Care for S'more?

Last week was a pretty sweet week, if I could say so myself.

The theme revolved around chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers - just the best possible combination for a dessert. If you added in some vanilla bean ice cream, it would be perfection.

First up: S'Mores Cupcakes

I've been waiting for Dlish's S'mores cupcakes for a while and they're finally here (only for the month of March). 

V brought some to me and we nommed these in my food court.

The marshmallow top was really interesting! It wasn't icing and it was quite sticky (like a normal marshmallow...). The top was hard as if it was torched. What you can't see is that the cupcakes also had a graham cracker base! It was d-licious :)

Up next: S'mores Pie

M and I went out on a date last week and headed to The Carbon Bar. After eating, we weren't really interested in any of their desserts so we opted for something wayyyy more delicious.

I made reservations on OpenTable as we were paying for the bill (cannot stop talking about how awesome the mobile app is), and headed over to Bannock!

We were surrounded by people eating dinner, and even though I just finished eating dinner, I actually got hungry... BUT, our main meal here was:

...Yeah.

Howwwww amazing does this look?!

From the crust, to the brownie, to the beautifully toasted marshmallows, to the chocolate drizzle, to the complimenting berries.

Just perfection.

This will always be the next best thing to an actual campfire s'more for me, if not better.

Hope this makes your Monday a little more sweet!

The Shop at the Andaz Hotel

There's just something about chalkboard menus...

And cute cafes in New York.

They seem to go hand in hand.

We stumbled upon The Shop after visiting the New York Public Library.

I got to take a little tour of the hotel when finding the bathroom. From the outsides, it didn't look that big but it was actually gorgeous inside! And, I just found out it's a Hyatt hotel - now it all makes sense.

Cute little restaurant area, but we opted for the cafe.

This little cup holds all things good to start off a beautiful day.

#coffeeaddict, that's me!

- - -

To view the rest of my NYC posts, click here :)

Never Run

No. 4

Never run for a bus, train or man.

When one leaves, another arrives.

Pret A Manger

I was introduced to Pret A Manager back in Paris and fell in love with it since then. I loved the coffee, the hot foods, their soup, the fresh baked pastries, and most of all, their business philosophy.

I wish more companies were like this!

For breakfast, I just got an americano and a croissant. I had hoped I would have enough time to come back for some of their hot foods but I didn't. This just means I have to come back!

And that I will :)

- - -

To view the rest of my NYC posts, click here :)

St. Patrick's Day 2014

While I miss Laurier and these girls and our crazy shenanigans last year,

Here I am doing the complete opposite thing of what I want to be doing:

Drinking tea and working.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Pershing Square & GCT

Action shot with my hair blowing in the wind, with a coffee, in NYC? Check.

Pershing Square is situated in the underpass outside Grand Central Terminal. It is known for being one of the best breakfast places in New York, and I believe that. Look at this line up at 9am!

It has a really cute interior - kind of a hybrid between a diner and a bistro.

As we were on a mission to do everything touristy today, we ended up just getting our coffee to go.

If I had more time, I would definitely stay for breakfast!

And right across the street was the iconic Grand Central Terminal.

Happy Monday!

- - -

To view the rest of my NYC posts, click here :)

Café Habana

I mean if Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis came here... It has to be good, right?!

Café Habana first caught my attention because of the movie Friends With Benefits (which is one of my favorite movies).

I knew that the next time I visited NYC, I would have to come visit this place.

This place is literally a little hole in the wall - but a bustling one at that.

It was extremely busy!! We were lucky to get a table right away because we were only a party of 2.

I would recommend either coming at an odd eating time, or only take one lucky person to eat with you. It's super difficult to get a larger table than 2 there once it gets busy.

The first thing we ordered was the corn, obviously.

Grilled Mexican Corn, served with mayonnaise, cotija cheese, chili powder and lime.

SO. GOOD.

I do not really like spicy food, but the kick of spice was probably the best part. And the corn, and the mayo and cheese... Oh noms.

For our mains, M ordered the Grilled Shrimp Tacos.

Corn tacos and shrimp marinated with thyme, oregano, garlic, chipotle in adobo, citrus zest and olive oil...that would be served with guacamole, pico de gallo, rice and beans.

What a mouthful - to say and to eat! M loveddd it. I was lucky enough to try a bite and wish I had ordered this myself!

But, I had ordered Enchiladas estilo Norteno, which was corn enchiladas with grilled skirt steak with their salsa ranchera, crema and avocado...served with rice and beans.

Everything was under that little pile of delicious sauce.

I really wish I had a photo of the enchiladas because it was absolutely delicious.

With each bite, I was in heaven. 

The tortilla, steak, salsa, avocado, rice and beans combo...yup. You had to have a bit of everything each time. It was just the bomb dot com.

