So ... I Promised You Lunch

The grand finale of the tour was the inspection of a "typical ($1,800) suite" which alert readers will remember from yesterday was a "Why bother?" with me.  Instead I retired to the hotel bar and was soon joined by Richie.  He ordered a Stella ($8) and I succumbed to the bar lady's insistence that I try the Magic Hat pumpkin ale (previously reviewed.)

We were soon joined by Sonny, Richie's old clamming buddy, who had completed the tour with the guest suite. 

We took our drinks and went through to the adjoining restaurant - a sea of snowy white tablecloths on tables set far enough apart that the billionaires could share various bits of chicanery and not be overheard.  It is a pretty room with high, high ceilings and equally tall windows.  I love this architectural period because in the 20s and 30s they built hell for stout.  It quietly pleases me to see steel-framed windows. 

As we unfolded our snowy white napkins a server appeared and put a small plate with a slice of toasted, grilled Tuscan ciabatta bread with a ladle of soft white cheese flecked with tiny bits of green onion tops over it in front of each of us.

Richie ordered the Lobster Meatballs with a dipping sauce of lobster bisque ($15.)  I had to try them, too because here on the Left Coast we rarely eat lobster as the cost is equal to a mortgage payment.  Still on the quest for the Perfect Caesar Salad, I got that, too, and Richie and I split it. ($10)

Sonny ordered a sandwich with grilled chicken, Swiss cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato and honey mustard. ($15)

Richie cleaned his plate.  The Caesar was a little different in that its dressing was more oil and vinegar-y than the usually creamy white.  It was good.       But not perfect. 

The lobster bisque as a "dipping sauce" didn't work all that well -- virtually tasteless (which is extremely difficult to do.)  I could only eat two of the four meatballs on my plate so I asked for a take home box.   I waited with anticipation to see if the waitress would swoon in horror, such is the Gatsby-esque theme of the place.  Sonny got a container, too, such was the filling magnitude of his sandwich. 

We were having a very good time, the men reminiscing about this old bay man or that one.  We swore we were  too full to eat dessert, but a look at the menu suddenly  gave our stomachs a new lease on life.  I ordered a Affogato which is a hollowed out ball of vanilla ice cream which arrived with two small liqueur  glasses - one cappuccino; the other of Amaretta to pour over the ice cream. ($10) Quite tasty. 

Richie had "Swedish" profiteroles ($12)  and the server didn't know why they were "Swedish" so there's another mystery for Oheka Castle. 

Food and drinks came to $118.83 and I tipped $23.  I'd go back as much for the food as well as the ambience.  The tall windows overlook one of the gardens, the sun came streaming through the windows in patches and so we spent two very relaxed hours at the table.

Oheka Castle

Finding a castle on Long Island's North Shore seemed a rather unlikely possibility.  But when digging around online for things to see, there it was in the guise of an extremely expensive hotel.  The guide ended the tour with an inspection of a "typical" suite.  At $1,800/night?  I didn't bother to go to see it. 
But I did keep getting my tongue all twisted up with the name.  I kept saying "Osaka."

It's a combination of the first owner/builder's name.  O - Otto; HE Hermann and KA for Kahn.  He spent five years from 1914 to 1919 building it.  It took two years just to build the artificial hill it all sits on.  It is also the first totally fireproof private home ever.  Kahn's previous mansion had burned down which clearly marked him psychologically.  It's constructed with steel beams and the walls are 30 in. thick.  New developers couldn't destroy it and building a housing unit.  It wouldn't burn and the bulldozers couldn't penetrate the walls.

Originally it was the largest  private home in America with 127 rooms covering 109,000 sq. ft.  It was also as ownership changed, a retreat for NYC Sanitation Workers which was a substantial step away from the glittering balls and gala dinners that the Kahns threw.  Then it became the Eastern Military Academy.  A local told me that Donald Trump had attended it. 

See Oheka at the movies - it has appeared in "Citizen Kane" and "What Happens in Vegas" as well as background for numerous videos

No 95 year old establishment can escape from lurid tales and Oheka has one.

Back in 1984, a developer named Gary Melius bought it.  Refurbishing it (it has been vacant for five years) didn't go well; he ran out of money despite having paid $1.2 million for it.  Thus, as we see above, Oheka underwent several changes in ownership.  But as time passed, Gary  recouped his fortune, bought it again and spent the next 30 years returning it to it's original 1919 beauty. 

Gary is the story.  On the night of February 24, 2014, he was accosted in the parking lot and shot by a masked intruder.  The villain of the piece has never been caught (or even found for that matter) but rumors persist that the gunman was either an inept hit man (the gun jammed after the first shot; double tap foiled) or his son or stepson were behind it. 

