

IMG_0710

He is my muse, my best friend, my everything. He will be the face of The Cultured Traveler, as he’s the prettier one (and a pretty good sport in putting up with me nagging him about all these photos). On rare travel exploits, you may see the occasional photo of, for instance, my feet, but that’s about it. As Christopher Isherwood appropriately put it (at least, for me): “I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking.”

Well, maybe I’ll think while I blog, at least a little bit.

Rather than looking backwards and sharing past experiences, I’ll start with what’s on the food/arts/travel horizon.

First up:

We’re flying to London on Friday for a quick 36 hours and then motoring down to Southampton, where we will board QM2 for a crossing back to little old New York City. It’s a 7-day voyage across the pond, a trip we’ve made many times (12 or 13 times previously?), but not on QM2 since 2004. It will be interesting to see how the old girl is behaving and I’ll endeavor be your faithful reporter whilst we cross. Yes, new blog friends, to be precise and nautically correct, it’s a “crossing” or a “voyage” but NOT a “cruise”. I’m not even kidding about it. That’s the lingo.

So, I hope you enjoy The Cultured Traveler and I look forward to entertaining you.

Next Stop: London!

PS. Oh, and if you like what you’re reading (or even think there’s the remote chance that you will), please share with absolutely everyone you’ve ever met in your entire life. AAC, CPA and I thank you in advance.