New York - The Village

We spent our second last week in the West Village, staying at a gorgeous apartment right in the middle, near Magnolia Bakery and the Bleeker Street Playground, on West Eleventh Street.  It was a great location - strolling distance from the main Bleeker Street shops, within a few blocks of dozens of great bars and restaurants, across the road from a playground for Tabitha, and right near two separate Subway lines.

Having the park was brilliant - last week Tabitha really started to walk with assistance (e.g. holding our hands) and it is ALL she wants to do!  So having loads of space (with nice spongy padded rubber playground flooring) was wonderful.  She also loves climbing, and watching children play, so it was great all round.

I've bought Tabby a few pairs of jeans over here - they look so cute, I don't want to dress her in anything else!  Except that, since I myself tend to wear jeans and a blue top, and now Tabitha wears jeans and a blue top, we are a very Matching Family:

Tabitha has a small pink plastic hairbrush belonging to a My Little Pony (part of the Fun and Exciting toy collection we bought her to keep her entertained on the plane).  She is pretty obsessed with it, and likes to carry it around wherever she goes:

We went out to dinner at Pearl Oyster Bar in the Village.  It has a reputation of having the best Lobster Roll in NY.  I completely concur!  It was excellent.  The fries were unusual, really thin, almost like those French Fries chips you buy in a foil packet in Australia.  Lobster rolls here have SO much meat - almost a whole small lobster.  At any rate, I can generally find both pieces of claw meat, whole or halved, in the rolls.  I am really going to miss lobster roll in Australia.  I'm sure I could make it myself, but it would probably cost nearly $50 a roll, instead of around $20 here.

Lobster is one of Tabitha's favourite foods - she too will miss the cheap lobster when we come home.  I am not buying lobster at $99 a kilo for a baby, that's for sure!

After dinner, we wandered down to Milk and Cookies (remember, the awesome cookie shop from the food tour?).  We ate ice cream sandwiches - peanut butter crunch cookies filled with rich chocolate ice cream.

In search of New York's best pizza, we found ourselves at Lucali in Brooklyn.  I had done a lot of research, and Lucali kept coming up - it's a tiny place, just six or so tables, and a large woodfired oven.  The decor is minimal - though dark and vaguely romantic.  Some candles, low light.  A nice place for a casual date.  It's also BYO (or BYOB as they say over here).  The 'kitchen' (really just a wide wooden bench by the woodfire oven) is completely open, with the pizza chef facing the room as he works.  They don't take bookings, and are incredibly popular - if you want to sit down before 7:30pm, you need to arrive and line up outside by 5:45pm.  We did this, and were seated when they opened, on the dot at 6pm.

The menu features just two items - Pizza or Calzone - with an option of around half a dozen basic, exceptionally high quality toppings:  field mushrooms, basil from their garden, goat's cheese, artichoke hearts, artisan pepperoni, spicy sausage, shallots.  Nothing else - no salads, no bread, no dessert.  We ordered a pie with half mushroom and basil, half pepperoni.  The tomato sauce is made each day - a tangy, fresh and richly tomato-tasting sauce.  The cheese is perfectly fresh buffalo motzerella - so fresh that the pizza chef pulls it apart easily with one hand as he works.  The ingredients sit on the workbench, whole, ready to be sliced carefully to order - when I placed our order, I watched the chef slice a whole large field mushroom into slivers, then tear apart some basil (from their cottage garden).

The pizza was perfection - crispy, charred and slightly chewy crust, soft, damp and lightly soggy middle.  Incredibly thin.  The sauce was delicious, the cheese was salty and full-flavoured.  The pie was enormous, however we finished it quickly!

We then ordered a calzone with shallots - and we are so glad we did.  Easily the best calzone we've ever eaten.  Filled with perfectly fresh ricotta (made nearby) and finely sliced shallots, the calzone was heavenly.

The waitress brought out a dish of the incredible, fresh tomato sauce to dip our calzone into.  Nice.

By the time we left, at around 7pm, there were already lots of people waiting.  Apparently, Lucale is Beyonce and Jay-Z's favourite local restaurant, but don't hold that against it!

After our transcendental pizza experience, we wandered down the road to Brooklyn Farmacy and Soda Fountain.  This is a real Brooklyn treasure - an authentic old-fashioned drug-store soda fountain, lined with the original wooden shelving and glass cabinets, displaying vintage and antique pharmacy bottles, jars, as well as all of the glassware and paraphernalia essential for the soda fountain drinks, ice cream sundaes and desserts, and of course the original gleaming steel soda fountains.

