Monthly Archives: June 2015

A Weekend in New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven, Connecticut has always been a city of innovation: the lollipop, hamburger, phone book, and first public tree planting. Since the 1990s, the city’s downtown area been undergoing a revitalization of older buildings being repurposed into shops, restaurants, and bars. Yet, at the same time, New Haven has keeping up its history as a place for higher learning and culture.

And the best part is that you can see a lot of it on foot.

For a work assignment with Info New Haven, I spent the weekend in New Haven during the 20th annual International Festival of Arts and Ideas. Held every June, this festival is a roughly two-week event of exhibits, lectures, and musical and artistic performances that take over just about every public space, gallery or theater venue in and around New Haven. Along with offering much discussion and insights on the arts, the nice thing about this festival is that 80 percent of these events are free. For me, highlights included the evocative performance artist Taylor Mac and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Darlene Love. I also got to see “Sinatra: An American Icon.” a temporary photo exhibit on the crooner’s legacy – he’s been to New Haven too – at the Yale School of Art. Culture is a year-round find in downtown New Haven. First there’s the Shubert Theatre, where many great long-running Broadway shows were first introduced. “A Streetcar Named Desire,” and a musical that would be renamed “Oklahoma!” made their debuts there. And then Yale Repertory Theatre stages well-established plays and world premiere productions.

As for art, pay a visit to the Yale University Art Gallery, which houses modern pieces like Rothkos, Pollocks and Picassos, sculptures, antiquities, and decorative pieces. And admissions is free. Another place to visit is the Yale Center for British Art. Although it’s closed until spring 2016 because of conservation project, keep it mind as it holds quite a collection of British art outside of the United Kingdom. Culture aside, New Haven might not be thought of as a college town but Yale University has been a fixture in New Haven since the 1700s. The public can visit the campus through private tours led by undergraduates, who give a history lesson about this Ivy league institution that has its surprising facts. For example, I learned that Yale’s dorms are called colleges and about a tradition involving rubbing the left foot of the statue of a former president for good luck.

While exploring New Haven, consider rewarding your appetite. One way to get familiar with New Haven’s restaurant scene is through Taste of New Haven, a food/drink tour company. Founder and New Haven native Colin Caplan took my group around on a tour of six diverse restaurants.

Our stops included:

– Meat & Co., an artisan sandwich shop in New Haven’s Ninth Square Historic District. It’s the innovative and rotating combos that make their sandwiches interesting and tasty.

– Ordinary, a dark-paneled restaurant and lounge. This place started off as a Colonial tavern (in those days called an ordinary because alcohol could be sold there) and later was the Hotel Taft with famous guests including Babe Ruth and Hollywood greats like Katherine Hepburn and Marlon Brando stopped in. The Ordinary is also quite a nightspot, and cocktails like “Cricket Hill Smash” fit the bill.

– Miya’s Sushi, a three-decade, family-owned restaurant that implements environmental practices in sushi making by using sustainable seafood. Miya’s has even gone a step further in creating a menu of dishes made with invasive species (non-native plants or fish).

– Soul de Cuba, a home-style café focusing on Afro-Cuban culture. There’s a sense of family here, as photos of the employees’ relatives grace the walls, along with great cubanos and fresh mojitos. Pizza is New Haven’s signature dish brought over by Italian immigrants and first served in bakeries. The city’s most recognized pizzeria is Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, or mainly known as Pepe’s, a 90-year-old “apizza” establishment with a history of using coal-fired ovens to bake its thin crust pies. To get a taste of New Haven pizza, Caplan took us to Bar, a restaurant/nightclub with a brewery that serves a unique white pie with a mashed potato and bacon topping. Two other standouts have their respective legacies. Louis’ Lunch has been credited as the birthplace of the American hamburger. Today, this continuously family-owned place still uses cast iron grills from 1898 to cook freshly made burgers — with no need for ketchup. And don’t ask for it. Claire’s Corner Copia serves vegan and gluten-free orders extending to sandwiches, salads, breakfast orders, Mexican entrees, smoothies and desserts.

Next to Claire’s, Basta dishes authentic Italian with a modern twist. Start off with the Sicilian Calamari, Farfalle Funghi or Farfalle di Stagione Con Fagoli. For dessert, definitely get their coconut chocolate bites or tiramisu.

For overnight stays in New Haven, here are two suggestions. First, the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale is not even 10 minutes from Union Station, and close by the New Haven Green. Its John Davenport’s restaurant has sky views of the city and serves regional cuisine with breakfast/buffet, brunch, lunch and dinner options. And The Study at Yale has a studious feel from bookshelves and reading chairs in its lobby area and guestrooms. Its farm-to-table Heirloom Restaurant incorporates regional and artisan food finds in Connecticut and the surrounding New England region.

Disclosure: My time in New Haven was as a guest of INFONewHaven, based on an itinerary they provided.

KLM Pop Up Shop in New York City June 25-27

Toronto, Canada: What to Do in Three Days

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Toronto, Canada can make for a good weekend or holiday weekend destination, particularly if you’re based in the United States and where you’re coming from. For getting to Toronto, your two options involve driving (more so if you’re near New York State or overall the US/Canadian border) or flying (to/from two airports).

As for what to do in Toronto, your options can be pretty spread out. From hockey to history, artsy to culinary, there’s a lot to do in this faceted city. From taking a recent weekend trip, here are my suggestions on what to see in three days.

Hockey Hall of Fame
Toronto has its professional sports teams — Blue Jays for baseball, FC for soccer, and Raptors for basketball — but hockey (Maple Leafs) makes the goal at this museum. Non-hockey fans can learn a lot about its history of this rink sport, which displays jerseys and other gear by greats such as Canadian’s Wayne Gretzky. It’s also where the Stanley Cup is kept along with other trophies. And the museum’s location is different too — on the lower level of a shopping mall.

