Dan and I went to NYC on a spur of the moment trip yesterday and the day before. Dan thought he would have a business meeting (it ended up not happening) and I found out the author and food blogger of a cookbook I recently bought (Mimi Thorisson of Manger) was in the City doing a book signing so we decided to take the C&J bus in from Portsmouth and just go. First of all, I want to put the word out that taking the bus to NYC is a fabulous way to get there - $150 round trip, not your typical bus - very roomy, complimentary snack bar, free movies and free wifi, so comfortable (as in lots of leg room) and so convenient! Free parking too at the park and ride lot. And when the bus gets to the City, you go through a fun part of Harlem and then to midtown along great streets - I loved the whole experience. We read and played on our iPads the whole time and brought our breakfast with us from home. The bus drops you off right across from the NY Times building on 40th and 8th. We had to take a cab to 21st and 5th for the book signing at the Strand Bookstore @Club Monaco. I stood in line to meet Mimi while Dan hopped over to Starbucks for a hot chocolate and to wait for me. Her husband and baby worked the room while she signed books for a long line of mainly youngish women. Maille restaurant catered the affair with little savory cakelets. Mimi's book is called A Kitchen in France and it is a cookbook I will really use - down to earth authentic food the French eat using basic and wholesome ingredients. I have made several dishes from her blog Manger and one so far from the book.
Her husband is a professional photographer and the pictures are gorgeous, as are they and their children. Mimi and Oddur are in their 30s, have 7 children (very unusual for the French, no?) and 14 dogs and live in the Medoc area of Bordeaux France in an ancient chateau and she cooks fabulous meals everyday and she is very beautiful as well. In person she was just as lovely and very gracious. I also found it endearing that she was wearing a dress for the book signing that she wears in the cookbook as well in several pictures. I would have run out and bought something new for the event but I have read that the French wear their clothes over and over and for years - smart! What I found compelling about their story is that they left their exciting urban existence is Paris and moved to a very rural and unknown to them part of France so they could raise their large family of children and Fox Terriers in the peaceful country and live among forests, fields, vineyards, the seashore and village life. I am always interested in and appreciate people who aren't afraid to take chances, risks, leave their comfort zones etc to follow dreams or improve their lives. I identify with those kind. Anyway, it was fun!
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| Her hubby and baby Aubrey |
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| In line and getting closer |
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| I focus in so I can see what she looks like from back in line |
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| I'm next in line and wondering what I'll say to her |
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| The tasting table |
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| Dan shows up just in time to photograph me and I have no idea what I said to her with my hand |
Afterwards, Dan and I headed 20 blocks on foot to get to our hotel in mid town but first we stopped at this place for lunch called Bread and Butter. It had us at Bread. And Butter. It is incredible. Huge - divided into areas where you choose what kind of food you want and self serve - vast quantities and varieties of prepared meats, prepared salads and salad bar, soups, pizza bar, fruits and vegetables (fresh or cooked), a sandwich bar, taco bar, panini bar, sushi and noodle bar, pastries and breads galore, smoothies, countless beverages, and so much more. As we ate we decided that if we lived in that neighborhood we would eat there every day and never get tired of it because of the endless variety, choices and the ability to eat really healthy as well (or not).
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| This is the place we ate lunch - I highly recommend it especially if you are with a group of people who all want different things to eat. |
When we are in NYC we always discuss where we would live, what we'd eat, what we'd do etc if we lived there. It's fun to do - playing "let's pretend". I like to do that just about every where I travel. Here's a building I chose for us to pretend move into.
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| Let's live on the top floor of that building on the right in the background; very european looking and on Amsterdam and 45th I think. Bippity |
So we checked into our hotel and then walked over to the New York Pubic Library, our first time in that building. How gorgeous inside!
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| Getting ready to head up town after the book signing - I am across the street from Madison Square Park |
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| The library lobby |
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| Following Dan up the stairs |
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| Sometimes purple/lavender is just perfect. I love it here. In the Yellow House I had a similar colored office/reading room. I never tired of looking at the walls. |
After the library, we headed to Bryant Park where they had built a pop up skating rink over summer's grass and installed dozens of pop up stores. It was all cheery and cheer.
For dinner that night we headed to a trip advisor recommended, not to be missed pizza place - it was crazy busy and the pizza choices were really creative and the service super quick in spite of the large crowd.
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| My pizza had a walnut cream sauce, freshly made ricotta, homemade mozzarella, and basil on a wood fired bake crust. It was yummy! |
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| I have one quarter of my pizza left in that bag in front of me and now we are headed to the theatre, as in movie theatre, to see "The Theory of Everything", the story of Stephen Hawking. It was a really good film. And I never knew he was British! |
The following morning, we had a couple hours to kill before getting back on the bus so we walked for blocks, about 40 minutes, to get to Sullivan Street Bakery, one I had read about in a food magazine for its hearty breads made from natural levain and sourdough starters. We bought several items, took pictures of the goods and then headed a couple blocks to my favorite NYC bread bakery of all, Amy's Bread. She also makes the best hot chocolate in the city in my opinion. We had a second breakfast - actually, we brought many leftovers for the bus ride home. Dan was noting as we were walking the miles to Sullivan St., that I always pick bakeries for us to visit that are very far from where we are staying and that we never just pick a place around the corner. That's the point! Exercise and then eat bread. :)
Now to Amy's!
Back to the bus after and then safely home. Delightful, delicious, quick trip.
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