Weekend in New York

My sister moved to Queens last year and I owed her a visit, so on an impulse I used some credit card points and bought a ticket to New York for a three-day weekend. I've been to Manhattan a few times so I didn't feel the need to do anything super touristy or cram the weekend full of activities, which made it very relaxing. I have a few photos from the trip, but be warned: they're mostly of blurry food. I went to New York to eat and I'm a crappy photographer.

I arrived on Friday when Sarah was still working, so I killed a few hours at the Met.
    

The Met

When she got off work, we met at Grand Central Station for happy hour at the Oyster Bar. The champagne was delicious, of course, but oysters are disgusting. I should have known. Why do people like these slimy blobs so much?

 

Oysters are gross, but the Oyster Bar is iconic.

The highlight of the trip was dinner at Le Bernardin, a French seafood restaurant with three Michelin Stars (!!!) for which Sarah had a gift card (work holiday present). I'd never been to a place with even one Michelin star, so I was pretty excited. By pure luck, Sarah scored a last-minute reservation at 10:15 pm, because someone canceled the day before. And because her gift card was very generous, we decided to do the tasting menu with wine pairings!

Le Bernardin

Top left: Amuse-bouches
Top right: Kampachi sashimi and Greek salad (Godello pairing)
Bottom left: Crab-filled calamari with mushroom pot au feu (Champagne pairing)
Bottom right: Seafood truffle pasta with scallop, shrimp, lobster, and black truffle emulsion sauce (Riesling pairing)

More Le Bernardin

Top left: Red snapper in a green curry sauce with goat-yogurt emulsion (Sake pairing)
Bottom left: Salmon, Buddha's hand salad, tarragon-olive oil emulsion (Chardonnay pairing)
Center: "palate cleansing" dessert of cheesecake and lemon sorbet (Tokaji pairing)
Top right: Banana s'more (Chateau la Rame pairing)
Bottom right: surprise dessert sampler after we paid! Pistachio cake, lemon macaron, chocolate tarte, guava jelly, peanut butter truffle

We finished eating at 12:15, and we were ready for bed after all that wine and food (brought to us by an adorable French waiter and an army of other wait staff). My favorites were the sashimi, seafood pasta, snapper, and s'mores. But the whole meal was incredible. I doubt I'll eat that well in a very long time, if ever again.

The next day we went back to Manhattan for brunch at Russ & Daughters, one of Sarah's favorites.

Russ & Daughters

After brunch we did a little (very little) sightseeing at the Brooklyn Bridge and the 9/11 Memorial.

Brooklyn Bridge

One of the 9/11 reflecting pools

Then Sarah tagged out for a hair appointment and our cousin Kendall took over as my tour guide. We hit a few bars in the financial district, and then Sarah met back up and we all went to Brooklyn for pizza and a little bit of salad to pretend we're healthy. And then back to Queens for a nice, long sleep.

Sarah let me sleep away the whole morning on Sunday, and then we wandered around Sunnyside (her neighborhood) and had brunch at a Mexican restaurant. Then it was time for me to pack up and head back to the airport. It was an ideal mini break, full of food and family (and sleeping).

Thanks, Sarah and Kendall, for a great weekend!