Eating New York

I've been absent from the blog for a few reasons, but the most interesting one is that I was in NYC for four days on my BFF foodie trip!

The whole trip was lovely. It started a little cold, but by the time we left, it was 75 and sunny!

Side note: After prancing around Central Park in the sun, we returned to the second coming of Minnesota winter. Snow and rain and more snow. April, you are dead to me. 

We ate A LOT in New York. My body was begging for mercy by the end, but it was so fun!!!

Here's a rundown of the places we ate (in order of appearance) and then I'll tell you my favorite:

Snack Box
I'm not sure this is the best hot dog in New York, but it's still fun to eat a hot dog in the middle of Times Square. Plus, I got the pineapple relish, which was weird but good.

WD-50
We did the "From the Vault" tasting menu and it was amazing. Not as crazy as I would have thought from all the hype about Wylie Dufresne and his molecular gastronomy, but that was fine with me. My only complaint is that two of the seven courses has things that tasted like Fruit Rollups and I hate Fruit Rollups.

Bouchon Bakery
Pretty, pretty pastries. We were at the Rockefeller Center location and they had run out of all the hot breakfast items by 10 a.m. on a Sunday, but I probably would have just eaten the same Chocolate Almond Croissant even if I could have ordered eggs. (Also, I brought shortbread cookies home and they were delicious.)

Eataly
This was one of my favorites. I wish I could live near this place...no, I wish I could live right there in Eataly. You're surrounded by Italian ingredients and then you can sit down and order a meal made with all the good stuff you're looking at. It was busy even though we were there around 3 p.m. but we got a spot at the bar in Il Pesce (the fish place). I didn't realize how heavenly wine and salmon carpaccio on a Sunday afternoon could be. Thank you, Mario Batali (and the people who actually made my food).

Ca Va 
Our budget hotel happened to be across the street from this Todd English place, so we had to stop in. We had lamb short ribs and martinis at the bar, which were great.

Per Se
I was actually nervous for this, even though we were only going for dessert. I had such high expectations and they were all met. The food and service were both wonderful...and I'll give you the play by play below.

Norma's
This is my go-to breakfast spot in NYC. However, now that I know better than to order things like mountains of pancakes and chocolate-peanut butter waffles, it wasn't quite as great - this was partially due to unusually bad service on this visit. But I'll still be back when I've got the kids with me.

Dickson's Farmstand Meats in Chelsea Market
I had never been to Chelsea Market despite it being featured heavily on Food Network. It's such a nice little spot. It's made up of small shops and we chose Dickson's because my travel companion wanted a sloppy joe. I opted for the pastrami sandwich, which came with apricot chutney. Yum! It was the surprise hit of the trip. (We also ate a cupcake and mini donuts at the market, but the sandwich was the highlight.)

Doughnut Plant
We went to see the Chelsea Hotel and realized that Doughnut Plant's main location is there. Score! I know this is crazy, but I couldn't eat a donut. I had coffee, but my BFF represented with a rose donut. I just loved the space - donut tiles, donut pillows on the wall...love.

Prune
We wanted to eat here after reading "Blood, Bones and Butter" and I'm glad we did. The place is tiny and adorable. The waitresses wear pink, our drinks were both pink and they were playing Pink over the sound system (which was maybe a coincidence, but cute). I had a petite filet with potatoes that was lovely. And butter cake.

Sarabeth's
I feel like Anthony Bourdain mentioned this place once, but I could be making that up. Somehow I heard about it and I'm glad I did. It has a pretty, sunny location off Central Park and they serve porridge! (Which is delicious!)

See? That's a lot of food.

Ok, so my favorite was Per Se. Maybe because it was all about dessert. Maybe because I'd been anticipating eating there for years. Maybe because the dessert was amazing. Or maybe just all of that combined. I was giddy.

The Dessert Tasting is served in the Salon (not a bar, a bar would be too ordinary). Even though the service is legendary, I wasn't sure if there'd be any hoity-toityness when we arrived only wanting dessert, while most people pay $400 to sit in the dining room. There was not. The hostesses were sweet and welcoming.

The experience was lovely and perfect and delicious and fun and without any of the pretense that can come with a fancy dinner, so I'm actually not sure if I really want to eat in the Dining Room now...but I think I still do.

The Salon is elegant and dimly-lit, which is why I could not bear to turn on my flash and the following photos are dark. But enjoy.

Amuse bouche: Tiny ice cream sandwiches
that tasted like dreamsicles.

