Tag Archives: The Chelsea Market

What’s to come…

I have lots of pictures, and lots of typing to do — you’ll see everything over the next couple of weeks in a variety of posts. Lets just say this — one month, 3 fabulous cities. That’s right, I am a dedicated New York City lover, but I ventured to new restaurants not only in my favorite city — but I did the same in Boston and San Francisco.

New cities, new restaurants, new adventures. And, my favorite part — exploring different food markets! We all know how much I love The Chelsea Market located in [the best neighborhood] Manhattan, but I was able to explore other gems, like the Quincy Market in Boston and The Ferry Building’s farmers market in San Fran.

In case you can’t wait to see my posts, feel free to follow me on Instagram to get a sneak peek of my pictures! Thanks to the setup of Instagram’s new web feature, you can follow my pictures via mobile or online!!! Plus, almost all of these photos aren’t shared on Twitter!

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Also, be sure to follow me on Pinterest for other great foodie ideas!

What To Do When Touring NYC

I have had several people message me to ask about what to do and see when they come into New York City — and boy, where on earth should I begin?

There’s so much to do in NYC, and I feel like a lot of people that come to New York think that they need to stick to the Time Square, 5th Ave, and Central Park area. If you seriously spend all of your time in those areas and you tell someone who lives in New York that’s what you did when you came to the city — they will probably laugh at you. I can’t tell you how many times people have said that’s what they do when they come to the city, and that’s fine if that’s what they want to do. But then they have the audacity to say that they hate the city. If all I did in NYC was wander through the frustrating streets of Times Square and shop only down 5th ave… Well, I’d hate NYC too. So, before you judge the city, you need to actually explore this amazing town and walk the streets the locals are on!

My very good college friend, Bill, came into the city the other weekend and I gave him a nice full day of touring the city. Of course I wasn’t able to show him everything, but we really covered some good ground. My first tip is to give yourself a day where you are actually exploring and NOT shopping. No one wants to lug bags all around, and I promise you that those stores you want to shop in will be there the next day.

So, with that said, explore the city and see as much as you can, pause to take photos, but no shopping allowed, folks! (And if you do shop, don’t spend your money in stores that you have at home, go to some new places.)

So, Bill and I started at 23rd Street and 10 Ave. where we climbed the Highline stairs and then walked south on the Highline. He loved seeing this really cool feature of the West Side. Who would have thought how gorgeous and relaxing an old elevated freight train track bridge could be! During the warmer months there’s a section of grass to lay out on, and a really cool feature that is near 14th Street is a water walkway where people can take their shoes off and walk through running water.

The Highline extends pretty far, so we got off on 16th Street (there’s an elevator and a bathroom at this set of stairs). And right there after you get off the stairs, you’ll find the Chelsea Market (ask someone where it is if you have a hard time finding it, but I promise you that it’s there). We walked through the Chelsea Market, we had already eaten so sadly we did not explore the food scene in probably one of my favorite places in the city.

When we exited the other end of the market, we found ourselves on 9th ave. We walked south through Meatpacking and began to wander the streets of the famous West Village. I was so happy that Bill was willing to walk, it’s always nice to be with someone who will walk and discover new things in the city with you. We walked through a little neighborhood flee market and then walked right by the well-known Magnolia Bakery (I may have said no shopping, but you should def. shop for a tasty cupcake here), and we ended up in my old neighborhood — Washington Square Park.

It was a gorgeous day and was the perfect time for him to see such an amazing (and pretty eclectic) park. We sat by the fountain for a bit to take a load off our feet and then checked out some pretty cool art and then we headed to Soho.

Before we left the park, we saw a man creating some really cool art. At first I thought it was chalk art, but it was actually Sand Art. Remember Sand Art? Different colors of sand and funky containers and you could pour the sand in and make different designs. My mom never let me pay for a toy that was made of sand when I was a kid. I agree, it’s a waste of money — but oh my gosh this guy was talented. We were catching him at the beginning of his creation, but watching him pour sand with his bare hands into such a gorgeous design was an amazing experience. Clearly, he was using the blocks of concrete as a way to measure and keep the design symmetrical. We asked him, “What if you mess up?” And his response was, “I never mess up.”

We wandered through Soho and I showed Bill Spring Street and then he got a glimpse of the outrageously hectic Broadway. Then, we got into the subway at Prince Street and Broadway and headed north to the typical Times Sq. 42nd Street.

This was Bill’s first time actually touring the city (he came in as a child to see The Lion King and has not been back since). So, I had to show him the most famous parts of the city. We got off the subway at 42nd Street and walked the typical 7 blocks through the square (Times Sq. goes from 42nd Street to 49th Street).

