Last NYC Post: Billy's Bakery

Treat case - I'll take one of each!

Near our friends' apartment in Chelsea is a Billy's Bakery, specializing in - you guessed it - cupcakes! We tried the yellow cake with chocolate buttercream, the red velvet with cream cheese frosting and the chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream. I'm drooling at the memory! If you are anywhere near one of their three NYC locations, this is a definite snack stop. We tried to go twice just after closing - we were up much later than our usual 9 PM bedtime while in NY - so finally enjoying their delicious cakes was truly satisfying.

Out side Billy's.

Putting the icing on the cake!

NYC: Lattanzi Italian Ristorante

I'm nearing the end of the belated New York posts (one more!) and then we'll go to a few cooking posts and some more recent Atlanta and Charlotte eats. One day we bought half price tickets to In The Heights - at that time starring Jordin Sparks - and had some tasty dim sum (sorry no photos!) in Chinatown. Although the dim sum was tasty, it was not really better than what we have in Atlanta and definitely not good enough to make me want to wait an hour again! We did get to see my cousin Jason (yay) so that was fun and afterwards we walked through Washington Square Park, always interesting to see the street performers.

Later, before the show we headed to Lattanzi Italian Ristorante for some Italian goodness. The restaurant is downstairs, somewhat underground in the theater district. The ambiance is nice, not too loud with significant lighting and chandeliers. I enjoyed our meal but was a bit disappointed overall. Based on the reviews it sounded like this place would be outstanding and very memorable. I can't really remember much about the food so that is not a good sign! In any event, we enjoyed another meal with our wonderful hosts and had a great time at the show!

Arugula salad.

Pasta with white clam sauce.

Mushroom Ravioli.

Seafood Risotto.

Pasta with meat sauce.

Light cheesecake - with too much light!!

Cookshop - Great Chelsea Brunch

Butcher Board.

During our stay in New York, we enjoyed a tasty brunch at Cookshop in Chelsea with our fabulous hosts. Even better, we were able to walk to the restaurant from their apartment. After brunch we checked out the High Line Trail and Chelsea Market where I found all sorts of holiday goodies to take back. What fun! The butcher board was my favorite part of the meal. It included country pate, liver mousse, Virginia ham, rabbit rillette and assorted mustards - delicious with warm toasty bread on the side.

The menu.

Poached eggs & housemade pork sausage. Cookshop is big on the pig!

Huevos Rancheros.

Cookshop scramble with smoked salmon.

NYC: Pasha Turkish Cuisine

With our wedding officiant, June, outside the restaurant.

One evening in New York we dined at Pasha, a warm, inviting Turkish restaurant on the upper West side. On the way there we saw Ben Stiller filming a movie near Central Park. The crew was shushing everyone, which we found hilarious - telling people walking down the street in NYC to be quiet!
Luckily we found the restaurant with no problem, and after a LONG walking day - we calculated about 9 miles total, we really enjoyed taking a load off and having dinner with June, a family friend who will officiate at our wedding in April. The food was very enjoyable, especially the dips and olives and Calvin's lamb dish - very tasty.

Grilled eggplant dip, hummus and salad.

Chicken breast stuffed with rice, pistachios and currants.

Pan seared trout.

Lamb slices with tomato sauce.

Ice cream, baklava and milk pudding rounded out the meal.

NYC: Sushi Hana and Veniero's

Giant sushi boat - I've always wanted one of these and with four of us, we handled it pretty nicely. Yum!

Calvin and I took a quick trip to NYC in November to meet with our wedding officiant. We were lucky enough to stay with my law school friend, Nathalie, and her husband Drew, who were both super hosts during our stay. Upon arrival we headed to Sushi Hana for a delicious meal including the fabulous sushi boat pictured above.

Seaweed salad, gyoza, shu mai and fried mushrooms - all delicious.

My law school buddy Nathalie and yours truly outside Hana. It was a bit chilly!

Economy Candy - I had to take a photo of this since it's one of my dad's favorites. Unfortunately it is closed or I would have brought him some candy.

Veniero's, a delicious pastry cafe our hosts recommended - we took ours back home.

Delicious pastries from Veniero's - regular and chocolate cannoli, hazelnut tart and fruit tart.

NYC - Out and About

Taco and really good tamale from a NYC taco truck (truck pictured below).

More culinary adventures from our November NYC trip... look for additional posts on NYC in the next week.

Later, craving a little something sweet, we stopped by Creprie in Greenwich Village.

Making my delicious butter sugar crepe.

Calvin checks out the taco truck.