I went to New York! It was a trip I've been trying to take for about two years now, so I'm still a little bit in disbelief that I actually went, but it's on Instagram so it definitely happened, right?   Also, there is proof in the fancy honey and the half-eaten chocolate bars I brought back with me. 

 As a lover/eater/cooker/blogger of food I unsurprisingly planned this trip as a four day food tour.  I somehow pared down my list to about 12 places, but even so, once I landed, I basically ate constantly for four days. It was amazing. I also got to spend time with friends I hardly ever get to see, which was so fun. My friend Ginny was especially amazing for letting me stay with her and for taking two days off of work to shepherd me around the city and finish all the food I was too full for. 

I landed Thursday and after scarfing down a bagel sandwich, we headed to the Brooklyn Bridge. We walked across it to Manhattan and almost immediately began a 45 minute search for a bathroom. After almost getting trapped in the bathroom of a Starbucks at Union Square we swung by the Strand, which was amazing, because books! For lunch, we decided to try Shake Shack, but instead learned a valuable lesson: does the little dot on Google maps have a fork and knife symbol? No? There will be no food for you there! So, instead of a burger I had broth for lunch. I tried both the ginger beef and the duck broths at Brodo, and given how poorly I was adapting to actual winter weather, it was exactly what I needed. After broth, we did a tour at the Tenement Museum. Turns out that tenement residents had beautiful exposed brick walls and I was jealous until I remembered the part where they didn't have indoor plumbing. For dinner, we headed down the street to Mission Cantina where I got to see a few friends. I tried bone marrow for the second time and hated it less. Progress! For dessert, we went to Babycakes. I was a little underwhelmed but they had a photo of the Golden Girls taped to the counter so I can't complain too much.

Friday morning started with a trip to Doughnut Plant and I discovered my new favorite breakfast of creme brulee in donut form. We had a Shake Shack sighting nearby but it was 10 am so it was closed of course. We headed to the MOMA which I somehow had never been to, and I was not disappointed. I played some kind of Chinese revolutionary Mario on a giant screen, listened to Bjork and saw the infamous swan dress in person, and ate cured meats and drank wine. We then headed out to Bushwick to Roberta's for a late lunch.  I had to laugh because the outside is just so unpromising, and inside, the pizza was so damn good! Then, as if we hadn’t done enough eating at that point, we headed back to Manhattan to Momofuku Milk Bar in SoHo, where I decided it was not too cold for cereal milk soft serve with corn flakes, and also got a slice of crack pie and some bagel bombs to go.  We then met up with another friend for drinks that turned into second dinner. If my mission was to consume all the food in New York, I was doing pretty well by that point.

Saturday was rainy but it turned out to be my favorite day. We waltzed right into a table at Russ & Daughters Café for my new new favorite breakfast, because apparently when the bars in your city stay open until 4 am, no one is awake at 9 am. We split three courses of latkes, bagels with salmon and toppings, and babka French toast. It was probably the most perfect way I could imagine spending a rainy morning. After eating, we decided to head around the corner to check out the original Russ & Daughters storefront and peek into Katz's Deli. It was still raining but we walked across town anyway to Murray's Cheese Shop (a.k.a. heaven) and an empty Greenwich Village. Then, we decided we hadn’t had our fill of fancy food shops, so we wandered up to Chelsea Market for a few samples before walking the Highline.  We basically had it to ourselves due to the weather, so we walked the length of it and then over to Eataly. We met up there with a friend for some wine and some much needed drying off.  Then, we decided that since we were so close, we could definitely manage Shake Shack for lunch. But oh wait! It was shut down for renovations. Denied for the third time. Instead we got Korean fried chicken wings at Turntable. Immediately upon finishing our wings, we headed over to Dirt Candy for an early dinner. Now I know what celery tastes like in ice cream and I want to eat it all the time! After dinner, we headed back over to Brooklyn to a Pi Day party where all the pie was from Four and Twenty Blackbirds, except of course for the McDonald's apple pies we brought as a gift for our hosts.  We try to be classy.  After the party, we headed home to eat crack pie and watch Beyond the Lights.  Then I obviously passed out from exhaustion and the subsequent sugar crash. That crack pie is no joke.

On Sunday, as you can see from the lack of photos, I was finally tired.  We started the day late with the Milk Bar bagel bombs, then trekked over to Baked for an even later second breakfast. Despite the freezing temps and the wind we explored Red Hook and some of the art galleries and shops there, then walked over to Pok Pok NY for lunch. After that, we headed to a bar in South Slope for a birthday celebration for Ginny, then we went home and binged on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt until I fell asleep.

On Monday, it was time to say "Troll the respawn, Jeremy!"* to New York. And of course, I finally found an open Shake Shack in JFK. At that point I was so irritated with them I almost boycotted in protest, but it smelled so good that I bought a breakfast sandwich. I guess I'll have to wait until next time to try the burgers. My list is already back up to about 20 places, so I'm sure it won't be long before the next trip!

*If you aren't watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, you definitely should be.