I will admit, I did have us go into one store, and it was one of those NYC souvenir shops because I wanted to get my very good friend from home an “I <3 NYC” shirt for his new baby. I couldn’t resist!

We then made another pit stop to my boyfriend’s office (he works so hard all the time and he was working on this weekend too). My boyfriend and Bill met around graduation time 2 years ago, and they wanted to say hi to each other before Bill’s trip came to an end. My boyfriend’s office also happens to have a beautiful view of Central Park — so Bill was spoiled with an extraordinary view of the park.

We then headed up to the park and wandered up to the Boat House and we saw some gorgeous fountains and then we figured we would just keep on walking. We changed our direction from walking south to north to walking west because we eventually needed to get to a subway.

While walking through the park to get to the subway, we stumbled upon an amazingly emotional place — the John Lennon memorial. It’s truly incredible, to this day people are still pausing in silence, and still in silence they are taking photos of the memorial. I don’t think there’s a soul out there that would ever say that The Beatles didn’t change music forever. (And I will admit, I had never seen this before. So it was a new experience for me… That’s what I love about NYC, you’re always see and experience new things!)

We then took the subway back down to Madison Square Park. I bet anyone who knows me would easily know what I was taking Bill here for… You guessed it… SHAKE SHACK! Bill lives in Philadelphia and there is going to be a Shake Shack opening there soon. But there was no way I could ever let Bill think that this was a Philadelphia thing, he needs to know that the greatest burger is actually a New York City creation (Philadelphia gets the cheesesteak, they can’t get the hamburger too). And now he knows! He was amazed by the burger, cheese fries, and milk shake (I’m getting myself hungry now).

We were laughing ridiculously hard, let alone staring for a long time at this woman who had her children on leashes! I will admit, I was a leash child growing up — my parents say that I was “a runner.” But I was never as old as these kids when I was on a leash. These kids look at least 5 or 6 years old, at what age do your children learn to stand still? This photo is even more of a hoot because I was able to capture the moment when these kiddos were playing in the dirt. They are on leashes and playing in the dirt?!? You would think they were dogs! (Go ahead and look at this photo again, click on it too to see it in a larger scale, and go ahead and laugh with me over this photo!)

That tour of New York City went from about 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Imagine folks, if you don’t shop you can actually see the city! What else would I have wanted to show Bill if he had another day? I’d want to show him: more of Soho and take him to La Esquina for tacos, China Town for some dumplings, TriBeCa for some gorgeous architecture, and St. Mark’s street for some fun, young nightlife and some very good Sake! Looks like I am already planning his next visit!

Food Adventures This Weekend

Where ever you turn, you’ll find food! Especially in New York City!

This weekend I headed to my neighborhood’s local market with my friend Stefanie. We were both on a quest to pick up a few Holiday gifts — and of course we had to go on the weekend because we have both been so busy with work during the week. On the weekends, the Chelsea Market is packed with locals and tourists — all determined to discover the newly opened stands and shops throughout the market.

While waiting for Stefanie to arrive, I strolled through a few of my favorite places. For one, I spent some time in The Lobster Place taking a few photographs to show all my readers. I watched as fresh sushi was made (yum! I love avocado on my sushi!) and I took in the smell of the store… All fresh fish! The smell reminds me of New England — the place I grew up for the first half of my life.

During this time of year the most gorgeous lights are hung in the very center of the Chelsea Market. They drape down below the clock and light up the market place. These are not up year-round and I love when they are put up at this time of year!

The Chelsea Market stretches a full avenue long, going from 9th Avenue to 10th Avenue. There are two entrances/exits both are on each side of the market. On the 10th Avenue end this weekend, there was a small petting zoo with cows. City children gathered ’round to pet the baby farm animals. I love seeing things like this… especially in the heart of Manhattan. It just shows that you truly can find just about anything in the city — and the city children get a taste of country life. Yes, I believe that children should experience the fresh country air. But I do believe that the city is a fantastic place to raise children.

On Saturday night I went to the new Spanish-Moroccan fusion restaurant only 1 block from the Chelsea Market (and only a few blocks from my apartment). I went with my boyfriend, his cousin, and his cousin’s wife. Ventanas is a new tapas restaurant located on 16th Street and 10th Avenue. The menu is large and may seem overwhelming, but you want to order plenty of plates because the portions are rather small (this is the only down-side to this restaurant). We ordered the following: Pisto (Spanish Ratatouille), Guacamole with Plantain Chips, Ceviches de Camarones (Shrimp Ceviche), Croquetas de Bacalao (Codfish Croquets), Frituras De Queso De Cabra (Goat Cheese Fritas), 2 Empanadas Espinaaca (Spinach and Manchego Empanadas), Albondigas (Lamb Meatballs), and Dulce de Leche Empanadas for dessert.

