Said Melanie: New York Really Is Magical

A couple of weeks ago, I had the amazing opportunity to accompany William's parents to New York City for the weekend. It was a celebratory trip, so it was filled with lots of walking and eating--my favourite kind of weekend trip! I flew in on Friday morning, and we left together on Sunday night.

My flight left Memphis at 7 in the morning. Since I’m up at 5am on weekdays, this wasn’t too much of a hassle. Plus, when you’re flying somewhere, who cares about sleep? I was seriously just excited to be going. Here’s a typical selfie taken in the back of a yellow cab from LaGuardia to our hotel in Tribeca. The air was cold and smelled of the city. I LOVED it. I feel so at home in an urban setting.

After freshening up at the hotel, we went out for the day. Our major stop on Friday was the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station. We had smoked salmon with whipped horseradish for an appetizer. For lunch, I ordered the pan-fried brook trout with lemon and capers, Swiss chard, butternut squash, and a new potato. The fish literally melted in my mouth, making it the best fish I’ve ever had in my life.

We walked around for the rest of the day, and I was able to get my earrings cleaned at Tiffany&Co. They hadn’t had a proper cleaning since we purchased them in 2011. I was astounded at how good they looked. It was definitely worth the 30 minutes and $16.

On Saturday, we woke up late. William and I went downstairs to eat brunch at the hotel restaurant. You’ll never guess who sat at the table next to us (actually, if you are friends with me on Facebook, you already know)—Steve Coogan. In case you didn’t read that correctly, STEVE COOGAN. I was a lot starstruck. Anyways, I had a zucchini frittata for that meal. You’re about to see that eggs were the starring role of the weekend. We went out around 11 for the day. This time we walked around Tribeca and into the Meatpacking District.

Helloooo New Jersey!! (from You've Got Mail)

This is Pastis, the restaurant we ate at for lunch on Saturday. Talk about an amazing meal!! I had a dish, which I have no idea what it was called, that consisted of poached eggs, polenta, and stewed veggies. Oh my goodness. It was so simple and so delicious. The egg yolks were almost completely raw and just added a creaminess to the whole dish. My mouth is watering thinking about it again. We also had fresh oysters for an appetizer.

Yay for cappuccino art!

Here's the sunset outside the corner window of our hotel. We stayed at The Greenwich Hotel. Everything there was perfect. They doormen, receptionists, waiters, etc. were so friendly and so willing to help with every need we had. If I ever had the opportunity, I would stay there again in a heartbeat.

William is the best baby ever. He had a cold the whole time we were there, but he never pitched a fit. He was happy to go where ever we went. Aside from spilling a bottle of Pellegrino on me at Pastis, he was a perfect angel the whole time. William also makes a super cute dinner date.

This was Sunday's brunch. I kept the theme going here: poached eggs, kale, polenta, red beans, and broiled cheese. This was another fabulous meal. I actually have a recipe post coming up about this one!!

We were planning on going to Redeemer Presbyterian for church. However, we were running late, and realized that we would't be able to make any of the service by the time we put the stroller away and found seats.

Like really, OH MY GOSH.

And finally, my favourite part of the trip: Eataly. This place is a foodie's paradise. You walk in and you're surrounded by smells of cheese, meat, veggies, olives, wine, rosemary, coffee, chocolate, pastries, and pasta. All at once. It's fantastic. Eataly is divided into sections kind of like a grocery store but with "restaurants" in each department. You can go from restaurant to restaurant eating as much as you possibly can. A good idea would be to go as a big group, order one or two dishes and try a little bit of everything. We ate at the vegetable section, and boy oh boy. I ordered the polenta "pizzas." They were squares of pan-fried polenta with tomato sauce, portobello mushrooms, burrata, and basil that were baked until the cheese was sinfully melted. The three of us shared a warm salad with purple cauliflower, frisee, peppers, fennel, and nuts. I even had a strawberry honey gluten free beer brewed from sorghum. (Before you get all freaked out, it's perfectly legal in NY). That was the best meal I've ever had in my life. After our savoury meal, we went to the roof to explore the rooftop beer selection. Cappuccinos, chocolate, and gelato followed. I came home with an assortment of Italian chocolates and fruit gums. Oh and the chocolate chip banana gelato makes me hurt it was so good. I might one day fly there for the day just to go to Eataly.