Apparently undaunted, Gary recovered and seems to make periodic tours of the premises greeting guests and tours.  That's certainly his prerogative; he spent 30 years of his life putting it together. 

We saw him in the corridors and during lunch which is where we're going to go tomorrow.  Touring makes a body so hungry, don't you think?

A Celebration!

Today is Prince Charles' 66th birthday.  Please party responsibly. 

Perhaps afternoon tea with an Eton Mess, hot tea - or for the daring, a small glass of sherry, and then a rousing discussion about his chance of ever sitting on the throne.

Would join you, but am busy transcribing notes from our recent trip.  Save me a scone, eh?
 

Round Trip in 1st and What We Ate

This was the lunch menu for the 1:30 p.m. Saturday flight into JFK...

Starter:  Smoked salmon and seared tuna with wasabi and ginger aioli

Salad:  Spinach and Romaine mix with hearts of palm, strawberries and pecans - choice of Caesar or olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressings.

Entrees:  Spinach and cheese-stuffed chicken breast with Beurre sauce with a potato pancake and haricots vertes (green beans the fancy way)  (Richie)

Classic Caesar salad and corn chowder, optional grilled chicken skewer (Me and I can tell you that the corn chowder was very good and the Caesar dismal.  The lettuce - what there was of it - looked tired and probably was; the chicken skewer that was "grilled" was boiled white meat chicken chunks with grill marks, possibly artfully done with a blow torch previously.) 

Wild rice and vegetable-stuffed Portobello mushroom with Monterey Jack cheese in a roasted red  pepper sauce. 

Dessert:  Ball of vanilla ice cream with sauce of your choice (butterscotch with a shot of Amaretto)

Cheese Tray

Dinner menu for 5:30 p.m. flight out of Kennedy to LAX:

Starter:  Thai grilled chicken with pineapple and watermelon with Asian mint dressing.  (This was so sad; imagine three chunks of grilled pineapple chunks and two of chicken with one wedge of watermelon and a single sprig of cilantro.  I felt sorry for it, but ate it anyhow.)

Salad:  Seasonal greens with walnuts and goat cheese.  Choice of cilantro dressing or olive oil and balsamic vinegar. 

Entrees:  Grilled beef filet with Port wine sauce, garlic mashed potatoes and green and yellow beans.  (We both had this and I couldn't finish it because the portion of beef was about the size of a baseball.)

Shrimp Scampi with creamy polenta and grilled asparagus.

Butternut Squash gnocchi with sautéed squash and sage cream sauce.


Dessert:  ball of vanilla ice cream with choice of sauce

Cheese plate

So belch and get ready to depart the plane now.  We're home again.

We're Home

We had a good time.

We got 1st both ways

Young Fred made a shambles of the house.

It is 10:45 p.m.

More tomorrow. 

Making A Vertical Descent on Luddite Land

This is a test of my character (or probably lack of same.)  We are going to see Richie's family on Long Island.  His brother and wife do not have a computer and do not want one.  Their son has a computer, but he and his wife rarely use it.  My hopes thus rest on Amelia, Richie's 8 year old great niece.

The hotel barely has a bedspread per room so am sure the idea of a guest computer for checking mail is ... missing.  There are not a lot of hotel/motels on Long Island and all but this one are geographically undesirable.

It is going to be 78 here today -- and 45 when we land at JFK.  I am dressed warmly.  And am planning to totally wow the locals when I step out in my J. Peterman riding mac.  Get ready, New York!  Son Altesse is on her way!

That Old--Time Cottage Industry Religion

The Daily Breeze's daily birthdays list is headed by Rev. Billy Graham who turns 96 today.  Given the number of medical events during his life, this is rather surprising -- pneumonia, broken hips, prostate cancer and then aged 74, he developed Parkinson's disease.  Additionally he is plagued by vision and hearing loss, but think how old he is!  No one would agree that 96 is a piece of cake...

He and his late wife Ruth had five children and apparently all of them married and procreated with some vigor as he has a great number of grandchildren AND great-grandchildren. All of the five original children are in the religion business, busily drumming up converts and money for various charitable institutions.  I would assume that the leadership reins are being handed down a generation with some gusto.  It is very much a family business. 

Despite being a registered Democrat, he and Nixon were close friends; later on he stumped for Mitt Romney.  Harry Truman didn't like him and considered him something of a phony (which amused me as  I regard ALL gentlemen engaged in converting sinners into saints  much the same.) 

Wikipedia is a good source for a full documentation of his career and I recommend it.  It is 'way too long to try to condense it here.