Until a few days ago, I'd never been to New York City. There, I said it. That's always been hard for me to admit, especially as my "Places I've Been To" list keeps growing and growing. Paris? Yes. Rome? Yes. London? Yes. Why had I never been to New York City? I don't know. I'd just never gotten around to it, I guess. Chicago has always been closer and more convenient, with family nearby, so getting my American Big City fix in Chicago makes sense. I guess I've always felt a bit intimidated and overwhelmed by the idea of NYC, as well. There is just SO much to see and do-where do you even start?
My husband went to NYC for a business trip once, years ago, and came home lukewarm about it. I knew it would be tough to get him to go back with me, so I finally took the bull by the horns and declared that I was going to organize a girls' trip to New York. I have a friend, A, who lives in Westchester and offered to meet up with me. She used to be an executive chef in the city so I knew I'd have the perfect guide! I flew into White Plains, spent the first night at her house, then drove into the city with A and her friend E, also a food-lover. So our food weekend in New York City began!
We got a great pre-pay rate at Hotel Giraffe, near Madison Square Park. My nicely decorated, somewhat spacious room with queen bed and balcony was $205/night, plus taxes. The total per night ended up around $240. A&E (ha!) paid a bit more for a room with two double beds and balcony: $245 plus taxes, I believe. This rate included a decent breakfast and wine/cheese/crackers/veggies in the evening. I would consider staying here again. In fact, it might be a good place to come with our kids, as Madison Square Park has a nice new playground. Union Square is only a few blocks away. It's close to the subway and walking distance to either Midtown or the interesting downtown neighborhoods. The only downside is that I didn't find the area immediately around the hotel terribly fascinating.
I wanted to do things I couldn't do on a potential future trip with the kids. So, I made up a family-friendly itinerary, which became my NOT TO DO list for this trip. What was left? Shopping, long leisurely meals, wandering, and stopping frequently for wine or coffee. A&E have spent most of their adult lives in and around the city so they knew just where to go and when to go there. I got to follow their lead and enjoy every minute instead of keeping my head buried in a map. What fun to be a passenger for once. We spent most of our time downtown, in SoHo, Nolita, Greenwich Village, Chinatown (a few minutes anyway), and the Lower East Side. We toured the (fabulous!) Union Square Market, had late-night drinks at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, got rudely kicked out of a restaurant in Nolita, saw part of the Gay Pride Parade, and raced a pedicab in a horse carriage through Central Park at 1:30am. Now how can you not have fun with an itinerary like that?
Another highlight of the weekend was the three hour eating/cultural tour of the West Village by Foods of NY. We stopped
to eat at EIGHT food establishments. You ready?
Joe's Pizza (quite possibly the best pizza ever)
Olive twist from Amy's Bread
Farro risotto from Centro Vinoteca
Chocolate chip oatmeal cookie from Milk and Cookies
Cheese, salame, olives, parmesan pastry from Murray's Cheese Shop
Almond and pecan candies from Aphrodisia
Rice balls/arancini from Faicco's
Cannoli from Rocco's
Our guide was a young, wannabe Broadway actress. She was fun, spunky, and knowledgeable. I'd do another tour from Foods of NY, no question.
As fun as the food tour was, the culinary highlight of the weekend was at a tiny place near 1st and 1st called Prune. A said it was one of her favorite restaurants in the city, so I knew it was bound to be good. We started our late brunch with Bloody Marys. They have a large selection: 10 varieties! A's had pickled vegetables: brussel sprouts, caperberries, green beans, radishes, and turnips. Mine had fennel and anchovies, and I forget already what E's had-maybe it was the one with clam juice and olives? I sampled them all and liked mine the best. It tasted like ceviche! It was funny-just about every time the three of us sat down to look at a menu, we all wanted to order exactly the same thing. We would negotiate who would order something different so we could try different dishes. At Prune, two of us ordered "Spicy Chickpea Stew with Butter Crumbed Egg." Sounds interesting, right? The eggs were perfectly poached, then breaded and fried! After debating for several minutes, the three of us food-lovers could not figure out how this could possibly be done. The eggs were uniform in shape and the breading was perfectly even. And did I mention they were delicious, too? We also ordered a Dutch pancake with fresh blueberries, which was lovely, but the eggs really stole the show.
On our last day in NYC, A&E had to leave around 6:30pm to go back to Westchester. Even though I was exhausted, I wanted to make the most of my time in the city, so I rested up for about 20 minutes and ventured back out on my own. I walked up to Midtown, peeked into Times Square and walked briskly through Rockefeller Center. Whoa. This was the NYC I was nervous about. I tucked my tail between my legs and walked back to the hotel! I know many people love that hustle-and-bustle aspect of NYC, but it's not my scene at all. I much prefer the smaller-scale quirkiness I saw in Lower Manhattan. I didn't see much of Uptown…maybe next time. The kids are dying to go to NYC now. I know it would be a very different kind of trip, but now that my jitters about NYC are over I want to get back there again soon. Actually I'm amazed at how comfortable I felt in the city, and how familiar it felt after such a short time. I guess I was expecting cold, impersonal, sterile urbanity, which frankly is how I saw Midtown, but that's just a small part of this great city, and I'm looking forward to spending more time with New York.
