The Menu: A Long New York Weekend
As promised, my New York foodie post is here. Who am I to deny you food pics?
Alright, so obviously this Menu post isn't meant to encapsulate all the food New York City has to offer. Something tells me there are whole blogs dedicated to that. Rather, I plan to entertain you with stories of what I ate all weekend. Whiiiiich...was kind of a lot, and still makes up merely a fraction of what New York has to offer.
NYU is situated primarily around Washington Square Park. My dorms were always about 10 blocks north around Union Square, and so I never really spent much time heading uptown past 14th Street. All my favorite restaurants and bars were decidedly situated around Union Square and Greenwich Village.
But after college, most of my friends eventually found themselves living uptown...way uptown (with the exception of Jen, who lives in SoHo). In fact, Stephanie, Sabrina, and Cammy now live within blocks of each other on the Upper West Side. Stephanie and Sabrina both just moved from their former homes in the low 80s to the low 70s and still live around the literal corner from each other. How convenient for my visits.
This has afforded me the opportunity to get to know the cuisine of a whole new neighborhood, and while I did visit some old favorites this time around, I tried a bunch of new spots too.
SUSHI YASAKA
A fortuitous beginning to the weekend.
I always arrive in New York at lunchtime, and Sabrina is off on Fridays, so we used to go to a great Mexican place called Cilantro. Now she lives a few blocks away, and one of her coworkers had recommended a cheap sushi place around the corner (on Steph's block). Steph met us for lunch, and though the staff was rather irritated that we were coming in five minutes before the kitchen closed (though the restaurant was packed), the sushi was the shit. SO whatevs!
Another one of my favorite UWS spots is 5 Napkin Burger. Really, I think they have my favorite burger in all the land. But when planner extraordinaire Jen was figuring out our meals for the weekend, someone suggested Bareburger, and Steph said she thinks it's better than even 5 Napkin. So I had to agree to try it.
It's one of those build-your-own-burger places, with some pre-made recipes to choose from if you aren't feeling creative. My burger was yummy, and I would have liked to try some of the cocktails, but I decided not to since the race was the next day. I do like the pickle and slaw selection, and I'd definitely go back here, but better than 5 Napkin? Nope.
THE SMITH
Located by the Lincoln Center, Jen chose the Smith for post-race brunch since the food is delicious and they take large-group reservations. Good choice, Jen! The waiter was a total hipster dick, but the food was awesome (and so were the drinks -- try the Passion Punch, a cross between a mimosa and a mojito), so we'll deal. Plus they have a photo booth in the bathroom. Yup.
SPITZER'S CORNER
We started our Saturday evening at Mother's Ruin, a low-key spot on the Lower East Side with a rotating menu of adult slushies. Saturday's delicious flavor was called Meoooow, and was a mix of watermelon, lime, and two other things I can't remember. It's a hefty price tag -- $13 for what amounts to probably about a shot of rum -- but I was a fan of this spot anyway, and it was only a few minutes' walk to dinner at Spitzer's Corner.
Spitzer's was a solid choice on Jen's part. It's a dark, rustic gastropub with great food and probably the only decent service we got all weekend. The cocktails were awesome; try the Monkey's Uncle. The copious amount of food I ate there did its best to counteract the variety of liquor I consumed that night, but that was a losing battle.
PICCOLO CAFE
Shitty brunch pic 1.
Shitty brunch pic 2. What do you want from me? I was hungover.
At some point Saturday night, Cammy said to me, "Do you like lobster?"
"Uh. Who doesn't?"
"Do you like avocado?"
"Have we met?"
"Do you like eggs Benedict?"
"Is the pope Catholic?"
"Great, then we should go to Piccolo for brunch tomorrow. They have a lobster avocado eggs Benedict."
Sold.
Piccolo is a teeny tiny spot on the UWS, and it is authentic Italian. And by "authentic," I mean the service was terrible, just like it is in Italy where servers don't give tips and so they don't give a fuck about your refills.
I staggered in Sunday morning and immediately requested bread to calm the waves of nausea rolling over me. But apparently toast is a tall order because it didn't come out until AFTER our meals, and the jam and butter followed a solid five minutes later. The French press was busted, so the coffee had grounds in it, so overall, not the best experience, but I will say the lobster avocado eggs on the croissant was ridiculously good.
ALL THE SNACKS
The snacks were where I hit up all the classics. No matter where you are in New York, a REALLY good slice of pizza is only a half a block away. Even at 3 a.m. after some hijinks at the clurrrb. Tasti D is everywhere too. It's no sugar, no fat, no nothing, and it's still delicious. My freshman year roommate claimed it must have crack in it. I'd still eat it with sugar, fat, AND a side of carcinogens. Let's be real. And lucky me, Levain Bakery was giving away free cookies if you voted for...something. Yep, I voted for something and I have no idea what because I am a whore for soft, warm cookies. And before I left, I hit up the uptown Magnolia location to grab some banana pudding to help me ease back into the horror that is my real life.
What are your favorite New York eating spots?
-Staci
