Stopped at Landmarc in the Time Warner Center on a Sunday for brunch as my food-editor friend raved about their eggs poached in red wine. That and the location was exactly where I needed to be after eating those eggs for a decadent Mandarin Oriental spa visit.
Landmarc-at-the-time-warner-center-317 on Bite of the Best

Dessert tray on Bite of the BestThis was to be the start of a BIG birthday celebration for my friend Lehua. She  had the eggs benedict florentine (English muffin & Ham, spinach and hollandaise sauce $14,) and I tried those recommended eggs en muerette (bacon, onions, mushrooms and red wine, $14). Sadly it was before noon on a Sunday so we weren’t allowed to begin with a champagne mimosa. (When will Cotton Candy on BIte of the BestNYC get rid of that antiquated law?!)

I has asked the waitress to just put a candle in a small breakfast pastry, as I knew what we had in store for the rest of the day’s celebration.  Instead she brought an entire array of mini-desserts (tiramisu, chocolate mouse, lemon tart, creme brulee, a profiterole, blueberry buckle and a basket of cotton candy) with a candle in one item and charged me $16. ;-(

As for the spa visit, I bumped into Anna Deavere Smith in her robe in the locker room after she visited the spa’s waterworks.  (I’ve seen her on stage at Long Wharf Theatre in New Spa -- bite of the bestHaven, on TV in West Wing and in Film in “Rachel Getting Married,” among so very many others – she also just finished a run on Broadway in “Let Me Down Easy”).

After our massages (which by the way were wonderful!), one attendant asked me to join Lehua in a private room for tea. They had presented her with a chocolate bomb, a chocolate-dipped fresh strawberry, “happy birthday” written on chocolate and a few pieces of candy. That and freshly brewed tea with a view of Manhattan from 35 floor up, at no charge. Now that’s hospitality!

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