Weekend Getaway to NYC/NJ – Part 1 (The Food)

I need to forewarn you. This is a photo heavy post (at least, for me).

In my last post, I mentioned that I recently went on a short trip to visit my friend out in New Jersey.

I’ve been to visit a few times, and somehow I find that I love going to visit more and more each time I go. I think it’s the combination of re-visiting my favourite spots, along with discovering new parts of their area that makes it so much fun. Really, I also just love being able to spend time with good friends that I really don’t get to see very often.

Since I have that fancy DSLR camera now, I went a little bit nuts on the photography. It was so much fun testing it out in a setting that doesn’t involve my tripod!

I wanted to break my re-cap into a few posts, starting with some details about the food I ate.

Food pictures are always a signature of mine. This may sound weird, but one of the reasons I like having these photos is because I can look at them again and try to relive the dining experience. We eat so many meals, it can be easy to forget them, right?!?!

Here’s some snapshots of some of the memorable dining experiences from my trip:

On the first day of my trip, I went to New York City and spent the day eating and shopping. I was beyond excited to check out the Chobani Store in SoHo for breakfast.

The presentation was awesome, right down to the tiny details, like the cheesecloth lid.

My order, which was on the seasonal menu. It was their original Greek yogurt, topped with pumpkin butter, crushed ginger snaps, crumbled pecans and craisins. It was out of this world!!

After a long morning of shopping, I was famished for lunch. I decided to go to Chelsea Market, which is one of my favourite parts of the city. I ended up grabbing a seat at the bar of the Giovanni Rana Pastificio & Cucina because I knew their fresh pasta wouldn’t disappoint.

The service was great and I loved the bread!

I ended up ordering the Tagliatelle Bolognese. I’d describe it further, but I feel my mouth watering again just thinking about it!

I just had to throw in another shot because it was so delicious. Nothing beats fresh pasta and sauce!!

I spent the rest of the afternoon in the city, and before I hopped on the train to go back to New Jersey, I wanted to grab a quick dinner. Oddly enough, I hadn’t tried pizza in NYC before, so I chose a random “New Yorkish” place and went in.

Everything they had on display looked fantastic, and I was a bit stressed about making the “wrong” decision. I asked the man working the cash and he recommended I go with a classic, the margarita pizza. Sold!

This was, no word of a lie, one of the best tasting slices of pizza I’ve ever had in my life. The crust was thin and crispy, the sauce was sweet and fresh, and it just tasted like magic. I ate every last bite and have been thinking about it ever since!

The next day, my friend and I headed into Princeton, NJ. They used to live right in the downtown, so we went back because it’s such a great place for tourists. Even though it was only 11am, when we walked by my favourite ice cream shop, The Bent Spoon, I had to get something. This pumpkin mascarpone ice cream was perfect.

We were pretty busy and decided to grab a quick lunch to go. Olives had so many options, and they let you order a combination bowl like this. I got the tabbouleh salad, chick pea and kale salad, with hummus and a freshly baked roll. The presentation wasn’t perfect, but it tasted great!

Before I went to the airport to head back to Toronto, we stopped for a quick dinner at Osteria Procaccini for some brick oven pizza. I still had a craving from my slice a few days before. I didn’t expect it would live up to that meal, but I knew it would be a good pizza, since you can’t go wrong with the brick oven.

I ordered a pizza with locally made sausage, mushrooms and drizzled truffle oil.

You can see how fresh the ingredients were! They were pretty generous with the truffle oil.

That about wraps up my noteworthy food photos from my trip. I have more to share, but that will have to wait for another day.

Do you take food pictures on vacations (or otherwise)?? Tell me I’m not the only one who loves re-living these meals 🙂