You know that Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie You’ve Got Mail? It is one of my mom’s favorites. (Aaron and I love it, too.) In the movie, Ryan’s character, Kathleen Kelly, is supposed to meet her soul mate, with whom she has only conversed online, at a little place called Cafe Lalo on the Upper West Side. Her soul mate turns out to be her bitter rival, a man who is driving her children’s bookstore out of business. He doesn’t let her know that he is the one she is waiting for and the movie progresses from there.
Today, we are beginning with a breakfast at that same little magical place, Cafe Lalo. It is nowhere near the hotel so we are taking a cab.
Good morning, New York City. The view from my window before we left the room to have breakfast at Cafe Lalo.
We took a cab from the hotel to the upper West Side so we could have breakfast at Cafe Lalo.
My mom on the steps of Cafe Lalo from her favorite movie, "You've Got Mail" with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.
Aaron browsing the breakfast menu at Cafe Lalo ...
I started with black coffee and fresh orange juice ... the usual.
Mom looked over the Cafe Lalo menu ...
The view from my seat ...
I thought I'd be daring and try some breakfast dish called the Moroccan. I was an idiot. I took a few bites and then ended up placing a second order and purchasing a bagel with cream cheese and having the waitress throw away this dish. I'm a sugar-in-your-tea, strawberry-jam-on-toast, scrambled-eggs-and-croissant guy. I don't know what went through my mind. It took all of three seconds for me to come to my senses.
Seriously, I don’t know what I was thinking with that breakfast.
Aaron was much more sensible. He ordered what was called the "English Breakfast". This experience made me realize a new rule: It is only breakfast if you can put jam on it, pour milk on top of it, or it is made of egg.
I've always enjoyed Cafe Lalo. If you are in the area, you should check it out. They are mostly known for their desserts and coffees.
One of my favorite things about Cafe Lalo is the open-air bar where you can sit with the windows open and look out onto the street unobstructed by anything. The coffee there is the one I had to go since we are visiting the Natural History museum after this.
After we left, we headed down to Zabar’s, the grocery store in the same movie, and my dad called to tell me that there was a news story that major Republican donors had gone to New Jersey to attempt to convince Governor Chris Christie to run for President following the disastrous experience that marked the first official Republican debate.
