A week-end break – to the “endless mountains” of northeastern pennsylvania

Mother’s day week-end (May 13^th) seemed precisely the right week-end for a short get-away to an area beyond the Poconos in eastern Pennsylvania, due west of Scranton.  In fact, we had planned the trip a few weeks ago and were heading to Eagles Mere, PA – “The Town Time Forgot” – and, specifically, the Eagles Mere Inn, a distinct part of the town and local heritage since 1878. Situated about 3 hours via Route 80 west from NYC and northern NJ (best to have your GPS handy), Sullivan County, PA, is one of a 4-county region identifying itself as the “endless mountains” and Eagles Mere, really just a small village, is the region’s quiet, calm, laid-back, picturesque (with a small lake quite close to, well, everything!) crown jewel. The immediate area features historic villages, antiques, winter sports of every variety, nature/hiking trails (in and out of state parks, and, in Eagles mere, on trails protected by a nature conservancy), covered bridges, World’s End State Park (with hiking, fishing, swimming, camping, cabins), extraordinary mountain vistas (“Canyon Vista,” “High Knob”; & both overlooking views of the endless mountains and valleys reflective of the region), and, a must, Ricketts Glen, a PA state park with hiking trails and some 22 named waterfalls, of varying heights & power and covering three counties.

But, Eagles Mere – set on a 2,100-foot mountain – is unique in many respects. You just need to visit the small but rich (in photographs, artifacts, historical documents) and charming Eagles Mere Museum to find out why, exactly.  The town dates back to the late 18^th-century (actually somewhere between 1794 and 1803) and, with the coming of the railroads, was most active commercially – as a thriving resort and vacation destination (there were as many as 13 large hotels and small inns operating around the lake) – from the late 19^th-century to, roughly, the beginning of the 2^nd World War. By the end of the war, due to rising costs, and, I suspect, with the advent of the state highway system, most of the remaining hotels – with the exception of the Eagles Mere Inn and the Crestmont (also still operating as a lovely small inn, even now) – had been torn down and summer seasonal visitors, from Philadelphia and Washington, DC, had, over a short period of time, simply stopped flocking to the area “to spend their summer with cool, clean mountain air, the crystal clear water and the unspoiled beauty of Eagles Mere.”

If you go to the region, be sure to dine at the Eagles Mere Inn where you can enjoy an interesting, satisfying, multi-course evening meal – prepared by the young gourmet chef-owner, Toby Diltz – for under $50./person, including extremely tasty & inventive soups, intriguing green salads with specialty “additions”  & “infusions” and homemade dressings, individually baked breads, main courses with two veggies, desserts, coffee/tea, and even a few glasses (or bottle) of wine. The evening dinner menu changes every night, featuring different soups, salads, mains & desserts!  Most memorable were the savoury soups, the duck-filled ravioli, and several of the chocolate cake desserts with creme fraiche! There is also a pub on the premises (open on week-ends, only) with live music and which the owner stocks with a variety of draft beers & ales and some hundred (plus?) varieties of bottled beer from throughout the U.S., Canada, the UK & Europe (at very reasonable prices, from $4.00 a bottle). If you stay at the Inn, you can reserve –and thus benefit from – special food and room rate “packages,” wine/food and beer/food events, and other Inn-sponsored events.  Room rates include a daily country breakfast – with all kinds of selections on the breakfast menu, from green salads (with different tangy, homemade dressings daily), eggs (any style) and omelet dishes, special omelets of the day, pancakes, French toast, homemade sausages (patty-style & uniquely succulent!) & bacon (in thick, large, meaty strips), home fries (with browned onions), small sweet buns, toast, coffee, and juices (as much as you like of anything on the menu!). And, finally, very personable and very friendly service (informal, too) is provided at both dinner and breakfast meals.

