We were in New York two weeks ago, visiting one of my best friends in the whole world and her new husband Matt. It was a fantastic weekend in every way possible. I did not bring my computer, and aside from occasionally checking my email and instagram, I was more unplugged than I had been in a long time. I brought my work blackberry and think I only pulled it out once. Katie and I spent all of Friday just leisurely going about our day (which included a 7 mile walking tour of the Bronx!) with no real plans or purpose. Guys, this is BIG. I don’t relax. For whatever reason though, Katie has this calming quality over me and something I’m majorly missing now that she’s a thousand miles away. I guess that means more trips to NYC are in store, huh?
That’s fine by me, so long as we’re always eating as well as we did! I’m always looking for restaurant recommendations on other blogs when we travel, so I love to share with you what we ate..in case you ever end up in NYC. I’ll be brief—but as always, email me (natalie@thesweetslife.com) if you have more questions!
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The Crosstown Diner (Bronx, NY)-Katie & Matt weren’t kidding when they said this diner served everything…it took us all a good 20 minutes just to select what we wanted! I finally ended up with a chicken and avocado wrap, cucumber salad, and French onion soup. This was not your typical greasy diner food—I was impressed and ate every bite! We took some black and white cookies for the road which left me really wanting to make homemade ones again!
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Levain Bakery (Upper West Side, New York, NY)-Ryan and I stopped here last time we were in NYC and couldn’t resist going again. We finished a 10 mile run in Central Park and immediately headed to Levain, probably breaking every “post run nutrition” rule in the book. We again got the chocolate chip walnut cookie and branched out and tried their oatmeal raisin scone. Both were demolished, surprise surprise. [My friend Andy lives in NYC and has been on a hunt for the best chocolate chip cookie in the city—he swears nothing has yet beat Levain’s!]
Siggy’s Good Food (Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, NY)-This was the perfect spot for lunch after our not so nutritious breakfast (see above!). The menu was full of healthy food—good healthy food. Ryan and I split the tuna burger and the quinoa salad and cleaned our plates. My only complaint? Our smoothie (featuring Raw Almond Butter, Dates, Banana, Honey & Almond Milk--in other words, awesome) was pretty tiny for the price we paid…but expected in a big city!
Miriam (Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY)-We met up with our friend Andy here, who said this was one of his favorite places in the area. I can see why—we had a great time feasting on lots of small plates (Roasted Marinated Beets with Green Tahini Sauce, Sautéed Mushrooms, and Jerusalem Bread were a few of my favorites!) over glasses of wine. I’m dying to recreate their Mediterranean salad which was wrapped in grilled eggplant!
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Ample Hills Creamery (Brooklyn,NY)-We can’t go anywhere without stopping for ice cream at least once and this creamery did not disappoint! The employees won a gold star when they let me sample flavor after flavor (after flavor) before making my selection. I ended up with Sunday Brunch ice cream (which I’ll already recreated and will be posting soon—features cinnamon ice cream with French toast!) and Munchies ice cream (Pretzel Infused! Need I say more?!), and every other flavor I tried was just as tempting!
In our usual manner, we fit a lot of great food into a short amount of time. I love nothing more than traveling to new places & trying new foods! New York (and Katie & Matt!), we'll be back!
