NEW YORK: I Love You

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. I adore the Gramercy Park Hotel. I don’t know if it’s the cherry wood burning in the fireplace, which is the first thing you smell the moment you walk through the revolving door, the impeccable decor or the world class art that makes this hotel so appealing, but it has that je ne sais qua that more or less makes my knees week and my spine tingle. But I’m also creature of habit. I like routines and I definitely have one when I travel to the same city more than once. For New York, this is especially true because traveling is zany enough on it’s own, add a few million people and it gets down right difficult to get around if you don’t have a plan. So mine is simple: I take the 7am Jet Blue flight, getting me to the Gramercy with just enough time to unpack and grab a cab for my 2:00pm lunch at Balthazar.

This time, I got the Balthazar salad to start and the steak tartar without the toast points; Leo was lucky enough to enjoy the starches (Leo is nut free, but due to his recent asthma diagnosis, he’s shifting to GF full time. So he’s down to one day week with gluten. By next week, he’ll be totally GF!) and got the macaroni and cheese. Then it was a leisurely walk around SoHo. But in the back of my mind, I was walking through the recipe I would be teaching the next day to my students, so I would be totally prepared for my classes, because no matter what, each one is always totally different and I love it! No matter how practiced I may be, or think that I am, I never really know what to expect…which makes teaching so spicy and fun. I learn from my students as much as they learn from me and for this, I am forever grateful. It’s made me a better baker, so thank you all my amazing students!

In fact, when we were gazing at all the skulls that line Leo’s favorite shop, Evolution, I couldn’t help but feel my thoughts drift and rub up against mortality and the importance of a good hard days’ work. Aside from the love of my little family, the most important and gratifying feeling I have ever felt in the world has come from me working in the service of others. I felt the pings of excitement well up within me. Tomorrow was going to be fabulous because I wanted it to be. I don’t ever want to fear death. I want to embrace it (which is why I wear skull rings to remind me) so that when my time comes, I will feel like I lived a full and meaningful life. So I look Leo’s hand in mine and said, “Leo, come on, I’ve got to take you to this fabulous little chocolate store…”