HG and BSK have been very fortunate in life to have dined looking out at a variety of spectacular views. Of course, nothing will ever match the sweeping New York vistas from tragic, doomed Windows on the World Restaurant on the 105th and 106th floors of the World Trade Center. HG dined there often, managed news conferences and business meetings in its convivial setting. (One of HG’s business colleagues was among four people who left the restaurant and elevatored to safety just minutes before the terrorist plane struck). There are other New York restaurants, thankfully spared disaster, with great views: The glittering art-deco Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center. The “Top of the Tower” in the Beekman Tower Hotel. In Italy, incredible views were matched with culinary delights: In a miniscule trattoria atop a lofty hill in Tuscany HG and BSk feasted on tagliatelle with generous shavings of white truffle. In Sicily there were extravagant aquatic vistas viewed from a dining terrace where the specialty was Spaghetti Norma (eggplant sauce). Also in Sicily, HG and BSK ate linguini with sardine sauce while seated on the terrace of a posh Taormina hotel, the endless blue of the Mediterranean shimmering in the distance. For many years, HG and BSK didn’t have to leave home to enjoy dining scenery. For some 16 years HG and BSK’s Colorado dining table faced some 75 miles of views including the Front Range of the Rockies, the lights of Denver, Pike’s Peak and the plains of Kansas. (The HG/BSK home was 9,000 feet above sea level). The HG/BSK loft in Vancouver looked over mountains, sea and glittering skyscrapers. Here, in New Mexico, HG and BSK dine with a crackling fire in their fireplace (nights are cool, even in May and early June) with Las Barrancas (the Cliffs) in the distance. These cliffs, which change color throughout the day as sun and shadow paint their surface, are on the land of the Poajque Pueblo. They are steeped in tribal history. Nice backdrop for HG and BSK’s wine accented dinners.
