The Best of all Worlds: Good Food, No Noise

Noiseless in NY ... No noise, NY? - Sounds like an oxymoron. Where to eat/dine in Manhattan where there’s no noise from street traffic, cars, buses, bikes, parades, protests? Or sidewalk traffic where you have to navigate tables, chairs and constructed spaces for additional seating? Where you have to look out for bike lanes, for the sound of kids making it known that they’re happy to be outside? Where dogs are happy to hit the concrete? City sounds are, for many, an impediment to dining on the street. Some prefer quiet, not much ambient sound; some call it noise. To others, a city without those sounds may seem like the suburbs - include me in that one. But there’s a place right here in the heart of the city where you can dine and have the best of all worlds. Sounds will come mostly from birds, and traffic will come mostly from cars pulling in and out of parking spaces. Imagine being away from sound of the city’s high decibel levels while dining? Happens.

So where to go to enjoy good dining and table talk? Simple. Head over to the Tudor City Steakhouse, located in that enclave of apartment houses and parks on the southern edge of Turtle Bay bordering Murray Hill which lies on a low cliff east of Second Ave. between 40th and 43rd Streets and overlooks First Ave., the UN, the East River. I’m embarrassed to say that, as a native New Yorker and city denizen, it took me almost a lifetime to figure out that you didn’t have to climb the Sharansky Stairs on First Ave., opposite the UN, to get to Tudor City. You just had to cross Second and 43rd after you got off the M15 bus or told the taxi or Uber how to get there.

And when you get to the steakhouse, which is a short walk from Second Ave., there’s seating along the sidewalk and in the street opposite the parks. And from the seating on the street bridge overlooking First Ave, you get to see the UN and the East River. It’s a perfect setting for good eating and quiet conversation. It’s open all week from four in the afternoon until 10 PM. The staff is hardworking and attentive. You’ll be greeted and seated and undoubtedly will see owner Mirso making the rounds of tables seeing that everything’s in order and everybody’s happy. The menu’s standard steakhouse with $15 cocktails. Mine was a heady Blueberry Mojito - right parts rum and mint and a heap of berries - and perfect for 7 o’clock sipping. And the best side dish/salad was the Peruvian Quinoa, a creation of the new young chef, Hakan Akbag. While I’ll never make it myself, it has to be shared, and the good chef said yes. And you can make it in the quiet of your kitchen.

Chef Akbag’s Quinoa salad recipe:

1/2 cup quinoa

1 bunch of parsley

2 vine tomatoes

1/2 English cucumber

1 lemon

3 Tbs olive oil

1/2-3/4 Tbs sea salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 shallot onion

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Judges, by Zoom - Everything’s by Zoom - including the Manhattan Democratic Committee’s Judicial Convention which took place on Aug 10. Definitely a first for a judicial convention. Of the four judges nominated for the open seats on Manhattan’s Supreme Court, two are Upper East Siders - Judge Melissa Crane and Judge David Cohen. They will appear on the ballot with Judge Ta-Tanisha James and Judge Carol Sharpe. Judge James and Judge Sharpe are residents of Harlem and the UWS, respectively. All are unopposed. In another time, like 2018 when there was life before Zoom, another Upper East Sider, Justice Alex Tisch, was nominated at the judicial convention and then elected. These days he is making news with his decision upholding the $50 million plus jury verdict in a personal injury case where a teacher in a tenth-grade chemistry class at Beacon High School performed a demonstration involving flames and which resulted in a student being severely and devastatingly injured. In making his decision, consideration was given to the nature and extent of the tenth-grader’s injuries and to his past and future pain and suffering. Defendants in the case included The New York City Department of Education.

And lest we forget other pre-Zoom nominated and elected judges from the LES, Supreme Court Justice Adam Silvera was recently appointed as the new NYCAL (New York City Asbestos Litigation) Coordinating Judge where his calendar will include handling asbestos trials. Silvera replaces Justice Manny Mendez (who hails from Washington Heights) and was recently appointed to the Appellate Division. Silvera faces immediate challenges in view of the increased backlog resulting from the ongoing pandemic.