If you love Cuban/Mexican food, and corn on the cob specifically, you HAVE to visit this place. You won't be disappointed, I promise.

17 Prince Street

New York, NY 10012, United States

After dinner, we walked along Prince Street to get back to the Metro station.

On our way, we passed by some of the cutest shops.

We walked by this bookstore and both simultaneously agreed to go inside.

I'm pretty sure we stayed there for at least 30 minutes looking around.

M found this cute picture book called Paris vs. New York.

It was the cutest book that compared all the little things about the two cities.

Time to curl up and read until it's time for bed :) good night!

- - -

To view the rest of my NYC posts, click here :)

Because you need to know that there are better days

No. 3

Once in a while, amidst all your bad days, you'll have a good day.

A great day even.

Make sure you remember those days.

Keep them safely in the pockets of your coat or in a jar on your desk,

because you need to know that there are and will be better days.

You need to remember how on those days, you felt all warm inside.

Like you've just drunk a hot cup of tea.

Like a small fire has ignited inside of you.

Hold on to the warmth and never let it go.

Le Bernardin

Le Bernardin
a Michelin Guide three star restaurant (one out of seven in New York),
given a four-star rating from the New York Times since 1995,
voted 15th best restaurant in the world in 2009,
voted NYC’s Most Popular and No. 1 for Food,
has a food rating of 29 out of 30,
and ranked # 1 restaurant in New York City.

How, tell me how, I could possibly pass the opportunity to dine here?

Loving French cuisine and seafood, Le Bernardin seemed like the perfect last meal in New York.
Greeted by a beautiful interior, we sat at one of these middle tables.

Le Bernardin recently renovated in the summer of 2012. I'm not sure how it looked like before this but the interior now is beautiful. Even the dinnerware matched the interior of the restaurant perfectly!
(I'm sorry for the lack of quality & photos as I didn't have a chance to take many photos here.)

But let's talk about the food.
At Le Bernardin, the menu is always a prix fixe menu where you get to choose 2 dishes and 1 dessert. They also have a more expensive menu that includes special dishes and/or wine pairings. The menu is split into Almost Raw, Barely Touched and Lightly Cooked sections to show you how the chef will prepare the fish. I was a fan of this breakdown since I don't know much about seafood.

As a complimentary starter, they gave us a dish of the best smoked salmon cream cheese spread I've ever had. M and I couldn't stop eating it!

Not photographed: our glasses of Riesling :) I'm loving this wine lately!

For our appetizers, I started off with the Wild Striped Bass Tartare with a Jicama Salad atop paired with a Champagne-Mango Emulsion.

Besides appreciating nicely plated food, I also appreciate a little presentation when serving the dish. Yes, they poured the mango sauce in front of me while explaining what I was getting myself into.

M ordered the Bacalao which is Lightly Salted Grilled Cod with a Bell Pepper Salad with a Warm Scallion Vinaigrette.

For our main dish, we both ordered the Pan Roasted Monkfish served with Mushroom Purée and Black Trumpets, poured over with Armagnac-Black Pepper Sauce.

It was absolutely divine. The skin of the monkfish was crispy and the fish itself was so fresh. At first I was disappointed that the Cod wasn't available, but I have to say I was pleased with this dish as well.

One thing I have to talk about: the service.

I personally love restaurants that have great service. If your food is amazing but you have bad customer service, I will never return to your restaurant. And vise versa.

Although I had high expectations, they exceeded all of them.

From when I walked into the restaurant to giving me a stand for my purse,

to helping me get in and out of my chair to replacing my utensils when I was in the washroom,

to covering up our food while I was away from the table (as seen above) to constantly replenishing our cups without us realizing... It was flawless. I have to give it to them. They nailed it!

One thing they were missing though.. A bread crumb scraper.

As for dessert, we had about 6 different options to choose from.

M ordered the Pistachio for her love of pistachios (I'm great at stating the obvious), which included Passion Fruit Gelee, Meyer Lemon, and Pistachio ice cream.

I ordered Chocolate Mille-feuille as recommended by one of my friends. It came with Caramelized Phyllo, Thyme Gelee, and Salted Milk Chocolate ice cream.

It was unbelievably sweet! I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would but I did enjoy all the different textures of chocolate this dessert came with.

To end off our meal, we were given these petit fours from our waiter.

They are called Pear Financier, which is a type of moist Parisian tea cake. I wasn't a big fan of these. I think it would have went really well with a cup of coffee, which I did not have!

Overall, I had a great dining experience here.

If you enjoy seafood and fine dining, and do not mind spending money on gourmet delicacies, I would highly recommend visiting La Bernardin when you visit New York. For two unbelievably fresh seafood dishes and a dessert, it is well worth it. Visit Le Bernardin's website for more information on their menu and reservation policies.


Have a lovely weekend everyone, xx

- - -

To view the rest of my NYC posts, click here :)