Another amuse: An homage to the famous Thomas Keller
salmon cornets,but this was sweet with pineapple. 

"Chamomile Soda"
Vanilla Tapioca Pudding and Sake Granita
(Delicious and I loved the Alice and
Wonderland-like presentation!)

Mango Sorbet
Carribean Papaya and Whipped Jasmine Tea

"PB&J"
Candied Virginia Peanuts, Red Verjus
"Pate de Fruits" and "Pain au Lait" Ice Cream
(This was one of my favorites. Look at that tiny sandwich!
And the ice cream was incredible!)

"Coffee and Doughnuts"
Cinnamon-Sugared Brioche Doughnuts
with Cappucino Semifreddo
(This was my favorite, favorite. It looks so simple,
but those donuts were perfect and the way the cappucino
was really ice cream? I mean, come on.)

Seville Orange-Vanilla "Creamsicle"
Manjari Chocolate "Cremeux" with Mint "Genoise"
(While I hesitate to make any disparaging remarks
about this experience, we didn't like this dessert.
It didn't taste like a creamsicle and the tartness
of the orange was overpowering.)

Housemade Chocolates
(Just when you think it's over, the waiter arrives
with a box of 30 different chocolates
in flavors such as "Dirty Martini White Chocolate."
Amazing! You can pick as many as you want,
although I'm not sure they'd love it if
you asked them to just leave the whole box.) 

And that, my friends, is how you eat New York. Or at least, a small portion of New York. Maybe I can do a family-friendly round this summer when we take the kids. Until then, I'll be focused on losing the 500 lbs. I just gained. 

(Recipes to return soon!)

Eat. Play. Change Tires.

We now return to our regularly scheduled neuroses.

In order to get caught up on my 40 by 40 list, I'm trying to do seven of the items in the next 19 weeks (before I turn 36):

#2 Bake a pie from scratch

#6 Learn to play guitar

#24 Learn to play poker

#34 Read Don Quixote

#35 Write each one of my friends a letter saying what they mean to me

#36 Eat at Per Se

#38 Learn to change a tire

Now, when I say "trying," I mean that I've chosen these things and I'm working on one of them currently. I started guitar lessons last Tuesday! I never really bothered to think about what I meant by "learn to play guitar" so I'm not really sure how much I have to learn before I can consider it done...I'm thinking that if I can learn to play and sing a song all at once, I'll feel like I accomplished something. 

That might sound easy, but I've taken guitar lessons in three separate periods of my life and I have never successfully played a song while singing. I don't actually think I've ever played a whole song. I love the idea of playing guitar, but I hate practicing. I also used to hate staying home on Saturday nights and running, though, so really anything is possible. 

Ok, so you're reading that list and thinking, "Wow! Those are pretty boring." And maybe you're right, but when you're playing catch-up, you have to go for the low-hanging fruit. Plus, they're totally NOT boring (to me, anyway) because they're all things I want to do...or learn to do. Honestly I don't really ever want to have to change a tire, but not knowing how makes me feel like a weak girl and we can't have that.

I'm going to state for the record that I'm having internal debate about #36. The thing is, I am going to Per Se in April with my BFF on my previously-mentioned foodie trip to NYC. Yes, I'm going to Per Se!!! (If Thomas Keller alone doesn't make you excited about Per Se, I suggest you read "Service Included" to understand what makes it special.)

I am going to Per Se to eat the new Dessert Tasting Menu that's served in the Salon (aka, the bar). I may need to shoot a video to remember the experience, as I will likely be using all of my brainpower not to shout with glee after every bite. But as thrilled as I am, I won't be getting the real Per Se experience because I won't be eating in the dining room. And I don't know if I can cross it off my list and feel like I really ate there, if I haven't eaten in the dining room. (Read the book and you'll understand.) 

I've decided to go eat the dessert and then decide if it feels cross-off-worthy. I suspect that the experience will make me want to go back and eat in the dining room even more than I already do. (And if you're wondering why I'm not just going to eat in the dining room on this trip, I'll point out that the Chef's Tasting menu is $295 per person before wine...it would consume practically my entire trip budget...plus, I kind of have it my head that my husband and I will eat there on a special occasion.)

As for the other items on my list, they should all be doable. I just have to do them. A couple friends have offered to teach me both poker and tire changing...sounds like I should probably start planning a poker/tire changing party with homemade pie. A Pie Tire Poker Party! Dress code is circle.

(P.S. The cleanse is over in less than 5 hours! Hooray for the return of lattes and cake!)