We enjoyed everything! Perfect bite-sized tapas that everyone was able to share with one another. I love tapas-style meals because everyone is engaged with one another over something as simple as the food on the table. Instead of ordering your own plate and keeping it to yourself — you are able to pass the plates around while saying “yum! Try this, you’ll love it!” The food also came out quickly so we would order 2 or 3 plates at a time! That way we weren’t too overwhelmed with an obnoxious amount of plates on the table. We all enjoyed the food, but we also loved the music playing in the background. Lots of exotic tunes had us practically dancing in our seats — like The Gypsy Kings (a French band that plays flamenco-style music), as well as other current, more popular songs as well. But I was excited to hear some music that I grew up to! My father often played The Gypsy Kings and over the years I managed to memorize some of their songs like Bamboleo. Besides the music, I loved the decor as well. You felt like you were some place exotic the moment you stepped into the restaurant. The shapes, the colors, the plush booths — you felt like you were in Morocco!

At 10 p.m. a belly dancer came out and circled the restaurant for some extra entertainment. A few rowdy people got up and danced with her — which was great entertainment for us! By 10:30 some tables were cleared off and pushed to the side and a bunch of people started to get up and dance … including us! I wasn’t expecting my tapas-style dinner to turn into a dance party! But we were all quick to jump to our feet and make our way to the dance floor!

This is such a fantastic place to go with friends! Order some drinks, get a little rowdy, but overall experience some fantastic food! Watch how much you order though, because the bill can get pretty high rather quickly!

Who Loves Whole Foods?

My cat, Hudson, climbed into this Whole Foods shopping bag to take a nap!

I love Whole Foods, but to be honest it’s not the only place I go shopping for my groceries. In addition to Whole Foods, I go to Trader Joe’s and the Chelsea Market — I know, it seems crazy that I go to multiple places to get all of the groceries that I need, but I have discovered where to find the good deals and where to find the best products. Trader Joe’s is where I get all of my basics, Whole Foods for specialty fruits or veggies as well as meat for a special holiday, and the Chelsea Market if full of amazing things like local and imported cheeses, fruits and veggies, nutella (yup, nutella is a food group in case you didn’t know), desserts, seafood, and much much more! I do love Whole Foods, but it looks like I’m not the only one who likes the store … My cat, Hudson, loves to crawl into shopping bags — this bag he ended up taking a nap in!

The Lobster Place

lobsters in The Lobster Place, located in the Chelsea Market


Growing up, I was never a huge fan of seafood. That changed this summer when I started eating fruit of the sea prepped different ways with different spices prepared by brilliant chefs that really do know what they are creating. I also realized that it’s not only the professionally trained cooks in the kitchen that know what they’re doing — it’s also those who never got a culinary education and they learned hands on by other great cooks (like moms, grandmothers, or other people they grew up around). I have a theory and I want to prove it by the end of the summer, and that is that if a restaurant has family recipes — the food probably is disgustingly scrumptious.

spicy tuna rolls!


I was told that sushi rolling is formulaic and it’s a feeling. Ever role grape leaves stuffed with rice, meat, and a variety of spices? It takes the perfect amount of stuffing, not too much, not too little, and the rolling has to be done tight enough so the stuffing won’t fall out when it’s cooked but it can’t be rolled too tight (I feel like the meat gets dried out if it’s rolled too tight). Well, when chefs at places like The Lobster Place are creating mass amounts of sushi on a daily basis — they have to have that “formula” and “feeling” down.
At the Lobster Place in the Chelsea Market, there’s a nice selection of seafood that you can buy and prepare yourself in your own kitchen or you can buy already cooked foods such as an assortment of seafood soups and sushi. Out of the soups, I recommend the lobster bisque — it’s the best in New York City (the next closest tasty bisque is at the Chowder Bar in Bay Shore, NY and then at the Penn State Nittany Lion Inn in State College, Pa … really, those are the best soups!). And for the sushi, take a guess at what I bolted for … Yup, you got it — the Spicy Tuna Rolls! I actually decided to give the California rolls a shot too and they were actually pretty good. The freshness of the sushi was extraordinary and even though the shop smelled like an overwhelming stench of seafood, I didn’t feel like I was chowing down on raw food in any way.
The sushi and bisque is a great idea for lunch, especially if your work is in the neighborhood — and on nice days you can bring your lunch outside and enjoy the High Line. The prices range depending on the size of the soup cups and the sushi count — but everything is really affordable. You can also grab already made sushi that’s been made already the same day so if you’re in a rush you can grab and go.

Secret: The men rolling the sushi will happily make you any sushi you’d like. Even though the spicy tuna rolls were already made and located in the refrigerator — they made me fresh sushi for me right there for me to watch!