Three Snacks in NYC...

There were a few places we went during our trip where we just had a snack, not an entire meal.  So I figured rather than do each one separately, I'd just cover them all in one post.

Saturday morning, before we left for Ground Zero, we were short on time but still needed a quick breakfast.  Junior's is right across from the Marriott, and I had been there for lunch 2 years ago.  We got croissants with butter.  It was huge!  And very inexpensive, for NYC standards.  It was like $2.50.  Perfect quick breakfast to start our journey.

By the time we made it to the South Street Seaport on Saturday afternoon, we were really hungry.  We were supposed to be meeting a friend for lunch, but that wasn't for about another 90 minutes, and that just wasn't acceptable.  So across the street we went to the Fulton Stall Market for snacks.  My friends Amy & Teresa run The Poffertjes Man stall, and Amy is the manager of the entire market.  If you've never been, you need to go check it out.  They've got over a dozen vendors that sell food and drinks every Saturday and Sunday afternoon.  Amy & Teresa's stall sells profiteroles, the little Dutch pancakes; however,  of course with our luck they weren't open on Saturday.  Some of the vendors were just setting up when we got there, but the Joe Mozz stall was up and running. I wish I could have bought some of the fresh mozzarella and fresh bread, but it wouldn't have lasted through the heat.  But pretty sure I'm going to go to their website and order some authentic Italian specialties.  So instead, we split an order of the prosciutto balls

All I can say is WOW.  It was a cheese ball with yummy bits of prosciutto throughout.  If that wasn't good enough, they fried them right there on the spot, in front of you.  We were in heaven.

Sunday morning after church, Kara said we had to go to Magnolia Bakery.  As we walked in the door, the amazing smells almost took my breath away.  The first thing I saw was the display filled with mini cheesecakes

How could I keep going after this display of delicious treats?  So I had to get the white chocolate macadamia cheesecake.

And Kara got the cupcakes

We both held out until we got into the car because we were on a time crunch to get to Philly.  Again, all I can say about the cheesecake is WOW.  The chunks of white chocolate were slightly soft, and biting in to it was lke eating a piece of heaven.  I also had a bite of the cupcake, and that was awesome too.  But I really think my cheesecake was better.

I highly recommend Joe Mozz and Magnolia Bakery.  I also highly recommend that you check out the Fulton Stall Market and try some of all of the treats.  We probably could have gotten a croissant anywhere, so I can't really give it rave reviews.  But it definitely did the trick to get us going.

#15 - Serendipity 3, NYC

About 3 weeks ago I was watching the View, as I do every morning, and they were talking about the best places for ice cream.  One of them was Serendipity 3, located in NYC, and their most famous item on the menu is the Frrrozen Hot Chocolate.  They also have a Golden Opulence Sundae that's topped with real gold flakes.  It costs $1,000 and requires a reservation 48 hours in advance.  We didn't have 48 hours or $1,000, so that was out of the question. 

Of course, as soon as the show was over, I had to text Kara and told her it was a "must-do" on our list.

We got there at about 5:45, after our stop at the Chanel store and before FAO Schwartz.  We figured we'd go, have a hot chocolate, and continue on the day.  Oh how wrong we were.  As we walked up, there were several people waiting outside. 

Yes, I realize the picture only shows 2 people, but there were about 10 outside.  We got to the hostess stand, and when Kara tried to get a table, the guy said "2 hours".  Well that's not what we expected--or wanted--to hear.   We asked about a reservation, but he didn't seem to willing to want to help us.  We walked outside and assessed our options.  We thought about walking down to one of the fun bars on the street and having a cocktail while waiting the 2 hours.  We called Serendipity and asked for a reservation, but they only do limited reservations, and we missed our chance that night.  But then we finally realized it would make more sense to put our name on the list, go back to the hotel to shower & change, and head back.  So that's what we did.  And besides, we were determined to go and eat, since the host wasn't the most gracious person.

You have to understand, Kara walks really fast.  I walk fast because when I was a kid I had to, to keep up with my dad who's 6'5"...but not at Kara speed.  Back in college I got tired of telling Kara to slow down, so when she got on her speed-walk mission, I would just stop, and wait for her to realize that I had.  It was really quite entertaining.  But, in this instance her speed came in handy. We walked the 15 blocks back to the hotel in a world-record time of about 20 minutes. 

About 1 3/4 hours later we hopped in a cab back to Serendipity.  Good thing we had put our name on the list, because the wait was still 2 hours for people walking in.  We were seated upstairs.  The atmosphere is so fun here!  It's a great old building, with cool furniture and lots of awesome decorations. 

As we waited for our food we noticed that everyone working there, from the host to the servers to the bus boys--they were all men.  Not a single female working in sight. I asked the waiter, and he said that it used to be 50-50, but the women developed shoulder problems, carrying the large trays with all the food on it.  Some people might think it's sexist, but after seeing them walk up the stairs carrying those trays, I can understand.

We decided to start with the sweet & tangy wings.  Thankfully the waiter included extra napkins because, as he said "you'll thank me later".

First of all, the blue cheese.  It was homemade, and phenomenal.  We were both happy they didn't give us more, because we would have continued to eat it.  The wings were really good too.  The sweet & tangy was just that, and the char added a lot of great flavor.  And we needed both the extra napkins and Kara's wet-naps. 

For my entree I had the "Ultimate BLT" on challah bread. 

