When David
was scheduled to travel to New York City last month for work, I jumped at the
chance to tag along. I hadn’t been to NYC
since 2007, and David had never been before, so I was excited to not only show
him around, but also see some new things.
We were able
to fly direct into JFK from Austin (one of the perks of Austin’s
population boom is all of the new direct flights to places like Cancun, Vegas,
and New York). David had already been in
New York for nearly a week before I met him on Thursday.
I left
Texas super-early in the morning, which got me into Midtown Manhattan by
11:00. David was waiting for me at the W
Lexington, our home-away-from-home for the long weekend.
Visiting
NYC in January is nice because it isn’t as crowded with tourists, and we were
able to get a great hotel room rate by purchasing on Cyber Monday. The downside of visiting in January is that
it is absolutely freezing outside. For
being in the city that never sleeps, we spent a lot of afternoons back in our
warm bed, napping, or next to the fireplace in the W Living Room, sipping hot
chocolate. Because it was so cold, we vetoed
a lot of outdoor activities on our site-seeing list, like strolling through
Greenwich, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge or doing the Highline near Chelsea. But that’s okay, it just gives us an excuse
to plan a springtime or summer trip back!
It was below
freezing outside when I met David, so after checking in and dropping off our
bags, we decided to spend the afternoon close to home. We walked a couple of blocks to Grand Central
Station to admire the painted ceiling and have lunch at Shake Shack.
There are
so many great places to dine in NYC that we were torn between visiting some of
our old favorites from
London like Balthazar or Nobu, and trying new places.
First world
problems, I know.
We decided
on splitting up our meals into a little of both. Shake Shack is an old favourite from London,
and even though they are opening one in the Austin Domain (yay!) in a few
months, I couldn't resist those juicy burgers and cheesy fries. The ratio of bun to burger is just perfect,
and the creamy frozen custard completes the meal. But since it was below freezing, I opted for a
cupcake from Magnolia Bakery instead of a cold dessert.
Laura
gifted me with a Magnolia Bakery cookbook a few years ago, and everything I’ve
made so far has been delicious, so I was excited to compare it against the real
thing in New York. I got a plain vanilla
cupcake with buttercream frosting, which was awesome of course, and David
ordered the cream cheese brownie, which was just as good.
Grand Central station in the shadow of the Chrysler building
We walked
back through Grand Central Station and then down the block to the New York
Public Library. This beautiful building
has been featured in countless movies, so it was cool to see it in real
life. The library offers free,
30-minute, guided tours so David and I strapped on our audio-guides to learn a
bit more about the historic library.
The actual Winnie the Pooh dolls belonging to author
Christopher Robin Milne are on display in the library
From there,
we made the short trip to Rockefeller Plaza.
I’d been to the top of the Empire State Building before, but we’d heard
the view from the Top of the Rock was better. I did think it was, since I
could actually see the Empire State Building this time.
The Top of the Rock gave us great panoramic views of the city,
including Central Park
After
taking in the view, we braved the cold and went ice skating
on the famous rink below.
Later that
afternoon, we went back to the W for a nap before dinner, but I was out like a
light. David ended up grabbing pizza and
a stromboli for us from a hole-in-the-wall near the hotel, and we ate dinner in
bed while watching old movies. It was
perfect.
On Friday
morning, we ventured into Soho to try the original cronut at Dominique
Ansel. We’d figured that since the
cronut has been around for at least a year and copies were being produced all
over the world (our favourite are the cronuts at Cocomaya in London), that
there would no longer be a line at Dominique Ansel. We’d heard horror stories of people waiting
for hours, only to be turned away as the delectable donut-croissant hybrid sold
out.
Well, we
were wrong.
We slept in
and made it to the bakery at 10:00, two hours after they opened… and the cronut
was sold out! The cashier told us that
we needed to be in line by 6am to have any chance at getting at cronut. Nope. Not
gonna happen… it was not worth standing out in the cold for two hours for a
tiny ball of fried dough. I can’t believe
that anyone would actually do that. What a
bunch of weirdos.
I settled
for the new best thing – Ansel’s best-seller, the DKA. The DKA is a flaky pastry, like a croissant,
but with a caramelized crust. It was so
sweet, and so tasty. David opted for the
ham and cheese croissant, which was yummy, but not even near the level of my
DKA.
After breakfast,
we walked to the World Trade Center to view the 9/11 Memorial. Last time I was in New York nearly eight years
ago, that area was still a giant construction zone, so it was great to see the
finished product. The memorial is very
well-done, and really moving.
White roses are placed in the carved names of the victims on their birthdays
We continued
walking to Battery Park, and then hopped on a ferry to visit Lady Liberty.
