New York City is like one great big meal. A bit extravagant, somewhat pricey, but overall an unforgettable experience. So what makes New York so special to me? Like any great meal, each dish has to be well executed, a little bit edgy, sometimes unexpected, each plate should be unique but complementary to the whole experience.
The cocktail – If you’re looking for buzz, look no further than Mercer Kitchen in Soho. Situated below The Mercer Hotel, this place is one of the many restaurants of Jean-Georges Vongerichten in NYC that offers casual dining where you can get anything from pizzas from the wood burning oven, oysters from the raw bar or roast chicken from the rotisserie. If you can still fit it, try Jean-Georges’ signature Warm Valrhona Chocolate Cake served with Cocoa Bean Brittle and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.
There is also DBGB Kitchen & Bar, at the East Village, which is Chef Daniel Boloud’s latest eatery where, as the website describes it, French brasserie meets American tavern. Case in point, where else can you order “The Frenchie” – you guessed it, a burger with pork belly, tomato onion compote and morbier cheese on a brioche bun?
Amuse Bouche – Is there anything you can get for free in New York? Head over to Soho for some window shopping (it’s free but potentially dangerous). The eye candy at Hollister is particularly tasty! If you’re looking for great kitchen gadgets, Sur La Table is a fantastic place to gawk over kitchen gadgets. When you’re tired, grab a pastry and a cup of coffee from either Balthazar or Dean and Deluca. Another note worthy place was at our hotel, where, for the price of a cup of coffee, you can sit at the lobby and try to celebrity sight/model watch.
The Starter – Tribecca’s a great place for breakfast, in particular, we had a great brunch at Locanda Verde, a hip Italian taverna serving food by Andrew Carmellini. If you’re looking for hearty Italian fare with a New York twist, this is it (think scampi with sausages and poached eggs on a bed of polenta).
The Salad – No doubt, would be hanging out with the fabulous Asha from Fork Spoon Knife and Christine from Fresh Local and Best at the Chelsea Markets where we spent a couple of hours on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
The Fish Course – would be at the West Village where Mas Farmhouse is located. A quaint restaurant with excellent service, the chef will vary his menu based on what is in season so you can be assured, whatever you’re eating is always fresh.
The Meat Course – The Lower East Side is where you can find La Esquina, a taqueria, cafe and restaurant (yes, there are three dining areas) serving great Mexican food. Reservations at the restaurant is a must, but well worth it. Where else can you have dinner in a dungeon like hideaway that’s actually super trendy and serves surprisingly delicious Mexican food? Start with the tostadas (the crab and chicken were my favourites) and then go for any of the main courses from the grill like the grilled Angus strip steak with chimichurri or the chipotle-guava glazed pork spare ribs.
Dessert – Being the last, some people consider this the most memorable dish of a meal. I’d say, my New York neighborhood would be the East Village, home to David Chang’s Momofuku restaurants, we were lucky enough to snag a reservation at Ko (it’s been rumoured even his parents need a reservation to get in), so we decided to make a Momofuku day of it – that’s right – all four eateries in one day. We started with some steamed buns from the Ssam Bar, momofuku ramen and smoked chicken wings from the Noodle Bar, Crack Pie and Soft Serve Cereal Milk (and Soft Serve Carrot Cake) from the Milk Bar… and for dinner, an 11 course meal from Ko (no photos were allowed at Ko). At Momofuku, whether you believe the hype or not, the experience was certainly memorable.
There were many other neighborhoods we enjoyed, and meals we indulged in that didn’t make this list, and there are many areas we skipped and restaurants we unfortunately missed out on, which also of course, didn’t make the cut. But like with any great meal, this only means one thing…
It always keeps you wanting to go back for more… and I surely will.
Till next time…
Fruit Loops Milk Panna Cotta pictured above (first picture) was inspired by Christina Tosi/David Chang from Momofuku. Recipe can be found here. (Only change was to substitute 6 cups cereal with 6 cups Fruit Loops and decreased the salt to 1 teaspooon)
Apologies for the lack of pictures – we were just having to great a time to remember to take any photos (and terrible restaurant lighting didn’t help either!). The only day we took out the camera was on Momofuku day.
Have you ever considered adding more videos to your blog posts to keep the readers more entertained? I mean I just read through the entire article of yours and it was quite good but since I’m more of a visual learner,I found that to be more helpful well let me know how it turns out!
