East and West

I think we've been in New York for a record amount of time these last two months. Typically, one or two weekends a month are spent out of town -- sometimes more. But because we've known that our time here is limited, we've been sticking around and treating our weekends like fun summertime staycations!

We went on two epic (for us...) dates over the weekend to a fun mix of old and new spots.

East side date:

1534 is a great spot to grab a drink. It's in a basement, so it doesn't have that summertime outdoors thing going on. But the drinks! The drinks are so good. And they do a good job of not taking themselves too seriously. One of their rules (printed inside every menu) is that when an awesome power ballad is playing you must sing along. Ha!


Prune is an old favorite. I was a little worried that it would be impossible to get into after the book and award, but we were able to make a late reservation the day of. It was as wonderful as we remembered. Also, proof that NYC can sometimes be very small town: we ran into one of the sweet ladies who was at our food and wine pairing class!

After dinner, we wanted cheese instead of something sweet. Since Prune doesn't offer that, we headed to Terroir. One of the most wonderful things about New York is that when you want cheese for dessert (or whatever the thing is that you desire) you almost always have easy access to it.

It was 2 AM at this point, but gosh darn if it didn't feel like 4 AM. I'm counting it :)

West side date:

Sockerbit was everything I hoped for. I like gummy candy a bit more than your average Jane, but I still think this is one of the happiest shops around. I'm still working through my bag of treats, but my current favorite is the raspberry Swedish sailboats.

Taim is another old favorite, so this really pains me, but it just wasn't as good as I remember. There's no specific complaint, but it just felt a little less...delicious? Lame analysis, I know. I still think the fries with saffron aioli are a gift from the gods.

Amorino was a fantastic way to follow up our slightly disappointing falafel. I had amaretto, cherry, chocolate chip and salted caramel. The amaretto was the definite winner for me. I'm already trying to figure out how to get back there a few more times before we leave. Like, maybe go every night on my way home from work? Just a thought.