If you prefer a slightly larger, but equally low-key establishment, you might want to try out the Crestmont Inn, overlooking the lake, perched on a small nearby mountain top. Not the original Crestmont Hotel to be sure, but a B and B, or small inn, with a new chef-innkeeper, Tony Faulkiner (also a locally trained & acclaimed gourmet chef), who provided us with a tour of the rooms, resto, common rooms, and facilities. At the Crestmont, you can (also), or so they say, “enjoy a full complimentary [country] breakfast, with coffee on the porch, the activities the region is famous for ... or, simply, hide away in a romantic, Jacuzzi for two.” They add that each room contains a king- or queen-sized bed AND contains a refrigerator “to keep the champagne cold.”  We aim to give the Crestmont Inn a week-end tryout the next time we vacation in the Eagles Mere area.  Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future!

A few additional short notes if you venture to the “endless mountains” region and to Eagles Mere in particular:  Be sure to visit the Eagles Mere historic village shops, especially the Eagles Mere Bookshop (Kathy Lyons, proprietor), with new, used & antiquarian volumes, and book “bargains,” inside the shop & out, and the Eagles Mere Art Gallery, featuring fine art & crafts, by local painters, artisans & jewelry makers, at very reasonable prices. If you’re interested in local wines, some truly outstanding in the area, there are about 12 wineries to visit along the “endless mountains wine trail”; we drove to nearby Dushore, PA, to visit Jon Crane’s (he’s an avuncular & loveable character, indeed!) Bird Song Winery (a new web site soon to be up & running) where he produces about a dozen different wines and, in honor of mother’s day, gave my wife a gift bottle of port, his Sephardic Red.  

Finally, during our drive back to NJ, we stopped (as the Eagles Mere bookshop owner suggested) in Nicholson, PA (at the intersection of US Route 92 & US 11) to see the famous Nicholson Bridge, a cement Roman-aqueduct-like structure built between 1912 and 1915. If you just pick up the Nicholson Heritage Association brochure you’ll see why we stopped; and, having stopped to view it, the bridge is a much more spectacular structure when seen from up close – but just not too close! 

Pan Asian & Sichuan cuisine – two restos for a crowded weekend in NYC

Amidst the activities of the PEN Festival last week (and weekend) and an SOB concert in Brooklyn Heights this past Saturday evening, we managed to squeeze in visits to a couple of Asian restos, both in the Chelsea area (in Manhattan) and not a long walk from The New School).  Although there are many restaurants of all “persuasions” (including several Asian) to explore – up and down Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights, we decided to remain in Manhattan for dinner twice, Saturday evening, and Sunday, late afternoon.

While we’ve eaten on several occasions at Alpha Fusion’s mid-town, 34^th St. (between 8^th & 9^th Ave.) location and enjoyed the food immensely (they have a very nice and relatively extensive 3-course prix fixe dinner for under $25.), on this occasion, however, we simply came upon the 8^th Ave. branch of Alpha Fusion (between 18^th & 19^th St.) while walking in and around Chelsea seeking out interesting Asian menus. The resto – at both locations – specializes in Thai, Chinese, Japanese, and “fusion” cuisine, truly Pan Asian ... very friendly and very tasty, indeed!

We chose the Thai crispy crab cakes with pineapple salsa (@ $8.50) from a lengthy list of appetizers (or “Kitchen Starters”); the crab cakes proved nicely browned, crumbly & crunchy on the outside, but a bit bland and stringy inside (not up to their usually high culinary standard, or so we thought).   For mains (found under the generic head, “Wok & Grill”), we ordered the wok-grilled steak tenderloin with potato cake in a red, wine-infused brown sauce (@ 18.). The dish was exquisite, the steak tenderloin tender & succulent, and with just a bit of charred flavor exposed on the outside; the brown sauce – more intricate and piquant than it sounds – a lovely addition to the whole plate, generally, and to the steak in particular.  (This, for me, is an outstanding and memorable steak tenderloin dish, or so it is proving to me to be, even as I think about it now.)  The second dish we selected (from the “Starters” section) was the wok-grilled chicken, accompanied by a Thai lettuce salad, diced onions, jicama, pineapple, mango, bell pepper & crushed walnut, a very generous portion, indeed, filled with lots of thick, thoroughly grilled chicken strips at a mere $8.50, the portion.

I should also note that the resto, at both locations, offers a late-afternoon/early-evening Happy Hour during which drinks can be bought at reduced prices – there are, for example, wines by the glass, and a variety of imported, premium draft & bottle beers, Stella included, at $4.or 5.