The soda jerks wear cute paper caps and t-shirts reading 'JERK'.  The drinks on offer include Egg Creams, Lime Rickeys, Root Beer Floats, as well as sundaes, pies and cakes.  We only got to stay for a drink, as they were closing early for a 16th birthday party (what an awesome party!).

Tabitha and I both enjoying our milky drinks:

The Daddy's Root Beer Float:

You can see the cute outfit of the female soda jerk behind me.  The guys wore the cheeky 'JERK' t-shirts, which you can also buy there as souvenirs.

We went to the Union Square Green Market.  There was a stall with over 20 varieties of heirloom tomato plants:

More radishes than I've ever seen before at once.  I like radishes, as they remind me of a t-shirt I once saw, which really made me laugh:  "If I were a vegetable, I'd be a radish, because I'm only kind of rad".

Lots of freshly baked fruit pies:

Baby salad leaves - over two dozen types!

After the market, we wandered down into SoHo.  My friend Miss Kitty-Cat had insisted we visit Billy's Bakery to try their red velvet cupcakes.  Sadly, they were out of red velvet, but I really enjoyed their chocolate cupcake all the same!

While The Daddy was trying on some shirts, Tabitha put on a cute little show for me outside the fitting rooms.  What a little performer!

We walked across to Katz Deli for lunch.  You may recall me mentioning that there is an ongoing debate in the food world over which New York deli makes the best pastrami on rye sandwiches?  Generally, Carnegie Deli and Katz are the main contenders.  We ate at Carnegie last week - the sandwiches were really nice.  Certainly big!  But after eating at Katz again (last time was nearly 5 years ago), I cannot for the life of me fathom how anyone would say Carnegie is better?!  The pastrami sandwiches at Katz are insanely good.  Mindblowingly excellent!  The hot pastrami is hand-sliced, so it is perfectly thick and juicy.  The meat is incredibly aromatic and flavourful.  The mustard was delicious.  I cannot fault this sandwich.  If I could, I would eat at least one a week.

The Daddy prefers corned beef (boooo!) but I must admit, the Katz corned beef sandwich is really exceptional.  I do like corned beef - but pastrami is so much better!

Tabitha liked both the corned beef and the pastrami.  Here she is with a mouth full of pastrami:

She was also a big fan of the lightly pickled cucumbers which were served with the regular pickles:

On the walk home from Katz to the West Village, we visited a playground in the East Village.  I must say, I do prefer the West Village and the Village to the East.  The East is a little more dirty, a little less child-friendly, I think.  Still, Tabitha had a great time playing on the equipment:

Down the slide with dada:

Check out the dirty knees!

Once we made it back home to the West Village, I discovered that all that walking had left me hungry enough for another chocolate cupcake - so I wandered down to Amy's Bread on Bleeker Street (home to the 'second best cupcake in NY' as voted last year) and snaffled a Devil's Food Cake cupcake.  It was excellent!  Very moist and rich.

Before dinner, we managed to fit in yet another play at the playground - this time, the nice little one across the road from us, Bleeker St Playground.  The Daddy and I (and Tabitha) really fell in love with this little playground, visiting it at least once a day.  We would be happy if it were our local.  In the morning, we got into the habit of getting our coffees from Cafe Cluny, then wandering down so Tabby could wear herself out for an hour at the playground - and there were always lots of other mums, dads and babies doing the same.

How cute are her little jeans?  Jeans are great for this age - perfect for protecting soft knees while crawling and learning to walk.

Food, Art and Animals

Eek holiday blogging backlog.  Bad blogger.


Oh my.  I didn't get a chance to sort through photos for a week, and I have, literally, hundreds and hundreds.  So I will do a couple of blog posts.  I haven't bothered to include photos of things such as the Empire State Building, Times Square etc.  I figure that most people are familiar with these images, and besides, you can see better photos of them on any postcard or tourism website.  Therefore, all I present here is a vague collection of slightly disjointed photos.


