I was looking for a nice place to stay somewhere equally far from Midtown and Brooklyn, and the Wagner popped up. In the not too distant past, the Wagner used to be The Ritz-Carlton Battery Park, and The Ritz-Carlton is one of my favorite hotel chains, so I did not hesitate to give the Wagner a try. Furthermore, the Wagner is much cheaper than the one remaining Ritz-Carlton in the city, with roomrates starting at around $150-$200 if you book well in advance.
October and November used to mean lots of Pumpkin Spice Latte for me, but this year, I have only had a few cups. I think my taste buds might have grown up, because these days, I find the usual Starbucks PSL much too sweet for my liking. Instead, I have started drinking matcha latte, and I am drinking gallons of that gorgeous green stuff.
When we were roommates, Ana was my tapioca mama, feeding me delicious Brazilian food all the time. Though after I went back to Dubai and Ana moved in with L, we tend to meet for drinks instead of home-cooked food, and last time I was in the city, Ana suggested that we went to Dear Irving in Gramercy.
My Korean American friends in NYC are all big foodies and they are the best when it comes to keeping track of new Korean restaurants in the city and what is trending right now. When Jeju Noodle Bar popped up on the radar, it was immediately put on the list of Places to Try, and one night in March, we went to check it out.
P.J. Clarke’s dates back to 1884 and has this authentic, old-school feel that only comes with age. Add a legendary bacon cheeseburger and fries, which might be among the best in the city, and you have what it takes to become a tourist magnet.
When jetlag still rules, and l wake up at 5 in the morning, one of my favorite pastimes is to go for a walk across one of the bridges between Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. The Manhattan skyline looks most beautiful early in the morning, and even Brooklyn Bridge is almost empty from people, if you go right after sunrise. Here are the 3 bridges that I love to walk.
Do you remember my blog post about The Incoherents? I am super thrilled to tell you that the crowdfunded rock and roll comedy has come to life! Here is the plot outline, in case you have forgotten:
I’m usually quite good at taking the subway in Manhattan, but for some reason it often goes haywire, when I am going to Brooklyn. The other day, I was meeting with Leah and Stephanie at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, which is close to Union station, so I could have taken the N or the R train directly from Manhattan. Instead I managed to get on the J train and ended up on Hewes Street instead. From Hewes Street you can get some really great photos with Williamsburg Bridge in the background, but that wasn’t the goal of my trip, so after a couple of quick iPhone shots, I hurried down to get an Uber.
Barney Greengrass! This is the place where I had my very first Lox & Cream Cheese Bagel many years ago. I try to go back, whenever I am in this part of the city, so I was surprised, when I realized that I hadn’t introduced Poul to this place at an earlier point. Though it’s probably because we have been staying in Lower East Side most of the times, we have been in NYC together, and Barney Greengrass is quite far from there, in Upper West Side.
I often get emails from readers asking about cheap hotels in New York, so I found this blog post from my old blog about Seton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan that I thought I would share with you. Especially the rooms with shared bathroom are really good value for money. Sorry about the mess in the room, but my stay (and the photos) was before I learned to snap those hotel room photos before I settle in and make a mess:)
Ebenezer is a chain of salons specializing in high quality, Korean-style eyelash extensions. They are more expensive than other salons, but I’ve always been very happy with the result, so I don’t mind paying more.
When I was in New York earlier this month, I stayed at a hotel in Financial District, and one of the nights, I met with Ana for a drink at Lovelace. It was a busy night, but we were told that if we didn’t mind sharing, they could fit us in at a large table in the corner. We didn’t mind.
In the winter months, the back room at Café Select turns into a fondue room. With just enough space to squeeze in your closest friends, the back room quickly fills up, so a reservation is crucial.
Dani Barker is a Canadian actress/writer/producer, who has made a career as a moviemaker in New York. Some of you might know Dani from Starvival, which was a popular YouTube show that she did in the beginning of her career.
In New York City, oyster happy hour usually means $1-dollar oysters and inexpensive drinks. It’s a great way to turn an ordinary school night into something, that feels like Saturday, and it’s a great deal for someone like me, who orders oysters by the dozen. At Grey Lady, they have $1-oysters all night on Mondays, which is just one of the reasons why this restaurant on the corner of Delancey & Allen St has grown to become one of my absolute favorite spots.
Whitney Museum of American Art is much more than just a collection of paintings. In fact, the museum is known for embracing art in all forms, such as installations and films, focusing on American art and artists, who are still alive. The museum has a very dynamic, almost hip, vibe, a bit like MoMA PS1, and even those of my friends who aren’t really into museums tend to like The Whitney.
I don’t eat steak very often, but when I do, I want something nice, and Smith & Wollensky is always a safe bet. Smith & Wollensky is an old school steak restaurant in a corporate part of Midtown, so the restaurant attracts a lot of busy businessmen, especially during the week.
Before soup dumplings became a thing, and #xlb became a hashtag, Joe’s Shanghai was world famous in Chinatown NYC. Joe’s Shanghai is a Chinese restaurant with a multi-page menu, but most people go there for the soup dumplings, the xiao long bao.
I was meeting Vanessa for hot chocolate at Woops, but she was subway late, so I went inside to get us a table. I’ve almost learned to curb my food photography OCD, but I still get occasional relapses. Such as the other day at Woops. Is anybody watching? No. Ok, let’s go! The camera went out and macarons, flowers and hot chocolate were moved around, just like in the good old food blogger days. Gosh, it felt good!
Ehsan and Elena just moved to a new place in Midtown East, and the other night, they had invited me over for dinner. Ehsan and I know each other from university in Sweden, so before the dinner, he brought out different Swedish snacks from IKEA for old times’ sake. Can’t believe we’ve known each other for 14 years, but I’m so happy we’ve managed to stay in touch.
The appetizer was a delicious vegetarian soup and as main course, we had oven-baked steaks with tomato crust. For dessert, I had picked up some pastries at Supermoon Bakeshop, which is a hip, but tasty bakeshop in Lower East Side, but when it was time for dessert, we were all so full that we only had a small bite of the matcha croissant.
The fourth dinner guest was one of Ehsan’s old friends. That poor guy had gotten food poisoning after eating a piece of bad salmon the day before, and during the dinner he made numerous runs to the bathroom. It was so bad, that at a point, it looked like he was going to vomit in the soup, but somehow, he managed to endure the entire dinner AND keep up a conversation about international loans and prevention of money laundering. A hardcore topic for a dinner party, and you can probably imagine that my contribution was very modest, but it’s always fun to learn something new. I was therefore listening closely (I was!) until I managed to change the subject to something more down my alley (“so let’s talk about croissant toasts, shall we”). It was really nice to see Ehsan and Elena again, and we promised each other to do this again soon.
