I’m back from a 4 night work trip to New York City and since many of you shared suggestions of where to go and what to eat I thought I’d share some of the highlights.
After my boss and I arrived on Saturday and got settled into the hotel, we headed out to dinner at Casellula in Hell’s Kitchen. This is a place that has been recommended to me over and over throughout the years but I’d never made it. It is a tiny one room restaurant (with a menu for Chicago’s Schwa hanging in the bathroom as a hat tip to the owner’s favorite place) that has an awesome wine and cheese selection as well as a tantalizing menu. We shared a phenomenal cheese plate and “pigs in a blanket” and I had their famous “pigs ass sandwich” that was amazing. Highly recommend.
Sunday we started the day off with work and conferencing but in the afternoon we grabbed some pizza at Angelo’s Pizza on 57th. It was what I assume many NY pizza joints are like- nothing particularly fancy but serving solidly good pizza. It was also right next to a very cool gold ATM (as in, it dispenses gold) I’d read about- a fun find. After lunch my boss and I took the subway down to the World Trade Center memorial and museum. We were late for our assigned time but the staff let us in anyway. We began with the video and then entered the exhibits. It was wonderfully done, incredibly poignant and emotionally difficult. I struggled as I overheard kids asking questions – how could they not remember?- before remembering that it happened in 2001 and part of the museum’s purpose was for those generations that don’t remember. I found myself overwhelmed about 2/3 of the way through, but it felt disrespectful not to keep reading and looking and remembering. I’m so incredibly glad I went, but I don’t think I need to go back. Afterwards we were both emotionally drained. It was a good night to have plans with my cousin who lives in New York and met us at a restaurant she likes on the Upper East Side, Uva. We once again indulged in cheese (so much cheese!), wine flights and I had an amazing truffle and gnocchi dish. Truffles can be over-used but this dish was a great combination of flavors and textures. I balanced out the rich truffles with a little lemon meringue pie after….
Monday was a whirlwind of Supreme Court decisions, work and conferencing. We had a work lunch at Bar Americain, which is a Bobby Flay restaurant. It was my second time eating there and my food was awesome- a chicken salad and sweet Vidalia onion soup. I’m unapologetic in my enjoyment of Bobby Flay’s various food shows, so it was nice to have a good experience (again) at his restaurant.
That night the conference had their big event for the week, an evening at Ellis Island. We took charter busses down to Battery Park (with a mini-tour on the way). Battery Park is still undergoing work after Superstorm Sandy, but you can check out The Sphere, which used to sit at the base of the World Trade Center towers, and now sits, damaged, in the park as a memorial/remembrance. The park also has a neat splash area for kids and lots of green space to stretch your legs. From the park we went through security and caught ferries out to the island.
The ferry ride was mercifully quick (lots of people turning a little green on the way) and the views were spectacular. The event included jazz music, drinks and dinner. We walked through the museum exhibit and enjoyed an evening looking back at the city. Pretty cool! One of my college roommates was able to join us, and it was a great night of catching up.
Tuesday was our last day in the city (flew out Wednesday morning) and we were busy with work all day. We had lunch at Iguana, another unassuming spot, but I had pretty spectacular fish tacos and we were able to catch some of the World Cup action. (Also, it is apparently a dance club at night…?) I also managed to slip away to FAO Schwarz where I bought Gracie her very first baby doll. She seems rather smitten with Baby, even if it is just because she has a hat that we can take on and off.
For our last night in the city a large group of work people went out to Joe’s Shanghai where I was introduced to soup dumplings. I now must find soup dumplings in Chicago- talk about awesome. We all ordered our own entree but there was so much food we all ended up sharing everything – moo shu pork, ginger beef, pork with spicy garlic sauce, and some chicken and bamboo dish. All of them were awesome and I’m now busy researching soup dumpling eateries in the general area.
On Wednesday I was ready to head home and see my family. Although I was gone, Gracie had a blast with B and his parents, and I got a lot of photo updates while I was gone. Gracie climbed into my lap as soon as I walked into her room at daycare and just gave me a huge hug. It was pretty awesome. She came home and just grinned while sitting next to me. Trip success!