Legend, Bar & Restaurant, at 88 7^th Ave. (near 15^th St.), is one of a handful of restos that The New York Times has dubbed among the very best Sichuan spots in The City, outside Chinatown. The resto is, visually, an attractive, moderately upscale Asian establishment (clearly not of your typical, pedestrian Chinatown ilk), with minimalist but inviting atmosphere, shiny tables & cloth napkins, dining on two floors, carefully maintained wood floors, and a small, spiffy bar up front. The food is extremely well-prepared and the menu is extensive, a list whose surface we merely just began to scratch. The pork pan-fried dumplings were perfectly done, delicately crispy, and, doused with a spoonful or two of their mellow & gingery dumpling sauce, practically melted (yep!) in your mouth. The hot & sour soup, nicely spiced, sufficiently sour, savoury, and among the better versions of this standard soup I have eaten.  Finally, having examined the large menu in some detail – and The Times list of “recommended dishes” – we chose the Chengdu prawns, in a lovely, balanced (not terribly spicy) sauce, along with sautéed asparagus, and bowls of white and brown rice. 

Two critical points about the dish of Chengdu prawns:  (1) the sauce was not in sufficient abundance (we should have asked for more!); and (2) the prawns were a little overcooked, as if they had been sautéed earlier that afternoon and not cooked to order.  Still, we enjoyed the food and the ambiance, overall, and are intrigued by numerous items on the menu – from the grilled crispy whole fish with pine nuts in sweet & sour sauce … to the Chengdu braised duck; the sliced pork sautéed with garlic stems; the grilled rack of lamb with dill, lemongrass, string-bean mushroom salad, and tamarind sauce; and lots of other “New Style” Sichuan concoctions.

Alas, we shall return to both of these Chelsea establishments for further exploration …

A quick note:  If you live in northern New Jersey (Montclair, Glen Ridge, Cedar Grove, or environs), you need to give Chengdu1 a try (eat in or take out) for “authentic” Szechuan cuisine!  Located in Cedar Grove (the Pilgrim Shopping Plaza, @ 89 Pompton Ave.), they simply offer a complete menu of all sorts of typical and “special” Szechuan (no matter how you spell it!) items from soups to classic dishes, such as sesame shrimp, sizzling chicken with ginger & scallions, beef in “western Szechuan” sauce, and a fish fillet with scallion sauce.  Additionally, their pan-fried dumplings are characteristically top-notch, and their vegetarian items superb (just sample the asparagus with ginger sauce). You will surely enjoy this local Essex County eatery … take my word for it & take notice!

Some notes on literature & music – a crowded weekend in NYC

Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared last week (April 30^th through May 6^th ) PEN American Center Week in New York City!  And well he should do this as the week-long annual literature festival, PEN World Voices, aims to introduce numbers of “compelling”  writers  from all corners of the world – from Russia  and Germany; Mexico, Spain, and Denmark; to Switzerland, Bosnia, Israel and Mexico (and all points beyond) – and their books to all of us. PEN also aims, of course, to reinforce “the importance of the premise that freedom of expression is the foundation of meaningful existence …” and it ensures that we are all “better equipped … to comprehend, defend and advance the importance of freedom of expression.”  In short, PEN protects writers everywhere, publicizes and preserves their books,  involves readers of every stripe, and focuses on reading in a wide variety of contexts – aesthetic, entertainment, political, and informational.

All of this sounds a bit lofty and abstract, but I assure you that the PEN Festival is always enjoyable, provocative, rich, and diverse … and lots of fun, as well!  This year, I was fortunate enough to attend three events, two at the New School (both free!) in the West Village and a third at The Museum of Jewish Heritage, downtown in Battery Park.   

