{"id":428,"date":"2015-03-12T03:31:54","date_gmt":"2015-03-12T03:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com.au\/stories\/listopedia-zoe-foster-blakes-new-york-bucket-list\/"},"modified":"2022-08-08T23:20:29","modified_gmt":"2022-08-08T23:20:29","slug":"listopedia-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com.au\/stories\/listopedia-new-york\/","title":{"rendered":"Listopedia: Zo\u00eb Foster Blake’s New York Bucket List"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tell someone you\u2019re going to New York City<\/a> and they\u2019ll say, \u2018Oh, I must give you my list.\u2019 This is BECAUSE EVERYONE HAS A LIST and they are all supposedly \u201creally good and different\u201d.<\/p>\n

So here\u2019s my list. (It\u2019s really good and different.)<\/p>\n

I make no apology that 80% of the recommendations are food based. New York IS food.<\/p>\n

Get joyful in Harlem<\/h2>\n

Red Rooster in Harlem is on a lot of people\u2019s lists (their fried chicken is justly famous), but if you can, book Sunday brunch at Ginny\u2019s Supper Club downstairs, and be treated to BRAINBENDINGLY uplifting live gospel music (I may have cried with joy) and a buffet that includes fried chicken on waffles with syrup. Add mimosas and there might not be a better Sunday.<\/p>\n

Pig out at Shake Shack.<\/h2>\n

The \u2018shack is said to have the finest cheeseburger and fries on the planet, a claim strenuously backed by me. Ignore the calories. Have a peanut butter shake. Grab a red wine and make a meal of it. Regret nothing!<\/p>\n

Buy tickets for something.<\/h2>\n

Go to a basketball game or concert at Madison Square garden. See a Broadway show. See an off-Broadway show and wish you didn\u2019t. Watch some stand up at The Comedy Store. (Get there EARLY.) See an exhibition uptown at the Met. Even if it\u2019s just one thing and you shop the other five days, do it.<\/p>\n

Stay at a great hotel.<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m not much for the fancy uptown ones. I prefer those that are frequented by people far cooler than me so I can pretend I\u2019m one of them. The NoMad, which also has a terrific restaurant and bar. Ditto The Ace. (These are both midtown.) The Standard meatpacking is party central, while its sister on the LES is a bit more grown up. (They do a peanut butter espresso martini. YESSS.) The Bowery<\/a>, The Crosby, The Greenwich, The James<\/a>, The Wythe in Brooklyn, these are all excellent hotels, offering far more than just a place to sleep\/stash your shopping. Expedia’s Aussie travellers usually spend 5 nights in NYC so you could always hop between a few!
\n<\/p>\n

Drink something strong at a sneaky speakeasy.<\/h2>\n

There are some wonderful speakeasies in NYC, the best making you feel like it\u2019s 100 years ago. Little Branch is on the corner of 7th and Leroy, offers no signage and doesn\u2019t really want you there, which makes it all the sweeter when you get in and snake a booth. (Go before dinner is my advice.) Order an old fashioned and enjoy the feeling of your socks being firmly blown off. Also good (and close by on Hudson) is Employee\u2019s Only, which has a psychic in the window and is always furiously busy. Bar PDT (Please Don\u2019t Tell), is the king of can\u2019t-get-in-ness, and located behind a phone booth in a (very, very good) hot dog shop called Crif Dogs, on the lower east side. They open for bookings at 3pm each day and they\u2019re done by 3.02. So, do as we do, forget trying to book, get there early and have a dog or two and some beer, and WAIT. Just wait. What you earn for your patience are award-winning, magical cocktails, coupled with \u2018chef\u2019 dogs, fancy gourmet hot dogs created by chefs like David Chang (Momofuku) and Wylie Dufresne (wd-50.)<\/p>\n

Get some decent eggs.<\/h2>\n

The perfect place for breakfast\/lunch in the perfect area of Soho\/the LES is Egg Shop on Elizabeth St. With super virtuous options for the earnest among us, and sloppy, delicious killer BLTs for the rest of us, this place is my breakfast go-to.<\/p>\n

Get some decent coffee.<\/h2>\n

Going from Melbourne, coffee mecca of Australia, to Manhattan is always a shock to the system, for our dear American friends are yet to embrace espresso the way we have (vigorously and obsessively). Lucky then, that we found Everyman Espresso in Tribeca. They\u2019ve embraced it.<\/p>\n

Go to the best department store in the USA.<\/h2>\n

Barney\u2019s is department store done right. I spend at least a full day (solo) here each NYC visit to suck the marrow from what I think is the coolest offering of brands, labels, and wares in the city. It\u2019s such a well-stocked store. The buyers have such fantastic taste. Their shoe floor only just beats out their accessories floor as my favorite, and not just because when they go on sale you can pick up Celine and Chanel for 40% off.
\n<\/p>\n

Order the chicken soup at Fred\u2019s.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Fred\u2019s, on the 9th floor at Barney\u2019s, offers stupendous people watching, and offers the succulent options for mid-shopping sustenance. I always order the (light, delicious, famous) chicken soup with a side of fries and a glass of wine because this is pretty much my perfect meal.<\/p>\n