CN Tower
When completed in the mid-seventies, the CN Tower was once both the world’s tallest tower and free standing structure. A general ticket takes you up the glass elevator straight up 1,136 feet – or 346 m – to its Lookout Level. My friend and I decided to shell out more cash for extra admission to the Skypod, which takes you up an additional 329 feet to another lookout spot. The tower’s 360 Restaurant can be a bit pricey but its all-around window views are pretty nice. The very brave can go on the EdgeWalk, which leads them on a harnessed walk around on the outside of the tower.

Toronto Islands
From the downtown area, catch the ferry or a water taxi to get to this collection of small islands neighboring Lake Ontario and get a glimpse of Toronto’s skyline. My friend and I explore on section of these islands with walkways to a pier and along various paths. From what I’ve read, among these islands you’ll also find an amusement park, a children’s garden, a petting farm and the Gibraltar Lighthouse.

Fort York
It might be odd for a military fort to co-exist among modern-day buildings and a highway, but this National Landmark stands on the place where today’s Toronto was founded. At the times of its construction, the set of fortifications was built to safeguard the area from a potential naval attack – from the United States. The fort also was battered by forces during the War of 1812 and 1813 but was rebuilt a year later to hold off American forces.

St. Lawrence Market
Unfortunately for me, the Saturday of our Memorial Day Weekend I planned to visit this food market it was closed (check hours as it is open at times). I ended up eating at Paddington’s Pump, a restaurant next to the market, but I got to peek inside of it. With a history going back two centuries, the inside of this walk-through place has three different buildings that service specific things like merchants or offices. South Market is where specialty vendors sells fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, grains, baked goods and dairy products.

Kensington Market
St. Lawrence Market may be about tradition, but Kensington Market is more trendy. The scene around this area is like hipster meeting hippie. This Bohemian district has more of an urban feel with a collection of health food stores, tea/coffee shops and eateries ranging from perhaps a pizza joint and vegan bakery to a bagel shop and a store selling flavored popcorn. Mixed in between places to dine, find places to shop such as clothing boutiques or a used record store.

Art Gallery of Ontario
As every major city has its share of museums, Toronto has a number of check out. We ended up seeing the Art Gallery of Ontario, which along with a neat acronym contains quite a collection of Canadian art. More specifically, it holds the works of a specific set of Canadian artists called the Group of Seven who focused on capturing their country’s landscape on canvas. There is also a children’s wing, where young visitors can appreciate art. Aside from AGO, consider the Royal Ontario Museum, which has an assortment of cultural and nature history displays. And the Bata Shoe Museum is all about footwear through the ages.

Casa Loma
It’s a climb to get to Casa Loma, but this hilltop Gothic mansion is a fine example of a private home built to be a show place. Once owned by a financier named Henry Mill Pellatt and wife before the First World War, the costly project ended up being completed for then a whopping $3,500,000. But with hitting a financial slump, the Pellatts couldn’t afford to stay. They had to leave their home after not even living there for 10 years. After they moved out, the castle has had other uses by the Canadian military and as a film set. Remnants of high-end living are still displayed. Definitely get down to the lower level and follow a tunnel area to get to stables where antique cars like a Ford Model T are stored.

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Woolworth Building Lobby Tours

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This past Sunday, I was invited as a media guest of WoolworthTours on a tour of The Woolworth Building’s lobby area. Built in 1913, this neo-Gothic-style skyscraper in downtown Manhattan was once the office building for Frank W. Woolworth, founder and owner of the five-and-dime retail chain.

For years, workers were able to pass through the lobby of The Woolworth Building — even my WoolworthTours guide in his previous job — but then after 9/11 the area was off limits to the general public. It wasn’t until the building’s centennial two years ago was marked with a gala where talks began about reopening the lobby to the public. The only way you’re allowed to see this area is through the tour, and, from my experience, it’s worth doing so.

The Woolworth Tours vary by time (from 20 to 45 minutes) and the sections you’re taken too. I went on the 45-minute tour, which includes the lobby, the lower level and the mezzanine. Whatever tour you go on, you’ll hear a history lesson about not just The Woolworth building but also its namesake, Frank Woolworth.

According to my guide, The Woolworth Building is literally a monument to Woolworth’s legacy. It’s a visual reminder of his retail empire as his five and dime store spread across the nation and even overseas. Inside the building, you find the exterior as a canvas of fine craftsmanship from ceiling to stairways.

Considered to be the tallest building in the world at one point, this structure once contained Irving National Exchange Bank, which financed its construction; a Parisian shopping arcade (we could call it a mall now but there was no Woolworth’s in it); a health club with swimming pool; and a medieval beer house known as a rathskeller that catered to the building’s tenants.

Today, its occupants on the lower floors include NYU’s global affairs center, a technology firm and a travel agency. There’s also a chance that the building will hold residents in the future, as an investment group that has purchased the top 30 floors plan to convert the space into luxury apartments and covert the penthouse into a five-level living space.

You’ll be pointed to embellishments with Ws along with other markings that show the building’s stance as a center of commerce. And, of course, Woolworth’s own character is reflected here. For example, about a dozen or so gargoyles are placed around the interior but they’re not of the usual creatures. Instead, they resemble Woolworth and other key figures involved in the building’s construction. As just as important as Woolworth, architect Cass Gilbert designed the building and he is shown holding with his creation.

I recommend going on the 45-minute tour as you also get to see the vault of the Irving Bank, which keeps some old safety deposit boxes. There are also neat murals on different period of Colonial New York in this area as well. So definitely see this landmark!