A friend recommended this amazing restaurant to me and I knew I had to try it. We decided to try it for lunch one day and it was raining cats and dogs on our way to this gem of a place. But boy, was it worth the wet adventure of finding it. It is located in the beautiful Tribeca area.
We started with their fresh ricotta and grilled bread. It was heavenly!
And this my friends, was the best arugula salad I have ever, EVER had! It was simple but so flavorful. I dream of it now.
This pasta dish was another highlight. It was a special and I cannot remember what it was called. But once again, it was beyond amazingggggg! This place knows how to make amazing food and I fell in love. Locanda Verde was my favorite restaurant of this trip. I cannot recommend it enough to you all!
We continued on our rainy day adventure to find another highly recommended bakery. The first of many, many bakeries we ate at this week. Yes, we take our desserts seriously… maybe too serious!
I want to show you a shot of this place from across the street. Why you ask? Because we walked by it time and time again! It was so little I kept overlooking it. But no, I was determined to find it and so that is what I did… after walking up and down, then down and up, and up and down again. I will blame it on the rain! Hopefully we walked off some calories before we indulged big time.
I have heard of this place for so long, but never took the time to search it out until this time. The cookies are big, heavy and thick.
We took shelter in a covered walkway across the street to start devouring these babies. The last one (Chocolate Peanut Butter) was my personal favorite. Don’t hate me, but I could be fine to never eat another one again. Yes, they are good, but they did not rock my world. I am sure it is a personal preference. Some like their cookies like these, more cakey ( at least these are moist, cakey). I am more a chewy, almost dough like cookie lover. We all have our favorite preference, and these are just not mine. But I was glad I came and I conquered!
Next, we decided to take cover for a while… and there was no better place then the Natural History Museum. My kids were excited to visit the “Night at the Museum” museum! We had a blast searching for all the movie displays.
Of course, the “dum dum want gum gum” Easter Island statue was the biggest find!
Then we headed downtown to find the bull that is so famous in so many movies. This boy of mine was so happy to find this!
Another tradition we have is take our “first timers” to Liberty and Ellis islands. But sadly, they were both still closed from the damage from Hurricane Sandy. This is as close as we got.
Our dinner spot is actually kind of a famous place. The Little Owl is located at the bottom of the building that was used in the Friends show. It is located where “Central Perk” would be. It is also the absolute tiniest restaurant! Definitely make reservations before you go.
We started with their meatball sliders. Bon Appetite did a write up on these and so I knew we had to try them. They were tender and very good.
This was my favorite dish here. Broiled Halibut with summer peas, corn and a pesto vinaigrette, So good!
My hubby loved their pork chop.
Their branzino was also very good and so tender. My son couldn’t get enough of this one. We also ordered their lobster risotto (I don’t recommend it) and the crispy chicken that I also do not recommend. It was crispy, but also very salty and just not that tasty. Win some, lose some.
For dessert, we ordered beignets with nutella and raspberry sauce and a vanilla panna cotta. The beignets were just okay tasting and the panna cotta was the worst I have ever been served. In their defense, the hostess saw how gummy and tough the panna cotta was and she apologized and said that was not how their panna cotta normally is and there was a mistake. Unfortunately, we already paid for it and it was completely unedible. Oh well…
Another big tradition we do for our “first timer kids” is the Blue Man Group at the original Astor theatre where they started. It is such a fun experience. If you have never been, you must go! It is a tiny theatre and just perfect!
Dad, treated us good and bought us seats in the “splash zone.”
After the show, the blue men come out and are happy to take pictures with everyone that wants a picture with them. The kids loved it!
Back to eating…. again. I am a lover of rice pudding and they have a place that is all and only about the stuff. They offer so many flavors… it is unreal.
I wish I could remember what flavors these were, but with everything we ate all week… it has become a blur. I don’t recommend you get this size or multiple flavors. It is heavy, rich and overwhelming with too much. Maybe we just weren’t hungry anymore???
Call me crazy, but on the way home I had to try another bakery. You all have heard of Momofuku’s Milk Bar, right? I was dying to try the cereal milk soft serve, their cookies (especially their compost cookie) and the crack pie. Luckily we caught a cab and got there right before they closed. But honestly, I was somewhat disappointed. The cereal milk soft serve was nothing special, but the biggest disappointment was their baked goods are not baked on the premises. They are baked elsewhere and prepackaged. It was more like a store than a bakery. The cookies were not that great. But I did like their cake truffles and their crack pie (even though it too was prepackaged) was fantastic! We all went to bed that night with very very full bellies!
