• NYC

    Balthazar Granola

    This morning I popped into Balthazar Bakery to pick up a bag of their handmade granola. Good granola is hard to find and I have to say Balthazar’s is one of the best I have ever tried. The bakery, on 80 Spring Street in Soho, is adjacent to the famed and timeless Balthazar Restaurant, and offers a selection of pastries, breads, cookies, cakes and tarts that allow you to take a little taste of the restaurant–and its Parisian-inspired style– home.

  • NYC

    Leonidas Chocolates

    This past weekend I checked out famed Belgian chocolatier Leonidas in Midtown, NYC. This tiny boutique, nestled between the posh hotels and fashion houses that line Madison Avenue, features an exclusive assortment of Belgian chocolate and Belgian pralines, truffles, orange peel, and marzipan, all imported straight from Brussels. When you walk into the shop, there is something so very European

  • NYC

    Dinner at Del Posto

    This past weekend we finally made it back to one of the fanciest Italian restaurants in New York, Del Posto. The hotspot, run by celebrity Italian food personalities, Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich and Lidia Bastianich, occupies an opulent space in Chelsea, where  live piano fills a bustling, warmly-lit dining room. Del Posto received a four-star rating from New York Times critic Sam Sifton a couple years back, much to the surprise of discerning editors and restaurant-goers alike who doubted it deserved a coveted spot next to the finest dining establishments in the city–Per Se, Daniel, Le Bernardin, Eleven Madison Park and Jean Georges.

  • NYC

    Sandwiches from Mile End

    This weekend we checked out Mile End Sandwich Shop, the Noho outpost of the Boerum Hill, Brooklyn favorite. Located on posh Bond Street between Lafayette and Bowery, this inventive and modern Jewish delicatessen is just what we needed in the neighborhood. The inside is sleek and minimalist, with a long communal table filling the room and dozens of hungry patrons lining up for take-out orders at all hours of the day and night. On the menu  full of enticing combinations of meats, cheeses, vegetables and bread, there is truly something for everyone. Playful names such as “The Ruth Wilensky” (fried beef salami, mustard) and the “Chopped Liver” (gribenes, pickled shallots), make the whole experience exciting and fun. 

  • NYC

    King Cole Bar

    It has been said by cocktail aficionados that the King Cole Bar in New York City was the first bar in the U.S. to serve a Bloody Mary after being originally invented at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris. It’s this type of history that makes this bar, situated in the posh St. Regis Hotel, so special.

  • NYC

    Forcella: Pizza di Napoli on the Bowery

    I finally made it to pizza master Giulio Adriani’s new restaurant on the Bowery, Forcella. We went this past Friday, which was the first day the East Village got power back after Hurricane Sandy, so I give them extra points off the bat for hustling open to the delight of hungry SoPo diners like ourselves.

  • NYC

    NYC: Brunch at Calliope

    It was time for sunday brunch and this week my fiancé and I decided to forgo the usual mad rush to Peels, Five Points or Café Cluny and try out a chic new neigborhood bistro from Waverly Inn alum Eric Korsh and his wife, Ginevra Iverson, formerly of Prune, called Calliope. This impressive pedigree seriously got our hopes up – and it sure did deliver.