A Slice of Kate

Hi, hello, I’d like to tell you about the long weekend I had in New York over President’s Day. I used to go up to the city at least once a year pre- pandemmy, but life got busy and I hadn’t been back in probably 5 years. When a friend’s sister offered to host a girls weekend, I jumped at the opportunity. Y’all, I have missed NYC.

Coming from Maryland, the train is usually the easiest option, especially if you, like me, do not have the desire nor the death wish to drive in the New York City. I headed to the Amtrak Station and proceeded to wait over an hour until my train finally arrived. Allegedly it was late due to “trespassing on the tracks.” The excitement of wondering if you’re ever going to get off the cold station platform is half the fun or train travel, right?

About 3 hours later, I arrived at Moynihan Train Hall about an hour and a half later than scheduled, but was spurred on by the promise of pizza and a warm apartment. After a secondary subway journey on the D Train to Brooklyn, I was welcomed by my friends and authentic New York pizza. We decided to hang in for the evening since we had both worked and traveled that day and we wanted to save our strength for the activities ahead of us.

The next day was a big one. We started off with some delicious babka from Ostrovitsky’s Bakery before heading into Manhattan for lunch in Chinatown. Our host decided to take us to Wo Hop, and James Beard Classics award-winning American Chinese spot. This tiny, basement dining room has an assortment of brightly colored tabletops and walls covered in signed dollar bills from celebrity visitors over the years. At the advice of our hostess, we shared a number of plates amongst the table, including fried dumplings, duck lo mein, sesame chicken, and pork fried rice. If you’re a fan of spicy mustard, a dish is provided for the table, but be aware it is horseradish forward. I have to say, I was promised some of the best Chinese food I would ever have, and I was not disappointed. My personal favorites were the fried dumplings and the sesame chicken. I’m already plotting when I can go back and get more. A quick PSA — be prepared to wait in line to eat in the dining room, and bring cash since it’s cash only. There is an ATM there if you need.

After lunch, we headed to a matinee of Hadestown. For anyone unfamiliar, it’s essentially a New Orleans jazz-style retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth. I LOVED it. Maybe it’s because I hadn’t seen a live Broadway show in years, but the energy, the music, the performances were all so wonderful.

We had some time to kill between the show and our dinner reservation, so we popped into Nothing Really Matters, a speakeasy-style cocktail bar located inside the subway station on 50th Street between 7th and 8th. While the cocktails were yummy (and some even come flaming), my favorite part may have been the bathroom entirely covered in glitter. I really am a simple creature, at heart.

For dinner we went to Nobu57 in Midtown. I know Nobu has become somewhat ubiquitous, but it has its reputation for a reason. The food is GOOD. I think the tuna sashimi was the best tuna I’ve ever had in my life. It literally melted in my mouth. I’m not a girl that typically fantasizes about fish, but gimme more of that tuna.

For brunch we went to Sunday in Brooklyn, which is located in the Williamsburg neighborhood. The vibes are excellent, as are the lattes, table pancakes, and biscuits and gravy (I know because I had all of them). The table pancake is thick and smothered in a hazelnut syrup-y goodness. The biscuits and gravy have a little hot sauce kick to them.

My one request on this trip was to visit The Ripped Bodice, which is a romance-only bookstore in Park Slope. I’m a sucker for a romance novel, and this adorable and well-thought out shop is so much fun to visit. The books are organized by sub-genre or trope so it’s easy to find what you like. They also have a really fun “Blind Date with a Book” setup where a table of giftwrapped books have a brief description of the plot on the front and you choose based solely on that. Each of the friends I was traveling with and I all bought one surprise book and had so much fun opening them and seeing what we ended up with.

After a lazy, rainy afternoon reading our new books, we braved the weather and headed back into Manhattan for dinner at Olio e Piu before hitting up my favorite showtune’s piano bar, Marie’s Crisis Cafe. This basement bar in the West Village is my mothership. Cheap drinks, year-round Christmas lights, and sing-along showtunes? Perfection.

All in all, I had a truly wonderful weekend in the City. The weather was miserable, the trains were late, but I could care less. That’s all part of the New York City experience. I was talking with a friend about my trip and she told me that one of her absolute favorite things about New York is that you can go there and never do the same thing twice. There’s always something new and exciting. Depending on who you’re with, especially if they’re local, there’s always a different restaurant to check out or bar to drop into, a new bagel shop or pizza place, and new pop-up shop or limited-engagement show. I could never live at the pace of New York City, but it sure is lovely to visit.