The sights of a wintery NYC were freaking fantastic, as highlighted in Part 1 and Part 2, but what’s a vacation without great eating?! We had some wildly divine food and drinks that are worth sharing!
A little restaurant called Fig & Olive was recommended to us by a friend here in Jackson, and we loved it!! They have several locations, but we went to the one on Fifth! We went for brunch on a Saturday and the service was slightly slow, but I will say… They were pretty busy. The food and drinks, however, completely made up for the slow service in my opinion! It was a Mediterranean place with a vibrant atmosphere. So fun!
Between meals one day, Price and I stopped into the little local Christmas Market in Central Park that Katie, Jordan, and I had stumbled upon early in the trip before Price got there! We got Bantam Bagel’s cream cheese stuffed bagel balls, which were the perfect little size! K, J, and I had gotten these bagel balls the day before so I knew I had to take Price back to experience this lovely little snack!
After a little research, it turns out that their permanent location is Bleecker Street! I certainly want to make them a part of every NYC trip from here on out! 🙂
One cool little place we ended up going a couple of times was the beer garden esque restaurant at our hotel, The Hudson, called Hudson Common! The restaurant was one huge, open room with long tables and a beautiful bar! We only went to have a drink a time or two, but never did get food. The menu looked delicious but we were never there at the same time the kitchen was open! Anyway, I fell in love with their Pink Slip cocktail. Totes recommend for the ladies! (It’s pretty girly, so guys, stick with beer…) 🙂
Laconda Verde in TriBeCa was another place recommended to us by friends from Jackson. This dark, cozy, modern Italian restaurant was simply amazing! The menu was really unique and the service was so friendly! We got seats at the bar so thankfully we didn’t have to wait for a table, and the bartender serving us was so personable, attentive, and gave us some great local tips!
One of the most memorable aspects of dinner at this place was that Price was seated two people down from political author Ann Coulter! Since she was our only celeb sighting, she was by default the most memorable… 🙂
Overall, we LOVED this place! Thanks to the Griffins for telling us about this tasty little jewel!
Cheers to Laconda Verde!
While at Laconda Verde, we struck up conversations with a couple of the people seated close to us. One of these people (actually, it was the guy seated between Price and Ann Coulter!) ended up being the owner of Gramercy Tavern, another local restaurant! He told us to try to come by for a meal before the end of our trip, so Price and I went for lunch the next day!
The wait was very long, but we lucked up again and got seats at the bar, which dramatically cut down the wait time! Price got the burger special and I got some gnocci along with some lovely craft cocktails. It was a FAB lunch in a beautiful European feeling restaurant! I highly recommend this place! (And I also recommend reservations! haha!)
Another AMAZING restaurant that all of us were insane about was called Nino’s Tuscany Steak House. We chose this place based on reviews we found online. We wanted a place that served steak as well as some great non-beef options. Trip Advisor did not steer us wrong! We were having so much fun at this joint that we didn’t even take any pictures! This was one of the few meals that all six of us got to eat together, but we all agreed that it was on the top of our list of favorites from the stay in NYC. Seriously SO good, and based on the small crowd there, isn’t widely known! A diamond in the rough!
The last great meal I wanted to share about was at Paola’s. This place was also Italian (what can I say? We LOVE Italian!) and shared with/recommended by our New York dwelling relatives, the Brickells!
The warm, retro feel in the restaurant instantly made us feel at ease, even if it was pretty high end! (Madison Avenue, white table cloths, multiple waiters per table… You get the idea!)
The food was perfect– Moderately sized portions and really good bread to start with!– and so was the company. We always love getting to visit with the Brickells! To continue this perfect afternoon, we walked a few blocks over to their church post lunch for a 4 o’clock service of Christmas carols! It was lovely!
Although this last place isn’t quite a restaurant, it was definitely noteworthy. Club Macanudo was picked by the guys because of the cigars! It was super manly with lots of leather, and they allowed indoor smoking so Jordan, Price, and I all smoked cigars! (Mine was tiny… That’s about all I care to handle!)
The cocktails were great too. We loved the Manhattan Mojitos! This was a super fun night!!
We had a blast and, as you can guess, all gained weight on this trip… But it was so worth it! Now that January is here, we’ve started “health month” to get back on track with healthy eating a exercise! Wish us luck… 😉
I hope all of you are having a fabulous January so far! Thanks for checking in! 🙂
THE HIVE | The Lovely Bee 