It takes a village

I spent another few days in New York City this weekend. Some work and some play. I wanted to tell you all about the eating highlights in case you’re planning a trip soon:

Sarabeth’s



Katie and I grabbed a quick hot meal here after a grueling day of shopping and makeovers. We both had a perfect pumpkin soup, and then shared an order of tea- small tea sandwiches and scones and tiny cookies-a palmier, a linzer cookie shaped as a heart, a nutty brownie cookie, and an amaretti. Katie also convinced me to try Sarabeth’s famous English muffin-which was dense and heavenly. I was very confused as to why there were two bottoms and only one top, but I didn’t ask questions.



Grey Dog’s Bakery
This is one of my favorite havens in Kristin’s neighborhood. Maps of Paris decopaged on the wall and tables, loud music playing and wide open French doors. Its always jammed with people and I spent a really nice few hours there reading cooking magazines and watching people. I tried the goat cheese and spinach quesadilla with chicken. It came with roasted tomatillo salsa with corn. It was the perfect spot of lunch to fortify me for my walk around the village.

Amy’s Bread
Is anyone seeing a pattern here? I was on a bakery craze on this trip. I resisted the to-die-for lemon poppyseed muffins at Gray Dog’s in favor of something from Amy’s. I chose a crumbly, nutty brownie which I devoured with my fingers while perusing Murray’s Cheese Shop next door. The twists are great too-I sampled one a few years ago on a food tour in NY. She had pumpkin twists to sample at the cash register, and I had one spicy bite.

Fatty Crab/Spotted Pig/Wallse



What do three chicks in winter dresses do on a Friday night when the wait at their planned establishment will surely induce painful hunger pangs? Our plan had been to dine at Fatty Crab, but when we arrived, we were greeted with two unpleasant salutations: 1) an oily stinky smell which had seeped onto the sidewalk, and 2) a 1.5 hour wait. Quickly, Anna and Kristin threw out ideas for back-up—The Spotted Pig around the corner? Wallse? We called both and then walked to the Pig. They were even more sour with their greeting—a two hour wait. We could get a drink down the street-they would call us when our table was ready. So, we wandered down to Wallse-which Kristin and Anna were both excited about. A german place-it welcomed us with its crimson red curtain and fiery hot heat lamp. Waiting for us bashfully were three square barstools. A cocktail and a cheese plate to fortify us while we braced for the wait at the Pig. And oh what followed…. A fig manhattan (bourbon shaken with fig puree), a blackberry sidecar (sounds like something from candyland or babes in toyland), and an apple martini with a dried apple cross-section floating on top.

Eventually, we claimed a corner table and settled in for spaetzle with rabbit, venison goulasch with bacon and mushrooms, and for dessert, streudel with roasted apple sorbet. Those germans in the West Village can cook.



Doma
The next day I ended up at Kristin’s old GMAT studying spot, Doma. I crammed into the head of a wooden table and ordered a zucchini-orange muffin and an open-faced artichoke sandwich with cherry tomatos and the best mozzarella I’ve ever tasted.

Next, boring plane snacks (sun chips) and I was back home, where we make our own food. I’ll tell you about my roasted winter veggie soup next!