leanor Foa Dienstag
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leanor Foa Dienstag |
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Travel Writing
Travel stories of mine have appeared in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Travel & Leisure, Frequent Flyer, McCall's, Get Up and Go!, and Interludes, among others.
The Urban Traveler's Day Trip: Beacon, New York
Urban Getaway: Kykuit and Blue Hill at Stone Barns THE ROCKEFELLER ESTATE (KYKUIT)
I've taken the House and inner Garden Tour, and was struck, in this day of McMansions, by the relative modesty of the house, especially compared to the vast sweep of its gardens and estate. The rooms are fairly small and there is no ballroom, for example, because the Rockefellers, strict Baptists, did not allow dancing or drinking in the house. But they wisely purchased thousands of acres, including the Palisades on the opposite bank of the Hudson, to preserve their knockout view. Kykuit is worth several trips, one for the house and one for the gardens. I suggest rising early, catching the train at Grand Central Station where you take the Hudson Line to Tarrytown, and then a taxi to the Visitors Center at Philipsburg Manor. (Sit on the left side of the train going up and the right going down for the best Hudson River views.) The train ride and taxi should take about 45 minutes. BLUE HILL AT STONE BARNS: THREE-STAR RESTAURANT But it's the food, either grown at Stone Barns or by local Hudson Valley farmers, that is worth the trip. Menus change according to season and if, like me, you happen upon "pea season" in early summer, consider yourself blessed. I've enjoyed two "lunches" (so filling, forget about dinner), and can attest to the kitchen's sublime pea soup, ethereal "meatloaf," a tone poem to organic beef, its baby vegetables, eggplant puree, an assortment of breads (including a killer chocolate challah), and fantastic desserts. This is not a traditional Sunday brunch. It is a $45 prix-fix, three-course meal of serious food; as The Guide Michelin would say, definitely worth a detour. The waiters enjoy recounting how each dish is prepared. The wine list is reasonable and each course is as beautiful to look at as it is to eat. Blue Hill attracts a mix of country-club suburbanites, New York foodies and celebrities of all stripes. Last Easter, friends spotted Hillary, Bill and Chelsea Clinton enjoying Sunday lunch. They ate undisturbed. It's that kind of place. Which is why, unfortunately, reservations must be made one month in advance. (Lunch is served from 11:30 am to 2 pm.) I have yet to try dinner, but the Tasting Menus range from $65 to $95 per person (for three to five courses, plus two desserts), and look irresistible. A typical Fall Tasting Menu includes: Mushroom Tart with Fingerling Potatoes & Microgreens; Hot Smoked Trout, Squash Broth, Toasted Pumpkin Seeds; Loin of Grass Fed baby Beef, Cannelloni of Braised Beef with Fall Vegetables & Horseradish Broth; Warm Pear Soup; Wedding Cake (Hazelnut Praline & Chocolate Ganache); and Petit Fours. Dinner reservations are even harder to come by and must be made two months in advance. The restaurant is open Friday and Saturday evenings from 5 PM - 11 PM; Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday from 5 PM - 10 PM. There is also a handsome bar and bar menu. For reservations call 914-366-9600. A less-expensive option for visitors to Kykuit, is first to tour Blue Hill's grounds (including the Visitor Center for a self-guiding map, the silos, stone barns, organic greenhouse, herb garden, free-range sheep, turkey and hens), and then to grab a bite and spread out at the long outdoor picnic table outside The Café at Stone Barns. The Café offers light snacks made with ingredients from the same organic farm—salads, sandwiches, fresh fruit, fresh eggs, cookies—at reasonable prices. For more information on Blue Hill's menus, mission, history and staff, go to: www.bluehillstonebarns.com. There is a link on their site to Metro North's railroad schedule. For more information on trains from Grand Central Station go to: www.mta.nyc.ny.us (click on Metro