I had friends in town this weekend, so I packed much, much more into the past few days than on a typical weekend. There was lots of food (naturally), lots of fun, lots of walking, and lots of Instagramming (also naturally).
On Friday, we had dinner at Rafele, where I had a solid but unremarkable meal. After dinner, we grabbed a few drinks at Fiddlesticks. The drinks were good, but the venue choice was a mistake – the bar is near NYU, meaning it’s full of college kids and we were older than almost everyone there.
On Saturday, we had lunch at Sarabeth’s. I ordered the lobster roll – lobster rolls being my recent obsession – and it was delicious. The homemade potato chips that came with it were also quite tasty, and this is coming from someone who doesn’t particularly care for potato chips.
Next, we hopped aboard the East River Ferry and headed to DUMBO. I happen to think the East River Ferry is one of Manhattan’s best kept secrets – it’s a great way to get to many of the key spots in Brooklyn, and you get fantastic views of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and all the bridges along the way. Some favorites:
After arriving in Brooklyn, we paused to snap some flower photos in the park…
And then made our way to Jane’s Carousel. I’m planning to do a full post on this later, so here’s a small sneak peek for now:
We caught the ferry back to Manhattan, pausing to note this awesome sign along the way:
We then headed to dinner in Kips Bay, where we had kaiten sushi (more commonly known to me as “conveyor belt sushi”) at East Japanese Restaurant. I’ve never done this before, but my best friend is Japanese so I’ve always heard lots about it. A conveyor belt literally runs around the entire restaurant, and you grab what you want as it rolls by. You then pay based on plate, with the different color plates signalling different prices. It’s a really fun experience!
On Sunday, we brunched at Preserve24, a new restaurant on the Lower East Side. I thought the restaurant was super cool – great decor, very spacious, and fantastic food. Sadly, I didn’t get a very good photograph of my breakfast (strawberry rhubarb pancakes). Trust me, the food is WAY better than this picture makes it look:
Then, we hopped onto the subway and headed to the Financial District. Our first stop? The bull statue. I can’t tell you how we know this, but if you try to climb atop the bull, a cop will yell at you.
Next, we walked down Wall Street, passing by the Stock Exchange:
And we continued on to Freedom Tower (it’s on the left):
And this random sculpture that’s nearby:
(Can you spot us?)
We then walked north, towards Tribeca, where we found the fire station from Ghostbusters, which left me mentally humming the theme song for the remainder of the day:
Then, we hopped back on the subway and headed for the High Line. I took a billion photos (mostly of flowers), but I’m saving those for another post.
We left the High Line at 30th Street and headed back toward the subway. Along the way, I paused to snap a photo of the New Yorker building:
We rode the train to the Lower East Side, where we put our name down for a table at Momofuku Ssam. While we waited for our table, we stopped by Professor Thom’s (one of two “Michigan bars” in Manhattan) for a drink:
And then, finally, our table was ready and we enjoyed a delicious meal at Momofuku…but that is, yet again, a story for another post.
And with our stomachs full of pork belly buns, our weekend drew to a close.
Whew…that was a marathon post, but it only seems fitting for such a marathon weekend. I hope you had a great one too!
