beach

Rockaway Ride

Jul 9, 2012 By Smith & Ratliff in Living, New York 3 Comments Tags: beach, bikes, brooklyn, queens, rockaway, sheepshead bay, summer

We love going to Rockaway Beach, but when we were planning our trip out there this weekend, we decided to forego the monotony of the A train in favor of a more exciting mode of transportation: our bikes.

The day promised to be hot, but we filled our bike basket with lots of water, sunscreen, snacks and other beach-y necessities and headed on our way down the Hudson River Greenway.

Our 22-mile route took us over the Brooklyn Bridge, where we dutifully dodged wayward tourists and toddlers, into downtown Brooklyn and beautiful Boerum Hill and Prospect Heights before we headed south on Bedford Avenue.

The ride is mostly flat and there’s actually a lot of shade. We stopped briefly at a fruit stand in Flatbush to drink some water and cool off for a moment, but then we were back on our bikes, the idea of a cool beach breeze enticing us to keep going.

After passing through Flatbush and riding by Brooklyn College, the urban hustle and bustle gives way to the idyllic suburb-like homes of Midwood. The beautifully manicured lawns and wide streets, canopied with large trees, made for pleasant riding as we rode closer and closer to our ultimate goal.

Finally, six miles after turning onto Bedford Avenue, the road ends in Sheepshead Bay, right at the water. We were immediately greeted with salty air, screaming gulls, fishing rigs and bait and tackle shops, making it seem like the city part of our journey had come to an end.

We made one pit stop in Sheepshead Bay at Roll ‘N Roaster, a timewarp fast food joint that has been serving Brooklynites roast beef and cheese fries for 40 years now.

Sated with our orangeade and radioactive-hued cheese fries, we made the final push toward Rockaway.

We rode over the narrow and windy Marine Parkway Bridge, which ends at Jacob Riis Park, another great New York City beach. Alas, Rockaway was our goal so we turned east and pushed on for a few more miles, taking in the stately homes of Neponsit Belle Harbor before riding down the Rockaway Beach boardwalk.

As soon as we arrived, we snacked on fried shrimp from Motorboat & the Big Banana and housemade rose petal sodas from La Casa de Camba before diving headfirst into the Atlantic Ocean. The water was just the right temperature after hours on a bike, making the ride all the more rewarding.

After lounging for a few hours, we tried a beer ice cream float from our new Rockaway favorite, Steve’s Ice Cream. It is just as it sounds—but surprisingly tasty.

By this point, the sun had begun to set so we, deservedly, rode the A train back to Manhattan.

- Laura and Ryan

Los Angeles: From the Getty to Malibu

Jun 8, 2012 By Smith & Ratliff in Drink, Food, Travel 7 Comments Tags: art, beach, california, coffee, dinner, los angeles, museums, summer

Still on East Coast time, we got an early start to our day on Thursday.

Continuing our coffee trek, we headed toward downtown to check out Handsome Coffee Roasters. Handsome’s space in the Arts District is bright and airy; like restaurants with an open kitchen, Handsome’s restored 1950s Probat roaster is on full display.

We hung out with our espresso and milk for a few minutes before getting on the freeway to head toward our next stop of the day, the Getty Museum.

Perched on a large hill and surrounded by gardens, the Getty was the perfect early afternoon stop. We spent a lot of time at the Herb Ritts photography exhibit currently on view before enjoying the lush, green gardens and vast blue sky. It’s such a cathartic place to spend the afternoon.

After leaving the Getty, we headed toward the Pacific Coast Highway and drove up to Malibu to take in some of the lovely views that Highway 1 offers.

We paused for a bit to snack on some fried seafood at Malibu Seafood and then parked and walked along the surf. California beaches are a lot smoother and sandier than our New York beaches and we also don’t have anything that compares to the natural beauty of Malibu, so we enjoyed the relaxing drive.

We stopped in Santa Monica briefly on the way back, but we had another destination planned for the evening: dinner at Animal.

The heralded nose-to-tail restaurant was one of our most anticipated meals of the trip.

We enjoyed a hamachi tostada, veal tongue and foie gras, chicken liver toast, chicken-fried sweetbreads, oxtail poutine (almost took us back to Montreal!), and barbecued pork belly sliders.

Completely stuffed, we drove down Hollywood Boulevard and tucked into our apartment for the night.

- Laura

Savoring Summer’s Last Waves

Sep 4, 2011 By Smith & Ratliff in Food, Living, Travel 1 Comment Tags: beach, lobster roll, long island, montauk, picnic, summer

With summer’s days growing shorter, our wanderlust has increased tenfold.

We’re planning a trip to Portland, Maine, at the end of this month, but we were still eager to make one last escape from the city this Labor Day weekend and spend a day sunning and splashing in the sand and the surf.

Our friend Olivia is in town again, so rather than making a multi-day trip, we rented a car for the day and headed east toward Montauk.

Despite a rocky start—a portion of the Montauk Highway was completely closed, delaying us by more than an hour—we safely made it to the tip of Long Island, where we beelined to Clam Bar, a veritable shack serving up some of the freshest seafood you can imagine, all under the cover of lemon-striped beach umbrellas.

