New York : Day 4

breakfast: French Toast $9.95

The Grey Dog
49 Carmine St
New York, NY 10014
(212) 462-0041
http://www.thegreydog.com/
$$
★★

Grand Central Station

View from Empire State Building

Late lunch: Grilled Squid $13

A perfect lunch. It would be even better with a glass of chardonnay.

Galli
45 Mercer St
New York, NY 10013
(212) 966-9288
http://gallirestaurant.com/
$$
★★★

He went out for a pingpong bar with a friend. I decided to stay in the hotel because I was exausted. So dinner alone in the area. Not fun.

Later on I found they had a nice dinner at a nice restaurant. I regretted 😦

a glass of beer + salmon shiokara $8

Pork Kimchi dipping soba $10

I thought the idea of dipping soba was interesting, but it tastes just ok. Very salty.

They accept only cash! I had to go to ATM 😦

Cocoron
37 Kenmare St
New York, NY 10012
(212) 966-0800
http://cocoron-soba.com/
$$
★

To clear up my palate I had a scoope of gelato on the way to hotel.

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WD~50 in Lower East Side, NYC

Because of news that Wylie Dufresne is Forced to close his restaurant for a new real estate development on site, our friend asked us to come along and try this famous chef’s creation.

I have known Wylie Dufresne’s face as a judge on TV show, Top Chef. However, I had no idea what kind of food he offers at the restaurant.

Actually there are only two tasting menus ($90 or $155) and no a la carte on the menu.

We decided to try the best they’ve got. Two guys except me had wine paring ($95 plus ) as well. I was curious about the wine pairing, but it was just too much wine to enjoy food when we had at Providence. So I got a sip of each wine from my husband. Smart 🙂

Here are selections.

OYSTER IN ITS “SHELL,” PRESERVED LEMON, SNOW PEA, HAZELNUT

EGG YOLK-MASHED POTATO RAVIOLI, CAVIAR, CUCUMBER

AVOCADO-PEA SOUP, SMOKED CRAB, PISTACHIO

CUTTLEFISH, CARROT, CHAMOMILE, SCHMALTZ

CHARRED CHICKEN LIVER, SZECHUAN, INJERA, MELON

SHRIMP GRITS, PICKLED JALAPEÑO

HAMACHI, TURNIP, SHISO, BLOOD SAUSAGE

PORK COLLAR, POPPY SEED, RED BELL PEPPER, TAMARIND

CURED DUCK BREAST, CURDS-N-WHEY, SWEET POTATO, RICE NOODLES

OAT MERINGUE, BANANA, STRAWBERRY, YEAST

VERBENA MOUSSE, RHUBARB, BUCKWHEAT, CAMELINA OIL

OVALTINE CAKE, MARCONA ALMOND, CARDAMOM, SHEEP’S MILK

MIGNARDISE

Overall, his dishes are fun to see and taste. It is pretty delicious and solid. I had several favorites such as avocado-pea soup, chicken liver, shrimp grits and hamachi. Both my husband and I still believe that Michael Cimarusti of Providence is better. I love the wine pairing. Interestingly, most of wines are from Europe and only one is from California, which all three of us agreed the best.

wd~50
50 Clinton St
New York, NY 10002
(212) 477-2900
http://www.wd-50.com
$$$$
★★★

New York : Day 3

We adjusted ourselves to get up 9pm in NY time and had breakfast at the hotel.

Too much walking gave me sore on body. I could barely walk this morning like a really old grandma.

Here we go! Yoga class at the hotel in Saturday morning. How nice!

My body got totally stretched out and open! Recovered to be able to walk normally.

I requested a friend to take us to a good Chinese restaurant. Szechuan! Yes, I want spicy!

By the way, we had two kinds of meat bun in Chinatown on the way.

Cold Sesame Noodles $6.95

Wonton in Chili Oil $6.95 (6)

Dry Pepper Chicken Wings $9.95 (8)
Nicely cripsy!

Hot Sauce Style Fish $18.95 (7)

(spicy level)

Two guys had a glass of beer and I didn’t. I love the food here. They started regretting about eating too much and not being able to enjoy a big dinner at wd~50 in a few hours.

Han Dynasty
90 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10003
(212) 390-8685
http://www.handynasty.net
$$
★★★

Sightseeing in the afternoon: Chelsea Market, Highline and 911 Memorial

Dinner reservation at wd~50 at 6:30pm

New York : Day 2 – US Open

Wake up at 10am. Slept in, but it was actually 7am in California.

The hotel provides free breakfast 7-10 weekdays and 7-11 weekends. Although we were 30min late, they were nice enough to serve us.

fruit & yogurt

beautiful cafe latte

Then we enjoyed Friday morning in Central Park.

After browsing amazing art pieces at Met, we tried a in-n-out type of chain burger restaurant in NY.

