This weekend we went to the city that never sleeps, which is, above all things in my mind, a literal "melting pot" and culinary mecca! The sights, the smells - there's such a great variety of food in New York City that the real problem is deciding what to try next. So in our quick trip, a "New York minute," we ate our way through the city. Here are my recommendations:
- Best bagel: Bagel Smith in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. New York's known for bagels, so this is a breakfast must! Interestingly NYC was the first place I saw orders for hollowed-out bagels, for those opting to scoop out some of those extra "evil white carbs." My favorites are toasted everything bagels with light cream cheese or poppyseed with hummus and sprouts.
- Best hamburger and fries: Shake Shack in Madison Square. You eat at picnic tables out in the square, enjoying the city sights, while enjoying the all-American classic meal. Get the double stack and be prepared for a monster of a burger - two large patties, not overcooked like most fast food joints, stacked on top of each other and dripping with juicy goodness. I'm not a big meat eater and even I had to take a bite of this one. The fries are nice golden ripple fries (no limp, greasy thin fries here) and of course there's milkshakes ...
- Best French onion soup: Steak Frites in Chelsea - tasty French food at an affordable price. The French onion soup is cooked in a clay pot with the gruyere cheese bubbling on top and the rich broth below, the onions so soft they melt in your mouth. Perfect on a cold night with a glass of wine and a table of good friends - the restaurant's cozy atmosphere is perfect for groups or date nights alike.
- Best hot chocolate: City Bakery on West 18th. The hot chocolate is so rich and creamy, like a melted milk chocolate bar poured in a teacup with a homemade marshmallow that just soaks up the chocolatey goodness. In addition to their assortment of tantalizing bakery items (their classic chocolate chip cookie is huge, soft, and pretty much perfect), City Bakery also has a savory food buffet serving everything from brussel sprouts to scrambled tofu; we stayed from the brunch wave through lunch time and their menu shifts to serve up hot meals to all crowds. But it's the hot chocolate that really shines - you have to try it!
- Best quick-fix Italian meal: Eataly, the behemouth Italian food market from the vision of the famed chef Mario Batali, which features a number of fine-dining restaurants as well as assorted counters for espresso, panini, gelato, gourmet cheeses, fresh pasta, a butchery, fish counter, and even produce. Having just opened a few months ago, the new 50,000-square-foot market is "pazzo" as they say in Italian - crazy - busy filled to the brim, but totally worth the hype in my opinion. The atmosphere really emulates the Italian eating experience with tables of people enjoying prosciutto and figs and glasses of red wine, and the food is actually authentic (according to my Italian experts) and delicious!
- Best cupcake: Magnolia of course. Interestingly I saw my first cupcake van on this trip to New York; riding the growing popularity of food trucks that's booming especially in large cities like LA and NYC right now, rather than offering up hot Vietnamese food, this truck offers sexy little cupcakes! Desserts on the move? Now that's sweet.
City Bakery's heavenly hot chocolate:
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