Tag: New York

Taking A Bite Out Of The Big Apple

May 28, 2011

 In addition to a lot of walking around New York, we did a bunch of eating and drinking. This was a work related trip (hubby’s work, not mine). Good food, good company and good drink was guaranteed.

 Being the Top Chef fan girl I am, I couldn’t go to New York without visiting Tom Colicchio’s restaurant CraftBar. Naturally, we had walked there. Taking a path up Fifth Avenue with a walk through the Union Square Greenmarket. The Andy Memorial brought a smile to my face.

We were at Craftbar mid-day, so enjoyed a cheese plate, along with some craft beers. Hopefully, on a future trip to NYC, we can add dinner at Craft or Craftbar to my list of Top Chef restaurants where I’ve dined. Tho’ I can already add this to the ones I’ve enjoyed.
One of the highlights of the trip was the “Neighborhood Nosh Tour”. 8 of our group choose this as an excursion on a Saturday morning in early May. We began the tour at Ferrara’s  in Little Italy for coffee and cannoli, which we enjoyed outside the restaurant.

After eating our fill of these delectable sweets, we needed to walk a bit to work up an appetite for our next stop. A tour through Little Italy and on the Chinatown, with a stop along Canal Street to haggle on “real” Rolex, Coach, Louis Vitton, Chanel did the trick.

I found the shops and street vendors in Chinatown fascinating.
Our destination was Columbus Park where we ate Tasty Dumplings while watching people young and old perform Tai Chai, play chess, and mingle in the park.
A quick bus ride brought us to the East Village to Yonah Schimmel’s Knishery. I’ve never had a knish. As knishes go, I’m sure these were quite good. BUT….while I love potatoes, knishes just went to my been there done that, checked the box list. Not a fan. The Egg Creams, tho’, I could do again (but I’m a huge fan of Chocolate Phosphates)

We ended the tour with a trip to Empire Candy. Was so stuffed at this point, going to a place to buy something for later ws just the ticket. Bought several treats to bring home to Kiddo while here.

 One of the more unique experiences happened on our first night as we walked to the restuarant the group was met by the trip sponsor’s, and asked to sign the “Cask of Dreams”, which was then rolled down the street to Public, our restaurant of the evening.


This was Derby weekend, so we had to find a place to watch the race and drink a mint julep – Brinkle’s worked out well for that. And, of course, I worked in a Blue Moon or two (including on Broadway at Million DOllar Quartet).

 On our last morning in NYC, we walked back to the East Village for sandwiches at Katz’s Deli. Made famous in the “I’ll have what she’s having” scene of ‘When Harry Met Sally’, this Ny Deli is known for their pastrami sandwiches and salami. Loved it.

In fact, loved this trip. Can’t wait to get back to NYC!
This is part 2 of a trip report on NYC, part  1 is here

New York City State of Mind

May 27, 2011

Hubby and I spent a recent weekend in New York  City.  Despite all my traveling, I have only been in Manhattan one other time. While only 8 or 9 years ago, that trip seems like a lifetime ago – I was such a different person, out of shape, not likely to venture out and explore on my own. On that trip, I was in the city for a meeting, and went from hotel room, to meeting room, to bus with a large group to take us to restaurants or a show. I hadn’t yet discovered how even in a large city like New York or Chicago, biking or walking to explore a city brings it all down to scale. Makes the city more human, more accessible.

 And so on this trip we did all the touristy things, but for the most part we walked. A lot. My pedometer said I walked nearly 6 miles on Thursday, over 11 miles on Friday, another 9 on Saturday, and 7 on Sunday. The Trump SoHo hotel was our home base, putting us in a pedestrian friendly spot. On Friday morning, we ventured out with the group on Liberty/Ellis Island tour.


Rather than sticking with the group and riding the bus back to the hotel, we cut out of Ellis Island on an earlier ferry, walking through Battery Park to catch a subway uptown. A subway ride complete with entertainment.

From the subway station it was a short walk on a beautiful spring day to our destination of Central Park with a planned stop at the Boathouse. Our path to the boathouse took us past the Central park Zoo. I was surprised and fascinated by the rock outcroppings within Central Park. 
After lunch at the Boathouse, we headed to the Mall area of Central Park, and south towards Columbus Circle. 
Naturally, I was drawn to the flowers, particularly the flowering trees.
From Columbus Circle, we wandered south down Broadway past the Ed Sullivan theater (where close by Mario Lopez was filming for Entertainment Tonight), through Times Square, by Madison Square Garden to Greenwich Village.
Shed a few tears at the Tiles for America Memorial
I wish on this trip we’d had time to rent bikes and explore New York by bike. I’d really like to bike the New York City Waterfront Greenway which makes a 32 mile circle around Manhattan. All through the city, I saw bikes, and evidence of a surprisingly good bike infrastructure.  Loved the bike specific traffic lights, and was especially impressed with the re-design of Broadway with the separated bile lanes.
The Trump SoHo Hotel made a great home base for the weekend. Slick, modern lobby. Outdoor pool deck on the 7th floor. Location was great for shopping, restaurants and exploring. For New York the rooms seemed huge. Bathrooms had a separate two headed shower and water closet. But best of all, the bathtub overlooking the city, and the construction of what will be World Trade #1 was such a great touch.
Of course, all this exploring works up an appetite and makes one thirsty. And since eating and drinking is kinda what we do, I’ll cover the food and drink portions of the trip in part 2.