Gimme! Coffee

"Gimme! Coffee is New York's ultimate no-nonsense espresso bar and artisanal coffee roaster."

When we woke up, this is where we got our coffee. Everyday. Period.








Aileen

Annie

Patti - I ordered a blended one, like Annie's, but the blender broke when they were about to make mine :(

Habana Nights

"Home-style Latin food with unique Cuban and Central Mexican accents."

A new place, hooray! All this talk about the new Cafe Habana opening in Malibu, and I happen to try it for the first time in New York... Aileen and I stayed all but a minute away from the busy luncheonette. (We were on the SAME BLOCK!) This was actually our first meal in the city, after dropping of our luggage and settling into Rich's hip Nolita apartment. I'm pretty sure that if you ask anyone about Cafe Habana, they'll suggest "the corn" and I'm here to do the same. It's worth waiting to get into the cramped quarters for some fresh corn smothered in melted cheese, chili powder and lime. For sure a crowd favorite - mmmm, I want some now!

Homemade Lime-Lemonade

Grilled Corn

[I wanna make this sometime]

Cuban Sandwich - fresh roasted pork, ham, swiss cheese, cucumber, chipotle mayo

[There was A LOT going on in the Cuban Sandwich, a lotta good stuff...]

Boka x Bon Chon

I couldn't be in New York and not have me some Bon Chon soy garlic chicken. This called for an evening in the East Village at Boka - and to my surprise, the girls all loved it. Growing up eating all sorts of cuisine, I'm always up for trying new food, and luckily, most of my friends are too. However, I wasn't sure if they were ready to defy Southern tradition and see some fried chicken double dipped in oil. Well trust me, they were ready. We all enjoyed the crisp without the grease in BonChon's crunchy, perfectly seasoned and addictive chicken.

You won't believe it... The delicate crust and tender meat arrived at our table twice, courtesy of the super kind people at Boka. They gave us an extra 10 piece drumstick set on the house! Along with an order of sweet potato fries. Oh, and they also happened to "leave" a bottle of wine on our table. There's no way they sensed our "New York on a budget" trip because we ordered rice bowls [bibimbap] and Korean beef [galbi] too... But they sure sensed our guilty love of french fries and fried chicken. Thank you!!

SMAC

I will be the first to state the not-so-yet obvious: I pulled quite a few "repeat offender" moves when eating my way through the city with Aileen. You'll notice that a lot of the places I'm about to blog about are the same ones I went to back in March with Jon. Isn't that how it works? We are creatures of habit and revert to what is familiar... And boy, did I want to re-familiarize myself with some NYC nosh!

Aileen, Annie and I all share a mutual love for macaroni and cheese; I mean, really, who doesn't enjoy noodles set in a creamy cheese sauce topped with even more cheese? So, of course I took them to where I experienced my first all mac 'n cheese concept - SMAC. It looks like I'm 4 S'macs closer to my goal that I set right here!

Annie's Garden Lite [cheddar, parmesan, roasted cauliflower, portobello mushrooms, roasted garlic, broccoli, scallions]

Patti's Buffalo Chicken [cheddar, american, boneless chicken pieces, buffalo wing sauce]

Aileen's Build Your Own [cheddar, gruyere, bacon, scallions]