Southbank Centre, London

So, I’m just about done with a three-week stay in London, and I’ve barely ventured north of the Thames.  Full disclosure: I’m here to perform at the Southbank Centre and am staying in a hotel near Waterloo.  But still, it appears that London’s South Bank is the place to be these days.  The Southbank Centre itself boasts the Queen Elizabeth and Royal Festival Halls, the Hayward Gallery, and at least ten mostly affordable restaurants.  On any given evening there are hundreds of people gathered at the terrace bar outside Festival Hall, in a sort of unofficial happy hour for the masses.  Many seem not to be there in connection to any cultural event, but merely to meet friends and enjoy the view.  If you face the river and turn left, you’ll hit the tourist favorite London Eye; turning right will take you to the British Film Institute and the National Theatre, all without crossing a single street.  Just a bit further is the Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe, but you never have to leave the river to get there, and you’ll also encounter many more places to eat, drink, and shop along the way.

The London Eye, on the river Thames

This American lad can’t stop wondering why we don’t have a place like this in New York City.  Lincoln Center, even with its many recent improvements, still feels somewhat isolated.  And when was the last time you saw hundreds of people gathered outside by the fountain, drinks in hand?  Oh right, that privilege is restricted to ticket holders – never mind…  Furthermore, who can really afford to eat at Lincoln Center area restaurants?  Certainly not the throngs of young people I’ve been seeing outside Festival Hall.

OK, time out:  I know what you’re thinking.  There is all sorts of government funding here that we don’t have back in the States.  I will not even try to argue this point, because it is absolutely and sadly true.  But we seem to have it backwards in New York – we try to lure people to extremely expensive cultural events and then hope that they’ll patronize the similarly expensive restaurants and shops in the vicinity.  Why not bring the cultural attractions to places people already want to (and can afford to) be?

Time out #2: The second batch of naysayers will undoubtedly argue that NYC just wasn’t built this way – there is simply no room to spread out, and the city doesn’t have a central riverfront like Paris or London.  Well I think Brooklyn and Queens residents would beg to differ…and everyone knows they’re the ones with the best views of the city!

I do think we’re making slow progress.  DUMBO and Fort Greene are already great cultural destinations, as is Long Island City.  And the ongoing restoration of Governor’s Island looks very promising, not to mention the increasing popularity of our water taxi system.  Maybe there’s someone out there willing to take a giant risk and dream up a new cultural mecca for NYC.  My guess is they’d be substantially rewarded, both in profits and by history.  Are you listening, Mayor Bloomberg???

Rain or shine, it’s El Mercado de San Miguel. Just off of the Plaza Mayor, the Mercado is fully covered by a Beaux-Arts glass and steel structure, and is filled with high end food, wine, desserts, cheeses, seafood, Tapas, caviar and the ever popular Vermut Grifo. Go there for lunch or dinner or Tapas and you will be surrounded by locals and tourists and you will eat really well and really economically!

When you do want a full sit-down meal and still want to feel the Madrilenos atmosphere, then head to Taberna Maceira. Hidden at the end of the tiny Calle de las Huertas (number 66), you would probably walk past it if you did not know it was there. The locals begin arriving after 9PM or so, and there are no reservations. People wait outside for a long time, but each time I went I waited no more than 10 minutes. Once inside, you can order off the menu (handwritten on painters’ palettes) or ask for a menu in English, too. Have a pitcher of Sangria and some of those wonderful roasted peppers to get yourself started. At the end of the evening they will ask you if you want to partake in a ritual of drinking, which is a large bowl on a table filled with a mix of alcohols…that are lit on fire and served in a cup at your table. The show around the lighting of the bowl is pretty amazing, and the brew is damn good! Come prepared though: Maceira is CASH ONLY!

It is DOGMATIC Gourmet Sausage System, not even 1 block off of Union Square on W 17th.

Now I am NOT a hot dog man, so I was very skeptical, but these are gourmet sausages–beef, chicken, lamb, turkey, pork or asparagus with no hormones or antibiotics–inside French Baguettes and garnished with toppings like Truffle Gruyere or Sun Dried Tomato Feta. Add a side of roasted asparagus or tomato-basil salad and one of their amazing handmade sodas (I like the ginger one) and you can still eat for 2 for about $20! If it is a nice day, take it into Union Square and enjoy the sunshine!