Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Buona Caccia

Eataly is an indoor Italian market/restaurant/cooking school/wine shop/all around fun place to hang out. The original is located at 200 5th Avenue (at 23rd) in NYC and has become one of my new favorite places to spend time in Manhattan when I find myself with a bit of spare time on my travels there.

Last time I went, I entered through the small door on 23rd Street that led into the huge open space humming with 100's of people perusing the markets filled with gorgeous fruits and veggies, mozzeralla cheese, pasta, rice and fresh baked breads,coffee and gelato, and sitting at tables or standing at long wooden counters after ordering from one of the dozen or so restaurants that are housed in this fantastic space. According to its website, the goal of Eataly is to "challenge the idea that quality products are accessible only to a select few"

It's fun just to wander through and look and get caught up in the crowd of people and the buzz of the markets, but if you can find a table or space at a counter and have time for a meal or a snack, it's also fabulous for the solo diner (I can't image that you'd be alone for long.) I've been to Eataly many times and every time I go, I find something else to love about it!

There are now several Eataly markets throughout the US. including 2 in NYC, Chicago, Boston and coming soon to LA. Have you ever been to Eataly? If so, let me know what you think.




Friday, May 12, 2017

Take a Peek Into the Industrial Revolution

With the Miami Beach Convention Center currently undergoing a $615-million state-of-the-art transformation that will be ready in 2018, you can bet more of us business travelers will likely be heading down to South Beach (SoBe)for meetings and conferences. 

If you are one of the lucky ducks who has a conference in SoBe and you find yourself with a spare hour or so, think about heading over to the Wolfsonian- Florida International University Museum. It’s right in the heart of the city, just blocks from the Convention Center at Washington and 10th and its permanent and rotating exhibits dating from the Industrial Revolution through the end of the Second World War are fantastic.
The building itself, the Washington Storage Company, was expanded and renovated in 1992 by architect Mark Hampton in collaboration with architect William Kearns to convert it from a storage place for Mitchell Wolfson, Jr.'s large collection of rare books and objects on modern design, architecture and decorative arts into a museum and research center. The modernist lobby, museum cafĂ© and shop are just a prelude to the exhibit space for permanent and temporary galleries dramatically arranged around light wells, 

The museum is open various hours every day except Wed. and it’s just $10 to get in (or free on Friday nights from 6-9 if you happen to be there then) So if you're in Miami Beach for work and find that elusive bit of time that we business travelers sometimes get, head down to Washington and 10th and poke into the Wolfsonian-FIU and get lost in a whimsical "blast from the past" 

Wolfsonian- FIU
1001 Washington Avenue
(corner of Washington and 10th)
Miami Beach, FL 33139