By Jae-Ha Kim
Tribune Media Services
February 22, 2011
Drama Desk Award nominee Linda Eder lives on a small horse farm in North Salem, N.Y. And she works the farm hard.
“Because I have a lot of property and horses, I am always moving something heavy and rarely sitting down,” says the 50-year-old singer, who’s best known for her work on Broadway in “Jekyll & Hyde.” “I also like to do home remodeling, which is hard work. I’m always overdoing it. So when I go on vacation I like to really go on vacation — meaning I like to rest, without too many distractions. I like to lie in the sun by the ocean, eat great food and relax.”
Currently on tour promoting her new album “Now,” in stores on March 1, Eder chatted with us about traveling and bringing along necessities such as her own pillows. For updates on her current tour, check out Eder’s website at www.lindaeder.com.
Q. What is your favorite vacation destination?
A. The best vacations I have ever had have been to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. Cabo is fantastic, if you can afford to go top notch, or if you are the guest of someone who can. I like to sightsee and go out on the water, as well, but there is nothing quite like just lying there in the sun with good friends.
Q. Where are your favorite weekend getaways?
A. My idea of a fun weekend getaway is to go to a nice bed and breakfast in New England. I love to hike on trails that twist and turn so you don’t know where you are going. I was a long-distance runner, so I have a lot of endurance and I could walk all day — something takes over and I just want to keep going.
Q. What are your favorite hotels?
A. I love the Esperanza Resort in Cabo San Lucas. I love the Four Seasons Hotel in Maui. There are no elevators and the stairways and halls are open to the beautiful Hawaiian air. The pool overlooking the ocean is amazing and the food is great. You can claim your pool chairs and keep them all day, eat at them and sleep in them. I love the Loews Regency Hotel in Manhattan because it’s beautiful and also because they know me there, are always so nice to me and make me feel like it’s a home away from home. The beds in all these hotels that I have mentioned are great! Very important.
Q. What are your favorite restaurants?
A. Actually one of my very favorite restaurants is right in my hometown. It’s called 121 and the food has always been fantastic. Everyone in town eats there all the time like it’s their second kitchen. Another restaurant that I love is in the Lancaster Hotel in Houston. It’s an old classy hotel with a top-notch restaurant. Obviously New York City has so many amazing restaurants. There are too many to name but I like Ouest and Carmine’s. It’s too loud but the food is pretty incredible. It’s served family style and there is a lot of it. I absolutely love Rosa Mexicano. It’s a five-star restaurant in Manhattan with a tequila beef dish that is to die for and their pomegranate margaritas are great. I like pasta so I also love Becco on 46th Street. They have a three-pasta dish that is all you can eat. I don’t know if I’ve ever made it to thirds but I have had seconds. Another favorite New York restaurant for good food and good theater memories is Joe Allen.
Q. When you go away, what are some of your must-have items?
A. I must take my pillow. I sleep with soft feather pillows and so many hotels have hard pillows that make it impossible for me to sleep. I also like to bring my own green tea and agave syrup.
Q. What are your five favorite cities?
A. New York, Vienna, Paris, Park City and Aspen.
Q. What kind of research do you do before you go away on a trip?
A. None. I’m the procrastinating type. I do the research when I get there.
Q. Where would you like to go that you have never been to before?
A. Italy. I want to eat my way through Italy. I also want to go to Ireland and Alaska. I would love to see much of Alaska.
Q. What is your best and/or worst vacation memory?
A. Best vacation memory? Greece. Everything about the trip was perfect. Worst vacation memory? I went to Park City to ski and got food poisoning. I woke up at 2 a.m. and thought I was going to die, thanks to a lobster that did not like me. Needless to say I never got to ski that trip. I also have not eaten lobster since.
© 2011 JAE-HA KIM
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