Shack Burger & Fries

It is pretty good and very meaty. I like the bun and sauce especially, but in-n-out is a winner because of more fresh lettuce & tomato in it.

Shake Shack
366 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10023
(646)747-8770
http://www.shakeshack.com/home
$
★★

soft served ice cream from a truck
It costs $7!

Yay! US Open Tennis! Watched Roger Federer vs. Sam Groth.

Since it was chilly out there, we gave up watching the last match for the night (Maria Sharapova’s) and headed back to Manhattan around 10pm.

Gyo-Ra-Be is perfect for a chilly night.

Gyoza

Mine: chicken based spicy miso

His: chicken based miso

Friend’s: pork based spicy miso

It all tastes good, but these small bowls of ramen cost $13 each in New York.

Ramen-Ya
181 W 4th St
New York, NY 10014
(212) 989-5440
http://www.ramen-ya.net
$$
★★

New York : Day 1

We went on 4 nights vacation in New York. It is the first time for him and second time (last time is more than 20 years ago) for me to visit “the Big Apple.”

Our friend, originally from Orange County and living in Manhattan, suggests we stay in the hotel in lower side such as Soho or East Village. He found this cute and cozy hotel.

Our room faces the courtyard. Very pretty.

I thought some kid left this stuffed dog, but it was actually a part of hotel family. He greets guests all the time.

Soon after arrival, we found out the hotel was designed and run by French guys. No wonder I fell in love at the first sight.

The Broome
431 Broome St
New York, NY 10013
(212) 431-2929
http://www.broomestreethotel.com

It was already late afternoon as we settled, so headed for one of our checklists, Pizza!

This place is the first pizzeria in the US that opened 1905.

Of course, we first celebrate the start of our vacations with beer, Brooklyn Lager.

They have only three kinds of pizza available, margarita, white and clam. I was so curious about clam pizza, but he don’t eat clam unfortunately. Ordered a small pizza with half red and half white with Italian sausage. It was quite big for two.

I love both. White is loaded creamy ricotta with garlic flavor. Tomato sauce is nicely tangy and sweet. We planned to eat a little bit everything in NY, but got stuffed at the first place.

Lombardi’s Pizza
32 Spring St
New York, NY 10012
(212) 941-7994
http://www.firstpizza.com
$$
★★

Although we are full, he was eager to eating dessert. Japanese style crepe. This was a mistake. It is overcooked and not worth to be sick.

Eight Turn Crêpe
55 Spring St
New York, NY 10012
(212) 334-3408
http://www.eightturncrepe.com
$
★

From Little Italy through Chinatown & Civic Center, we crossed Brooklyn Bridge and walked to Brooklyn Heights. What a view!

View from Brooklyn Bridge Park

We were planning to have a Luke’s Lobster Roll around there. No way we were too full.

Came back to Manhattan and got together with an OC friend. He took us to a Japanese restaurant for a late night meal. Again, we were still full and couldn’t enjoy much. Daaa!

I had a glass of jasmine tea.

He had this with beer. I had a bite and it was ok.

I really hate this place for terrible service with no hospitality at all. First thing they told me “last call is in 30 minutes” without welcoming greeting and bugged us around by cleaning up and saying closing soon. So? A huge turn off!

Cha-An
230 E 9th St 2nd Fl
New York, NY 10003
(212) 228-8030
http://www.chaanteahouse.com
$$
★

It was around 11. The street in East Village was still lively with a lot of people.

Friend’s friends joined us at a sake bar.

A hundred of sake selection on the list. Happy to find a couple of brand from my hometown, which is rare. I tried one and friend had another. Both good.

Finally, we got back to hotel right before 2am. Two of them had to work next day. This is a life in NY.

Sake Bar Decibel
240 E 9th St
New York, NY 10003
(212) 979-2733
http://www.sakebardecibel.com
$$
★★

Nijiya Bento for Dinner

Tomorrow will be a busy day, so our dinner was bento from Nijiya.

*****************

breakfast: mango, pizza toast + earl grey

lunch: leftover from last night

His First Food Photo

I’ve kept telling him to take some pictures what he eats for me. He always says, “Nah.”

Today, he sent me this photo. I could instantly recognize he was having Indonesian/Singaporean lunch @ The Farmers Market (3rd x Fairfax). I have great memory or instinct or ability on nothing but food. Ha! That’s me!

The reason I ask him to take food pictures is that I am a kind of person who could keep browsing not only pictures but yelp reviews and restaurant menus. That would be a perfect entertainment for me.

I hope he keeps up sending me food photo for lunch everyday 🙂

*********************

breakfast: strawberry, egg tart + earl grey

lunch: Jambalaya, chicken and caesar salad again

wine & cheese before dinner

dinner: peperoncino with bacon, napa cabbage and romaine lettuce