The two panel-discussion events held at the New School focused on “translation matters” – such interrelated topics as contemporary literature in translation, the nature and practice of translation, reviewing translated works of fiction, and developing and solidifying both international and local audiences. The “Best European Fiction” panel –  introduced and moderated by the very likable, low-key Bosnian-American novelist, Aleksandar Hemon (The Question of Bruno, Nowhere Man & The Lazarus Project) – included fiction writers from Slovakia, Switzerland & Liechtenstein reading passages from their work in their native languages (followed by readings of the material in English) and, prodded by Mr. Hemon, sharing information about their reading and writing habits, linguistic & cultural perspectives, and personal goals and habits. The three European writers on this panel – Patrick Boltshauser, Rober Gal & Noelle Revaz – have each written short fiction that appears in the anthology, Best European Fiction 2012 , edited by Hemon & Nicole Krauss and currently in the 3^rd year of the series.

The panel dedicated to the work & recognition of translators and the review of translated fiction – “Reviewing Translations” – was equally enriching and entertaining, and comprised translators, editors & writers. The questions that tended to dominate (even vex) panel participants (including Ruth Franklin of The New Republic & Lorin Stein, editor of The Paris Review) and moderators, Eric Banks (President, The National Book Critics Circle) & Susan Bernofsky (MFA Program, Queens College; Chair of the PEN Translation Committee) consisted in the following:   (1) When a translated work is under review, what, exactly, is being “critiqued”?  AND (2) Do book reviews tend to focus on the work itself or reflect on the quality of the translation?  The discussion proved lively, with input, too, from the Austrian novelist & playwright, Julya Rabinowich, but, in the end, not all that much was, summarily, agreed upon!

On Sunday afternoon, down in Battery Park, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, the PEN session we attended – “A Place Out of Time:  The Bukovina Trilogy“ – featured the writings of Gregor von Rezzori, novelist and memoir writer and “chronicler of the fading  [now long-faded] Austro-Hungarian Empire.”  Von Rezzori’s celebrated trilogy (he wrote, in fact, considerably more!) was discussed and examined, with key passages read aloud and annotated, by the writers Deborah Eisenberg,  Edmund White, Michael Cunningham, and Daniel Kehlmann.  Edwin Frank, editor of NYRB Classics (from The New York Review of Books), introduced the proceedings, placed von Rezzori’s work into historical context, and moderated the discussion.  Indeed, thanks to my brother, Robert, I had become acquainted with two parts of von Rezzori’s Bukovina trilogy – Memoirs of an Anti-Semite (Viking, 1981, 1^st American ed.) and The Snows of Yesteryear (Knopf, 1989) – some 30 (+) years ago.  He would be glad to know that, finally, the rest of the world has caught up.

* * *

Have you had the good fortune to attend an SOB (that’s the String Orchestra of Brooklyn) concert? Fortunately for us – and inspired to come to Brooklyn by our good friend and orchestra violinist, Olivia Stockard – we did, in fact, venture over the Bridge to Brooklyn Heights this past Saturday evening (May 5^th) and joined the audience for an all-Beethoven evening consisting of three major works from his early and middle periods. The program included remarkably solid performances of Symphony No. 1 (Op. 21) and Symphony No. 7 (Op. 92), with its celebrated 2^nd  movement (the Allegretto), the orchestral dirge made even more memorable on exhibit in the recent Academy Award winning film, “The King’s Speech” (with, you might recall, Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth & Helena Bonham Carter).

The evening’s piece de resistance, however, was Beethoven’s Piano Concerto, No. 4 (Op. 58) which centered emphatically on the precision keyboard skills of the young pianist, Mr. David Kaplan. He was positively brilliant, playing with both a deeply emotional sense and superb technical skill. And the crisp, light, orchestral accompaniment – driven by Eli Spindel, the SOB’s equally young conductor/artistic director – showcased the soloist with balance, appropriate emphases, and obvious (mutual) professional respect.

For a simply glorious & complete evening of music in the Beethoven sphere, kudos must go to Mr. Spindel and to the outstanding musicians of the SOB.  (I won’t soon forget the magical talents of the chief oboe & principal flute on display at key moments throughout the evening!)  If you are an aficionado of classical music, you need to attend an SOB concert …

While venues alternate for SOB concerts ($10.-15/ticket, and very much worth the price of admission), this event took place at St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church (@ 157 Montague St.) where the acoustics were perfectly wonderful, the sounds clear, rich & pristine, and the audience extremely receptive and involved. Beethoven, you could tell, was in the proverbial air, all around us!