New York: foodie mini-week

My getaway to New York was fantastic. Five whole days of friends and food – what could be better?

I had to write down everything we did, otherwise, there is no way I would have remembered it all!

Day 1

Started off the reunion at Prime Meats for brunch where we had:

• a homemade pretzel (one of the best ever!)
• coffees and olive oil mini bundt cake (we came back for coffee at Frankie’s the next day while waiting for our table at Buttermilk Channel)
• wild mushrooms, poached eggs and lovely sausage

From there we headed to the National Arts Club, which was a bit weird, but had a fun love-themed exhibit (love was a big but not obtrusive theme. this being V-day weekend) and uptown to visit Dorie’s pop-up shop at Mizu salon on Park Ave, which I recounted for you earlier.

Then we went to the Breslin bar – a visit to some part of which now seems to be a requisite part of any NY visit – for very strong drinks and photobooth photos. I could stay there for hours of entertainment. Unfortunately, that particular night they were closing early for a fashion week party  for Opening Ceremony.

Went back to Park Slope for a quick change and then went to dinner at Inoteca where we had sublime ricotta and tomato, pesto and gorgonzola and grape bruschette, truffled egg bread and a huge grilled calamari, apple, rucola, pickled red onions & pecorino salad.

From there it was off to Gallery Bar where no food was consumed and some calories were burnt off.

Day 2

Stopped for coffee at Frankie’s, then off to what will now be known as the best.brunch.ever at Buttermilk Channel (which is actually a channel, as in a body of water):

• bacon smoked almonds while we waited for our table (very much worth the wait – for now, brunch is only served on Sundays)
• short rib hash with eggs and buttermilk biscuits
• cheddar waffles
• homemade sour cream donuts
• [and some mimosas]

From there we went uptown to the Museum of the City of New York where we made valentines, watched movies and marveled at the landscapes of the boroughs’ parks.

We then went to City Bakery to see what was on offer that day as part of the hot chocolate festival. We had some love potion hot chocolate  (with their homemade marshmallows) and a pretzel croissant. I got a marshmallow pin!

After a long day traversing around town, we settled in for a movie and some sushi in the evening. I may have watched the Food network…

Day 3

Monday was bagel day so we went to La Bagel Delight for some lox-laden goodness. After aiding the recovery of the US economy in and around 5th and 6th Ave, we met up for a quick lunch of grilled cheese and tomato soup at ‘Witchcraft.

From there it was to my first love, the MoMa, and then to the London hotel bar for my new favorite drink, campari and blood orange juice.

We then went back to Brooklyn and onto Franny’s (more campari!) for a fantastic dinner. Honestly, new favorite menu of mine. The Fusilli col Buco with a gennel Sausage Ragu was to die for (yes, I do love fennel) as were several of the specials (spaghetti with bottarga or salted fish roe) and the buffalo mozzarella, ricotta, garlic, oregano and hot peppers pizza. Sorry, it was a little dark for pictures.

Franny’s was followed by a snowy trip to Bklyn Larder (also owned by the owners of Franny’s).  The place was fab, well-stocked with gourmet essentials and other provisions. We had the much lauded (deservingly so) pistachio cake. Val: ‘The salesman recommended the butter – he said it was so good you could eat it like cheese – needless to say, we didn’t get the butter’.

At home, we had a bit of a slumber party throwback and later on in the night snacked on the tiny-mini cupcakes from Baked by Melissa. If you’ve seen the photos of me eating them, you know they were good.

Day 4

A lovely, if snow stormy, day in SoHo with takeaway breakfast at Balthazar (coffees, brioche and the divine cranberry-walnut bread, dense and fruity just how I like it). Shopped a lot and pretend-intellectualised at think coffee over some soup, more grilled ham&cheese and copious amounts of iced tea.

After pedicures and an evening with the inimitable Victor Garber in Present Laughter, we stopped off for a late night snack at the Brooklyn Diner – the pulled pork sandwich and the chicken noodle soup were good but paled in comparison to the most amazing three-layer coconut cake, which we shared. That cake comes highly recommended by me.

Day 5

Desperate to fit in some more friend time as well as a haircut in my remaining time in NY, I managed to have a warm chocolate cookie at Jacques Torres in the morning, make a stop at Murray’s Cheese in the afternoon as well as at the newly opened Keste where the truffle pizza is amazing and the dough is the perfect sourdough, and have lunch at Otto where I had the much mentioned fennel salad and some of the pepperoni pizza with fantastic homemade tomato sauce.

From then on it was coffee and black & white cookies at Crumbs (don’t like their cupcakes but the b&w cookies, the cakey kind, are great!) and then, off to the airport, feeling accomplished because we put a bit of a dent in the NYT best dishes of 2009 list in terms of food destinations in NY. Stay tuned!

p.s. I can’t believe that I almost forgot about my new favorite self-serve frozen yogurt place on Bleecker (that used to be Yogurt land)- Phileo– with all kinds of flavours such as red velvet cake and cupcake batter available for mixing and matching with the usual variety of toppings. Yummy.  Some day I’ll tell the story of how S, Priya and I decided to form a band called the Froyos.