How could I say “no” to my newly empty-nester mom when she asked me if I wanted to go to New York City with her for fall break? Other than getting to stay in a nice hotel, partake of wonderful shopping and so much quality mother-daughter bonding, I was so excited to go to New York for another obvious reason: FOOD. There is literally nowhere else in the world where so many cuisines come together in one city. I was in the city for less than 48 hours, but don’t worry, I got in plenty of dining, don’t you worry.
Friday night, we had dinner reservations at a Portuguese restaurant called Alfama. Neither my mom nor I had ever eaten Portuguese food before, and short of being in Lisbon, New York is a perfect place to try out a different cuisine. Furthermore, my mother’s grandmother was Portuguese, so we agreed it was something we should try.
I was thrilled to find the menu broad, yet concise because when it comes to a new kind of food, fewer options are sometimes best. A restaurant with a one-page menu generally means confident chefs and perfected dishes. While browsing the menu, a waiter whisked past our table with a steak literally sizzling on a hot stone. Instantly, we knew that we wanted that exact dish. We each ordered appetizers—my mom got shrimp croquettes, and I got mussels (of course) on a thick-cut Portuguese baguette. For our entrées, we split the 8-ounce filet mignon, “stone-grilled at the table.” And yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like: a piece of granite that has been in a 365 degree oven brought to our table with a raw steak sizzling on top of it! So indescribably delicious.
The next meal came early Saturday afternoon. While shopping around SoHo, my mom and I decided that we needed to pause briefly for lunch. We asked the lady who checked us out at French Connection what her favorite place to eat lunch is in the area. She told us there was a Cuban café around the corner, and we set off to find it. Sure enough, we found a bright blue restaurant tucked just below street level called Cuban Café. What else to get at a Cuban restaurant than a Cuban sandwich? We each got a cup of soup, black bean for me and chicken tortilla for my mom, and we split a Cuban sandwich. Despite the name, Cuban sandwiches have become an American staple. This one was made with pulled pork, ham and swiss cheese layered on a Cuban version of focaccia. And of course, no Cuban sandwich is complete without pickles and spicy mustard! We were pleasantly stuffed until dinner.
In our cab back to our hotel from SoHo, we hit insane traffic, and our cab driver informed us that the traffic was due to a food fair. I instantly Googled it from my phone, and we decided to get out of the cab where we were to walk through the fair. As you can imagine, it was quite the site. In fact, it was a treat for all the senses!
Saturday night, we didn’t have dinner reservations, but in New York there are restaurants literally everywhere, so we had no problem finding a place to eat. After a day of walking, we decided that we didn’t want to trek far for dinner. Lucky for us, there were two yummy restaurants on the same block as our hotel. We decided that La Petite Maison was where we wanted to go for dinner, as we both love French food. After a few drinks at the hotel bar, we ventured the 100 yards to dinner. In sharp contrast to our Cuban café lunch, the restaurant was dimly lit with trendy waiters. Mom and I ordered our last meal of this delicious weekend: haricots verts (aka French green beans) with pieces of foie gras, rosemary potatoes and the most amazing, almost beyond words truffle risotto. Incredibly creamy and rich, the white, fluffy risotto had the daintiest slivers of the rare, expensive mushroom sitting on top. I couldn’t eat it without smiling. I kept on smiling as I ate my apple beignet dessert, which was basically breaded and fried pieces of apples coated in cinnamon sugar and served with a generous dollop of freshly-made whipped cream.
I can’t think of a better or more delicious way to spend my fall break!