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TR 17 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2014 C M Y K Sxxx,2014-12-28,TR17,Bs-4C,E1 More restaurants are embracing online ticket- ing, with hopeful custom- ers poised to click weeks in ad- vance and pay in full when batch- es of seats are released. Among those in San Francisco spear- heading this move, the new Lazy Bear offers tickets for two nightly seatings at communal tables. Lazy Bear, which opened in September, came to the system in a different way from established- spots with big-name chefs, like Alinea in Chicago or Per Se in New York. It started in 2009 as a dinner party at the home of its chef, David Barzelay. But after a recent three-hour meal, it was clear that the ticketing system made sense: It felt more like an event than a dinner. Tickets were slightly painful to achieve — competition for prime dates compounded by software glitches — but we eventually procured two to the early seating at 6. Several weeks later, my date and I were ushered to the buzzing mezzanine lounge. The cozy layout and tasty drinks — a lemon-verbena shan- dy, for example — inevitably led to mingling. We noshed on the first of more than a dozen small plates: I swooned over the duck liver mousse with a paper-punch- size tiny spot of grape jelly and walnut paste. Escorted downstairs, we were assigned seats at one of two long wooden tables next to a Canadian foursome, including a Royal Mountie who contributed a histo- ry lesson on New Brunswick. Mr. Barzelay created this communal experience as a way to recall the intimate nature of home-cooked meals of his youth. Diners were even encouraged to interact in the open kitchen as the chef’s team combined unexpected flavors into colorful presentations of dishes that were complex but not fussy. “My flavors are familiar from childhood and would appeal to my grandmother,” Mr. Barzelay said later. Bright orange trout fillets were rolled artfully atop a crunchy rye crumble; a sea scallop was crowned with sunflower petals. Grilled pork, both jowl and loin, was complemented with pine nuts, buckwheat and Chante- relles. Six varieties of dessert included a perfect Earl Grey macaron and a sesame-encrusted dim sum filled with chocolate ganache. Just as one might after a dinner party, we exchanged email ad- dresses with the Canadians be- fore departing. LOUISE RAFKIN Bites Lazy Bear SAN FRANCISCO 2 for Dinner? Tickets, Please .................................................................... Lazy Bear, 3416 19th Street; 415- 874-9921; lazybearsf.com. The multi-course menu is $120, plus a mandatory 20 percent gratuity. Beverage pairings are $65. LUKE ANDREWS Lazy Bear’s owner-chef, David Barzelay, center right, at work with his team. Rates Doubles start at $199. Basics A cross between a style-conscious boutique and a pod hotel, citizenM, which operates six locations in Europe, opened its first Un- ited States outpost in Times Square in April. The trendy but affordable, limited-service hotel offers self-check-in at welcome kiosks in the art-filled double-height lobby staffed by friendly hosts. Each of its 230 double rooms are virtually identical and compact, helping keep costs down. To compensate for their size, public areas, including a buzzy lobby bar, a quieter mezzanine library and guests-only rooftop lounge, are spacious and inviting. In keeping with its high-tech concept — citizenM stands for “citizen mo- bility” — reservations are accepted only on- line, Wi-Fi is included and use of Apple com- puters in the library is free. Location Though the tech concept is business-travel- er-enticing, the Times Square location, be- tween Broadway and Eighth Avenue on West 50th Street, is equally tourist- and theatergoer-friendly, with seven subway lines within four blocks. While none of the rooms overlook the ball-drop festivities, the hotel plans to hold a guests-only New Year’s Eve party at its rooftop Cloud Bar. The Room As in a ship’s cabin, no space is wasted in the rooms. My room, 908, featured a wide king bed that ran wall to wall in front of a picture window facing surrounding skyscrapers. A sink and cabinet hugged one side of the en- try hallway. On the other, a frosted-glass capsule enclosed the toilet and shower. The effect is smart rather than confining, and the bedside Samsung tablet that controlled everything from room lighting — with vari- ous moods from “romance” to “business” — made an entertaining toy. It also controls the flat-screen TV and allows you to select video art projected in a frame on the other- wise unadorned walls. In the guest room corridor, bits of international wisdom sten- cil the walls with advice like “Don’t buy a pig in a bag” from Finland. The Bathroom Again, efficiency rules here, but the dimen- sions are ample, the shower head wide, and privacy is ensured by frosted-glass walls. In a nice touch, the hair products included two shampoos, a musky option and another brighter