Last night I lamented to a friend that so far the best food I’d tasted on my vacation was my friend Mandy’s homemade pot roast (which is, I grant you, hard to compete with). He suggested Balthazar. Why did I not just ask him to begin with? Balthazar was amazing – the latte, the food, and the service were all miles better than everything I’ve had so far.
I’m glad I made a reservation for noon, because by 1pm you couldn’t see from one side of the restaurant to the other.
Then, having no great plan, I waddled north through Soho peeking into and fleeing from an assortment of shops selling ugly things for lots of money. Eventually, I realized I was pretty near Drew’s place of work (he my guide of Day 3), Fabulous Fanny’s in the East Village.
This place! Oh wow! So many vintage and vintage-style eyeglass frames…I needed new frames anyway, and had been stalling because no one in Seattle had what I liked. Problem solved!
My other success of the day was stumbling across Cure Thrift Shop, which not only had non-ugly clothes made from real fabrics, at incredibly good prices, but they were also having a sale. Clothes were 50% off the last marked price. Since I hadn’t really bought much in the way of souvenirs, getting a vintage Armani skirt for $29 was a pretty excellent way to end my vacation.
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