Since my first visit to NYC in December of 2017, I have been dying to return when the weather is warmer and I can’t believe we finally got to do it during Easter weekend. I have already declared my endless love for New York in a lengthy post so I won’t repeat myself on this one, but I must say that this trip really made me want to settle in the Big Apple for a couple months (maybe more?) in a couple years. New York around Christmas time was fantastic but way too cold to fully enjoy the experience. Additionally, we were determined to explore the city by foot, so really didn’t see as much as we would have wanted. This time, we’ve been a little smarter about planning our stay. We drove from Montreal to NYC in the mesmerizing BMW X2 M35i and took the vehicle again to discover more of what this magical town has to offer. On this post, I want to share what we did, where we stayed and… where we ate.
Where we stayed? At the Omni Berkshire Place Hotel.
I simply could not have dreamed of a better located establishment for our stay in New York. The Omni Berkshire Place is a four-star hotel in Midtown, at a short minute walk from the 5th Avenue and… the five-floor Nike store where I spent almost $400 in ten minutes. The hotel is close to Central Park as well as many of the must-see attractions; you’ll also find some of the highest ranked restaurants in NYC such as La Grenouille nearby, as well as cafés and eateries to grab a sandwich or a salad to go, when you don’t want to waste too much of your precious time in NY indoors.
Our room at the Omni was all sorts of magnificent and had a priceless terrace with a jaw-dropping of the city. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time on the terrace admiring the view! I’ll tell you more about our stay at the Omni in an upcoming article that will be entirely dedicated to it.
Where we ate?
Okay, this time, I wanted to try all the food that NYC is famous for. Namely, its bagels, its pizza, its cheesecake and… pretty much anything I’d be tempted to eat. Needless to say, there was no clean eating during these couple days. I was ready to stuff my face with all the deliciousness that came my way.
- Starting with Pretzels sold by food carts that are such an intrinsic part of NYC’s urban landscape. First of all, I have an announcement to make: it was my first pretzel ever and… excuse my ignorance but I thought it would be sweet, but it tasted like bread, was way too salty and… a total waste of three dollars (I ate it all anyway.)
- Bagels, at Bagel On Hudson.
They were good BUT nothing compared to our very own St-Viateur Bagels from Montreal. In case you didn’t know, there is this friendly war between Montreal and New York bagels because both cities are worldly popular for their circle-shaped bread. - Pizza, at Nino’s 46.
We had dinner there every night of our trip. We discovered this restaurant two years ago and loved it SO much we wanted to return this time again. My husband and I are huge pizza lovers so when we found out that the restaurant was located at a ten-minute walk from our hotel, we decided to eat there every night.You cannot go to New York without trying a New York style pizza. And if you wonder why are New York pizzas so popular, it’s because the texture of the crust is different: chewy and oh so delicious. The New York style pizza contains more ingredients than a traditional Neapolitan pizza, it is larger (generally 18 inches cut in 8 slices) and its crust’s texture is unique because of the minerals that are only found in the city’s tap water. It’s a delicious combination between Neapolitan pizzas and the creativity of the first Italian immigrants to NYC.
- Cheesecake at Eileen’s Special Cheesecake
I so loved this little bakery! And by the sight of the line up outside, I bet other people were excited to try their sweet treats too! The strawberry cheesecake was divine. My husband had a cannoli which he described as the best he ever had.
Now what makes NY cheesecake different than all the others? Its texture: it is dense, smooth, rich and tastes like heaven on earth. I would have devoured twenty of these in not time.
- Sandwiches and coffee to go in the morning: Toasties
There are so many options for on the go food in NYC. We loved Toasties and Isadora Coffee, which were located near our hotel.
Toasties: Delicious sandwiches and coffee. Great to grab and eat in Central Park! 😉
Isadora’s café was right in front of our hotel. We had on the go breakfast there the second day of our stay. They offer really complete takeout breakfast options such as omelettes; eggs, bacon, and potatoes and so much more.
- Breakfast at Supermoon Bakehouse
Located in the Lower East Side, Supermoon Bakehouse has to be the cutest, most Instagrammable bakery ever. Created by two Australians, the bakery makes the most unique looking AND tasting croissants, doughnuts, cruffins (croissants dough baked in muffin tins) and soft-serves. The pastries look like works of art and are exposed on a large pink marble table, so you can see (and take photos) of what you can order. Since it was our first meal of the day, we both went for a gouda cheese and ham croissant which were excellent. I would have tried more items on the menu BUT I had already overindulged during our staying and I wasn’t going to ingest 2000 calories for the first meal of the day. The healthy gal in me is never too far. 😉 -
What we did?
We drove to Brooklyn, parked our car in Brooklyn Heights Historic District then explored by foot. I fell utterly in love. It was Saturday morning and people were jogging, walking their dogs, holding grocery bags. There were no tourists, the architecture was so beautiful. We then drove to DUMBO (short for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), which is another historic district of Brooklyn that teems with industrial warehouses turned into art galleries, cafés, shops, restaurants, book stores and tech companies.
We ate at Shake Shack. It was my first time and… it was good, but I didn’t have a milkshake. Everybody else was having milkshakes and we didn’t order any. *raises brow* I think we totally missed the memo!
We drove to Greenwich Village.
My husband is actually the one that wanted to visit Greenwich village. I had never hear of it being particularly interesting, but I was pleasantly surprised; the vibe is very laidback there. I have found what I love the most when I travel, is seeing the neighborhood life everywhere I go. Get away from touristic places and see how people really live: mothers with their kids in parks, people playing basketball in urban courts, friends and families gathering at Washington Park. I loved it. All of it.
We walked from Greenwich Village to SoHo.
SoHo has to be one of the coolest places to visit when in NYC. The emblematic cast iron architecture of SoHo that is so deeply anchored in the world’s imaginary regarding NYC is what impressed me the most when I first visited New York. This time, we’ve had the opportunity to explore the area by day, we wandered in the narrow cobblestone streets, filled with shops I would have spent a fortune in had I entered them such as Alo (activewear and Yoga wear), fantastic restaurants, it is close to Little Italy (love!) and China Town, teems with restaurants and cafés. You could spend hours in SoHo without ever having enough of it.
Central Park.
I really, really wanted to get up early one morning and jog in Central Park but unfortunately, we didn’t. Instead, we grabbed sandwiches, sat on a bench and ate while watching bystanders.
Shopped on the 5th Avenue.
I have been very reasonable, spending only 400$ on activewear, of course. I didn’t even enter any other the store than the Nike one. It would have felt like torture.
Walked on the Upper West Side
Huge thanks to BMW Canada and Omni Berkshire Place Hotel for partnering with us on this trip and contributing to making our NYC stay a living dream!
