Un Deux Trois

It's As Easy As 123

Spending the weekend before Christmas in New York City has become a fun tradition with us.  The pretty lights and decorations, the green and red illuminated Empire State Building, the smell of chestnuts roasting on a greasy grill, hookers in Santa outfits with fishnet stockings...these are all sensory images that make holiday magic for me.

We usually see a Broadway show, usually a Saturday matinee, and we like to brunch beforehand.  (Gosh I sound so urbane and sophisticated when I use "brunch" as a verb like that. Watch out, next I'll be "summering" in the Hamptons.) Last year we stood in line at the Shake Shack Times Square for an hour and a half for an over-priced hamburger with really fresh lettuce before laughing our heads off at the Book of Mormon.

This year's outing was Kinky Boots, Tony award winner of 2013 for best musical and lucky for us, still with the original cast intact.  In case you don't know, it's about a gentleman who saves his failing shoe factory by partnering up with a drag queen named Lola to market flashy footwear for men who are in touch with their inner RuPaul. It's all about a steel reinforced heel that won't break under the weight of a fully grown man in a great big wig and tons of facial spackle.

We'll Always Have Paris

Our friend K, the famous food snatcher and native New Yorker, suggested we meet at Un Deux Trois at 44th and 7th. While walking there I checked Google Maps to see the street number and felt rather foolish when I saw that it was 123 West 44th. The place feels very Parisian with cozy butterscotch walls, high ceilings, big windows and fancy chandeliers but you know you're not in France because the servers there are actually nice.

New York is even more crowded than usual at Christmas time, and we watched hordes of tourists scurrying past our beautiful table in the window, glancing up into the lush interior and thinking to themselves it was too expensive as they shoved their way into Ruby Tuesday across the street. (Okay, I know that sounded a little uppity, get over it.)  But it is not really expensive at all: The $22 prix fixe  gets you brunch plus a mimosa, bloody mary, or screwdriver.

I had the smoked salmon eggs benedict, which was delicious if a little heavy on the Hollandaise.  Other selections included a generous burger and a passel of pommes frites, and a delicious quiche (a long time ago when I was a restaurant server in Kansas City I had a customer order one but she pronounced it "quick-ee").  Un Deux Trois has been there a long time and it deserves to be.  It looked like a lot of local families who were honoring their own holiday or pre-theater traditions, and there was tinkling background music, great aromas, and not a single person twerked or made a selfie. Sometimes I like being a grown up.

Happy Hollandaise To You

Arm and arm, the five of us wound our way to the Al Hirschfeld theater (coincidentally walking past Sardi's on the way, where his notable caricatures of faded Broadway stars nobly hang) and soon discovered why Billy Porter won his Tony for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (although to be truthful it probably should have been in the actress category--that guy can rock some stilettos!)  It was Broadway at its best and Cyndi Lauper's score was hilarious, moving, and awesome.  (I'm buying the cd because I like singing along to show tunes at the gym, and people usually leave a wide berth around me for some weird reason.)

We ended our traditional Saturday at the usual place, the Fairy Tale lounge with its armless centaurs and purple unicorns.  We got a New York pizza pie from Sal's down the street.  The bar is in Hell's Kitchen, which used to be the scariest place in the city to go to besides Bergdorf Goodman's, but is so gentrified now the panhandlers wear ascots.

Ah New York...just like I pictured it.  Skyscrapers, and everything.