I ♥ NYC. So easy to say, and I truly mean it.
There are so many wonderful things about New York, that it’s easy to fill your days with awesomeness without much thought. I woke up early on a Saturday morning and went to wander the streets to find a great coffee to start my day. I had a place in mind that was a few blocks further than I would normally walk for a morning coffee, but I knew I’d be rewarded in the end.
I was headed to a Yankees game, but had a few hours to kill so I decided to wander up to Washington Square Park to do some people watching and take in the view.
It had been a few years since I’ve been to Yankee Stadium, so I was excited about my return. I knew the day game would be uncomfortably hot, but even the sun+humidity couldn’t keep me away from seeing Ichiro play “one last time”. Really though, who am I kidding? Of course I’m going to watch a ballgame given the chance, even in the sweltering heat.
I know that many would poo poo me loving the Yankees, but I can’t help it. I’ve always been a closet Yankees fan and now that Ichiro is playing on the team, I can now come out to properly declare my support.
Walking into the Great Hall of Yankee stadium, you can’t help but be in awe of all of the legends who have donned the pinstripes.
One of the reasons why I love going to ball games is because of the food, and over the years I have had a great sampling at so many different parks. On my previous visits to Yankee stadium I was disappointed at the lack of good food choices, but knew that there was a new kid on the block that deserved my attention.
Torrisi and Carbone of Torrisi Italian Specialties has a Parm stand at Yankee stadium, selling the some of the same sandwiches from their shop in Nolita.
I love the cocktail culture in NYC and usually on my visits I check out a few amazing places. I had a great list in hand of joints I wanted to check out but top on my list was Soaked at the top of the Mondrian Hotel where I was staying.
Soaked isn’t known for their cocktails as much as the amazing view atop one of the only tall buildings in Soho. I was able to email the day of, to get reservations for the evening. The scene was very NY Hipster, so there was great people watching, but to be honest, I couldn’t take my eyes away from the view.
For all of the wonderful sights and things to do in NYC, the food is the key driver for my desire to return year after year. On each trip, days are planned around food and I am aggressive with my eating schedule. On this trip, I wasn’t going to try to find anywhere new, but wanted go to places that I’d discovered on trips past that I never had a chance to visit. But in NYC, new “must-try” restaurants are always popping up, so it’s impossible to not keep adding to my list and wanting to check out the new.
It seemed like I was on an Italian food kick on this trip, but after my meal at Torrisi Italian Specialties, I didn’t know if I should do Italian again. So many Italian-esque options popped into my head for new or repeats that I wanted to visit including Hearth, Locanada Verde and Salumeria Rosi but I resisted the thought to have pasta twice on my weekend visit. But in the end, the lure of what I knew would be fantastic made me give in to the urges. Well that and I knew my dinner companion would completely love the restaurant.
After that meal, we didn’t have room for dessert, but definitely did another drink. I was with a friend who happened to be in New York for business and we wandered about on a warm Sunday evening and finally pulled into a cozy dark bar. As we had drinks and caught up, I felt that feeling of amazement that I often get when I’m in NYC. It’s usually brought on by my feeling of comfort being in the big city and how easy it is to find an adventure around every corner. The feeling is usually capped off with me thinking how blessed I am to be able to return to NYC year after year because I ♥ NYC.
Blue Bottle Coffee: Various locations
Parm @Yankee Stadium: Located in the Great Hall between Gate 4&6
Soaked: 150 Lafayette St, NY (in Mondrian Hotel)
Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria: 53 Great Jones St, NY
Call Me a Food Lover... 