The Nomad

 "The competition would be too great."

When I first heard news last year that Danny Meyer was selling his four-star restaurant, 11 Madison Park, I was a bit shocked.  Restaurateurs and chefs alike strive for that rating given to them by the NY Times.  It takes some restaurants decades to finally mature to that level, honing their skills year after year, until perfection is finally reached.  Once its reached, they strive for an even higher level.

Daniel Humm and Will Guidara, the Chef and General Manager of 11 Madison Park, with a group of investors started the company MadeNice.  Once hearing these two professionals, two people who are truly at the top of their game in their respected fields, were planning on opening a restaurant just a few blocks away from 11 Madison, Danny had no choice but to sell.  The diamond of Danny Meyer's empire was now sold to Daniel and Will, and just a year later, they opened The Nomad Restaurant located inside The Nomad hotel.  Finally having a chance to eat here tonight, I realized Danny Meyer made a very smart decision.

The Nomad has taken casual hotel dining, elevated it with Mr. Meyer's signature hospitality warmth, and mixed it with cuisine cooked with incredibly high standards by a military-style French brigade in the basement kitchen.  Abram Bissell, the former Executive Sous Chef at 11 Madison, has been given the prestigious task of running The Nomad, which includes the now three-star restaurant, rooftop dining, and 24-hour room service.

The Nomad Hotel

The Nomad, which means "North of Madison Square Park", is located on the corner of 28th and Broadway, in a building very similarly designed to the iconic Flatiron Building located just five blocks downtown.  "The Atrium", or main dining room, is situated just off the hotel lobby, and is equipped with a skylight the same size as the dining room.  The skylight allows natural light to shine down on the dark wood furnishings, upholstered chairs, stone floor, and other forms of classic old-world architecture.

Located just off the Atrium is the bar, equipped with a dark mahogany countertop and designed to give the feeling of an old-world library.  Off in the other direction, is an actual two-story library, an area which serves small pastries and coffee.  The last section is The Parlour Room, and is a bit more intimate with red accents on the wall and a marble hearth imported straight from France.  Here, you can meet one of the sous chefs as he overlooks the cooking of small snacks and the now very well-known foie gras and truffle-stuffed chicken-for-2.

A note on street festivals

Street festivals are awesome.  On nice days in NYC they tend to pop up everywhere.  While a lot of them serve the same food and products, they’re still great to walk through with your fellow New Yorkers. 

There are many throughout the year that tend to be geared towards holidays, such as the one tomorrow celebrating Cinco de Mayo (on may…6^th??). There are also many well-known ones such as the San Gennaro festival which hits Little Italy in September, or the Indian Day Parade which hits Madison Avenue in August.  You can find a list of them here: 

 http://www.nycstreetfairs.com/sched.html

However, there are plenty of smaller ones that tend to pop up every now and then also.  Walking through a street festival you can hardly contain the kid inside of you.  Where else can you find cotton candy, funnel cake, corn on the cob, kettle corn, sausages, chicken parmesan, gyros, and shish kabobs in NYC on one block?  Well, I am sure you can if you look hard enough, since this city is so diverse.  But you understand what I am getting at.