"Curry Hill", near Murray Hill "Curry Row" East 6th Street, between 2nd and 1st Avenues
Kalustyan's spice shop, "Curry Hill", Manhattan The Antigua Curry Club
New York

October 1 - 7, 2017
Spend "The Antigua Curry Club New York" week in Manhattan!
     

After all the bus trips to Guatemala City, last year (2016) The Antigua Curry Club went to London, to eat some great curry, see a few exhibitions, a couple of plays, sightsee and shop.  Photos from last year are at the bottom of this page.  This year, it is The Antigua Curry Club New York in Manhattan.  See details below. 

People going so far:   Dianne & George, Tomas & Lorraine, Vince d'Agati & Stephanie, Margie & Julio, Margaret, Frank & Linda, Cindy & Raul, Pat d'Agati, Andrea Hunt, your name here ...
The program is still, even at this late stage, a "work-in-progress" and I am happy to take people's suggestions. 
Sunday, October 1:    Arrive in New York. 

I think everyone has booked their digs, but for the record, I include the Q&A Residential Hotel details at the bottom.

Quite a lot of our activities, from the opening day and on will be in and around lower Manhatan, which is now an exciting place to be. 
I lived there for 20 years.  In the past few years, with Lorraine, we stop by once or twice a year.  There are plenty of all night supermarkets and delis to get supplies for your kitchen.

Click on the image on the right to see a larger map.
Monday, October 2:   12 noon.  Meet for an orientation and a drink at our apartment, 145 Nassau Street, Apt 3C, overlooking City Hall, City Hall Park and the World Trade Center. 

We will have a sandwich lunch and a beer.  Afternoon, a short walk to Fedearl Hall and St.Paul's Chapel and, if people like, about 3:30, "One World Observatory" on the 100-102 floors of the World Trade Center tower.  https://oneworldobservatory.com/.  I will need your money ahead to make the $56 per person reservation.   

Vince & Stephanie suggested we go on a sunset sail cruise, between 6:30 - 8:30, a great idea.  See:  https://www.manhattanbysail.com/reservations/buy-tickets/Twilight-Sail/10013115/  $50 and a discount for 65+, at $42, a bargain!!!

Cliekc on the picture on the right to see a larger map.
Tuesday, October 3:   4 p.m.  Meet at Kalustyan's Indian shop at 123 Lexington Avenue.  Or sit and have a drink in the "Chote Nawab" restaurant at 115 Lexington and we'll find you in either place.  This is "Little India" on Murray Hill. 

After shopping, we will walk to Gramercy Park and Union Square, stopping for coffee or drinkies along the way. 

For those willing to keep walking, we'll go past Cooper Union Square to "India Row", East 6th Street, between 2nd and 1st Avenues.  If you don't feel like walking, you can take a taxi or UBER.  But it should be a lovely afternoon's walk.

As in London, we start our exploration of New York curry at the bottom end of the Indian food chain in Manhattan, moving up to the top on Friday.

7 p.m. ... Raj Mahal, at 322 East 6th Street.   India Row has declined ... rents are shooting up and restaurant leases are being cancelled.  Even Raj will close in a couple of years.  We visited with Lorraine on May 13 and picked the Raj Mahal.  Good food, recommended by people we met at the restaurant.  We ate there a good lunch with friends couple of years ago.  They have live sitar music. 

Click on the image on the right to see a larger map.
Wednesday, October 4:  free day.  We will go see a play in Broadway in the evening.  Lorraine and I are planning "Miss Saigon".
Thursday, October 5:    

Vince & Stephanie suggested we visit the Botanical Garden ( https://www.nybg.org/), with a Dale Chihuly exhibition of breathtaking glass exhibits.  We will set up a time during our Monday meeting.  "Time Out" recommends this as the best exhibition in New York now.

5:30 p.m.  Meet us at 145 Nassau Street, apartment 3C for a glass of wine.  This will be another walking evening, a short walk past City Hall, the Municipal Building, Police Plaza (and the jail where our ex president Alfonso Portillo spent a lot of time, (now home to Chapo Guzman), to Chinatown for dinner.  

Then, across the border (Canal Street) from China to Italy.  Ice cream and espresso in Little Italy, Caffe Palermo:  "The best cannoli on Planet Earth".

Click on the image on the right to see a larger map.
Friday, October 6:          Midtown.  We'll go to a museum.  I recommend "Mummies" at the Museum of Natural History at Central Park West and 79th Street (see https://www.timeout.com/newyork/blog/check-out-these-photos-from-the-mummies-exhibition-at-american-museum-of-natural-history-032017

If you are in the mood, we can have lunch at the re-opened "Tavern-on-the Green" at CPW and 67th Street.  It was closed for many years.  We were, Lorraine and my mother, a couple of years ago and it is good again. 