We gorged on lobster rolls, buttery steamed corn on the cob, and fresh clams on their half-shells. The rolls were piled high with huge chunks of lobster meat, and luckily for us, not much else.

It was the perfect meal to remind us that we had officially left the New York City limits and were now entering another world entirely.

After stuffing our bellies with lobster, we loaded back into the car for the short drive to the beach.

It was an unseasonably warm day and the beach wasn’t yet overtaken with throngs of fellow New Yorkers, so we unpacked our gear and settled in.

After a couple of hours of relentless waves and sprays of sand, we were feeling a bit peckish again, but luckily we had come prepared with our Boxsal picnic box, fully stocked with perfect beach food.

We had brought along an heirloom tomato salad, pasta with neon eggplant, summer squash, pancetta and goat cheese and a baguette.

But our main star of the show was bottled: a 2009 Freeman Vineyard “Ryo-Fu” Chardonnay, served in sturdy, plastic (but still classy!) Govino stemless wine glasses. The wine had a robust, oaky character with lots of complexity. It was perfect for beach-side sipping.

Finally, the afternoon began to draw to a close. We were in need of a caffeine boost before the late drive home, so we popped into the cleverly-named Coffee Tauk for one last pick me up.

We’re sad to see summer come to an end, but I think we’re both secretly looking forward to breaking out our sweater collections, breathing crisp fall air and stepping on crunchy colorful leaves.

Until next year, Montauk.

- Ryan and Laura

Photo by Olivia Divecchia.

Laura is wearing Rodarte’s Love Hate sweatshirt from Opening Ceremony. Ryan is wearing GANT Rugger.

Rockaway Beach’s New Wave

Jul 6, 2011 By Smith & Ratliff in Drink, Food, Living, New York 2 Comments Tags: beach, blue bottle, queens, robertas, rockaway, summer, surfing

One of my favorite parts of summer is taking the ‘A’ train out to Rockaway Beach in Queens.

I love watching the huge waves continuously crash against the shore and seeing all the surfers who come to ride them. It’s a relaxing escape from the city without even leaving its limits.

The weather today was slightly overcast and a bit chilly, but as you can see, that didn’t stop people from enjoying the Rockaway’s charms.

Typically I pack a little lunch for myself since most of the concessions usually involve fluorescent yellow cheese or dirty water hot dogs.

This year, however, the boardwalk at Rockaway Beach has been taken over by some of the best vendors in the city.

I was particularly excited when I heard that San Francisco-based Blue Bottle Coffee was setting up a beachfront shop. Their New Orleans-style iced coffee is the most perfect drink for the beach.

They share their airy space with the East Village empanada joint Caracas. Caracas is serving up arepas and tangy micheladas in addition to bean and cheese or fish empanadas.

Just a few doors down is Rockaway Taco, the vendor who started this Rockaway revitalization.

One of our favorite restaurants has even been sucked into the surf, so to speak.

Roberta’s has teamed up with The Meat Hook to open Rippers, a surf shop meets burger joint that serves up twisted takes on concessions of yore. Go here for your hot dogs, but they won’t be rotating on a rusty grill all afternoon.

If you get a chance to head out that way, don’t forget your appetite along with your sunscreen.

- Ryan

A Soho Reprieve at Saturdays Surf

Jun 15, 2011 By Smith & Ratliff in Drink, New York, Style 3 Comments Tags: beach, coffee, la colombe, soho, summer, surfing

Just last week New York was hit with a sweltering heat wave that left many of us wishing for a day at the beach. While we may not always have the time for a trip to Coney Island or the Rockaways, it’s nice to have somewhere close that makes you feel as if you’re about to dive into the ocean.

Saturdays Surf, located on the eastern edge of Soho, is a laid-back espresso bar slash surf shop that acts as a meeting ground for New York City’s surfing socialites.

Standing inside the shop (or their outdoor garden) is more reminiscent being in a beachside cabin than in the city. Surfboards line the entrance and surfing trophies mingle with the merchandise on shelves. The light even seems to come through the windows as if it were leaking through cracks in the wooden walls.

The shop of course specializes in selling surf equipment and accessories, with a few racks of surfer stylish clothing mixed in. Canvas bags and sunglasses round out the store’s offerings.

The espresso bar is the main draw for many, especially those that don’t surf. Saturdays uses La Colombe espresso for their cappuccinos and lattes. The cappuccino I had was one of the best I’ve had in some time.

A couple of benches at the entrance make up the seating for the coffee shop, ensuring that you won’t find people typing away at their laptops here.

More surfboards and wetsuits hang along the fence in the expansive backyard area. Planters, seemingly made out of driftwood freshly picked off the beach, are filled with flowers more fitting to SoCal than to Soho. The scattered bikes and boards give the feeling that a beach party might erupt at any moment.

The only thing that sends you back to reality is stepping back out onto Crosby Street and feeling pavement against your feet, rather than sand between your toes.

-Ryan

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