Well the weekend in the big Apple can be narrowed down to three general topics: anticipation, ageda, and food. I may make that the title of my memoir.
I landed in Newark around 11 and Dad and I took the train into Penn Station. And in four or five years, that site will no longer be Penn Station. It will be moved two blocks away and house a new Penn Station and a new Madison Square Garden. We took the subway to the Avenue of the Americas and checked out the new NHL Store. I have to say I thought there would be more to it than there was. There was some really unique clothing and apparel; I just expected more space. I walked away with a Ranger hoodie and a gift for a friend of mine, which I will give out later.
It was 1 pm and our dinner reservation wasn't until 3:30. But all I'd eaten all day was two slices of toast and we decided to head east to 44th Street. And five minutes in, the rain started. And it came down hard. Now we weren't carrying umbrellas, I don't like them. But we had to stop under a few overpasses and let the rain pass. After nine blocks, we arrived at Ben and Jack's.
It was empty, not too surprising, considering it was 1:30. We sat down and we had one of those waiters who I think sported the fake German accent. Just a hunch of mine, I don't know.
We started with two appetizers: crabmeat cocktail and sizzling Canadian bacon. The crabmeat was served in a lettuce cup with lemon and and cocktail sauce. The crab was big, tender, and succulent. The cocktail sauce was the best I've ever had and I don't eat cocktail sauce. This was zesty and tangy. Basically, it didn't taste like ketchup. The bacon was where we got into trouble. It was three bucks a slice. Dad asked the waiter how large it was and the waiter held his hands in the shape of a regular piece of bacon. I wanted two, but he overruled me and got six. They arrived sizzling and they were indeed thick. After 1.5 slices, he realized he made a mistake. I ate three slices and the flavor was remarkable, but I wish we'd had three or four. We also got a tomato and onion salad, which was a little disappointing. Chopped tomatoes and chopped white onions without much flavor. Tasted good, but not really necessary. Of course, the onion and rye rolls were soft and very enjoyable.
Then, after about 5 minutes after we finished the first half, came the main event. First they brought out piping hot dishes, which they took right out of the oven. That helped the food stay hot, I just had to be careful not to touch it. For the vegetable, we got sauteed broccoli, with olive oil and roasted garlic. I have to find out how they pulled this off. I've tried cooking broccoli in a pan before and the florets always burn. This was bright green and crunchy when I bit into it. Excellent broccoli. We got German potatoes, which were boiled, sauteed, and browned in the oven with onion, olive oil, salt and pepper. We had to have a special batch made thanks to Dad's inability to eat butter. That was his favorite part of the meal, and they certainly delivered for me as well.
And there was the steak. Porterhouse steak for two mind you. I'd eaten at Peter Luger's, which has given birth to a number of similar places like Ben and Jack's, so I knew what to expect. On a huge sizzling plate, they brought out a slices of porterhouse still arranged in the shape of the steak along with the bone. It's best to watch the video on their website to understand what I mean. They had a tiny dish placed upside down on the table. The waiter laid one side of the sizzling plate holding the UDSA prime on the dish and the other side on the table. I was confused until I saw the juice start to gather in the lower side of the dish. So in addition to their great sauce, we could spoon the juice over the meat. We also has the choice to lay a slice of steak against the sizzling plate to help char the outside if we wanted it a little more well done. And the taste of the beef was tender and loaded with flavor. We couldn't finish everything, but that's okay.
After a stop at the Border's next to the Garden, it was a trip to Gerry Cosby's, the tiny sporting goods store at Madison Square Garden. I got a brand new Henrik Lundqvist jersey and I am thrilled with it. I wore it into the game against Toronto. We had a average first period without many highlights, a good first 8 minutes of the second period where Jagr scored a goal, and then an absolute non-effort the rest of the way. We lost 4-1.
The next day started off getting amazing Italian sandwiches from a deli in downtown Metuchen and we headed straight to the Meadowlands for the Jets-Bills game. We spent about three hours in the parking lot checking out the tailgaters and getting a feel for the festivities before the games. I threw footballs with a few guys, ate some sausage, and tried not to let the swirling winds get me too cold. And as bad as the Jets are right now, the fans still show up and they're loyal and for the most part, enthusiastic. Then the game starts, and they get miserable. The game was horrible start to finish, a Jet interception was the only thing really worth cheering about. We left midway through the third quarter, in part because of cold and in part because the game was embarrassing. I've had more fun getting cavities filled.
And it turns out I watched Chad Pennington's final game as starting QB of the Jets. After a suffering a torn rotator cuff on two occasions, breaking a wrist, and spraining an ankle, Kellen Clemens is starting against Washington on Sunday. The toughest SOB in professional sports has been relegated to the bench. And Tom Brady, you couldn't shine Chad Pennington's shoes. You are not even a pimple on his fanny!!!
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