Sugar up.<\/h2>\n

Manhattan didn\u2019t get the I Quit Sugar memo. From the fluffy blueberry pancakes at Clinton St Bakery on the LES, to the finest cupcakes on the planet at Sprinkles (uptown), Dylan\u2019s epic candy store (also uptown) and the Snickers icebox pies at the (\u2018Sex and The City\u2019) Magnolia Bakery on Bleeker, sample all of it. You\u2019ll be walking 20 blocks afterwards to burn it off anyway.<\/p>\n

Find your \u2018local.\u2019<\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re a regular to NYC, you\u2019ll find yourself going back to the same places every time, even if there are newer, shinier places. Morandi, a cosy Italian trattoria \u2018saved us\u2019 in a blizzard when nothing else was open, and I\u2019m forever loyal. That their bolognaise and burrata salad are exceptional is irrelevant. Just kidding! This is NYC; that is ALL that\u2019s relevant. (Brunch here in summer is a buzzy, glamorous delight.)<\/p>\n

Grimaldi\u2019s pizza<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s hard to find bad pizza in NYC, but it can be just as hard to find the very best pizza too. Don\u2019t worry, I found it for you: Grimaldi\u2019s. Head to the one under the Brooklyn Bridge and wolf down the gold standard of American pie: coal-brick cooked, huge, simple and delicious. Arrive early (and hungry).
\n<\/p>\n

Make it count.<\/h2>\n

If there\u2019s a special occasion while you\u2019re in NYC, (like, REALLY special, cos this is several post codes from a cheap meal) I enthusiastically encourage you to consider Eleven Madison Park in Flatiron. (And, um, book six months out.) Housed in a magnificent deco building, Eleven Madison Park does the kind of creative, brilliant degustation that stays on your mind long after you leave. It never strays from the top 10 restaurants world wide, and nor should it.<\/p>\n

Get a game-changing massage.<\/h2>\n

The Greenwich Hotel in Tribeca is a total celebrity magnet (there are always 20 paps stationed directly out front), owns Locande Verde restaurant, which does the best crostini around (and is frequented by Jay-Z and B, but no biggie), and a superb hotel, it has an extraordinary spa. It\u2019s cool, it\u2019s lo-fi, it\u2019s subtle, it doesn\u2019t rely on Enya and trickling water fountains, it\u2019s dark and moody, Japanese-themed, and features an indoor pool and quirky gift shop. But most vitally, it has the best massage I\u2019ve ever had, and one I keep going back for: the Healing Birch. Try it.<\/p>\n

Walk the High Line.<\/h2>\n

Nice day? Walk the High Line (start near The Standard hotel in the meatpacking district), take a bunch of photos, buy the latest hipster ice confection and look into people\u2019s apartments like it’s a sport.<\/p>\n

Put yourself into a movie scene.<\/h2>\n

Movie buffs gotta dine at the lakeside Loeb Boathouse in Central Park, location of a million movie scenes. Order the crab cakes. Dress fancy. Heck, hire a rowboat.<\/p>\n

Balance it out.<\/h2>\n

You\u2019re gonna indulge in NYC. Daily. Unashamedly. We keep a lid on things by walking everywhere, and buying healthy soups for any meals that aren\u2019t located in a restaurant or caf\u00e9. Gourmet Garage and Dean and DeLuca are my favourites.<\/p>\n

Dine in a ratty old diner.<\/h2>\n

Preferably one that was an old train carriage, like Square diner in Tribeca (buckwheat pancakes with bacon and syrup, please), or The Diner in Williamsburg (get the burger).<\/p>\n

Eat some lobster rolls.<\/h2>\n

My first lobster roll was while seated at the tiny Pearl Oyster Bar in the West Village. The New England bun was warm and soft, the lobster was fresh and succulent and life couldn\u2019t get much better. (Especially when there was a glass of champagne involved\u2026 and shoestring fries\u2026. and peach cobbler with ice cream followed.) I also like the Red Hook lobster roll (find their truck at the weekend Brooklyn Flea markets) but Pearl wins.<\/p>\n

Experience Eataly.<\/h2>\n

Eat the pizza if you don\u2019t mind queuing, or better still, stand in the hectic food hall and enjoy some sensational meats, cheeses and wine. Then wish that a place like this existed in your city back home.<\/p>\n

Walk. Everywhere. Always.<\/h2>\n

The best thing about NYC is the sense of discovery<\/a>. Even if you\u2019re so hungover or jetlagged or tired you can barely breathe, pop on some trainers and start walking. You will not regret it. Ever. Have a vague destination if you prefer \u2013 MoMA, The Museum of the Moving Image, Rockefeller – they\u2019re all worth a squiz \u2013 then just wander and walk. This is a city that deeply rewards the flaneur.<\/p>\n

Expedia compensates authors for their writings appearing on this site, such compensation may include travel and other costs<\/i>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tell someone you\u2019re going to New York City and they\u2019ll say, \u2018Oh, I must give you my list.\u2019 EVERYONE HAS A LIST. Here’s my New York City Listopedia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,2,3,39,14,20],"tags":[40,186,51],"authors":[],"class_list":["post-428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-destination","category-experiences","category-explore","category-food-and-wine","category-interests","category-usa","tag-foodie","tag-listopedia","tag-new-york","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nListopedia Zo\u00eb Foster Blake's New York Bucket List | Expedia.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tell someone you\u2019re going to New York City and they\u2019ll say, \u2018Oh, I must give you my list.\u2019 EVERYONE HAS A LIST. 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