I have run an informal, not- for -profit concierge service for years. I field calls weekly from various friends asking what restaurant to go to for certain occasions. I like giving this advice, I love sharing information. From very early on in life I have loved connecting people.
If I’m in a hotel, no matter where or when, I’m often found deep in conversation, in a hot tub, probably about food with strangers. I once belonged to the Loews Hotel fitness club which was, and is, not terribly expensive and comes with the use of their pool, hot tub, steam room. It was a great deal and I really love to swim and didn’t have a pool of my own at the time. Most nights I could be found in the hot tub with random people telling them where to eat while they were in L.A. on vacation. Great for THEM.
Years ago, I remember sitting in a hot tub in the Berkshires, at a hotel I recommend by the way, called Porches. I told some of my new -found “friends for the next 20 minutes “that I would be spending a lot of time on the upper west side of New York. They were my east coast counterparts. They told me all these places I needed to go. Did I listen? Well, I never forgot but I never really tried all, no make that any of their suggestions. I am set in my ways and love my Magnolia cupcakes so much that I totally disregarded their recommendation of the “real” best cupcakes in the city. They had said the name Mitchell London and it sounded like a salon and not a food place so I just ignored it. The mental note was still there and sometimes I would pass a Mitchell London store as I was headed to a museum or somewhere to eat on the upper east side. But I just kept ignorant. And, it was maybe better that way. (more…)
