New York City Weekend

This weekend I spent forty-eight glorious hours in New York City. Sean and I arrived Friday night, just in time to check in to our hotel, change clothes and head out to dinner.

Travel priorities for me typically revolve around food & art. I tend to shy away from anything overly touristy, I hate crowds, waiting in like at ticket booths and gawkers. Since visits to the empire state building and statue of liberty were taken care of in childhood, we were able to spend this quick visit truly indulging. 

We stayed at the Gansevoort Park Avenue and I would highly recommend it (and Jetsetter for scoring great hotel deals). In my mind, it is ALWAYS worth it to pay a little more and stay someplace comfortable, clean and (in my eyes) that feels like a bit of a treat. I enjoy hotels tremendously and get great pleasure out of a beautiful room, a king size bed, yummy bath products, black out shades, convenient location, etc. It's worth it to me. Part of this may be due to the fact that I'm a terrible sleeper and a truly miserable person when sleep deprived. The room needs to be quiet and dark or else I wont sleep and my trip is ruined. 

I have (too) many memories of sleepless nights spent in budget hotels, listening to gypsies crying in the street. (True story, Rome.)

The Gansevoort bedroom was quite large by NYC standards, well appointed and the staff at the hotel could not have been nicer. There was even a rooftop bar (inside) and pool (outside) with a view of the Empire State building. We had a (complimentary) drink up there and stood outside as a few snowflakes fell and took in the view. 'Twas lovely.

Since this was a last minute tip, I did not have my normal amount of time to obsess over restaurants and make reservations months in advance. Luckily, the number of truly phenomenal restaurants in New York never ceases to amaze me. 

For our "main meals" it went like this:

Friday night dinner- Perla,West Village. Delicious Italian food, great atmosphere. If I lived in the area, this would be a neighborhood favorite. They were aiming for an authentic Italian enoteca feel which was moderately successful (the homemade pasta was exceptional) except for the Jay Z playing in the background (which I enjoyed). It was fun. 

Dinner at Perla & an attempt to capture my outfit in the hotel hallway.

Saturday lunch: Grand Central Oyster Bar (aka my happy place). A pre-teen Laura tried oysters here for the very first time. It was love at first slurp. Fifteen years later I love this place just as much. After hearing the story numerous times, Sean was excited to finally dine here as well. Luckily it did not disappoint.

Grand Central Oyster Bar

Saturday Dinner: WD~50. Wylie Dufresne's mecca of molecular gastronomy. Imagine eating at Willy Wonka's factory. Each plate was a work of modern art, and the flavors were unlike anything I have ever experienced. I first tasted each component on the dish (there were many) and then put together a bite with every item. The synergy was incredible, the sum of the items on the plate was truly greater than the individual components. One bite was too sour, one too sweet, and seemed an odd pairing for shrimp and then you would put it all together and it was delicious. The meal felt like we were experiencing art. That being said, I would only recommend WD~50 if you are an adventurous eater. It was not the sort of place where you could take what you like and leave the rest, as individual components on their own were not really that good. It was very bizarre. Definitely not the kind of meal you want to eat all the time, but an amazing experience none the less. 

WD~50

More WD~50 courses

Sunday lunch: Eataly! I ordered the Norcina (pizza with black truffle and mushroom Pâté, mozzarella, 

topped with diced parma ham) and I can say without hesitation that it was the best pizza I have ever had. I'm not a huge pizza fan, I like it ok- but I don't love it the way Sean does. I LOVED this pizza. The entire Eataly  space was amazing, and I wish we had one nearby so I could grocery shop there. At Eataly we had a foodie celebrity sighting, Susur Lee. Sean and I love the whole Top Chef franchise, and Susur was one of our favorite contestants on Top Chef Masters. Sean immediately spotted him and struck up a conversation. Sean even asked to take a picture with him. I was surprised, since Sean is not the type of person to ask a "celebrity" or anyone for a photo, but he really admires Susur and I guess he wanted to savor the memory. Susur was very nice and complied. 

Eataly

As far as activities of the non stuffing our face variety, we saw the Matisse exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I absolutely love the Met and Matisse, so every second of this exhibition was pure bliss for me. 

And last but not least, one of my very favorite highlights of the trip was an afternoon girls margarita date with my two favorite NYC bloggers: Blair's Head Band and Jewish Girl in Wasp's Clothing. I have loved both of their blogs for ages and I have to say they are even better in person. I wish we lived closer so we could  have girls dates more often. My only regret is that we didn't take a single picture. 

It was a truly exceptional weekend. One that I will remember fondly while sitting bleary eyed at my desk.