vip in the city

Grand Central Kaleidoscope

On the way home from work, I stopped in for the final day of The Grand Central Holiday Fair in Vanderbilt Hall. Not much to browse, but the trip did offer me one last opportunity to take in The Grand Central Kaleidoscope. The final seven-minute show runs on New Year’s Day 2007. I hope the MTA brings back Casa Magica and Artlumiere’s show next holiday season.

Gingerbread house

Even the MTA gets into the New Year’s spirit.

I arrived at work that evening to discover this gingerbread house on a low table in the lounge area — slightly worse for wear from the sweet-toothed attentions of my co-workers. I love gingerbread, but I like the idea of gingerbread houses more than the houses themselves. The pretty creations strike me as difficult to make and in my experience, are almost always stale by the time they’ve been showcased long enough for everyone to admire the handiwork.

From Fall 2002 through Spring 2004, the Brooklyn Academy of Music underwent an extensive renovation, which included an $8.6 million exterior restoration. Instead of erecting eyesore scaffolding during that time, BAM siezed on the opportunity to create public art. Brazilian artist Vik Muniz photographed a scaled gingerbread reproduction of BAM, complete with royal icing stained glass windows, jellybean arches and an M&M frieze, all crafted in intricate detail by my favorite neighborhood bakery, Soutine. The whimsical piece was dubbed CandyBAM and enlarged to print on a vinyl mesh screen for the 300 by 60 foot façade.

Muniz is known for his avant-garde works in edible (and unconventional) media. The artist once drip-painted Life magazine Hans Namuth’s iconic photograph of Jackson Pollock at work and Leonardo’s ”Last Supper” in chocolate syrup and created duo replicas of the “Mona Lisa” in peanut butter and jelly. His work was the subject of a PBS Independent Lens feature.

Good Eats in Sunnyside

In Times Square on the way into Queens this evening. 102 hours to 2007!

SYB had generously offered to prepare a dinner at his home in honor of my half birthday(ish). Yes, we pretty much will seek out any excuse for a celebration. When I arrived, the thick, cut-to-order pork chops from Faicco’s on Bleecker were just coming out of their paper wrappings, and the apartment was already warm with the smells of some serious cooking.

I settled in on the new couch to catch up on the comedies the B boys had recorded for me on DV-R. So much prettier than on my VCR at home!

A couple of hilarious episodes of The Office  later, and dinner was served. A spicy lentil soup starter…

…and over the very special Christmas episode, Gothamist-inspired Roast Pork Chops stuffed with Apples accompanied by a beautiful bacon-studded Rösti :

Rösti (pronounced RAW-stee or ROOSH-tee) is the traditional Swiss dish of roasted shredded potatoes — similar to a large latke, or a hash brown platter. According to Barron’s Food Lover’s Companion, its name comes from the capital region of Bern, and derives from the words for “crisp and golden.”

Crisp and golden it was. And very tasty! Thanks, SYB!

The capper to the night: what could possibly be the funniest three minutes of fake music video ever aired on television, featuring the awesome vocal stylings of early 90’s Canadian pop star Robin Sparkles!

Be warned: one listen and it will be stuck in your head for days. Trust me, I know.

Everybody come and play
Throw every last care away
Let’s go to the mall… today