NYC at Christmas Time

My husband and I decided to take a much-needed day off from work to go to New York City for the day because the city is always so beautiful at Christmas time.  We decided to drive in, which took almost 2 hours, parked our car in a random side-street garage in Chinatown, and began trekking through the city.  Our plan was breakfast in Little Italy, lunch in Chinatown, and dinner at Les Halles, the restaurant Anthony Bourdain (our fave) used to be head chef at. We also wanted to get to Central Park and then see where else the day took us.

Of course, when you plan things nothing goes the way you want so we ended up having to go with the flow, and it turned out great!  We got there close to 12 pm so we ate at Sambuca's Cafe for lunch. 

http://www.sambucascafe.com/

We ordered a small pizza with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, cheese, basil, and Greek olives.  The pizza could have been good...if it was cooked!  It was raw dough in the middle and drenched in olive oil.  MAJOR FAIL.  However, they had relatively good coffee (they seemed to specialize in alcoholic coffee beverages although we just stuck with regualr coffees), and they claimed to have the best Tiramisu in Little Italy.  We had to give that a try. The tiramisu was good, it was drenched in coffee liquer but it was definitely not the best I have ever had.  It was pretty though :)

From here we headed to McSorley's, a super-old pub that used to be for men only back in the day. 

http://www.mcsorleysnewyork.com/

There are sawdust shavings covering the floor, they serve two types of beer (light or dark) and they have a small menu.  When you order a beer they pour you two because it's very foamy and the glasses are small.  It's a cute place with lots of old history on the walls. 

We took the subway to Central Park and walked around for awhile.  We saw the ice skaters and the horses and carriages.  I have to say, I have always wanted to do a horse and carriage ride through Central Park, but when I saw those poor horses on the side of such a busy street, waiting to pick people up, covered in blankets to keep them warm and wearing blinders so the traffic didn't freak them out, I felt too bad for them.  When I heard car horns honking right next to them my heart actually broke for the poor animals who are only there to serve people who don't care about them.  It was terrible :(

From here we went to Rockafeller Center to see the tree, of course.  It is big and fluffy with the usual tacky colored lights, but it's the tree you gotta see :)

Of course Swarovski will always hold a special meaning for me... My husband and I had our first date in New York City on November 8th, 2007.  We went back for my birthday and spent the day roaming around, ended the night at Rockafeller viewing the tree.  The star on the top of the tree is designed with Swarovski crystals.  When we got back to his apartment that night he gave me my birthday gift which was a gorgeous Swarovski crystal bracelet.  I wear it (almost) every day and it's a constant reminder of such wonderful days and awesome memories :)

After Rockafeller we headed over to the Channel 4 Restaurant for a snack (buffalo chicken spring rolls--excellent!) and a beverage.  It was cozy in there but our bartender was horrendous, unfortunately.  She was not even busy and she gave us really crappy service, but the food and the time spent together was wonderful

From here we walked 1.5 miles to Brasserie Les Halles Park Avenue, where Anthony Bourdain has his home base and used to be head chef.  We have been wanting to go here for awhile now and it is actually affordable, so we went. 

http://leshalles.net/brasserie/

My husband ordered goose liver pate for an appetizer, which he loved.  I took one bite and at first all you taste is garlic and seasonings and the texture is tolerable...then the liver flavor kicks in and I almost gagged.  I am not a liver fan of any sort but my husband really enjoyed it.  For his meal, he ordered the roasted Amish chicken.  I'm sorry we did not get great pictures but I felt kind of crazy taking foodie pics in Anthony Bourdain's restaurant!  Couldn't bring myself to use anything but my iPhone out of embarrassment.  The Amish chicken was 1/2 a bird, breast served boneless and separate from the leg/thigh portion.  It came with a side of au jus gravy and fries.  I ordered the skirt steak with bleu cheese, medium rare, which also came with fries.  Before our meals came, I told my husband I did not really want to eat the fries but guess what...when I tasted them they were just about the best I ever had! (Fried in peanut oil, according to the website)  So eat them I did.  My steak was amazing, perfectly cooked and the bleu cheese was served on the side.   In all, I think our meal came to $68 and that included a glass of wine and a beer.  Not bad for NYC!