North, then click on One Day Getaways, then click on The Rockefeller Estate, Kykuit). Also visit: www.hudsonvalley.org Although taxis are always available at the Tarrytown Station, for those wishing to set up their own itinerary, especially if they plan to dine at night, the recommended taxi service is Knapp McCarthy, 914-631-TAXI. For those who want to ride in style, try Dominick's Limousine Service in Sleepy Hollow, 914-366-0929 or 877-436-6546. ELEANOR FOA DIENSTAG www.eleanorfoa.com, journalist and author, writes frequently about travel and food. THE CULTURE VULTURE Talk about turning lemons into lemonade! Jules Demchick, founder and president of the ID Carlisle Development Corporation, deserves kudos for transforming a graffiti-covered, five-story walk-up on East 83rd Street into an exquisite work of art. It is an inspired take on "improving the neighborhood." And last year I watched the transformation take place. I walk up and down York Avenue three or four times a week. I know every nook and cranny of that stretch of real estate, so imagine my surprise when one day I spied something so startling that, like a hound-dog poised with one foot off the ground, I froze and stared in a state of hyper-alertness. There, on the wall of a nondescript tenement across from the rising 28-story condo, the Cielo, at York Avenue and 83rd Street, was an-honest-to-god trompe l'oeil (fool the eye) mural whose three-dimensional perspective was so deftly done that I jay-walked across the street to make sure the façade wasn't a real face lift. 
It turns out that Demchick, who built the Cielo, is a serious art connoisseur. Perhaps because, except for himself, everyone in his family—wife, Barbara Nessin, and their daughters—is an artist. So, when faced with a graffiti-covered 77-foot wall directly across the street from his high-priced condo, he negotiated with the walk-up's owner and commissioned an architectural mural by Richard Hass, one of New York's great realist painters, to run the length of the wall. In the spirit of a mini-Medici, Demchick has also provided the building's tenants with a one-year membership to the Whitney Museum, hired an Art Concierge, commissioned paintings by Betsy Eby for the lobby, and included artwork by local elementary school students in the condo's communal playroom. But it is the Haas mural—a sophisticated and whimsical nod to the Yorkville of yore—that is a real gift to the community. To begin with, rising on the northeast corner of the wall is a startling four-story clock, painted to resemble major timepieces found in European cities. Graced with such details as open-faced gears, Roman numerals, astrological signs, and two New York City mounted policemen who appear to be moving around the clock, it is nothing short of awesome. Below the clock, running the length of the wall, are gargoyles with faces and images representing humble occupations once associated with the neighborhood: a sewing machine, dress dummy, mortar and pestle and—an Escher-like touch—a stairway to nowhere. Best of all, enhancing the existing architecture, Haas has transformed three ordinary tenement windows into what appear to be curved, copper-clad bay windows. They are remarkably beautiful. I say, let New York citizens—and all developers—take notice and be similarly inspired. Let 1,000 trompe l'oeil murals bloom! And in the meantime, come take a look at this glorious piece of public art. It's definitely worth a special visit. Eleanor Dienstag (www. eleanorfoa. corn), journalist and author, writes frequently about culture and the arts.
The Best Thing About Niagara, Travel & Leisure "Travel snobs who wouldn’t be caught dead planning a trip to Niagara Falls should, instead, pack their bags for two man-made splendors a few miles away: Niagara-on-the-Lake, home of Canada’s Shaw Festival, and Artpark, New York State’s radical experiment in cultural recreation. Perched on opposite banks of the historic Niagara River, they offer an ideal combination of pleasure for a late summer or fall mini-vacation—topnotch performing and visual arts as well as splendid restaurants, all in a country setting."
