petite abeille

tiptup often finds herself at the NW of union sq. during brunch time. if the choice is left to diddykong, it would be petite abeille. sunny bumble bee with tintin looking out the window. tt has visited tintin many times not because the brunch is great but because it is convenient and there is usually no wait. good coffee and tintin videos are a plus but why no close captioning? guess you're not supposed to actually watch the cartoons.

tt has had lots of their stuff and it is usually good. no complaints. croque monsieur, waffles, eggs benedict, eggs en cocotte... all good standard brunch food. tt has never tried the belgian waffles. next time. there was one time when tt was not happy. it was one of the waffle specials. blueberries, strawberries and melon on waffles. that almost doubled the price of the regular waffles and all tt got were some sad slices of fruit. tt is now wary of the waffle specials.

bumble bee is reliable and convenient. but tt won't travel for it.

e.j.'s luncheonette

so tiptup and diddykong were in UES. tt doesn't like UES because none of tt's favorite brunch places are there. yes. tt only thinks about eating.

so tt and dk headed over to EJ's luncheonette. there wasn't a wait! tt had sweet potato flapjacks with bananas and pecans and good maple syrup. yum. there were 3 big pancakes, so dk had to finish the 3rd. dk had eggs benedict. too bad the yolks weren't runny. coffee was good. service was ok. the server was more intent on breaking the change for tips that he short-changed us. i.e. the change was ~$12 but he only gave us a $5 and a 5 $1s.... well, it was busy. tt might go back to try their crunchy french toast only if tt finds herself in UES again. tt likes the almond crusted french toast from johnny's luncheonette up in boston. in NYC, tt still prefers clinton st bakery, good enough to eat and tom's in brooklyn for pancakes. paaaancaaaaaaaaakes!!!

tt also went to the UWS location when there was a problem with the gas at good enough to eat. it's pretty much the same as the UES location minus the crowd.

locanda verde

continuing on tiptup's tribeca brunch exploration, tt and diddykong ended up in locanda verde. tt has heard a lot about it but never bothered because of the price. but after hearing about the sheeps' milk ricotta. tt headed over. dk had just finished his morning run and went in his running shorts and singlet. not a pretty sight. hohoho. true to the nyc 'non dress code', tt and dk were seated by the windows without a bat of the eye.

the tables were a little high for the chairs. according to the mugs, the coffee was illy. however tt thought the coffee was a little burnt. the illy cups had those silly little round handles you usually see on espresso cups. not a favourite of tt. it is fine for the light espresso cups but on the heavy coffee mugs, tt's third finger tends to slide forward, touching the hot cup. for goodness sake, give tt a regular handle!! maybe it's just the tortoise paws.

first came the complimentary bread with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and red pepper flakes. yum. then came tt's sheeps' milk ricotta with truffle honey and burnt orange toast. yum yum yum. tt would like to make this at home. dk had the penne pugliese. tasty but tt would have preferred the sauce with tagliatelle.

all in all, a pretty good brunch. although the busboy did drop bread crumbs on tt while trying to wipe the table after clearing the dishes. dude. move the cutlery away and wipe in your direction if you have too. with the $4 coffees, the bill came to ~$37. good food but doesn't fit in tt's regular brunch budget

usopen

diddykong loves to watch tennis. tiptup, not that much. anyway, tt and dk managed to catch some mens semifinals action. tt missed rafa's match but dk said del potro was just the better player. tt was surprised that rafa lost in straight sets but each game was very close.

tt arrived just before federer's match. 1h on the 7 train. tt was looking for blue marble ice cream but did not realize that it was actually in the louise armstrong stadium. they should have directories for this. tt is all about eating. so in the end tt settled for waffle fries and a ben and jerry's almond crunch cone or something. the waffle fries were good but tt did not like the ice cream. tt generally does not like ben and jerrys. should have found blue marble!

the seats were up on the promenade with the little players down below. big cheer for federer! tt is a federer fan. throughout the match, djoko's fans were more vocal. djoko is actually quite cute. it was an excellent day for tennis. great weather and great crowd. although the match was interesting, federer was not challenged and it ended all too soon. both semifinals ended in straight sets. tt didn't even need a bathroom break! should have traded for tickets to the final.

unfortunately federer lost in the final. tt only managed to catch a few games of that match. still have not seen much of del potro. we'll see...

intrepid

it has been a while since tiptup has been to the intrepid. so tt was happy to go for a bbq event on board! through the metal detectors and up onto the intrepid. it has definitely been spiffed up since tt's last visit. an ideal place for an event too. the food and entertainment was so so, leaving tt and diddykong to wander off to entertain themselves. I don't think the catering was affiliated with the museum. climbing up and down the staircases and exploring the decks was quite fun.

thinking of the intrepid always reminds tt of a trading card game tt used to play. krunch had trading card sets for naval ships, airforce planes, race cars and bikes. the trading cards listed the various specs of the vehicles. to win, the stat you pick has to be higher than that of the other players. you'd have to know the best spec for your card. for the blackbird atop the intrepid, it would be the mach 3 speed. there was an aircraft carrier in the naval ships set, but tt can't remember which one. probably not the intrepid.

anyway, it was fun place to have an event. got to enjoy the exhibits without the crowds. great city views on the breezy deck. tt even waved to the 4 lonely tourists aboard a passing "duck". why do people on boats insist on waving?

kitchenette

tiptup and diddykong has been checking out the brunch scene in tribeca. this time it was kitchenette. tt had the albuquerque. scrambled eggs with yummy salsa and grilled polenta. purty good! of course tt stole some bacon from dk's lumberjack. coffee was good - illy-like. service was good. tt's cup was never empty. no wait around 11. clean restrooms. a good choice!

must go back to try their french toast. after all the french toasts in nyc, tt still misses the ones from boston - sonsie's and the banana stuffed one from zaftigs and the almond crusted ones from johnny d's.

do not anger the gods!

after brunch, tt went to stand in line for bacchae tickets at central park. it was a long long longggggggggg line. most of the people at the front of the line were napping or reading. some of them had set up a card table. it was a hot day but tt's spot was under some shade. luckily tt managed to get tickets after ~20 mins of waiting. because tt was at the end of the line, our seats were at the very last row. because of tt's horrible eyesight, tt could hardly make out the faces of the actors. it was like catching the opera from the family circle. but it was an enjoyable evening with very nice weather. do not anger the gods!

tt also caught twelfth night last month. that time, tt got standby tickets after the 3rd try. because we got the last few tickets for that day, we didn't get 2 adjacent seats. there was probably more demand for that performance, with ann hathaway playing the lead role. tt got a really good seat and could see all the facial expressions. nice! tt loved the play and would have gladly gone twice but decided not to be so selfish. hehehe. tt can be unselfish at times...

tt also tried the food at public fare during the standby wait. tuna salad and chicken salad sandwiches. one was better than the other. can't remember which. this is why tt should write this stuff down sooner. probably the chicken was better. tt had an issue with one of the buns. probaby the tuna one... too bad there were no shackburgers.

the delacorte theater is great. only problem with intermission is the long lines. both for drinks and for the loo...