14:00 hours: The Standard Hotel

Jaime here and finally getting around to writing about our adventures in NYC.

Our first stop was the Standard Hotel in the Meatpacking district for a late brunch.  The Mod-style architecture doesn’t resonate with some, but if you’re the Mad Men-loving, Manhattan-drinking, Beehive-sporting type, this might just be the place for you.    Personally, I do find the vast amount of concrete hanging in the sky an artistic and engineering marval, but I think that the interior décor of the hotel trumps the exterior design.    This is one of those places where I would choose to live.   Like that movie with the little girl that lives at the Ritz – well this would be my choice for a home – not that I would turn down the Ritz – but I think you get the point.    



photo from http://www.vanityfair.com/



In true NY style we had a bit of a wait getting into the Standard Grill.  With about an hour or so to burn we started walking down the street.  It was with great surprise that we stumbled upon the Standard Biergarten.  Seriously ?  This is amazing!  This pretty authentic Biergarten was a treat and reminded us of our trip together to Munich years ago. 

Back then: we could hardly finish two sips of a beer/lemonade mix and were more interested with finding the closest H&M (they were only in Germany back then.)

Now:  Well, the beer went down much easier and with great pleasure and even though there was likely an H&M within a couple mile radius (after all, it is NYC ) we were too excited about the company and atmosphere to care.   

Once you're in the Biergarten, each eight dollar ticket gets you a beer, a pretzel, or a sausage – your choice.   Heaven!  One cautionary note: think twice before ordering something other than the Standard trifecta of Beirgarten fare.  You know you’re in trouble when the bar tender rolls out financing options for a glass of vino.

We were so deep into dreams of lederhosen and spaghetti ice that we missed the cell phone call announcing that our table was ready over at the Standard Grill.  The hostesses were tall and model-esk.  And with that typical runway nonchalant-ness, they gave very little mind to our argument that giving away our initial table was completely and utterly unjust.  They calmly sat us at the next available table in the indoor café-like section of the restaurant.  The Décor is fabulous and feels rustic French bistro.   The ambiance alone was enough to quench the collective fire about losing our first chance at a table.  It was love at first sight for me and I hadn’t even laid eyes on a menu!   We found the waiters to be great and the food out of this world.   Talk about having to make some tough meal choices  - everything looked great. 



photo from: http://www.standardhotels.com/

We started with a couple of drinks from the Brunch Cocktail menu.  Most cocktails were a mix of fresh fruits and vintage liquors.  Notice the Bloody Mary.  That was mine.  Bloody Mary mix muddled with fresh hand-cut  rosemary, thyme, and sage.  Now my typical Bloody Mary mantra is "go big or go home",  but the top gun here was Bloody Mary mix with beef bullion.  I just couldn’t up the ante this day folks.  Yech. 

For brunch I chose the creamy polenta with broccoli rabe, fried egg, and sausage.   All the best things in my world. Loved it. 

Other choices include:

Baked eggs Florentine with gruyere cheese in a cute cast iron dish with a side of toast;

Chilled Carrot Soup with cardamom and orange-maple yogurt (sweet china, right?);

And last, but certainly not least, the Vegetable Panini with grilled eggplant, roasted tomato, and smoked mozzarella cheese.  

We skipped desert but opted for a selection of artisan cheeses and home-baked, sea-salted rolls for the road.  Together with the bottle of champagne that we brought along for the ride (here’s hoping oversize bags will never go out of style!) we took our take away desert on a High Line adventure.  We took in the city and the Hudson at bird’s eye level as we feasted on savory cheese and bubbles.   

Doesn’t get much better than that!