Yesterday Today: North End Grill

Sunday, April 6, 2014

North End Grill

Today was my birthday brunch date with Leslie. We have known each other 15 years and have been faithful about getting together at least twice a year for our birthdays...if we see other more than that in one year, we consider ourselves lucky.

A few years back, I thought it was better if the person treating the birthday girl decided on the day's activities. We usually meet in the city and we try to get to an area we haven't visited before. We've been east side, west side, uptown, downtown and it's been loads of fun. Today's choice: Battery Park City - North End Grill. I had to admit - haven't been in a very long while. Certainly not since 9/11. I've never even heard of North End Avenue but looking on the map, I realized I knew it fairly well. I worked near there 30 years ago!

Instead of driving, I took the E train. To the World Trade Center stop...last one on the train. I did that every day for a long time. I hadn't done it in even a longer time. It was strange and brought back many memories. When I came out of the station and was on the corner of Vesey and Barclay...whoosh! I was standing next to the post office that I had to visit every Tuesday to send in my ARC report (airline ticket report). Again...a lot of memories.

As I headed west...it looked less and less familiar...so much has changed. But then, some of it sparked recognition. But the bottom line, it all looked really beautiful.

The restaurant is gorgeous. Staff was lovely and food, scrumptious. Excellent company goes without saying.
After lunch, we walked towards the promenade & the river...again, an area I used to go during lunch in nice weather but haven't been in 30 years. It was tremendous to see so many people enjoying the day - the plaza was bustling and filled with families, friends, couples & tourists. Lots of puppies and babies.

Leslie and I found a sunny spot and basked in the warmth, catching up on our busy lives. It was simple...Superb.