The ferry
then brought us to Ellis Island. My
great-grandfather, Salvatore Cocchiarella, came through Ellis Island on March
23, 1911 when he was only 13 years old. I
can’t imagine how terrifying that must have been… a small, thirteen-year-old
child leaving home forever without any family, to travel across the ocean to a
country he’d never been to before, where they spoke a language he didn't know. That took a lot of bravery!
The Great Hall where immigrants waited to be inspected and processed
On Ellis
Island we learned that Salvatore took a ship called the Cretic from Naples, Italy,
near his hometown of Fragneto L’Abate.
We were able to find a picture of the ship, but the hard-copy passenger records
were all recycled during WWII, as there was a paper shortage across the US.
Salvatore’s
father, Mattaeo Cocchiarella, came through Ellis Island a few years later but
his information was not available in the system. However, my mom’s cousin, Thomas, commemorated
both Salvatore and Mattaeo on the Wall of Honor just outside the main building
on Ellis Island. I never met these men. Sadly, Salvatore died a few months before I was born, at 86 years old.
When our ferry docked back on Manhattan, we walked a few
blocks into the financial district so David could see Wall Street and Trinity
Church… and take a picture with the bronze charging bull.
We hadn’t had lunch yet, and it was getting late, so on the
way home, we stopped at Katz’s Deli, where Harry met Sally. We split a giant reuben with a huge side of
fries and homemade pickles.
Later that evening, we caught Bradley Cooper on Broadway in
the Elephant Man. The show was
spectacular, and Cooper did a phenomenal job.
The emotional play was very well done without any special makeup or
suit. Bradley transformed himself into
the Elephant Man to the point where he was nearly unrecognizable. It’s been such a success that they are
taking the play across the pond to the West End in London for the
summer. Between press for American
Sniper, performing in the Elephant Man almost every single day on Broadway, and
attending awards shows like the Oscars, I don’t know how Bradley Cooper has
time to sleep!
David and I were exhausted after our long day of
site-seeing, so after the show, we dragged ourselves back to the hotel and
indulged in meatball sliders and hot chocolate next to the fire before heading
to bed.
The next day, before walking through Central Park to the
Natural History Museum, we headed to Sprinkles Cupcakes for breakfast!
We’d heard great things about Sprinkles, and they lived up to the hype. They were pretty dang
good... but the best part about Sprinkles
is the cupcake ATM outside!
Every city needs a cupcake ATM
We worked off all of those calories by strolling through
Central Park, and then wandering around the Natural History Museum for
hours. That place is huge, and so much
fun! We got to relive our safaris in the
Hall of African Animals, and say hello to some friendly dolphins in the Under the
Sea exhibit, while also learning about space and dinosaurs. The museum offers something for everyone.
Hey, it's Rex from Night at the Museum!
For our
last dinner on our weekend trip, we chose Tom Colicchio’s Craftbar in the
Flatiron District. Colicchio is famous
for owning various restaurants around the states, and for being a host on Top
Chef. I ordered the pecorino fonduta to
start, which was like a mini fondu with pecorino cheese, acacia honey, a bit of
pepper, and pine nuts served with crostini.
David had the East Coast oysters.
For our mains, I had the veal ricotta meatballs, which were
melt-in-your-mouth good, and David had the pappardelle with lamb ragu, root
veggies, leeks, crème fraiche, and mint gremolata. The pasta was so hearty that we didn’t even
have room for dessert.
Somehow, we
managed to wake up the next morning, and be hungry again for brunch at Tavern
on the Green! We found ourselves back in
Central Park on Sunday at the iconic restaurant, along with Kyle Richards, star
of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and Paris Hilton’s aunt. I don’t even watch those awful Housewife
shows, and yet I still knew who she was, which made me sad. She seemed like a nice person in real life,
though, having brunch with some girlfriends and offering to take pics with fans,
even as they interrupted her meal. Unfortunately,
that was our only celebrity-siting on our trip, unless you count Bradley
Cooper (but I don’t, since we paid to see him).
Tavern on
the Green recently reopened, and we were glad they did. David’s lobster stew was rich and satisfying,
in a creamy broth topped with caviar. I was
still a little full from all of the pastries and cupcakes and pasta over the
past few days, so I just had the creamed vegetable soup with cheese toasts, which
was perfect for me, and still gave me room for a raspberry tart for dessert,
along with some ice wine from upstate New York.
After brunch,
we headed to JFK to fly home to Austin. I’d
say David’s first trip to New York was a success – a great combination of
site-seeing, delicious meals, and relaxation.
We are looking forward to our next visit (when it’s a bit warmer)!
