A perfect Saturday in New York -- a stroll up the West Side, sensational steak dinner at Porter House and
Jude Law's magnificent performance in Hamlet. Hurry! The show ends Dec. 6, 2009.
Law displays the same range of raw emotional power in the grueling angry and troubled Hamlet role as he does in his sweet and gentle performance in The Holiday, one of my seasonal Christmas favorites. Outside the historic Broadhurst Theatre after the 3-hour and 10-minute play, gawkers lined up for a view of the cast as they escaped into the dark night. The Hollywood fan gauntlet has arrived on 45th Street.
The afternoon began on Amsterdam Avenue off Broadway in the Upper West Side with a delightful light Tuscan lunch at Salumeria Rosi, a small neighborhood salami shop and small plate restaurant. I happened in and out of shops along Amsterdam and Columbus avenues, before taking an espresso break in the animated but intimate Nice Matin on the corner of Amsterdam and 79th Street. For our early dinner, Porter House, the window-lined award-winning steak house in the Time-Warner Center, was top-tier all the way, from service to presentation to flavors. It also was a terrific alternative to the stodgy steak house scene in the theater district. We sat in the corner booth that looked up Broadway and across Central Park South. It was a lovely autumn evening. The Columbus Circle uptown mega mall, just south of Lincoln Center, was jammed with a pre-holiday spirit in its high-end and yuppy shops, restaurants, markets and bars and other nightlife. Our waiter timed our experience perfectly so that we could easily hop a cab and get downtown for the show.
The previous evening, an early evening rendezvous at one of the most enduring New York eateries, PJ Clarke's -- in the Lincoln Center location -- was dependable as ever. Noisy and jolly, the pub-style atmosphere was a good Friday night jump start to the weekend. The featured lobster roll was absolutely delicious!