Sunday Travel Section: The New York Times "My first clue that things had changed subtly but significantly at Club Med came when my companion and I entered our room at Turkoise, on the island of Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos. Compared to the dark and somewhat grim quarters that had greeted me at Club Med’s Caravelle village on Guadeloupe three years before, the modern, third-floor room bearing the appellation "Swell" on a terra cotta plaque outside the door was just that. Indeed, by Club Med standards, the tile floor, blond wood furniture, extra-large twin beds and well-lighted shower and sink area (with a separate room for the toilet) verged on the luxurious. And by any standard, our view of manicured lawn, beach and truly turquoise waters was picture-book perfect...." Sunday Travel Section: The New York Times "It is said that Las Hadas, the luxurious resort on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, was conceived by the late Bolivian tin magnate Antenor Patino as a hideaway for himself and his international friends. Mr. Patino's chalk-white 15-acre complex cost $33 million to build and took eight years to blast out of the jungle. When it was done, in 1974, he threw open its doors with a legendary gala-in-white party for the "beautiful people" who landed their jets at the new Manzanillo-Colima Airport built by the Mexican Government with the help of a $5 million contribution from Mr. Patino. Rumor has it that Las Hadas never quite caught the fancy of the international set... As recently as five years ago...it still presided over the green slopes of the Santiago Peninsula in relative isolation. But, as so often happens, what started out as a remote Shangri-La today more closely resembles a crowded Riviera hillside, with Las Hadas wedged between a second hotel and a huge condominium complex...At present, Las Hadas is more middle class than jet set, and seems to attract affluent, athletic couples of all ages."
Have Bike, Will Travel, McCall’s Magazine "Of all the travel brochures I read while planning a vacation, I was most intrigued by the one that described an eight-day bicycle trip through the Dordogne River Valley in France. True, I hadn’t been on a bike in ten years. True, I was not one of those women who squeezed in aerobics between my job and housework. But I was active and healthy, with a youthful appetite for life....The good news was that from the moment we pedaled through the picture-book village of Argentat and headed into the lush, rolling hills of the Bas Limousin plateau, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the countryside....The bad news was that the Dordogne is hilly country—and I was having trouble biking up the hills." Letter From Toronto: Where the American Dream is Alive and Well, Frequent Flyer Magazine "In the ‘50s, New York lived in the shadow of Paris and London; today’s Toronto lives in the shadow of New York. Torontonians’ compulsion to compare their splendid city, rising dramatically along the north shore of Lake Ontario, to New York, reflects Canada’s compulsion to define itself in relation to its neighbor and largest trading partner, The United States."
Celestial Communications, Frequent Flyer Magazine "To avid watchers of Pope John Paul II, it probably came as no surprise that on his trip to the United States the busy pontiff chose to address his flock while cruising from San Antonio to Phoenix at 35,000 feet aboard a TWA 747. But as devout Catholics listened to the pope’s message—a sermon delivered in Spanish and downloaded to a radio station in New Mexico—for trend watchers, the medium was the message. And guess what? The pope was not using AT&T to reach out and touch the faithful, but GTE’s Airfone." Big Sky in the Big Apple, Interludes Magazine "I grew up in Manhattan without a backyard or a car, but didn’t miss them. I had Central Park, where I roller-skated, biked, necked, fell in love and, later, brought my children to play. Today, this glorious 2.5 mile stretch of urban parkland is still my backyard/country home, especially on weekends when it’s car-free. When ‘sky hunger’ attacks, I jump out of bed and head for the Reservoir, which stretches the width of Central Park. So strap on a belly pack, chow down a New York breakfast of coffee, juice and bagel with a schmear (cream cheese) and join me as I share my favorite Park vistas." For reprints or inquiries, contact me at: |
| ©2005 Eleanor Foa Dienstag. All Rights Reserved. |
Everything about Dia: Beacon's renovation is stunning, especially the 34,000 square feet of skylights that flood the artwork with beautiful northern light. It's a pleasure, on a bright summer day, to step into the museum's vast, high-ceilinged interior space and experience the light as it illuminates the artwork. The collection includes such major artists as: Agnes Martin, Louise Bourgeois, Richard Serra (who MOMA is now honoring with a huge one-man show), Dan Flavin (who works in neon), and among my favorites, John Chamberlain (see the accompanying photo), who creates sculptures out of crushed automobile parts. Seeing the works of LeWitt, Beuys, Nauman, Warhol, Ryman and others in this stunning setting, made me appreciate their art even more. Don't miss Serra's signature "torqued ellipses" or Fred Sandback's unique sculptures, created with yarn and space.
