Catching Up - New York City, December 2009

I'm catching up. For the next week or so, my posts will be about my amazing New York City experience in late December of 2009. I got to do two shows of my long-running Christmas show off-Broadway. Technically, on Broadway, but because it was in a cabaret and not a theatre, off-Broadway it is.

So what? I had a blast. Took the red eye - okay, NOT a blast. It was a week of country-wide super high winds. I have never ever ever ever experienced roller coaster landing like I did coming into JFK. It was 5:30am and we were rolling around in the sky. Not a good feeling. Anyway, sometimes hating to fly causes me to do the weirdest things. Like take a photo out the window. Why? Who knows?

Anyway, New York! I stayed with an old college buddy who lives just off of Central Park West, around the corner from the Dakota. She has lived in this place 31 years. Amazing. The next picture is a building on her street.

We went to Babbo that night. Babbo is Mario Batali's signature restaurant in New York City. I've been wanting to go there for years. It was an amazing experience. Cute Xmas tree, huh? Look at the cool bathroom mirrors. The best thing I had there was Farroto, which was a farro appetizer cooked to bright pink perfection with beets and a ton of pecorino romano cheese. Next best thing were brussel sprouts cooked with pancetta. Honestly, if I could learn those two dishes, I'd be in heaven. I had a bolongese for the main course, which was excellent, but my friend's black pasta seafood dish was better.

Next day, we walked around Central Park. Met up with another pal at Cafe Sabarsky, which was recommended to me by more than one food blogger. What a great place. Wish I would have had time to go to the museum it's in. Seriously, google it and check out the site, and the menu. Yes, the apple streudel is just as good as everyone says it is.

So here are some Central Park pix as well. It was showtime that night, so I had to be careful. It was freeezing cold and my body is not used to it anymore. I did not want to get sick before my NYC debut. But I didn't!

Dad used to say, if you ever make it to Broadway, we'll rent a bus and come see you! I thought about him a lot on this trip. More on this, and more pictures tomorrow!