NY Eats

Eating, and eating well, is one of my favorite things about traveling. When in New York there is no lack of choice, but with young children I've learned the key to eating in a city is to find a hotel in a good neighborhood with surrounding restaurants.

We stayed at The Lucerne Hotel. I posted about our time here last summer and this will likely be my go-to place anytime New York is on the radar. It's located on the west side, and there are numerous restaurants, kid friendly at that, just beyond the front stoop.

Here's where we ate this time:
1. Nice Matin - I have no idea how to pronounce it, but this is the restaurant connected to The Lucerne. It serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and we ate all but one breakfast here. While the restaurant is not affiliated with the hotel, the owners of the restaurant allow the hotel to distribute coupons that take 15 percent off breakfast for hotel guests. We ate dinner here the first night as well. I had a Tuscan chicken and my mother-in-law had a rib-stuffed ravioli. Both were so good I was doing the food happy dance.

2. Sarabeth's - There are several Sarabeth's locations throughout Manhattan, and this is a must for breakfast too. We went on a Friday morning because I knew Saturday and Sunday mornings would likely mean a wait. We also ate dinner here one night, not least of which because it's the perfect New York eatery for outdoor dining and people watching.

3. Eataly - This was the only restaurant we visited not located on the west side, which meant we had to take a cab to get to this hotspot. The place was completely overwhelming when we walked through the door. There are five restaurants inside this meat market/ice cream shop/Italian grocer/cheese factory/yada,yada,yada. And when I say restaurant it is not at all what you are picturing. We decided on the pizza/pasta section because I thought it would be the easiest menu to figure out. While I still don't know what half of the things listed were, I left thinking it was the greatest food pleasure spot on earth. The olive oil was so fresh it burnt my throat on the first bite (not a bad thing; just go easy on it to start). The children's buttery noodles almost gave me hallucinations there were so delicious and creamy. And the four cheese pizza we shared was nothing less than divine. There was a salty cheese beneath the other three layers that I was licking off with my fingers. I swear my eyes were rolling back into my head!!!

4. barley & grain - I ate one of the best crab cakes I've had in a long, long time at this place. Matt, Jack and I also split a hamburger. I wish I had more to say about it, but truth be told we were completely distracted. Our hotel, nor anywhere in this particular area that we could find, carried the SEC Network. We were trying to eat in a rush during the rain delay in the Auburn vs. Arkansas game so we could get back to our hotel and listen to the game on the I-pad.

5. Sugar & Plum - We had to celebrate the little man's birthday with sweets. The children, of course, chose cupcakes. I went with a carrot cake. I had no idea the slice was going to be so big. It reminds me of a carrot cake I had years ago at a restaurant in Dallas, Texas while on a work trip. Remember that Cupcakes & Commentary?!?!

6. Pretzel Vendors - Here we are stuffing our faces with a huge pretzel before entering The Metropolitan Museum of Art. We made another stop on the way out for me to grab some nachos and cheese!!