My Urban Sherpa

Mandoo Bar $$

Illustration by Matt Rota.

Mandoo Bar ($$)
2 W 32nd St
Between Broadway & 5th Ave
212 279 3075

Small but modern restaurant, look for the ladies in the window making fresh dumplings. Seating for two or four. There’ll be a line, but it moves fast –so is the service.

Goon Mandoo (4 Pcs) $4.99 Pan Fried dumplings filled with pork and vegetables
Vegetable Goon Mandoo (4 Pcs) Pan-fried dumplings filled with carrot, onions, mushrooms and other assorted vegetables
Fried Tofu Fried tofu with special house soy sauce $6.99
Baby Mandoo (16 Pcs) Boiled bite size dumplings filled with pork and vegetables $7.99
Mool Mandoo (10 Pcs) Boiled dumplings filled with pork and vegetables
Vegetable Mool Mandoo (10 Pcs) Boiled vegetable dumplings filled with mixed vegetables

Nearby Attractions
The Morgan Library & Museum
Illustration House
Jim Hanley’s Universe
Empire State Building

This entry is an excerpt from a book compiled by Charles Hively, publisher of 3×3 Magazine on the occasion of ICON5, to share some of the wonderful and affordable restaurants in New York. The book is available for purchase at Amazon.

How low can it go?

I’ve been asking myself this question for a while. Back in March it was how low morally could we go. Lately it’s been the DAX, Dow, FTSE,  Nasdaq, NIKKE, S&P,…

Wow.

Bad news followed by bad news, followed by a down market even in the presence of good news (there has been some.)

We’d like to recommend a simple cup of Joe and sandwich at a deli counter to accompany these humble times. The best coffee shop and sandwich shop in town?

Eisenbergs, where you’ll find delicious sandwiches (toasted on rye) a well priced cup of coffee, a sense of humor, and money in your hand when the bill comes back.

174 5th Avenue, between 22nd and 23rd Streets.

Not a place to make reservations.

El Quinto Pino

This small tapas bar is delightful in every way. Offering a small selection of lovingly chosen wines, perfectly paired to the most delectable tastes, in a calm and quiet atmosphere where you’ll enjoy your company and the company of others.

401 West 24th Street

212.206.6900

This, and other recommendations for bars, restaurants, and shopping tips are available at MyUrbanSherpa.net and for handheld users at MyUrbanSherpa.mobi.

Greys Papaya King ($)

Illustration by Matt Rota.

Greys Papaya King ($)
179 E 86th St. @ 3rd Ave
212-369-0648

Recommendations
The Original Special. Two frankfurters with kraut, onions or relish and a 16 oz Tropical Drink — try the namesake Papaya. Cheap. Cheap. Cheap. Just 3-cents under $5, including tax.

Other locations include 7th Avenue @ 14th St.

Nearby Attractions
Neue Galerie
Solomon R Guggenheim Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Cooper-Hewitt Museum
Jewish Museum
Central Park

This entry is an excerpt from a book compiled by Charles Hively, publisher of 3×3 Magazine on the occasion of ICON5, to share some of the wonderful and affordable restaurants in New York. The book is available for purchase at Amazon.

New York Wines and Dines

Select New York restaurants share the locavore / ecovore / green approach to dining this week. In Italian this is called cucina della territoria – and it means that you eat what is grown in the region. Around the world, this sanity of enjoying and making the most of what the earth offers by region and season is a practicality of daily life. And here in New York, you’ll find it through the month.

Take advantage of this opportunity to pair fresh local produce with NY’s local wines.

Diwali Celebration in New York

The auspicious day of Diwali is today. The date which changes every year is decided by the moon cycle and the Hindu calendar. Amavasya or the “no moon day” is considered the perfect day for Diwali. Diwali is reckoned with Lord Rama’s coronation ceremony as the King of Ayodhya after his return to the kingdom from 14 years of exile along with his wife Sita & brother Laxman after killing the demon, King Ravana.

Celebrate by lighting diyas to drive away the darkness of amavasya, or join the celebrations of light – one perfectly poetic is Rafel Lozano-Hemmer’s “Pulse Park” in Madison Square Park, a perfect view of which can be enjoyed from a lovely table from the second floor of Tabla.

The Bon Appetit Supper Club and Cafe is open for lunch.

The Bon Appetit Supper Club And Café is open for lunch. The café offers soups, salads, sandwiches and sweet treats from $2-$12, and a chance to meet celebrated chefs for samplings and book signings.

The Café is open from 11:00am to 3:00pm weekdays through October 31st, 2008, at 221 West 57th Street.

Monday, October 27th at 12:00pm meet Tyler Florence, Food Network personality and author of Dinner at My Place & Stirring the Pot.

Tuesday October 28th at 12:15pm Pastry Chef Claudia Fleming offers a cooking demonstration.

Followed at 1:15pm by Cat Cora, Bon Appetit Magazine Executive Chef for a cooking demonstration and signing of Cooking from the Hip.

Wednesday, October 29th at 12:15pm meet Barbara Fairchild, Bon Appetit’s Editor-in-Chief
for a cooking demonstration and signing of The Bon Appetit Fast, Easy, Fresh Cookbook.

Thursday, October 30th at 12:15pm meet Johnny Iuzzini, Executive Pastry Chef for a cooking demonstration.

Followed at 1:15pm by Chef Charlie Trotter who will sign Home Cooking with Charlie Trotter.

Chefs and schedules are subject to change. For the latest information, please visit BASupperClubandCafe.com.

Climate Change Exhibition, opening today at AMNH

Climate Change: The Threat to Life and a New Energy Future, opens today – Saturday, October 18 – at the American Museum of Natural History.

By exploring the science, history, and impact of climate change, the exhibition illustrates how we as individuals, communities and nations can reduce our carbon footprints.

This must-see exhibit remains on view in New York at AMNH until August 16, 2009, after which it will begin an international tour.

Vegan & the Limelight

Apropos of the conversation about Proposition 2 on the California Ballot on Election Day is Frank Bruni’s review of Candle 79 – an upscale vegan venue on the Upper East Side.

Given the benefits of a vegan and vegetarian based diet for your health, and the health of the planet – we are thrilled to see this positive review for this sane approach to food.

The benefits of a vegetarian diet are well explored by Andrew Weil in Eating Well for Optimal Health, and Micheal Pollan in the Omnivore’s Dilemma. The challenges for the planet created by the production of meat for consumption were well reported by Mark Bittman in The New York Times.

And if you’d like to try other wonderful vegan and vegetarian restaurants in New York – we hope you’ll visit MyUrbanSherpa.net from your computer, or MyUrbanSherpa.mobi from your handheld.

Soulful spinning, social sipping, and Strawberry serenity

Who knew that Manhattan’s Upper West Side could offer rejuvenation and respite? Start your day at Soul Cycle where they promise: “45 minutes with us is all it will take to free your mind and work your body.” After all that spinning, you need only walk a few steps to Juice Generation where many of the refreshments are local farmer-friendly, organic, and vegan. With your Watermelon Lemon Drop juice in hand, it’s less than two blocks to the 72nd Street entrance to Central Park and that means: Strawberry Fields. Stretching from 71st to 74th streets, this 2.5-acre tear-drop-shaped parcel of park surrounds the famous Imagine mosaic (donated by the city of Naples). After you meditate and rejuvenate, be sure to check out the bronze plaque listing the 121 countries endorsing Strawberry Fields as a Garden of Peace.