Levain Bakery

"Possibly the largest, most divine chocolate chip cookies in Manhattan" - New York Times

Everybody, I saved the best for last. This is the last blog post from P heart J's New York City trip... This place was my absolute favorite of all: Levain Bakery. Honestly, I'm such a sweet tooth at heart. We tried all this great amazing food, yet my heart still beats for freshly made chocolate chip cookies. I literally died and went to cookie heaven. I can't even begin to explain the greatness of the enchanting Levain cookie. It was so utterly delicious that we went back on our last day because I had been dreaming about them ever since my first bite...

I'm too embarrassed to admit how much I ate -and spent!- on these wonderful cookies. Ask Jon if you really wanna know... Haha. There are only 4 cookies offered at the bakery: Chocolate Chip Walnut, Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin and Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip. I tried them all, and I can confidently say there's definitely something for everyone. It's too much, I can't even talk about it right now because I want one so bad... Excuse me while I find out HOW TO GET SOME OF THESE COOKIES ASAP.

My Heaven

Best Place on Earth

Can I please be here right now?

I'll pay anything for a chocolate chip walnut cookie...

L o v e

My first bite!

It's like a giant rock...

...that is ooey and gooey inside

Yay I got a seat on the bench!

On to the next one...

I'm drooling right now... Bye

Mas Farmhouse, Greenwich Village

Jeff shared with us his favorite restaurant in NYC: Mas Farmhouse. This understated fine-dining [French American] restaurant nestled in Greenwich Village delivers on serving plates that come from only the freshest ingredients; they are avid on seeking out products from surrounding organic sustainable farms. The menu changes daily as it is driven by the seasonal availability of produce. After all, a dish is only as good as its ingredients! The best part of the meal was dessert... Jeff told us that the pastry chef is known for her delicious third courses - and he was correct. We ordered two desserts and each component on the plate married together and sung a beautiful song in my mouth, it was that scrumptious!

Peter Luger, Brooklyn

Jon and I enjoy a good piece of steak... Peter Luger's in Brooklyn has now set the bar for a plate of succulent steak. This no-frills, cash-only "OG" Steak House in Brooklyn is known for their double thick bacon, German potatoes and their USDA prime Porterhouse. They clearly have the right connect and get the best of the best cuts in town!

Double thick bacon

Steak for 2

French Fried Potatoes

Creamed Spinach

"Holy Cow" Hot Fudge [Coffee] Sundae

Gray's Papaya

To be honest, I'm not a big hot dog fan... But cheers to 2 all beef franks washed down with fresh papaya juice!

[aka the "Recession Special"]

New York Minute

I would say that this most recent trip to New York was very... focused. For the most part, everything was planned and thought out before we set foot at the hotel. We knew who we wanted to see, where we wanted to eat, what shows to watch, which areas to check out, etc. Of course there were a few curve balls in there -thanks for the Nicks tix, Rich! and the quick visit to Jersey, Shaun! - but all in all, everything went according to plan. Except for one thing: We never had proper New York Pizza! Can you believe it?! We had gone online and visited all the "Best NYC Pizza" lists and had a few options for our trip. However, the only pizza slices we got were in Times Square. After watching Wicked, we were so hungry that we just jumped in the nearest pizza parlor we saw. I'm so sad we didn't get to try some of the *best* pizza out there... The whole trip seemed as quick as a New York minute!

Pepperoni Fried Chicken Slice

Veggie Slice

Night Hotel

Felix, NYC

Sunday SoHo Brunch @ Felix










Shaun

Patti

Jon

Jamie