7:30  "Tamarind Tribeca", at 99 Hudson Street, in Tribeca, is at the top of the Indian food chain in Manhattan.  In London last year, Veeraswamy was "the best Indian restaurant outside India".  Three restaurants in New York are rated, on various listings the second best.  Raul & Cindy have done research and recommended Tamarind Tribeca.  Lorraine and I worked really hard and visited on May 13, tested the food, and decided it was the best choice for the spoilt Antigua Curry Club members.
Saturday, October 7:    Check-out.  Meet at Grand Central Station, under the clock, for a train ride to Danbury, Connecticut, where I rented an AVIS car.  Some more people will have to rent cars to drive about 40 miles to Litchfield.  AVIS told me they will deliver cars to the train station.

George and Dianne have invited The Antigua Curry Club for lobster dinner at their house (not "curried"). 

Dinner at the Carofinos.

Click on the image on the right to see a larger map.
Where to stay:
Pat d'Agati has done a lot of work on finding us apartments.  Based on their website and Pat's visit and observations, I am recommending that you book a studio apartment at Q&A at 70 Pine Street in lower Manhattan.  They, trough sales manager Julianne Lewis, offered $259 a night (down from their usual $343 for that week).  They have kitchens and wi-fi.  http://qandahotel.com/

May 1, 2017:  Julianne Lewis, Sales Manager, wrote:
Q&A Residential Hotel, located in New York City’s Lower Manhattan, provides stays in contemporary apartments that are three times larger than typical Manhattan hotel rooms. Standout features include a full-sized kitchen complete with top of the line cookware, dishwasher, stove; bespoke furniture and king size beds across all apartment categories; smart TVs with streaming capability and Bose audio systems. Included with stays are free WiFi, light housekeeping, a state-of-the-art fitness center, 24-hour business center and board room.

Special discount for the Antigua Curry Club is $259 per night for a Studio Apartment.  Book your reservations by June 30th to receive special discount.  Reservation requests received after June 30th will be based on room and rate availability.

 
Best regards,
JL
 
Julianne M Lewis
Sales Manager
Q&A Residential Hotel by
FURNISHEDQUARTERS®


To get the discount, Please e-mail Julianne at Julianne.Lewis@qandahotel.com
 
Phone: 646.598.0100
Direct: 646.598. 0152
Cell: 646.509.6737
 
Sunday, October 8:        Sightseeing around Litchfield in CT.
Monday, October 9:      Depart for home or your next destination.  Tomas & Lorraine off to Vermont.
... last year, in June 2016, The Antigua Curry Club went to London and below are photos from that trip.  I hope to make the New York expedition as much fun as London was.
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The first night we met at Marousch, in Kensington, for a Lebanese dinner, warming up for curries later in the week.  Click on any photo to see a larger image.
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The next day, it was the "Jack the Ripper" London walk, starting at the Tower of London.  Click on any photo to see a larger image.
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The first curry, in Brick Lane, was planned for many months for a restaurant which Lorraine and I visited last year.  The manager called us on our trip in Malta a week earlier to say his restaurant would close on Mondays for Ramadan, but arranged with a friend across the street for the same menu at the same price.  Good dinner.  UBER on the way back home.  Click to see a larger image.
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OK, OK, this is supposed to be The Antigua Curry Club London, but we went to Chinatown for dim-sums. Click to see a larger image.
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At 2:30 that night, a fire alarm in the apartments we stayed in caused hundred of people to get out in pyjamas in the street.
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Luckily, even at 2:30 a.m. there was a shop open, so we had a wine and crackers party in the street. Click to see a larger image
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The high point of the trip, dinner at Veeraswamy, the UK's oldest Indian restaurant.  Like the Queen, who was celebrating the week we were there, Veeraswamy was born in 1926,  Fabulous dinner.  Veeraswamy is rated by some as the best Indian restairant outside of India.  (The second best is in New York ... Next year, 2017:  The Antigua Curry Club New York!)  Click to see a larger image.
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Veeraswamy, delicious.
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We were supposed to chose the main course between prawn, chicken and lamb.  Instead, they gave everyone all three dishes. Click to see a larger image
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Veeraswamy, UK's oldest Indian restaurant.
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Veeraswamy, UK's oldest Indian restaurant.
Click to see a larger image

We all went to the Victoria & Albert museum for two interesting exhibitions and lunch.  Some people had lunch inside, some out in the sunshine.
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One of the exhibitions at the V&A was Boticelli. 
Got it ?  Boticelli ... Venus ? Click to see a larger photo.
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Some of us made a side trip by boat on the Thames for a day in Greenwich.
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At the Royeal Observatory in Greenwich, we stood (and sat) on the Greenwich meridian. East on the left, West on the right. Click to see a larger photo.
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At the end of the week, we spent part of the day inPortobello Road, shopping the market and finishing the week with Spanish tapas.  Click to see a larger image.
 

The Antigua Curry Club is looking for several more curry eaters  there may still be two or more memberships available for resale.  If you know anyone who may be interested, please tell them to call our India Call Center at 7832-8466 or e-mail cernikovsky@hotmail.com


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