Springtime in New York

Last weekend, we were lucky enough to catch the much celebrated Broadway musical “Hamilton“. How, might you ask, did we accomplish this with tickets so hard to come by?  Good question. Last fall, before the world outside NYC was a-buzz with Hamilton we saw something on “60 Minutes” about it and, inspired by a little Sunday evening wine, bought both show and plane tickets on the spot. Well, it was worth it. The hype is not misplaced, the show is great (Melissa is in-process of a review specifically of the show, which you’ll be able to read about here when it is finished, link to be added, so stay tuned).

While only in town for what, in hindsight, was perhaps a little too wine-inspired of a calculation of hours (aka fewer than 48), we made the most of it.

We checked out a new hotel, The Archer, in midtown. Rooms were NYC sized (aka small) but had everything we needed and were nice, clean, so quiet we were surprised (we were nowhere near the elevator which may have helped) and the beds were super comfortable. The highlight for us was the Spyglass Lounge, its rooftop bar with an incredible view of the Empire State Building, especially at night. The bar tender there was superb.

On Saturday, before the matinee, we spent our morning roaming around Central Park, which we always enjoy and for which we had great weather. It was springtime in New York and everything was blooming and the world was out and about.

With so few hours, we spent the remainder of the time doing what we do best: eating.

Our three main meals were a little tour of Western Europe. On Friday we checked out Mercato in Hells Kitchen. This cool little Italian joint was very cosy and felt like a place right out of Siena. The food was good (try the Pulpo e Patate — Octopus and Potatoes — of course I can’t avoid octopus on any menu where I can find it, and the Frutti De Mare) and the company better (my cousin Greg and wife Roxann).

For brunch on Saturday, we traveled to Paris and tried Rue 57 on 57th and 6th Avenue, a favorite of ours from a past trip. This place has great omelettes and the decor makes you feel like you might even have stepped off a Paris street, without having to brush up on your French.

For dinner Saturday we started with appetizers at the Red Cat on 10th Ave in the west Village followed by Spanish tapas at El Quinto Pino few blocks away. I can never avoid Octopus, as has been previously mentioned, so we tried it along with a whole host of plates including Marcona almonds, the Patatas Bravas, Calamar a la Plancha and the Valencian paella (Fideua).

While a quick trip, we were sure glad we went and can’t wait to go back.