3.10.2009

36 Hours in NY (give or take a few)

A weekend in review

Friday, February 27th

Attempt to eat arepas at Caracas, a Venezulan eatery featured in "Throwdown with Bobby Flay." Find an hour and 45 minute wait, so walk to Bua for drinks. Nibble on Berkshire pork sliders, split a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches on Blue Ribbon Pullman loaf (one taleggio, one aged Irish cheddar) and imbibe a few cocktails to quell the appetite.

Return to Caracas, order a sampling of their finest arepas, such as the La Sureña, with grilled chicken and chorizo, and the Reina Pepiada, with chicken and avocado. Take a walk around the East Village, passing Tompkins Square Park, whilst partaking in the unseasonably warm weather.

Feel surprisingly peckish with a hankering for ramen, so head to Ippudo. Observe the strange ratio of hovering wait staff to customers and witness your hostess actually burn her hair accidentally in a candle on the table. Wait for unpleasant smell to dissipate. Get your bowls of ramen. Slurp, enjoy, then walk to the Union Square station to get home.

Saturday, February 28th

Fill up on a freshly toasted Absolute Bagel with jalepeño cream cheese to power you through the day. Properly fed, head to the Guggenheim to take in "The Third Mind" exhibition. Soak in all the culture until you can't take anymore, then wander the Upper East Side. Attempt to enjoy a late lunch at Flex Mussels, find it closed, so scavenge for something else. Happen upon Andre's Cafe & Bakery. Find old-world service (i.e., slow), but scrumptious comfort in veal goulash, chicken paprikash, a chicken paprikash crepe, meat crepe, mushroom soup and a deliciously flaky apple strudel for dessert.

Digest by walking down Lexington to a 6 train station stop. Hop on the train to SoHo for swanky cocktails at Pegu Club.Discover the most phenomenal cocktails ever, in quite possibly, the most relaxing place in Manhattan. While away a few hours and be ballers by ordering almost every cocktail on the menu. Feel blissfully unwound.

Sober up with a tasty Greek dinner of mezes, including crispy cod and sheep's milk ravioli topped with fried shallots, at Kefi, in the Upper West Side. Slumber, deeply.

Sunday, March 1st
Return to the Lower East Side for brunch at Inoteca. Savor the best thing of the weekend, the truffle egg toast with bottarga (cured tuna roe) and sautéed asparagus tips. Order two.Hop on the F train to check out the Brooklyn Flea in DUMBO. Support local crafters and printmakers. Warm up with a cup of tea and possibly a Mudslide cookie from Jacques Torres. Go for a stroll, accidentally head into the projects attempting to walk to Williamsburg. Find a subway station back to Manhattan to take a train to Williamsburg instead.

Check out the discounted wares at Brooklyn Industries, then cross the street to Peter Luger for an early dinner reservation. Feast on an old-school steakhouse meal of shrimp cocktail, tomato and onion salad, creamed spinach, German style potatoes, a porterhouse steak, and 2 rib eyes to split. Fall asleep on the train back to the Upper West Side.

Say good-bye to your friends visiting from San Francisco. Wish that the two cities were closer so that you wouldn't have to gorge yourselves so ridiculously in such a short period of time.

4 comments:

arlene said...

ah, sarap! i truly enjoyed reading your descriptions of the food, cocktails, and other fun activities from your weekend. jamaica me hungry!

Anonymous said...

The blog entry makes me feel special. You forget one of the most gluttonous parts of the adventure: sizzling juicy extra thick bacon at Peter Luger. Fun while it lasted - back to reality.

Anonymous said...

i am exhausted and full just reading this?! how did you do all that in one weekend? i think i would have maybe accomplished two of those things and considered it a busy weekend. :)

Janice said...

Arlene: Good! Don't worry -- I ate enough for the two of us.

D: Ah, how could I forget the bacon? Mmm, I could eat a slice right now.

Krissy: Now you see why I was so exhausted. I also managed to squeeze in a 6 mile run before our Sunday brunch. Phew!