Wow, there was a lot of bacon!  It was cooked a little more than I would normally like, but it was still really good.  I should have taken a picture of the sandwich once I put it together because it was possibly the hugest thing I've ever seen.  I could barely get my mouth around it...but I took on the challenge, and won.  After a few bites I gave up, and took apart the sandwich and ate it separately.

Kara had the foot long hot dog with chili, cheese & onions. 

I didn't taste it, but she said it was really good. It was huge, and I really think it was bigger than a foot!

Then came the crowning jewel, the Frrrozen Hot Chocolate.  Yes, there's 3 R's in the name, and it's trademarked. 

I'm glad we decided to share one, because there's no way either one of us could have finished one ourselves.  Well, "no way" may be a little excessive, but we decided not to test it.  Wow, it was really good.  I was kind of expecting more of a creamy texture, so I was surprised with the first bite that it was more like liquid frozen ice.  Of course, about halfway through, I got a serious brain freeze.  But it was well worth it. 

Will I go back?  Yes!  The girls next to us got the chicken pot pie and it looked amazing.  But next time we will make a reservation well in advance.

#14 - Summer Garden & Bar At Rock Center Cafe, NYC

By about 2PM on Saturday we had already hit a lot of the NYC hot spots...Ground Zero, Wall Street, South Street Seaport, Fulton Stall Market, the charging bull, and the Century 21 shopping craziness.  We were waiting to meet a friend for lunch, but by that point we were starving and couldn't wait for him anymore.  So we hit Rockefeller Center and started looking for a place to eat.  Kara mentioned that she had always wanted to eat at Rock Center Cafe...I knew it would be perfect for the food blog, so it was an easy decision.  As everyone knows, during the holiday season the area is transformed into that super popular ice rink.  In the summer, it is transformed again into the Summer Garden & Bar.

We got really lucky, with a table right next to the fountain.

Even though the sun wasn't out on Saturday it was really humid. We tried to stay hydrated, but it's hard when you're walking all over the city.  So after we chugged down some water, it was time for a cocktail.  The skinny margaritas immediately caught our eyes.  The waiter suggested that if we were going to have 2 each, we might as well get a pitcher.  Well duh...

The margarita was fantastic!  It was very light and refreshing, and I love that he brought us extra lime slices in the glass.  Not sure how big the regular glasses were, but we figure we probably had close to 3 margaritas each.  No complaints from the table could be heard.  And of course we couldn't leave a drop of the margarita in the pitcher

All we had eaten for the day was a croissant before we went to Ground Zero, so we figured this would be our main meal of the day.  But we also didn't want to gorge ourselves, at least not yet.  So we decided to split a salad and sandwich.  We also got parmesan rosemary fries as an appetizer.  I was a little disappointed in the fries, because they were just plain fries with parmesan sprinkled on top.  The good thing though is that they served it with fresh rosemary, and that did add great flavor.

We split the avocado and goat cheese salad, and the crystal valley farm chicken sandwich.

Tomato, Butternut Lettuce, Red Onions, Pepitas, Cilantro-Chile Lime Vinaigrette

Sliced Chicken, Aged Provolone, Avocado, Jersey Beefsteak Tomato, Pecanwood Smoked Bacon, Dijonnaise, Greens

Our lunch was awesome!  The salad was really delicious.  It took a little thinking, but we figured out that pepitas are pumpkin seeds.  I've recently become a huge fan of goat cheese, and it went so well with all the other items in the salad.  The sandwich was awesome as well. Not quite sure what type of bread it was, but it was really yummy too. 

Will I go back?  Definitely!  As we were leaving we noticed they have a prie fix dinner menu for $38.  Not bad at all, considering just an entree item in a NYC restaurant can easily run at least that.  Plus it's a great place to sit and relax and enjoy the afternoon.

#13 - Patzerias Perfect Pizza - NYC

It took us 2 hours to get from the first sign for the Lincoln Tunnel until we got completely through and into NYC.  Yes, 2 hours.  A big part of our problem is that we got there at 4:45PM, but still.  It was a painful wait, especially considering my bladder was beyond full.  Right before we got into the tunnel some guy stopped in the space between 2 lanes and actually jumped out of his car and walked into the building to the bathroom.  Kara suggested I do the same thing, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. 

By the time we finally got up to the hotel room, we were really hungry.  We decided that, instead of waiting to shower, get ready and find someplace to eat, we would just walk next door to Patzerias Perfect Pizza.  Kara said she and her hubby Scott had eaten there last time they were in town.

They have a big menu including breakfast, soups, salads, pastas, and strombolis.  But what immediately drew me in was the smell of the pizza.  They had the pizzas out on display, kinda like at Sbarro.  But I just knew this would be 100x better.

There were about 6 different types of pizza already out, but as I was deciding the guy brought out a freshly made margherita pizza.  Sold.

Even though he had literally just pulled it out of the oven a minute ago, when I ordered my slice he still tossed it back in the oven for another 30 seconds.  I normally don't like cooked tomato slices/chunks.  But this pizza was fantastic.  The chopped herbs had to be fresh...way too much flavor to be dried.  And then the fresh basil took the flavor over the top.  I could have probably eaten 2-3 more pieces, but that would have been a little overboard...just a little.

Will I go back?  Next time I'm in NYC you know it!  I may get pizza, or I may try another meal item on the menu.  Heck, if I'm in town long enough I'll go back twice and do both.