I’m back from my virgin voyage to New York with Gemma and I’ve got an announcement: I’ve become rather fond of cocktails. Now, I’ve always liked a little drink, but NYC seems to have converted me from an avid wine drinker to a cocktail queen, and what started off as living the SATC cliché (it had to happen) has turned into something of a love affair. Funny that, because when I worked in Leeds it didn’t matter how many mixology workshops I was invited to (and trust me as ‘nightlife editor’ there were many), I just didn’t catch the bug.
A cosmo at the New York Palace
It must have been swigging them as the sun set on the roof terrace of the Gansevoort hotel in Meatpackers. Or maybe it was the near-neat measures at Max Fish bar on the lower east side. Actually, thinking about it, it was probably the lychee martini I had at Gilt Bar (of, so I’m told, Gossip Girl fame) in the New York Palace… Who knows. All I know is that the only thing that’s kept me from mourning my return to the big smoke too devastatingly has been a trusty supply of Lea and Perrins, tomato juice and Smirnoff.
Now to the food. Well, for five days not too long ago, Fiftyfourfoodmiles became Threethousandfourhundredandsixtyfoodmiles and it did so with gusto. It started well, with some very tasty afternoon tea in first class on the plane courtesy of BA (I did a feature on plane food recently for Yes Chef! magazine – so part of the job to test out the goods). A glass of champagne washed the tasty finger sandwiches down nicely and the scones really were impressive – crumbling and fluffy and unlike anything I’ve ever eaten on a plane.
A first class afternoon tea
One of our first, and best foodie experiences after landing was breakfast at Prime Burger. We’d been wondering around like a couple of crazies, dazed by the heat (it was upwards of 27 degrees c), jet lagged and hungry when we stumbled upon this New York institution, between Madison and Fifth. Though it didn’t look like much from the outside, when we got a little bit closer we noticed that the glass door was plastered in press clippings and it looked promising. Going inside was like setting foot into 1960s New York (it had its last refurb in ‘65) and it offers some of the friendliest service we encountered.
Inside Prime Burger
Yo can read the gory details of our delicious French toast encounter here in a special dispatch on London Review of Breakfasts, and here’s a tasty pic:
French toast at Prime Burger
On our second day, knowing that we were heading to Ducasse’s Adour (more about that later) for supper we decided to have a light lunch. That was the plan, but then we found ourselves in Bryant Park, a popular lunch spot among New Yorkers who were all sitting on the provided chairs, drenched in sun, dining on sandwiches, salad boxes and seemingly endless packed lunches.
We wanted in, so we scoured the surrounding streets until we found Zeytinz Fine Food Market, which was teeming with locals exhausting its selection of hot and cold foods (including everything from burritos to dim sum) and never-ending salad bar. This was a serial luncher’s dream. Shelves bulging with pastries, bread, bagels, vegetables, fruit – counters laden with sushi, soups, pies, curries, noodles. It was almost like New York’s wonderfully diverse food offering distilled into one shop. This is what I got:
Lunch in Bryant Park from Zeytinz food market
And so we sat, soaking up sun and chatter of Manhattan’s finest – stuffing our faces with vineleaves, broccoli and sugar snaps in sesame oil, Caesar salad, juicy, sweet tomatoes – Gemma’s exact words were “every tomato is a joy in my mouth” until it was all gone, and the thought of Adour’s tasting menu was more than our tummies could handle. In the next report: supper at Adour, brunch at Pastis, plus, when I met Michelin starred Brit chef April Bloomfield at The John Dory…