floral, custom designed by the Am- sterdam-based perfumer Alessandro Gual- tieri. Dining While the hotel does not provide room serv- ice, the 24-hour lobby cafeteria, canteenM, improves on standard grab-and-go fare with hot items including frittatas and sau- sages on the breakfast buffet in addition to fresh baked goods and granola (breakfast $18 purchased in advance; $21 on site). Blackboard specials later in the day adver- tise sandwiches and salads. The lobby lounge, with one wall devoted to arty pic- ture books, acts as both coffee and cocktail bar, while the rooftop option, limited to guests, offers exclusivity without snobbery. Amenities Like the rooms, the 19th-floor gym is trim, with cardio machines at floor-to-ceiling windows, and an outdoor yoga terrace. The 21-story hotel fulfills the website promise of “Absolutely no trouser presses, bellboys, or other tired old hotel clichés.” It could stand to employ one cliché: a concierge. Staffers were good at many lobby duties, from help- ing those baffled by self-check-in to making lattes, but were less reliable on basic direc- tions and restaurant recommendations. Bottom Line Fresh, funky and affordable, citizenM is a modern haven in touristy Times Square. Its D.I.Y. ethos, like picking your room art, of- fers efficiency with flair. ELAINE GLUSAC CHECK IN CITIZENM NEW YORK Where Boutique Meets Pod CitizenM, in Times Square, is the first American outpost of a chain. Guest rooms waste no space. PHOTOGRAPHS FROM ADRIAN GAUT ....................................................................................... CitizenM New York, 216-218 West 50th Street, New York; 212-461-3638; citizenm- .com. NAMIB-NAUKLUFT NATIONAL PARK, NAMIBIA While visiting this park on a 10-day organized tour of Namibia in September, I was mesmerized by the scale of Deadvlei, once a basin of the now dried-up Tsauchab River. Skeletons of dead acacia trees still poke out of the parched salt clay and reduce strolling visitors to thimble size. It was a stark setting that looked like something out of a de Chirico painting. GIANNELLA M. GARRETT, NEW YORK CITY Earlier this year, in our 52 Places to Go issue, we asked readers to send in their suggestions for a 53rd spot for the list. We will feature one each month online at nytimes.com/travel; here is November’s selection. Places to Go READERS’ CHOICE
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Transcript of PTG-reader-pic-NOV
TR 17THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2014
C M Y K Sxxx,2014-12-28,TR17,Bs-4C,E1
More restaurants areembracing online ticket-ing, with hopeful custom-
ers poised to click weeks in ad-vance and pay in full when batch-es of seats are released. Amongthose in San Francisco spear-heading this move, the new LazyBear offers tickets for two nightlyseatings at communal tables.
Lazy Bear, which opened inSeptember, came to the system ina different way from established-spots with big-name chefs, likeAlinea in Chicago or Per Se inNew York. It started in 2009 as adinner party at the home of itschef, David Barzelay. But after arecent three-hour meal, it wasclear that the ticketing systemmade sense: It felt more like anevent than a dinner.
Tickets were slightly painful toachieve — competition for primedates compounded by softwareglitches — but we eventuallyprocured two to the early seatingat 6. Several weeks later, my dateand I were ushered to the buzzingmezzanine lounge.
The cozy layout and tastydrinks — a lemon-verbena shan-dy, for example — inevitably ledto mingling. We noshed on thefirst of more than a dozen smallplates: I swooned over the duckliver mousse with a paper-punch-size tiny spot of grape jelly andwalnut paste.
Escorted downstairs, we were
assigned seats at one of two longwooden tables next to a Canadianfoursome, including a RoyalMountie who contributed a histo-ry lesson on New Brunswick. Mr.Barzelay created this communalexperience as a way to recall theintimate nature of home-cookedmeals of his youth. Diners wereeven encouraged to interact in theopen kitchen as the chef’s teamcombined unexpected flavors intocolorful presentations of dishesthat were complex but not fussy.
“My flavors are familiar fromchildhood and would appeal to mygrandmother,” Mr. Barzelay saidlater.
Bright orange trout fillets wererolled artfully atop a crunchy ryecrumble; a sea scallop wascrowned with sunflower petals.Grilled pork, both jowl and loin,was complemented with pinenuts, buckwheat and Chante-relles. Six varieties of dessertincluded a perfect Earl Greymacaron and a sesame-encrusteddim sum filled with chocolateganache.
Just as one might after a dinnerparty, we exchanged email ad-dresses with the Canadians be-fore departing. LOUISE RAFKIN
Bites Lazy Bear SAN FRANCISCO
2 for Dinner? Tickets, Please
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Lazy Bear, 3416 19th Street; 415-874-9921; lazybearsf.com. Themulti-course menu is $120, plus amandatory 20 percent gratuity.Beverage pairings are $65.
