We’ll Always Have Brooklyn
Posted by Peter Owen | Filed under restaurant, travel
Wednesday March 26, 2015
Kelli and I went to Milford, Connecticut for a sales conference to give a presentation on what my group does. It turns out for a little more than $20 you can get a train to New York so that is what Kelli and I did Thursday 3/26 afternoon after the conference. We caught a ride to the train station, bought our tickets and lugged our bags onto the train to Grand Central Station in NYC. I had never seen it before except in movies and flash mob videos. It was so expansive, light, and bright with so many people. We bought a week subway pass and headed to the AirBnB in Brooklyn.
When we arrived at our stop for the AirBnB, I called Mark up to ask for directions. We walked about 6 blocks to the place we were staying which was the middle part of a row house and in great condition. The neighborhood was up and coming. There were many row houses under construction. We met Mark who was incredibly nice and helpful and settled in.
Mark recommended this family owned Sicilian place called Saraghina where we decided to eat dinner. They had a bakery around the corner as well with some Italian goods. Kelli ate the ravioli with butternut squash and I had a pizza both of which we shared. You could tell the pasta was homemade and FRESH. It almost melted in my mouth. The pizza was true Italian style pizza, thin, not too filling, and very tasty! We shared Tiramisu for dessert which was excellent. Everyone in the restaurant spoke Italian. We paid (cash only) and checked Yelp for a local bar, one of which we found nearby called Casablanca. It had a retro sign behind the stone bar, stone tables, they were playing Motown, and there was vinyl in the corner with a record player. I think it’s safe to say it was a hipster bar and a pretty cool one at that. Kelli had one of the best chocolate stouts she has ever had. After a drink we called it a night and headed home.
Thursday March 27, 2015
Kelli and I got up early to head into the city dressed nicely with our nice shoes in a backpack. Today was the day we were going to meet Doug and Jenny to eat lunch at at 2PM. For breakfast we stopped by a coffee shop called . I had a chocolate filled croissant and Kelli had a latte with a flower shape that the guy made in her froth. After that brief stop for breakfast, we headed to the Tribeca/Soho district on the edge of the financial district via subway of course.
We walked by a little deli where Kelli got a huge cookie that we split. Then we went by Starbucks so Kelli could get her coffee fix (chai latte) and their bathroom was “broken” unfortunately. After that we headed for Saluggi’s, a pizza place, since our lunch was at 2:00 PM. We split a white pizza that was every bit as good as the last and Kelli had red wine at 11:00 AM. She loved it! We kept accruing leftovers and keeping them in Kelli’s backpack. We rode the subway to Central Park and found our way to the Alice in Wonderland statue. What a cool tribute! Kelli had mud on the back of her legs partially because of the shoes she was wearing and partially because she walks so fast. 🙂 We found a restroom so she could wash off the mud and I could change shoes. We walked the rest of the way to the Trump Towers to eat at Jean Georges where Kelli had the sea bass and crab risotto. I had the yellowfin tuna ribbons, and black sea bass and a $20 Manhattan. It was pretty good, but pretty much the place someone goes for the “experience”. The food was tasty, but not exactly my thing. We all had cut marshmallow for dessert. Doug and Jenny were great. Also I think I can check off “calling a woman a slut loudly in a really fancy restaurant” off my “things to do before I die” list. Kelli and I took the subway back home to rest for a bit before heading back to the city.
We put on more casual clothes and headed to Times Square. I had seen it in the day time, but never at night and WOW, it was so bright that it was like day! We found our way to Topaz Thai which was packed. We split a veggie dish and Kelli got sticky rice and soup. Afterward we headed to the dive bar, Don Pedros, where would play later. We got to the place and it had two skeeball machines that were not functioning (I don’t think) and several bands were playing. It was a cash bar and Doug showed up a bit later having drunk his lunch (his usual gin and tonics). The bands were great and Doug caught an Uber home. Because I’m stubborn, Kelli and I walked to the train station and one of our cards wouldn’t work so Kelli was on the inside where the train would be coming and I was on the outside with a non-functioning card. This man who didn’t have a card to get in told Kelli to open the emergency door, which she did, and we both got in and go to the other side just in time for the LAST train back to our place. We exited the train and walked through the neighborhood Mark told us to steer clear of around 2 AM. We ate all of the leftovers in Kelli’s backpack with few exceptions and went to sleep.
Friday March 28, 2015
Today we slept in somewhat. Kelli didn’t sleep well and nobody had a hangover! We went back to Rabbit Moon and Kelli had a plain doughnut and I had a chocolate one which was amazing! It was thick unlike many other doughnuts. We arrived at the Chelsea market and Kelli was beside herself. She wanted to see, taste, and experience everything! I did too, though not as much. We found a place and ate some sushi, lobster bisque, crab hush puppies, and waters. We had to stand to eat as there was limited room in this fresh seafood market. Then we went to an Italian store and we bought stuff for the workgroup, my mom, Elek, Charlie, Lizzy, and Kelli’s mom. I had to rest a bit so Kelli went off to see some artwork and eventually we went back to a bakery and Kelli bought some carrot cake which we both tried and she put the leftovers in her bag. Kelli also bought my and her a set of I <3 Brooklyn magnets (which is on my fridge currently) as well as a full loaf of bread! That woman loves her bread! We walked and walked and eventually made our way to Eatily which was an indoor collection of restaurants, shops, etc. with wine, cheese, ice cream, bread, etc. It was PACKED so we didn't stay long. Kelli took Peter's picture in front of McDonalds for Living PSP, our VP's birthday gift. Next we went to China town and Little Italy because I had never been to Little Italy. We walked the length, then we traveled back home and decided to eat at the Sicilian place again, Saraghina. Kelli had red wine and we split a bread and cheese plate. Kelli had the spaghetti and I had the lasagna both of which were fantastic. We took 3 cannolis with us (3 because the Italian guy thought Kelli was cute). Once we were back at home I called a car service to pick us up for the airport the next morning. Sunday March 29, 2015
We woke up by our alarms and I cooked an egg for breakfast left by the last tenants. Kelli fixed coffee and we packed and prepared to leave. The car to LGA cost about $20 something and change. We ate lunch in the airport which was not nearly as good as the rest of the city as expected. Oh, also I opted out of the machine that detects bomb residue and chose to get felt up by the TSA agent who kindly didn’t cup my balls this time. We connected through Detroit back to reality.
