Best croissants in NYC

So, my sister bought my son tickets to Alice in Wonderland theater. Since Saturday is the day I do 1 on 1 time with him , I had pre- planned a breakfast at Dominique Ansel.

I was introduced to the bakery at a boozy UES brunch a few weeks ago. After inhaling a few croissants at that party, I was looking for an opportunity to go there in person to check it out.

So , 2 trains later we made it. It’s such a fantastic narrow long space. Huge outdoor space and the best part is that you can see them making the pastries right there through the clear glass.

Only have the links , no pictures as I was too busy eating and running after my 21 month. His face was glued to the pastry display.

So, the almond croissants are to die for. Pain au chocolat has the perfect amount if sweetness. Since I wanted to eat egg, I also got a super mini egg and brioche sandwich.
I pretty much ate it all.

It’s a great place to hang out with friends , catch up , just relax.
It’s going to be on my visit often list.
Dominique Ansel

Highly recommend it and he does smaller size croissants for parties, if you ask nicely. Ex – Daniel Pastry chef , incase you were wondering.

The play was wonderful too. A great outing in a great city.

Amelia Island, FL, Ritz Carton

We decided to go somewhere close for the holidays in December. We were 6 adults and 2 kids ( 19 months). Everyone had been talking about the Ritz Calton at Amelia Island, so we decided to check it out, especially since all their properties are kid friendly.

It was a painless 2 hour flight, plus a 30 minute drive to the island. I would recommend getting a car, as it makes it easier to go downtown , which yes, had the typical touristy stores, but also some great independent shops- like the coffee shop, the book store, the ice cream shop.

We had rooms with the Club access,  ocean views, etc. The club room is a perk, which just ends up paying for itself. They have several food presentations throughout the day, along with wine and champagne. A must, at any of the RZ hotels.

There was tons of things for kids to do, they had age specific meeting rooms converted into kids play rooms ( in addition to the Ritz calton kids club room, they have a beautiful cockatoo Amelia !)

We ate at ‘SALT’ their fine dining restaurant. While pricy, it was super fantastic. In short- a must go to place- especially in March or October.

Popular honeymoon destinations from 2011

So, its December already, a lot of married and happy couples later, I am happy to share some popular destinations booked this year for honeymoons.

-French Polynesia with Bora Bora being the highlight of most people.

-Hawaii for the more adventurous

-Costa Rica for eco friendly and very active

Other destinations that are on my list of places to suggest, would be:

Turkey

Morocco

South Africa

Necker Island for someone seeking something exotic ( for Celebrations week in October)

Maldives

Europe- there are so many fantastic choices here

Bon Voyage !

DInner at Perry Street

This month has been hectic. Be it knitting club, book club, ring shopping for an engagement ring with a friend, you get the point! 😉

So, I had a friend who works in the travel industry visiting NYC and when we met in October in Paris, we already had talked about our dinner reservations in NYC. I was very keen to go to LaConda Verde http://locandaverdenyc.com/  , but even though I called 1 month ahead, the only reservations that I got, was 6.30 pm ( WAY, too early for me! ) or 10.30 pm.. a little insane.

So, I finally picked Perry street, http://jean-georges.com/ Jean Georges 8th restaurant was a good pick and thankfully not French ( my friend would not have been pleased!)

The amuse buche was yummy- I can’t remember what exactly it was- it entailed thai sauce and a little spice kick!! 🙂

 

it was yummy !

For appetizers, we shared the home made burrata with olive oil and Toasted sourdough with fig tapanade.

 

Quite impressed, since it was home made..

For our entree, I got the butter poached Lobster with lemon grass and Kefir lime broth, my friend got the Grilled beef strip loin with Chedder-Jalapeno fritters and steak sauce. Both were absolutely delicious!

Its hard to mess up lobster- but this was heavenly!
My friend enjoyed it!

For dessert, we shared a seasonal dessert– it was more scone-ish rather than than soft and sweet and caramel-ly.

Had coffee to end the evening, and would really recommend the restaurant. After dinner we walked back towards the West Village, a nice 10 m walk and my friend, said it reminded him of Europe, with all the short buildings and the cobbled streets.

I have to agree- this is why we had always wanted to live there. I guess, this is why Carrie from Sex and the City lived here too, a happening part of town! we did walk past the home that was used as her house from the outside.

 

Day 8: Paris

Day 8: October 15th, Saturday

Today was the last day here in Paris. Last night, we had checked into Hotel Tremoille. By the end of the trip, we were a little tired of the packing and the unpacking, I have to say!

As soon as we checked into hotel Tremoille, I did the property inspection of this hotel. It has been renovated , ( 10 years ago), it has 93 rooms, so intimate feel. The 2nd and 5th floors of the hotel have a balcony. ( they have mostly Superior rooms) but also suites, Jr. Suites , standard and deluxe rooms.

Room #609 has a view of the Eiffle tower. I didn’t like the standard rooms that had a court-yard view- the overlooking building, was quite dirty, though these rooms were very bright.

They can do 3 rooms as well for families and block them off, to make them connecting. I love the decor of the rooms- they were modern and clean. Very nice. Some rooms had a small balcony you can look outside from. The junior suites are around 45 sq meters so quite big.

Deluxe rooms and up, have showers + the baths, otherwise , just the baths. They carry Molton brown products – you actually get a choice of bath gels! A necessity, no, but a luxury for sure!

I wish that they put water as an amenity that would have been nice.

The continental breakfast buffet here was decent, nothing to rave about. Overall a great experience, a great fusion of modern with the old.

We will miss Paris – we often think of moving back!

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Day 7: Paris

Day 7: Oct 14th, Friday

Today, we checked into hotel Powers. http://www.hotel-powers.com/

A 4 star property, just off Champs Elysees, very close to George V (four seasons).

A very nice hotel, for those looking to be in this area. Personally, for me, I don’t like this area very much at all. To me, it is like staying at Times square in NYC. I prefer either Marais, on the right bank, or I personally LOVE the left bank.

Anyway, super spacious rooms, they were clean and neat . This was a home that was converted into a hotel in 1919. It is only 6 floors, we were in room # 50, a deluxe room. It was very comfortable, nicely decorated, modern French feel. Great views of the street below.

They have superior, deluxe and Jr. Suites in this property. They don’t have a spa on site, but just a few doors down. The hotel is just next to Maison du chocolate, so can be quite a problem! If you feel claustrophobic, the life in this hotel then is not for you. You can walk. Hotel serves a nice continental breakfast in the mornings as well.

 

Close by, is Pershing Hall as well and the ever famous Le Relais de l’Entrecôte relaisentrecote.fr

 Lunch was at Spring! this was a hard table to get for dinner, so we bought the tickets on brown paper tickets http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/198577
If you want to read what the new york times had to say, read on.
We arrived on time at 12.3o pm for our table. We were seated promptly and the food began!
First there were appetizers to share- eel, radish in different colors, ham.
Then, the scallop with some herbs and a buckwheat pancake of sorts.. it was delicious!
Then came out the pork and blood sausage, from a very famous place in the South. I was stuffed by this course!
We decided to indulge in the cheese place see the selection below!!! yummy!
Then came out the desert poached pear in a dark chocolate sauce, filled with cheese..
We got a chance to speak to the couple over on the next table- they were from the USA too, very nice. We spoke to the chef as we were leaving.. It was great to see the kitchen as we ate  – it was nice to see how mechanical it seemed and it was on auto pilot it was so clean and it seemed to work like clock work.
We really enjoyed it! Highly recommend it.
Dinner tonight, lucky for us- was at a friend’s place- home-made food, wine , champagne, dessert, great company what else can one ask for!