What Puts the Great in Great Neck, NY?

Great Eatery

Our first order of business was to have breakfast at a restaurant and bakery called Bruce's Bakery. Niriha kindly requested that we be seated near the window looking out on the street since we were out-of-towners and we enjoyed the first touch that makes this locale special - a complimentary basket of pastries and another of rolls - both from their bakery. The menu was chock full of choices but I was drawn to the challah french toast and I must admit it was just as good as the "famous" french toast from Victory's Banner Restaurant in Chicago. One slice of the trio had a cornflake coating which provided a delicious twist on the typical french toast batter.

The coffee drinkers among us testified that the brew was tasty and while the restaurant walls and menu are lined with photos and testimonials from celebrities, I do believe this restaurant treats every customer special. The waitperson was attentive and even though a queue was forming in wait of a table, no one tried to rush us out the door and we even had to go track down the check when we were ready to leave.

Great Atmosphere with Local Small Town Shops

The downtown area of Great Neck retains the flavour of small town USA with tree-lined streets boasting a diverse selection of locally-owned businesses.

How refreshing to find stores outside the cookie cutter mold of franchises and strip malls that leave one feeling it matters not what part of the country you find yourself in because the stores are all the same. In Great Neck, we peaked in windows of a local chocolatier, a toy store, etc. Many shops had newspaper articles pinned to the walls showing that they had been featured in the New York Times or other regional newspapers. One store that specialized in bulk specialty items turned out to be owned by a Turkish family, explaining the offering of Turkish Delight, a delicacy not seen since our own travels to Turkey last winter. By the time we were ready to head back to Queens for an afternoon of meditation with our spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy, families were strolling through the downtown area pushing baby carriages and stopping to chat with one another.

Extraordinary Mural on the Side of a Building

What really caught our attention as we too strolled through Great Neck called out to us from across the street. It looked like some kind of 3-dimensional sculpture against the side of a building. In fact it looked like "real" people lined up on the sidewalk. We made our way across the street to investigate this mystery. Up close, we discovered that what caught our eye was in fact a large mural called "A Handful of Keys" by artist William Cochran.

This public art on the side of a building is a painted illusion that looks three-dimensional (especially from an angle) known as "trompe l'oeil" and Cochran, an artist from Maryland, has received huge acclaim for his body of work. Can you tell which person is real in the photo above? Only one is a real person and the rest are part of the mural. Quoted in an article in The Town Paper from Maryland, Cochran explains "I use trompe l'oeil in my work as a metaphor because a lot of what we take seriously in the world is illusion."

By the time we headed home to Jamaica, Queens, one thing that defied illusion was the fondness in my heart for this newly discovered village. Great Neck, NY is a great place to visit. Add it to your list if you've never been and for another choice to eat at Bruce's Bakery, you can also try their Manhattan location on First Avenue near the 59th St. Bridge.