This year Vikki and I finally managed to take
the round the world trip that we have been talking about for the previous ten
years. First stop was New York and as I landed early I dropped off my bags at the Waldorf and found
the first Starbucks I could, as I needed the caffeine to stay awake. The
weather was fantastic 30 degree plus Celsius coupled with a bright blue sky.
You can instantly tell that you are in the Big Apple when you sit down next to
a couple of slick haired, suited gentlemen who are busily discussing hedge fund
investment strategies lol.
After my wake up coffee I had another 4hrs to
kill until I could check-in so I headed towards the Panerai New York boutique
with the hope that my 390 was ready to be collected. At the boutique I finally
met Alex and Tomoko. Naturally I tried pretty much every Panerai that was in
the store. They were also kind enough to invite us to the private viewing of
the 2012 novelties as we could not attend the NY Panerai dinner as we were
flying out to London on that day.
Luke organised a small GTG at Roman trattoria
Maialino (the name means “Little Pig”) in Gramercy Park Hotel which is the
first collaboration between renowned restaurateur Danny Meyer and designer
David Rockwell. We expected Luke, Eng and Geoff but also had the added surprise
that the effervescent Gush was in town from London.
Maialino was buzzing when we arrived.
Considering that it was a Monday night the restaurant was at 100% capacity, and
a great convivial atmosphere was present in the room. Checkered table cloths and lots of aged wood
really contributed to the feel of being in a Roman Trattoria.
Roast suckling pig is
at the heart of the menu. The skin, blasted to crispness in a hot oven, is
dusted in rosemary, cracked fennel, salt and pepper: an apparently unambitious
preparation that tastes just great — pork at its best. Oven roasted potatoes,
the dish can serve three with ease. We also decided to share a few dishes as
entrees and a couple of pastas as well. Of course the wine list contains a
great selection of wines from Italy. Our choice for the night was a Rosso di
Montalcino from Castello Romitorio (owned by artist Sandro Chia). All rounded
out with some traditional Italian treats for dessert and some great coffee.
After a great night at
Maialino it was time to head back to the hotel with a walk up Lexington Avenue,
after being assured it was quite safe to do so.
Before our depature for London , we met up with the guys again and headed for a
private viewing of the 2012 Panerai novelties. Our venue was the exclusive
members only, The Core Club, just around the corner from the Panerai boutique. As
we sat on the balcony in the New York sunshine, we were like a bunch of kids in
a toy shop as we handed the watches around and discussed the merits and
desirability of each watch and which ones we would personally like to have in
our collections.
After saying our good-byes to the Luke, Geoff,
Eng and Gush, we rushed back to the Waldorf finished our packing and headed to
JFK for our flight to London. It was great to catch up with the guys in their
home town and both Vikki and I look forward to catching up with them again in
New York sometime in the future.
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