We went out to lunch at the Oyster Bar at Grand Central Station.  It is a famous landmark restaurant - I had heard very good things about it.  It was a beautiful space.  Twinkly fairy lights, open, long rooms, and interesting architecture.  I can't say much for the food, however.  It was, I can say, the ONLY 'bad' meal we've had yet in the US.  By which I mean, the meal was a disappointment.  The price was moderate to high (one of the more expensive meals we've had here) and I can say with certainty that it was the worst meal.  A $12 or so 'seafood cocktail' was simply a piece of lettuce on a (somewhat grubby) plate, with 6 really average, tiny dry and even slightly off-tasting plain prawns.  A small dish of nasty 'seafood sauce' which tasted like ketchup mixed with vinegar.  That's all.  The Daddy had a lobster roll that was passable - but certainly the 'bottom' of any we've had here - and I had a soft-shell crab and crawfish dish which was really pretty bad.  The vegetable side was overcooked, looking like something scooped out of a bain marie at a boarding school.  All in all, I would not recommend dining here!

We made the obligitory trip through Times Square.  Lots of colour, lights.  People everywhere.  Plenty of white-sneakered tourists.  We poked our heads in at Toys'r'Us and saw the giant Ferris Wheel - I believe it's 25m tall or something like that, housed within the store.

On the walk home from Times Square, we dropped in at the Carnegie Deli for lunch.  Amongst foodies and New Yorkers, there is much debate over whether Carnegie or Katz is the better deli (with some people throwing in the Second Avenue Deli as a contender).  The last time I went to Katz was several years ago, so I reserved judgement while at Carnegie.  The matzo ball soup was nice - incredibly richly flavoured broth, perhaps a little salty for my taste.  The matzo balls were flavoursome, however not in the style I prefer - I like small, light, fluffy matzo balls, whereas these were the enormous, tennis-ball-sized, stodgy variety.  Still, the soup was good!

The pastrami on rye was very nice - plenty of meat, a good amount of mustard, very fresh bread.  The pastrami was rich in flavour.

Deli sandwiches are always served with pickles here.  One could not complain about having an insufficient amount of pickles!

Tabitha, below, pauses to consider whether she would prefer to eat a matzo ball, or some potato Latke with applesauce.

We finished with blueberry cheesecake.  You know that your diet is seriously out of whack when you order blueberry cheesecake to 'eat some fruit'.  The cheesecake was fine, though not the best I've had in NY, and (though I am biased) not as good as my own.

While in NY, we had the great pleasure of catching up with my Godmother, Kathie, and her husband George, who live in Connecticut.  They are wonderful, hilarious people, and spending half a day with them was a real joy.  Tabitha was thrilled to meet her 'grand-godmother', and enjoyed playing patty-cake with her.  Kathie is a wonderful (really, really, really good!) knitter, and Tabitha has some lovely purple booties and a jacket knitted by Kathie from when she was born.


We ate at DGBG, a fabulous, relaxed restaurant in SoHo, owned by Daniel Boulud.  The food was excellent - simple but brilliant.  The restaurant was pleasantly noisy and full, perfect for lunch with a baby.

Tabitha had such fun that she started to 'freak out', bouncing up and down and waving her arms and body all around, shrieking with joy - 'twas very cute!

The next day, we took a walk around the Upper West Side, by the Dakota, and visiting Strawberry Fields in Central Park:

We also saw the beautiful Bethesda Fountain.  I adore this fountain - it's so majestic against the trees behind it.  On a warm day, people roll up their trousers and wade around in it - I have in the past.

We sat and listened to two incredibly talented musicians, playing in front of the fountain - a cellist and a violinist.  The backdrop of the fountain made for a beautiful half hour.

We took Tabitha to the Central Park Zoo - here is the size of her paw against a polar bear paw:

Here is a polar bear.  Looks super cute and cuddly, right?  Apparently not.  I do love their giant paws though...

Here is a lovely red panda relaxing in a tree.  Tabitha glanced at it, but she was much more interested in cooing over the cute picture of the red panda, located at the front of the enclosure:

I have always really loved Central Park Zoo - I love standing in the middle of a zoo, surrounded by tall trees, with glimpses of the incredibly skyline of the city poking through.  When we were at the zoo, it was a little foggy:

I am fond of this sea lion - he is blind, yet kept coming right up to the edge to 'perform' for the camera, waving his flippers and barking at the people.  He really looked like he was laughing!

We then went next door to the Children's Zoo, where there are farm animals for the children to pat.  I tried to take a photo of Tabitha with her face in the rabbit statue, but it didn't work so well:

Tabitha has learnt to drink from a regular straw - she really enjoys doing it.  The problem is, she blows in and out so all the water that has been in her mouth ends up back in the cup!  Luckily The Daddy and I don't mind.

