NYC series no.3: champagne

On our first full day, we met Ariel at the Lego Store in Rockefeller Center and proceeded up 5th Avenue. On the way, we stepped inside the Cathedral of St. Patrick, had lunch at La Bonne Soupe, and visited Louis Vuitton. FAO Schwarz was ahead, but first we walked across the square where the Pulitzer Fountain sits to the lobby of The Plaza Hotel. At one time I considered, but rejected, eating lunch at the Plaza. It had a gourmet food court and the posh Oak Room, and in my research I heard about a champagne room. The boys know the Plaza from the Home Alone movie. It is famous to older generations for the book about Eloise, but I can't claim to have read or been read that book.

We didn't hesitate to follow guests and other tourists through the revolving doors into an entry room, where those who weren't guests stopped to take pictures. We saw a little sign pointing to its front desk and found ourselves in a sunny room with high ceilings and chandeliers and green velvety chairs in twos along the windows and smaller upholstered chairs in groups circled around tables in a second ring near the windows. Cyndi sat in one of the green velvety chairs next to a window at the corner of the hotel, and I spied a small bar in the corner of the room where we entered. I asked the woman at the small bar, "Is this the Champagne room?" Yes, it was. And were they serving Champagne, and what Champagne did they serve? It was very early in the afternoon. And she tells me some French Champagnes. I recognize "brut" and "rose", and I recently had a rose Champagne that surprised me how good it was. So I ordered one glass. She said it was their most popular Champagne. As I always find, the people were very gracious.

A man in a tuxedo brought the champagne to our table next to the green velvety chairs in the far corner of the large room where Cyndi and Ariel sat. He asked if we wanted anything else, and I confided to him that were just having the one token glass of champagne to enjoy a few brief moments sitting in the room. He smiled and said he understood, and later he brought a stand with two serving dishes, silver probably, though I didn't really notice at the time, with snacks and chocolate-covered almonds.

Cyndi, Ariel and I tasted the Champagne. I think it may have been Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin. It was very good, very dry, the bubbles seemed small and numerous. The boys played with their brand new Legos sitting on the carpet at our feet. They talked quietly for a change. A man sat near us munching on what looked like a sushi order from the gourmet food court, and two men looked like they were engaged in some sort of business a few tables away. They were not eating or drinking. Some people came and went through the room but they were very few and we didn't notice any traffic.

We didn't rush, but it couldn't have been too many minutes before we paid our bill, looked at some shops and other hallways at the hotel, and then crossed over the small street in front of the lobby and toward FAO Schwarz.