Friday night
The birthday girl's surprise dinner was at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, a Michelin-starred farm-to-table restaurant in Tarrytown, just north of the city in Westchester County. I had been there once before in the summer, and this time the food was even better than I had remembered. It's a tasting menu and very vegetable-focused, which feels somewhat virtuous, especially when you're having a gazillion courses (seriously, it's so many, you'll lose track). We were lucky to have scored a private room, which felt super intimate and was a great way to spend an evening with old friends.
Saturday morning
The birthday girl's husband wisely rented an AirBnb for us to stay in; we had a view of the Hudson River from our bedroom, and this place had basically the kitchen of my dreams—marble countertops, oversized sink, cabinets galore, a serious stove, the works. After a breakfast of bagels and lox (which said husband hauled up all the way from Shelsky's Deli in Brooklyn), we headed to the train station and hopped on the Hudson River Line into the city.
Saturday afternoon
Sean had never been to the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station, so we stopped for a late, light lunch. The people-watching there is amazing, but the shellfish is even better; I recommend the mixed platter, which is a pretty good deal. After checking into our hotel, we decided to hit Barneys New York for one last time. (The Barneys website no longer exists and instead redirects to Saks, its new owner.) Some departments are up to 80% off and there are still deals to be had, although shoes and bags are very picked over at this point. I think the company running the liquidation sale has basically slapped "Barneys New York" on a bunch of crappy merchandise that they're trying to fool people into buying for nostalgia's sake; all the jewelry is Effy, which you can find at Macy's or on cruise ships; and there's a bunch of other random stuff, like rugs and fur coats, that Barneys never sold in the first place. Sean found a belt and a hat; I left empty-handed. I'll always have the Ann Demeulemeester pants, Miu Miu pumps, and countless other things I bought at the Barneys Warehouse Sale over the years. RIP.
Saturday night
I needed to drown my sorrows after that depressing episode, so we hightailed it to the King Cole Bar at the St. Regis and had $26 cocktails across from the glorious Maxfield Parrish mural behind the bar. Oh, and did I mention that it had been snowing since noon? That did not keep people from going out in the West Village, where we landed at Buvette after unsuccessfully trying to walk into several other restaurants. We briefly considered catching some jazz at Smalls, but decided to call it a night instead.
Sunday morning
Before meeting friends for brunch at Legacy Records, Sean noted how close we were to the famous camera store B&H, so of course we had to stop in. The guy who helped Sean said Sean knew more about cameras than he did, so I think he made Sean's day. We then hit Hudson Yards, primarily to see The Vessel, which pretty much seemed what everyone else was there for too—the mall was filled with polished luxury stores and no one was in them. You have to get tickets to go up in the Vessel, but it was windy AF when we were there, so we were fine with staying on the ground.
Sunday afternoon
Hudson Yards conveniently flows into the northern end of the High Line, so we decided to walk off our brunch and look at all of the art along the way. Halfway through our stroll, we spotted Anderson Cooper—no sunglasses, no hat—and let me just say, I love that celebrities use it to get from Chelsea to the West Village too. (It's way faster than walking along Tenth Avenue for sure.) After resting our feet at the Standard, we headed down to Brookfield Place to meet another set of friends. I am not the most knowledgable about kids' stuff, but got introduced to Babesta, which had clothes so cool, I'd wear them if they came in adult sizes.
Sunday night
After trying unsuccessfully to get into I Sodi the night before (and back in October), we were finally successful and let me tell you, it was worth the wait. First of all, they have a menu specifically for negronis, which are my favorite cocktails in the world. Secondly, the pasta was to die for—I had the best cacio e pepe I've had since Rome. It's now on my list of favorite restaurants in NYC. And speaking of favorites, I also dragged Sean to Employees Only, which was one of my old haunts when I lived in the West Village, and I'm happy to say that it's still quite the hotspot, with delicious cocktails.
Monday morning
Our flight left from JFK at 11:30, so in the interest of not getting stuck in rush hour traffic, we took the Long Island Railroad from Penn Station and OMG why have we not been doing this the entire time? There was barely anyone on our train, it took less than an hour to get to our terminal, and it was only $15.50 each (compared to a taxi, which is usually around $90 with tip). And to cap off an amazing long weekend, we grabbed breakfast sandwiches from Shake Shack (there are multiple locations in Terminal 4).
New York will always have a little piece of my heart—and I'll be back soon, I promise!
11 comments
NYC always makes my heart full of love. What a beautiful and full of life city.
Vaishali
http://www.vivaciouswish.com/2020/01/23/animal-print-effect/
What a fun trip! You packed a lot in during your visit and look like you had a great time!
What a fantastic post! You really rook me with you! And all that great food!!! Hope to see you on my Fancy Friday linkup party!
Great post, I love New York City and now I have some new things I can put on my to do list. You might enjoy these posts I did in December 2019 on New York City:
https://jeanneselep.blogspot.com/2019/11/new-york-window-display-inspired-designs.html
https://jeanneselep.blogspot.com/2019/12/new-york-christmas-windows-part-2.html
What a fabulous trip! I just love all the food photos. I've only been to NYC once and want to go back!
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
What a fantastic adventure! I recall loving NYC when I visited and I'm glad you fell in love with it too. Delicious food, beautiful skylines, and so much to see and do--what's not to love?
Wow, Cheryl, you packed in a lot of things for one weekend and did NYC right! I don’t think I have ever done that much NYC stuff and I worked there for a decade! It really is a magical city though, isn’t it? Thanks so much for sharing your experience and linking up with me.
Shelbee
www.shelbeeontheedge.com
Lovely photos Cheryl. Aww, wow I am saving up to visit NYC as it is somewhere my husband and I really want to visit :) Thanks so much for sharing your post with us at 3 Reasons Why Mums Gone To Brighton: Creative Mondays Link Up. I hope you can join us tomorrow.
That looks like such a fun trip! you managed to do so many fun things and make the most of your time there, and how sweet you could be there for your friend's birthday! :)
Hope that you had a great weekend :)
Thanks so much for joining the #WeekdayWearLinkup! A new link up is live on my blog now, I'd love you to join again.
Away From Blue
What a fun trip! You packed a lot in during your visit and look like you had a great time!
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