Don't you love the Art Deco elevators in the Chrysler Building?  The Chrysler is one of my favourite buildings in the world.  To see it sparkling in the sun is truly spectacular.

Tabitha and I in the lobby of the Empire State building.  She has been spending much of this holiday in the Ergo.  When I get a chance, I am going to write a post discussing babywearing, different carriers, travelling with the Bugaboo, pros and cons of bringing a pram etc. for the holiday.  Hopefully will be useful to other parents planning on travelling with a baby.

The Flatiron Building - another of my favourites.  One of the first ever 'skyscrapers', people mocked it when it was first built, predicting that, because of its height and shape, it would never remain standing.

We have fallen in love with the Shake Shack.  I will write a blog post when we get back, all about the food on this trip - so I will tell you all about the Shake Shack, if you are unfamiliar with it.  The Shack also does excellent thickshakes.  Below, you can see the reaction when Tabitha discovered she was not allowed to drink a thickshake.  Unimpressed!

Delicious:

Juicy goodness:

Crinkly = more surface area for fat = tastier fries.

Chocolate Malt:

We went to MoMA.  Sadly, my favourite floor was closed (4th floor, with all the Pollocks, Rothko and Warhol) but we saw some beautiful art:

While I know that Monet's red period was due to his developing blindness, I actually really love some of the work from this period:

I adore Matisse:

While this is a beautiful painting in reproductions, seeing it in real life is so uplifting - the paint on the canvas seems to be applied so joyously!

We had some chicken wings at Hooters.  The waitress fell in love with Tabitha - lots of cuddles.  I'm sure there were some jealous men!  Surprisingly, there were plenty of families at Hooters.

We moved down to an apartment in the West Village after our week by the Park.  We are totally and completely in love with the West Village, and both agreed that we would move their in a heartbeat if given the opportunity!  We started off our stay with the Original Greenwich Village Food and Culture Walking Tour.  I had heard nothing but top reviews, and sure enough, it was excellent - 2.5 hours, incredibly informative, a good mixture of food and local history.  We learnt about the brickwork used in the houses, films shot in the area, the best risotto in the area...  and all with a good dose of laughter.  Below is a little strip of Bleeker St - you can see Amy's Bread, a seafood store, Murray's Cheese and a famous Italian smallgoods producer ('pork store' in the US vernacular).  Most people in the area shop in the European style, buying their food from individual suppliers every day or so, instead of doing bigger shops at a supermarket.  I prefer to shop most days too.  See, I would slip right into Village life!

Tabitha enjoyed the tour - we were required to purchase a ticket for her (all children need a ticket) so she got to eat her own samples everywhere we went - breads doused in flavoured oils, arancini balls, smallgoods, mushroom risotto, chocolate chip cookies, pizza, cheesecake...

One of our favourite spots was a store called Milk and Cookies.  The cookies are just amazing - crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside.  You can also get them to whip you up a batch of cookies - tell them what you want in them (chocolate, nuts, marshmallow, toffee etc) and they will bake you a dozen+1 in under half an hour!  They also sell cookie dough, so you can take it home for midnight cookie emergencies.  They are open really long hours from memory - til after midnight I think.  They have a book, available on Amazon, called Milk and Cookies.  I will be purchasing!

This is the narrowest house in Manhattan - 3m wide!  The address is 9 1/2, or something like that.  Many famous people have lived here, such as John Barrymore and Cary Grant.  I imagine it's more of a novelty than anything - apparently no one has lasted more than a few years.

Here is where they shot the exterior of the apartment building in Friends:

Tabitha fell asleep while we were on the walking tour - isn't she cute, tucked away in the Ergo?  I could watch her sleep for hours.

I sent some postcards - really lovely vintage-style ones:

We played with Hugh Jackman's French Bulldog pup, Peaches.  We didn't realise it at the time - we just asked a nice lady out with her young daughter, if we could take a photo of their beautiful dog, since I adore Frenchies.  After we walked off, we both realised that the friendly lady was in fact Deborah Lee Furness, HJ's wife.  Sure enough, I googled Hugh Jackman and French Bulldog and pulled up loads of cute photos of HJ carrying Peaches around the Village.

We also sat right by Sarah Jessica Parker at Cluny Cafe.  She was just gorgeous in real life, incredibly delicate and well dressed.  She is sort of New York City Royalty, so we were quite pleased!