Sarah and the bakeries of Manhattan

Last month, we were treated to a visit from my sister, Sarah. Adam had taken a few days off, which allowed us to leave the kids with him and take a short girls' trip to the city. New York is such an amazing city and every experience can be really different depending on who you go with. There really is something for everyone, and that "something" for Sarah, is bakeries. We basically just had an itinerary based all around food- and it was awesome!

We took the Amtrak to the city and once we got into Penn Station, we jumped on the subway and headed straight to Chelsea Market. Chelsea Market is below the Food Network studios, and it is amazing. There are tons of bakeries, specialty food and kitchen shops, and little eateries. We were in heaven! We started the visit off with a mini cupcake from Eleni's. Then we stopped for a grilled cheese sandwich at Lucy's Whey. The grilled cheese sandwich was delicious- made with a crisp bread, fresh mozzarella, a thin slice of ham, and a sun-dried tomato pesto. It was fabulous! I'm salivating just thinking about it, actually.

 

 

After exploring Chelsea, we walked over to Greenwich Village, in search of a bakery that we went to on our last visit. The only problem was - we had no idea what the name of it was or the address. Needless to say, we never found it. We did stumble upon Magnolia Bakery, though. Second cupcake, check.

We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping and then headed to our hotel to get ready for dinner. We decided to have dinner at an Italian restaurant on the Upper East Side, Bella Blu. It had a fun ambiance and the food was very good. To make room for dessert, we bummed around Time Square, laughing at all the tourist crap they sell. Finally, we had midnight dessert at Serendipity 3.

The next morning we headed down the East Village for breakfast at Clinton St Baking Company. As always, the food was fantastic and filling. Of course, we had to find room for doughnuts at Doughnut Plant, which was also featured on Throwdown with Bobby Flay. The guys there were really funny; after hearing that we were from the Seattle area, they brought up Top Pot Doughnut. They are convinced that theirs are better, of course. I have to say, I think Top Pot has the edge... but, I could be just as biased. Nostalgia is pretty powerful.

We had a great time in the city, but were absolutely exhausted by the end of our second day. I'm sure we walked off nearly all the calories we consumed. For sure, the highlight for me was that grilled cheese sandwich at Chelsea Market. Man, that was good!