Wow – I’m glad I’ve rediscovered your blog – it’s very clean & schmick now! Love the slew of travel posts – I’ve yet to make it to New York so I’ll have to squirrel these away for when I finally make it there!
Yummo – what an amazing trip! And, seriously, fruit loop pannacotta? Love it!
Trissa, I’d like to go on a holiday with you 😀 And those momofoku pork buns look amazing. Makes me hungry even though I’ve just had dinner!
I have been in New York for far too short a time unfortunately. I fell in love with the city but we did not have enough time to find out about some of the great food there (we were on our way back home and had a short stopover in NewYork, with colleagues) but it seems you had a fantastic time there Trissa!
I heart N.Y.
Even though I’ve never been there… but I’m dying to go!!!
You make me want it even more!
Great photographs Trissa!
Magda
oh wow. i’m keeping these in my notes for when i visit new york for sure 🙂
Sounds like you had a great time and ate some really delicious food. Yum Yum. I think this is the first time I have actually seen someone cook with fruit loops. Good work!
You have just reminded me of how much I liked New York City and long to be back there! I spent 3 most exciting months in Soho in the eighties living right by Washington square and it was so much fun! Thanks!
Trissa you have to point me to the right direction in NYC when I go there in July!!! I don’t even know where to begin but definitely DEFINITELY dean & deluca and momofuku!
THANK YOU! for taking me back to NYC..step by step and bite by bite.
One of my fave cities in the world..Oh! how I pine to be back in its grimy vivacious womb!
You have chronicled your journey beautifully.
Ciao, Devaki @weavethousandflavors
Hey Triss … For what it’s worth, I’ve hit you up with an award … see Spice Garden post for 4/29/10 for explanation… and keep up your good work!
Trissa, it looks like you’re having a wonderful vacation.
Your fruit loops panna cotta is definitely an original. I doubt fruit loops have ever looked so good!
I’m giving you a couple of awards because I really enjoy visiting your gorgeous blog… http://freshslowcooking.com/48/spreading_the_love
Love the first photo. Maybe my daughters would be inspired to try pannacotta that way!!!!!!! Superb
My daughter has lived there for years and I LOVE visiting her! What’s really neat is she is a foodie, just like me, so we have a ball trying all the newest places! I’m familiar with most of these, but a couple, no. So am taking notes!
Great post.
Craaaaazy! What an incredible holiday 🙂
Gorgeous first photo! I’d love to try it, it sounds very interesting.
I’ve been wanting to try a simplified version of Ssam’s Pork bun recipe since seeing it on Martha S’s show. Oh, but I do love to try the original one right there in NY one day 😉
Yummy yummy food! I miss NYC … hope to have a chance to visit again. The first photo is stunning.
That pork belly sandwich looks absolutely deletable. Can someone please teleport me one? 😀 Welcome back, I hope you had a great time overseas.
I mean do you have the recipe?
Trissa,
all of this food are making me hungry. I especially couldn’t stop my mouth from drooling looking at that smoked chicken wing. do you the recipe?
Wow what a great post, I loved all the pics, the first one in divine, I’m glad you had a great time, it is felt through your post
sweetlife
That looks amazing! Love combining campy cereal with elegant dessert.
Aw, the first picture is very playful. The buns with pork belly are edgy as you said. Lucky you, can taste all these wonderful, well presented dishes.
That’s such a lovely tip. I love all the food here…mmm. That crack pie is new to me but looks very delicious. I would love that with a cup of tea.
Just checking back to see if I missed the answers to my questions. 🙂 😉
So good to know that you are eating well and enjoying your holiday, Trissa! The food looks amazing, thanks in part to your great photography. 😉
I literally went “Ho. Ly. Shit.” when I saw that picture of the pork buns. Thank you so much for sharing – I love love love the series of pictures you’ve taken on your holidays.
Trissa such a lot of eating. What a fun trip. That Crack Pie looks amazing.
Mmmmm, they all look delicious! I’m glad you got to eat in all 4 Momofuku, wow!
the photo with the fruit loops is amazing!
panna cotta ❤
Great post.
I can’t wait to go back to New York and eat my way through all the places I missed the first time!
Awesome post. I’ll be in NY in less than a month! I know where to go to 😉 Thanks for sharing!
