I don’t venture over to the Upper East Side often but today, requiring my flu shot delivered by my internist’s nurse, I did.<\/p>\n
Afterward, I choose to walk down Second Avenue rather than Third, in the spirit of culinary adventure. I.e., I wanted lunch and have learned that Third Avenue — at least between 86th and 79th — is a black hole in the eatery firmament of NYC.<\/p>\n
So there I was on Second and 84th Street where I noticed an attractive restaurant-y place. Called the Green Kitchen.<\/p>\n
The Green Kitchen!? I had memories. Well, one memory. Because in the 1960s I’d eaten lunch there.<\/p>\n
At the time, I was in my first show biz job working for the nicest boss I would ever have. He was Don Wallace, the executive producer of the CBS soap opera, The Edge of Night.<\/em><\/a> And I was his secretary.<\/p>\n Although our offices were in the now notorious 666 Fifth Avenue (Jared Kushner? Stupid overpayment? Desperate search for savior? Yeah, that 666<\/a>) — proving that no job location shrivels away into ancient history — Edge<\/em> itself was produced at a studio.<\/p>\n One delightful day, Don took me uptown to the studio, a converted old theater up on First Avenue and 76th Street. It was my first sound stage; I lapped up every inch of it.<\/p>\n It must have been after that day’s broadcast (which we watched from the booth) when we went to the Green Kitchen for lunch. It was a favorite place for the crew and actors, maybe because it was diagonally across the street and, as I remember it, probably the only place in the immediate neighborhood.<\/p>\n So that wonderful day in the land of Edge<\/em> pulled itself up into my conscious mind when I saw the Green Kitchen sign.<\/p>\n I went in. I asked the first guy I saw, “Is this the same Green Kitchen–” and he said “Yes.” A bit later I learned this GK (its cutting edge nickname) was not the original one, which was and is at 77th Street and First Avenue, but was a new branch. Well, I didn’t care, I was thrilled, I sat, I ate.<\/p>\n Oh, yeah about that food. I won’t be eating again for quite a while. Maybe not until tomorrow evening. I am guiltily relieved to say I’m not going to have my cholesterol tested until the next time I visit my doctor in maybe six months. It’s going to take me those six months to lower my LDL beneath the danger marker but, hey, I believe I have enough time.<\/p>\n Speaking of which, I want to ask you a favor. Feel free to visit one of the Green Kitchens, but in six months or so — I don’t have an MD appointment yet — please leave me a table somewhere in one of the GKs. I will take it badly if you get aggressive and selfish about my generous recommendation and block me out.<\/p>\n And if I can’t get into a Green Kitchen because you’ve mobbed the place, I will not be charming you with my many warm and hilarious stories about the time I spent working on The Edge of Night.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I don’t venture over to the Upper East Side often but today, requiring my flu shot delivered by my internist’s nurse, I did. Afterward, I choose to walk down Second Avenue rather than Third, in the spirit of culinary adventure. … Continue reading