We heart NYC

My cousin, Katherine, got married last weekend in NYC and we were lucky enough to make the very exclusive guest list.

Katherine and her new husband, Bruce, are like the perfect combination of genuine, successful, attractive, adventurous, fit, funny, caring ... I could go on. Disgusting, no? And, to top it off, they chose to have a quaint little wedding with just their closest family.

I mean, really, look at them ...

So cute, right? (Photo courtesy of their good friend, Christopher Pereira, who just happens to be a very talented photographer.)

I'll attempt to (briefly) summarize our trip, just in case you find yourself in Manhattan any day soon. We just keep saying it ... that city is amazing .... you could spend years there and not visit all the great places, not to mention the little bit we accomplished in about 58 hours. (Also, excellent to visit, but we're glad we don't live there.)

Thursday night we arrived late-ish, made our way to Hotel Bedford in Midtown, then to dinner at Trattoria Belvedere. We met the family for a late dinner that was surprisingly delicious. NYC you've done it again - they just wandered into this place that they had never been and it was great. We followed up with some late night drinks at a place that can't be remembered due to Uncle John's wine-pushing.

We had grand plans to wake up early Friday morning to make it to the concert at the Today Show, but alas, did not. (See: above - wine pushing). We did make it to Rockefeller Center for those of us who haven't been to NYC in a while. We took a quick tour through the New York Public Library and actually happened upon a great exhibit of old New York maps. Then, we met the challenge that is the NY Subway System. (Note to self: next time, take a cab). We made our way to Soho to visit a few places I had scouted out: MUJI, Topshop, J. Crew Men's Shop, Madewell and the Pearl River Market.

Our feet were killing us, so we grabbed lunch and rested a little while in Tompkins Square Park in the East Village. Totally great people watching. I kid you not - there was an American Gladiator look-alike asleep on one of the chess tables in the park.

We can't gloss over lunch ... Bruce and Katherine came through with the Porchetta recommendation and it was SUPER. Pork belly sandwiches? Yes. Please. Thank you.

We followed up lunch with a visit to the John Derian shop, which is really a couple of stores on 2nd Street that are wonderful to wander through. I'm sure you've read Erik's account of binging on all things Maine-related at The Pony Bar. What no one tells you, though, is that it is nearly impossible to get a cab in Midtown at 4:00ish on a Friday afternoon going to the west side of Manhattan. Every cab is heading downtown for shift change. We persisted, though, because I knew Erik would cry if we didn't.

We ended the evening at Pasita for an engagement party with all of Katherine and Bruce's friends. It is a quaint little restaurant that seems to serve South American food and South American-themed pizza. Whatever it was, it was delicious. Their friends and family were so nice and we even met Neil Patrick Harris' doppelganger. Score.

You think that is all we ate? Oh, no. We pretty much planned our trip around 4-5 meals per day. Saturday morning began with a real New York bagel at Ess-a-Bagel. I'm sure there is debate about the best NY bagel, but this was light years beyond what we get here at home. In fact, Erik had to have TWO bagels - an egg, pastrami and fontina sandwich (see the gluttony below) and a bagel with a jalapeno cream cheese shmear, just because.

We walked off the carbo load to Bloomingdales where we saw a great exhibit of Vera Wang wedding dresses (so timely!) and then had lunch with the bride at brgr. (Not to be confused with BRGR here in little Prairie Village). I tell you - we had lunch with the bride and then took a tour of their great apartment on the Upper East Side. She was SO relaxed! There really is something to this small wedding stuff.

Our group split up and we made our way to Central Park for some more people watching. We saw some interesting roller skaters and a break-dancing-Michael-Jackson-extravaganza. I think this picture pretty much sums up the crowd.

We happened upon a Mr. Softee after we left the park and we just couldn't let Andrea and Corey down, so we forced ourselves to share a cone with sprinkles. Or, maybe two cones with sprinkles.

Our real destination, though, was Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar. (Did you catch the fact that we ate ice cream on our way to a bakery? No? Good. Don't tell anyone). I had been salivating over the compost cookie ever since I read about it in some foodie magazine. Let me tell you - it did NOT disappoint. The location in Midtown is tucked in a hotel and is a little hard to find but is so.worth.it. We had the compost cookie, the peanut butter cookie and the corn cookie. I almost died. No kidding.

Finally, we cabbed it to M&J Trimming to ogle walls and walls of ribbon and buttons and pretties galore. Martha would have been proud. Erik,though? He merely tolerated us. The nerve ...

We did eventually dress and make ourselves presentable for the ceremony at the Church of Saint Vincent Ferrer which is, conveniently, right across the street from Katherine and Bruce's apartment. It is amazingly beautiful inside.

The ceremony was touching and intimate and wonderful. Hooray Mr. & Mrs. Crane!!

(As an aside, I've realized that my SLR camera is just not adequate in low light situations and I need a better one. Thanks for that, too, Mr. & Mrs. Crane.)

We then made our way to Prune in the East Village for dinner. It is a tiny little restaurant that we had to ourselves and it was wonderful. Truly - one of the best meals we've ever had, start to finish.

Imagine, if you will, the most perfect and spicy deviled egg that you've ever had. And, then, the most perfect shrimp toast of your life. Just for starters, my friends ...

These fresh anchovies were so delicious, and even more so with the marcona almonds and celery.

Erik could hardly decide what to eat for dinner (he asked for a trio sampler and was denied), and finally landed on the beef pot au feu with bone marrow. He devoured it. Shocking, no?

I had a delicious salmon (as did the bride) and the duck was also so good.


Dessert? The Hampton women never pass up dessert. The wedding cake was layers of cake with salted caramel and buttercream. I ate every bite. Do you see the orange? It was a candied orange poached in simple syrup. Practically health food.



What's that? Oh, yes, you're right. All ice cream should come with caramel croutons.

I should mention, too, that we had delicious wine and a special drink made with three types of rum that was fermented for a month and served with a vanilla bean. Yes, seriously.

I should also mention that Bruce has a terrifically wonderful family. (I am a bit biased about my own family, of course). His relatives came from all over the world to celebrate and were so delightful.

Full bellies, happy people.


I know, I know ... the longest post ever. We don't get to NYC but every 5 years (or more) so we had to make it count. A HUGE thanks, too, to Erik's parents for keeping Ellen because, you know, a baby in NYC totally cramps your style.