Whenever I am up in New York I do my best to stay busy after work hours. I mean, who wants to sit in a hotel room and watch bad TV when you are in a city like New York. So I usually book myself up and spend quality time with friends and family. This recent trip was no different.
I rolled into town on Sunday and spent a wonderful evening by my lonesome at the Intercontinental Times Square (read about my stay here). On Monday, I was lucky enough to dine with 2 of my favorite TIA gals ~ Adrienne and Amanda. Adrienne booked us a table at Dell'Anima...a chic little Italian restaurant in the West Village. The food was delicious, (how could bruschette with home made ricotta and orecchiette with pancetta and broccoli rabe NOT be delicious!), but the company was even better. I love that I work with great people. What I love even MORE is that I can truly call these 2 girls (and some others ~ you know who you are) true friends. :)
One of the best things about New York is that the unexpected can pop up at any time, and that is where lunch on Tuesday comes in. My office is in a great part of town ~ 25th and Broadway which is an intersection that houses Madison Square Park and the Flatiron Building.
In recent years, the city has made it their goal to increase public space by creating pedestrian seating areas at major intersections. One such space exists right outside my building's doors and I was happy to see that Madison Square Eats was occupying the space during my stay. Essentially, a bunch of restaurants and artisans set up tents and feed locals for a month.
So despite the rain, I popped down there for lunch and picked me up a kafta arayes wrap from Ilili (a great place serving Mediterranean fare) and a cheddar cheese & truffle oil pretzel from Sigmund Pretzelshop. Words cannot describe the yummy-ness of these 2 items.
I love when street fairs pop up because it gives me a chance to sample different things from restaurants all around the city. It's one stop "stuff you face" shopping!
Dinner on Tuesday night was with Jim and Daniel at their abode in Forest Hills. Daniel whipped up a delicious meal (as per usual - great cook!) using an Anne Burell recipe as a base. Of course he added his own little zip to the Chicken Scarpiello. It was great as was the food coma that induced after we finished. :)
My final day in New York City found me with a lunch date ~ bestie Tulay. We hit up Tappo ~ a new pizza place that opened up around the corner. It is a sister restaurant to Vezzo - another amazing pizza place that Dina (work mom) introduced me to a while back. We shared their Shroomtown pizza which consists of Portobello, Shitake, & Button Mushrooms and White Truffle Oil. Can we say YUM?!
So as they say, that's a wrap. This foodie needs to detox for the next few weeks in preparation for my next trip. I'm sure there will be a whole new slew of hot spots to try out!
1. Thanks for the shout out :o) I was bummed I missed dinner!
ReplyDelete2. marching down to Eats tomorrow for one of those pretzels. holy delicious does that look good!
3. did NOT know Tappo was sister restaurants with Vezzo! see ya later low-carb diet haha