When planning this recent trip to New York, I not only thought about what shows to see, what museums to visit, what tours to take, what stores to shop, but what restaurants to visit.  I was so happy when I was able to knock off two on my wish list in the same afternoon.

We took a tour of Rockefeller Centre including at trip to the Top of the Rock-seventy stories in the air with a 360° view of Manhattan.

We were at standing in front of the NBC Today show set when I looked behind me and noticed Bouchon Bakery. I had planned to go to the one at Columbus Circle and had no idea that this location existed. I don’t think it was there a few years ago when my sisters and I were at NBC at the crack of dawn to see a taping of the Today show.  It was the perfect location to stop for lunch at the end of our tour. Bouchon is the invention of Chef Thomas Keller. Over the years I have discovered a few of his desert recipes that have become my all time favourites including his lemon tart and molten chocolate tart.  You can find them both easily via Google.  It is my dream to one day dine at his famous restaurant “The French Laundry” in California’s Napa Valley.

D and I ordered the grilled cheese sandwich, melted fontina and Gruyere cheeses on buttery bread served with San Marzano tomato soup.

B had the French ham and Emmenthaler cheese sandwich on baguette with the house salad.  Simple food but made with the very finest ingredients.

Another icon NYC bakery that I was lucky enough to come upon that day was Magnolia Bakery.  Again I had planned to visit their other location on Bleeker Street so was surprised to come across this location. This bakery became famous for its cupcakes when featured on Sex and the City.

I stopped in to scope out the place, thinking I would come away with one of their famous cupcakes but instead I was drawn to the tiny red velvet cheese cake. There are no seats in this bakery so you need to take everything to go.  My cheesecake and I then proceeded to walk to Macy’s for a “one day sale”, take the subway back uptown to the Upper East-side and walk the 10 blocks back to our apartment.  I then shared it with B in celebration of our birthdays.

It was a bit bumped around, but lovely none the less.

Kath’s quote:  “Food should be fun.” –Thomas Keller

Love-that is all.

I can honestly say that I didn’t have a bad meal the whole time we were in New York.  Here are a couple of highlights of new discoveries made this time around.

Matt’s Grill W55th Street at 8^th Avenue

After an early morning to participant in the live audience of the Anderson Cooper show, we were three hungry travelers looking for some sustenance.  We found it just a short jaunt away at Matt’s.  What you would expect from a neighbourhood place, the bar takes up a good chunk of the room and locals greet the waitresses like old friends as they pull up a bar stool for a quick lunch.  We all selected sandwiches and fries.

D had the egg salad which was topped with ham and a slice of cheddar, I had the chicken wrap with bacon, avocado and tomato and

B had the grilled Portobello mushroom topped with fresh mozzarella, tomato and roasted onions.

Now a days there are so many Food Network shows about food trucks, and so many of them happen to be in Manhattan, I knew I had to visit at least one of these roadside vendors on this visit.  B and I took a day to ourselves to shop and found ourselves in Union Square Park at lunch time.

There were plenty of trucks to choose from but we decided on Patty’s Tacos for our lunch.

We skipped the famous cow’s tongue tostados and ordered corn tamales stuffed with chicken mole

and the cheese sincronizada (much like a quesadilla but made with two flour tortilla like a grilled sandwich.  This was served with a refreshing tossed salad.  We found a park bench to enjoy our food and watch the passers by.

On the night that we were headed to the East Village to see Stomp we decided to go to the Ukranian East Village Restaurant for dinner, as it was located next door to the Orpheum Theatre. It was nice to have something a little different, which at the same time reminded me of home.

I enjoyed the wiener schnitzel that was crisp and tasty, topped with a fried egg and served with mashed potatoes and vegetables,

B tried the varenyky (AKA perogies) and D enjoyed the beef brisket with potato pancakes.  Our entrees came with salad and delicious bread so there was way too much food all around.  But what else would you expect from a Ukrainian kitchen.

The last little gem we discovered was Uskudar Turkish restaurant at E 73^rd and 2^nd.  Unfortunately we were all so tired that night that we cancelled our reservation and I instead ran down to the restaurant and ordered our dinners to go.  When the food arrived I was so hungry that I forgot to take out the camera and snap my photos.  As a result I can’t even remember what exactly we had.  I know there was a Sheppard’s salad, humus, lamb kabob, cheese pie, but the details are blurry.  One thing for sure, it was yummy and one of my favorite meals of the trip. That may have something to do with my affinity for Turkish food. I guess I just have to go back and do a better job of keeping track of this meal next time.

Kath’s quote: “We are a family who start discussing our next meal before the one in front of us is fully consumed.” -Sister #3

Love-that is all.