LUKE ANDREWS
Lazy Bear’s owner-chef, David Barzelay, center right, at work with his team.
RatesDoubles start at $199.
BasicsA cross between a style-conscious boutiqueand a pod hotel, citizenM, which operatessix locations in Europe, opened its first Un-ited States outpost in Times Square in April.The trendy but affordable, limited-servicehotel offers self-check-in at welcome kiosksin the art-filled double-height lobby staffedby friendly hosts. Each of its 230 doublerooms are virtually identical and compact,helping keep costs down. To compensate fortheir size, public areas, including a buzzylobby bar, a quieter mezzanine library andguests-only rooftop lounge, are spaciousand inviting. In keeping with its high-techconcept — citizenM stands for “citizen mo-bility” — reservations are accepted only on-line, Wi-Fi is included and use of Apple com-puters in the library is free.
LocationThough the tech concept is business-travel-er-enticing, the Times Square location, be-tween Broadway and Eighth Avenue onWest 50th Street, is equally tourist- andtheatergoer-friendly, with seven subwaylines within four blocks. While none of therooms overlook the ball-drop festivities, thehotel plans to hold a guests-only New Year’sEve party at its rooftop Cloud Bar.
The RoomAs in a ship’s cabin, no space is wasted in therooms. My room, 908, featured a wide kingbed that ran wall to wall in front of a picturewindow facing surrounding skyscrapers. Asink and cabinet hugged one side of the en-try hallway. On the other, a frosted-glasscapsule enclosed the toilet and shower. Theeffect is smart rather than confining, andthe bedside Samsung tablet that controlledeverything from room lighting — with vari-ous moods from “romance” to “business” —made an entertaining toy. It also controlsthe flat-screen TV and allows you to selectvideo art projected in a frame on the other-wise unadorned walls. In the guest roomcorridor, bits of international wisdom sten-cil the walls with advice like “Don’t buy apig in a bag” from Finland.
The Bathroom
Again, efficiency rules here, but the dimen-sions are ample, the shower head wide, andprivacy is ensured by frosted-glass walls. Ina nice touch, the hair products included twoshampoos, a musky option and anotherbrighter floral, custom designed by the Am-sterdam-based perfumer Alessandro Gual-tieri.
DiningWhile the hotel does not provide room serv-ice, the 24-hour lobby cafeteria, canteenM,improves on standard grab-and-go farewith hot items including frittatas and sau-sages on the breakfast buffet in addition tofresh baked goods and granola (breakfast$18 purchased in advance; $21 on site).Blackboard specials later in the day adver-tise sandwiches and salads. The lobbylounge, with one wall devoted to arty pic-ture books, acts as both coffee and cocktailbar, while the rooftop option, limited toguests, offers exclusivity without snobbery.
AmenitiesLike the rooms, the 19th-floor gym is trim,with cardio machines at floor-to-ceilingwindows, and an outdoor yoga terrace. The21-story hotel fulfills the website promise of“Absolutely no trouser presses, bellboys, orother tired old hotel clichés.” It could standto employ one cliché: a concierge. Stafferswere good at many lobby duties, from help-ing those baffled by self-check-in to makinglattes, but were less reliable on basic direc-tions and restaurant recommendations.
Bottom LineFresh, funky and affordable, citizenM is amodern haven in touristy Times Square. ItsD.I.Y. ethos, like picking your room art, of-fers efficiency with flair. ELAINE GLUSAC
CHECK IN
CITIZENM NEW YORK
Where Boutique Meets Pod
CitizenM, in Times Square, is the first American outpost of a chain. Guest rooms waste no space.PHOTOGRAPHS FROM! ADRIAN GAUT
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CitizenM New York, 216-218 West 50thStreet, New York; 212-461-3638; citizenm-.com.
NAMIB -NAUKLUF T NATIONAL PARK, NAMIBIA
While visiting this park on a 10-day organized tour of Namibia in September, I was mesmerized by the scale of Deadvlei,once a basin of the now dried-up Tsauchab River. Skeletons of dead acacia trees still poke out of the parched salt clay and
reduce strolling visitors to thimble size. It was a stark setting that looked like something out of a de Chirico painting.GIANNELLA M. GARRETT, NEW YORK CITY
Earlier this year, in our 52 Places to Go issue, we asked readers to send in their suggestions for a 53rd spot for the list. Wewill feature one each month online at nytimes.com/travel; here is November’s selection.
Places to Go!R E A D E R S’ C H O I C E