Whenever I visit NY, it’s always so hard to narrow down the eating choices because there are just too many great ones. Much enjoyed my visits to the Momofuku restaurants last year, especially for those pork belly buns, which we ordered three out of four days there! Am dying to go to Marea and Le Bernardin the next time I make it out that way.
I am also in love with New York. I was there for 2 weeks a couple of years ago and fell in love with the big city lights. You make me miss it. But that’s ok. I’m glad you enjoying yourself. Momofuku looks amazing.
Hi Trissa, this food all looks so wonderful. i would never be able to find anything close in my subtropical hollow. You know, I’ve never been to NY, though I lived overseas. Very strange how little of my own country I’ve seen.
By the way, your photos look great despite restaurant lighting. They always do…
that pic of the fruit loops panna cotta is freaking amazing trissa!
You’ve really had some fabulous meals and New York City is where you can find them. It’s another dream city to visit one day. Love the pictures and they’re making me hungry right now.
I can’t believe I still managed to miss some of the awesome places you mentioned – you can bet I won’t make that mistake again 😉
Oh I am living vicariously through this post Trissa. One day I will make it to New York and my jeans will expand by two sizes after all the eating I’m planning to indulge in 🙂 Thanks for the amazing photos.
Wow, Trissa, holy crap! What a good lot of eating. An entire Momofuku day?! Aye!
You can have everything listed here….just give me that “Smoked Chicken Wings” !!!!!! Deal?!
Wow Trissa you look like you’re having the most amazing vacation. Wow… Now I’m excited about my upcoming US trip! Though I won’t be on the East Coast… I definitely need to refer back to this for the next time I’m in New York. I’ve been there a bunch of times and love it but never know where to get good grub..
i can’t believe your number one priority was enjoying yourself rather than taking pictures. the nerve. 🙂
i love the fruit loops panna cotta–so pretty!
Great post. I cant wait to go to NY again. Locanda Verde is already on my list of must go to’s (but for breakfast or brunch–their pastries look divine). Good choice of hotels daaaaaahling, you obviously have good taste, not that I doubted you 😉 Loved your pics.
*kisses* HH
Oooh woooww what a great eating trip! The Momofuku pork bun looks like Taiwanese Gua Bao hee hee
Looks like you had such an awesome time over in NYC. I loved it there and cant wait to go back. The Fruit Loops Milk Panna Cotta looks amazing.
Ahh I soo want to go to New York!! It just sounds like such an amazing gastronomical experience. Did you have any street food? Hot dogs, giant pretzels? That’s what I think about, when I think of New York 🙂
Welcome back Trissa!! I was looking forward to seeing what amazing thing you’d be cooking after returning from such an awesome trip. SO cool to see how momofuku has inspired you to create your own dessert. OMG a Momofuku day! you’re so lucky you got to sample all of his creations in one day
Looks like Momofuku is a must-chomp-down when in NY City. But I may need to stretch my jaws first. The buns look huge with the pork belly:)
I hope I can visit NY City this year.
Looks like you had an incredible time. I enjoyed the photos you did manage. The fruit loops at first threw me off, but really fun and genius.
The fruit loops panna cotta looks so good. I wish I could have some.
Hey Trissa, Welcome back. You should write a guide book on eating in NYC (and Madrid, and Paris). It all looks amaZing!
everything looks so good trissa, welcome back x
NYC is the city that we always wanted to visit but had to delay our plan until our daughter is older to be able to enjoy the vibe this city brings. Reading your post is like living my dream. Dreaming a day I will be finally step foot in this city that is well loved by so many people. Very well written post and amazing photographs as always!
This all looks amazing!!!
Trissa, great post…love them all, you really got my mouth watering over the pictures 🙂
I can’t believe you went to all Momofuku restaurants in one day and fit in an 11-course meal! You certainly did fit in many of the great NYC establishments. It was absolutely wonderful to meet you. I’ll have to send for one of the boys from Hollister the next time you’re in town. 😉
wow: what an amazing series of meals. after 9 years in this city there are still so many great meals i have to have… i better get to work on it!
So good! I love it all. You lucky lucky girl!~
What a fantastic experience. I would have LOVED to be along for the Momofuku day – and every other experience, too. We were in NYC last March for a week and will definitely be back. It is contagious. It gets in your blood. Can you tell me how you got reservations at KO? What was the process, and the price?
🙂
Valerie
Glad you had a fantastic experience in NYC!! Just means you’ll come back for more, right?! And, I’ll see you again :)))