One of the nice things about living where I do is it’s not far from several interesting places. One such interesting place is New York City. New York is only about 2-2.5 hours from Hartford, and my roommate/friend Amber and I knew that at some point, we should take a weekend getaway to New York. We went this past weekend and had the most fabulous time!
If you’ve never been to New York, there’s probably a few things you already know about it, such as its many world-class attractions, densely packed high-rise buildings and skyscrapers seemingly everywhere you turn (at least in Manhattan), and the non-stop flurry of people and activity. I planned out our whole itinerary, and I’ll make a blog post later about how to plan these types of weekend getaways. There’s so much to do in New York, you really need to narrow down your choices, especially with such a short time frame like ours. For us, the theme of the trip was food, which should not surprise anyone who knows me. We skirted out the great restaurants and bakeries. Like everything else in New York, the food is top of the line.
When we arrived in New York around noon on Friday, our first stop was our hotel, the DoubleTree in the Financial District. We expected that check-in wasn’t until later in the afternoon, but we hoped that we could at least leave our things with the concierge. To our surprise, they already had a room available for us! At DoubleTree they give each guest a free chocolate chip cookie at check-in (something Amber didn’t know and was promptly ecstatic about). Our hotel room was small, but so is all space in New York! The bed was super comfortable and the room had everything we needed.
Shortly after that, we were scheduled to meet one of our friends who is now based in New York–the amazing Emily Barger, who I can recommend for any of your photography or film needs. We went to the Brookfield Place, a mall close to the World Trade Center which was conveniently near us. I had already decided before going there where I wanted to eat in the food court: Skinny Pizza. This is one of those “natural” and organic specialty pizza counters. I don’t love pizza as much as many people do, and I’m very particular about what kind of pizza I like. I do really enjoy margherita pizza, and knew that’s what I would get here.
It was worth it. This pizza is made with multiple cheeses, marinara, and basil, and had a thin cracker crust, all just how I like my pizza. It was so so good that I was moaning a little. It hit the spot to tide me over until dinner and washed down really well with lemonade. Unfortunately they only have a few locations—I hope to scout them out wherever they pop up or when I’m next in the city.
Following pizza was Sprinkles Cupcakes, a cupcake bakery founded in Beverly Hills that has expanded to elsewhere. They bake all of their own cupcakes and frost them a special way, toping them with a large sprinkle “button”. They also sell cookies and ice cream—I was hoping to try their ice cream, but their NYC location does not carry it. I chose a red velvet cupcake, their signature. It was very good, to be sure, and I can recommend stopping by.
From there we went on to Central Park. Amber says she likes to go there whenever she’s in New York. Central Park is a rather interesting place. It’s a large rectangle of green, surrounded by tall skyscrapers and the fast pace of New York. You can see them all around from within the park—how many parks are like that? The park is also surprisingly quiet, given its location. While you can hear some New York activity going on outside, the noise level definitely goes down a couple notches. It’s a relaxing way to get away from the city without leaving the city.
There is not much grass this time of year and, what of it there is, visitors need to stay off it to keep it clean. The experience is probably best during other seasons, but there are still plenty of things to see, and it’s a well-organized and planned park. Free park maps are available (which are more recommended then your phone) and conspicuous signage keep you on the paths. Ponds, buildings, bridges, and fountains are scattered throughout. They’re great for photo ops—find them all! You can even eat at in-park restaurants, although they are expensive. One of the most interesting and popular structures might be Belvedere Castle, which unfortunately is closed for renovations until May. The path is closed, and we can’t even see it from a distance. All the more reason to come back!
After we left the park we started on our food hunt. Two of the places I wanted to go were Billy’s Bakery and the Doughnuttery, both located near the south entrance to Central Park. They’re both inside a food hall, only steps apart from each other. Billy’s is a bake shop specializing in homemade sweets. I didn’t know what they would have available today, but that’s part of the adventure! Both Amber and I got confetti cupcakes, which we love and were very excited to see there. Yes, it was scrumptious and I would highly recommend Billy’s!
The Doughnuttery is a unique concept. They make mini donuts and they actually make them right in front of you, sending them through the machine and then hand-rolling them in the mixture of your choice. I got cinnamon sugar and the apple cider. The apple cider was better; I found the cinnamon sugar just okay. The donuts had a light and airy, almost funnel cake-like texture. I could say I liked the experience of ordering and watching them make the donuts more than I liked eating the donuts.
We met with a few of Amber’s NYC-based friends that night (they were super cool and I loved meeting and speaking with them). First we stopped by a site of New York University that appeared to have multiple religious prayer rooms in one location. We went to the Islamic prayer room where Amber got to pray and we rendezvoused with her friends. They took us to an eatery they liked, Honest Chops. They serve halal burgers and fries, the usual fixings. My burger was pretty good, it came with a lemon aioli sauce I really liked. The fries were standard, they might have been better if I ordered the parmesan fries.
Amber’s friends took us on to dessert at La Newyorkina. This is a Mexican-themed dessert shop featuring ice cream, ice pops, and baked goods like churros and brownies. They source many of their ingredients from Mexico. I wasn’t hungry enough to try the denser items, so I settled on a mango sorbet. They actually had two variations of the mango sorbet, and I got to pick the one with the texture I liked. The service here was excellent! I love the concept and I would happily be back to try out their other products.
More to come!