This past weekend Ryan and I took the train to New York for the weekend to celebrate my birthday. The plan for the weekend was to eat plenty of amazing food, do some shopping, and maybe check out some neighborhoods we had never seen before.
On Saturday morning we experienced perfection in a doughnut. Doughnut Plant NYC is located on the lower east side of Manhattan. All of their doughnuts are made fresh daily and their offerings change regularly. We tried the following: Valrohna chocolate glazed, carrot-cake (filled with cream cheese and topped with bits of candied carrot), coconut cream (filled with coconut cream and topped with toasted coconut), tres-leches cake doughnut, and creme brulee (filled with vanilla custard and topped with bruleed sugar). These doughnuts were nothing short of amazing!!
We had never spent any time in Brooklyn, so we checked out the Brooklyn Heights historic district, which is filled with gorgeous historic brownstones, and did some shopping in the Park Slope neighborhood. For dinner we took the subway to China Town in search of noodles. Our plan was thwarted when we discovered that the place voted "Best Noodles in NYC" by the New York Times was a "take-out only" place. Not wanting to stand on the street to eat our dinner, we resorted to Plan B: noodles at one of the many other China Town restaurants. They were delicious!
After dinner we went to a bar in the West Village called Little Branch, which was recommended by a friend who lived in New York during law school. The place looks like you would imagine a speakeasy during prohibition. There is a small name plate on the door and a bouncer stationed outside. The bar itself is located in a candle-lit basement. They have a menu of classic cocktails, but also offer "the bartender's choice," in which the bartender chooses a cocktail for you based on a base liquor and flavor profile (i.e., not to sweet, floral, etc.). Plus...they make their very own ginger beer for use in one of my favorite drinks, the Moscow Mule. What's not to love?
On Sunday morning we enjoyed breakfast at Locanda Verde. This place was voted "Best Baked Goods" by New York Magazine. If you know of my affection for breakfast pastries then you understand why we HAD to have breakfast there. The pastries did not disappoint!! We rounded out our Sunday with some shopping in Soho, pizza in the West Village, and a stop at McNulty's to pick up some coffee for Ryan. For those of you who have not heard how we found out about McNulty's: On a trip to New York with my mom she spotted a blurb in her guide book about McNulty's. The guide book described McNulty's Columbian Supremo as "beyond perfection." With that sort of endorsement we decided to stop in to pick up some coffee to take back to Ryan--of course we got him the Columbian Supremo. I think McNulty's Columbian Supremo is now the coffee by which Ryan measures all other coffees.
It was a non-stop weekend, but we had a great time!
** As a side note: In searching for a link to a website about the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood, I ran across the original pamphlet discussing the neighborhood's designation as a historic district in 1965. I find the following portion especially interesting:
"One of the worst dangers to this attractive area has been the defacement of houses by renovations which are often incompatible with surrounding architecture. Among these renovations which have proven detrimental to the neighborhood are the addition of an entire new story, requiring either the removal of a cornice or an entire pitched roof. Other renovations have resulted in the use of dissimilar materials in adjacent areas, the removal of front steps and in the complete rearrangement of windows in such manner that they bear little or no relation to those adjoining. This type of renovation has a depressing effect on real estate values and, although often intended as an improvement, has quite the reverse effect. If such renovations were to continue unrestrained, they would ultimately spoil the special character of the neighborhood which has been the actual source of its rejuvenation."
My vehment agreement with the sentiments expressed in this portion of the pamphlet further affirm just how much like my mother I really am.
No comments:
Post a Comment