OOO #56: Out of Office - Manhattan
One day in the greatest city in the world
I am deeply lucky to have grown up on Long Island.
There are many reasons as to why I feel this way, but its proximity to New York City is definitely one of them.
I spent a lot of my childhood traveling in and out of the city: visiting my parents at work, meeting up with friends from camp, going to performances at Lincoln Center or on Broadway (which by the way, has completely warped me. I thought seeing “Wicked” with its original cast or watching Tim Curry play Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol” were extremely normal experiences shared by all American 8th graders. These are not universal American experiences. I have sounded wildly pretentious on too many occasions due to being spoiled by the island of Manhattan).
While I was home for winter break, my husband and I took a day to enjoy the city.
Lunch at the Lexington Candy Shop
I read this article in The New York Times about the Lexington Candy Shop a few weeks ago, and when I saw it touted the best egg cream in New York, I knew I had to go. I love a good diner (and yes I know that Lexington Candy Shop is a luncheonette, but also luncheonettes and diners serve similar things so it’s fine), so I happily waited the 30 minutes for a table to open up. I had a grilled cheese and french fries (which were very fresh and very good), while my husband had a butter burger. We were pleased with both. My husband heard a French woman leaving tell her companion, “pas mal, trop cher,” which is an excellent summary of the experience.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
I have been going to the Met my entire life (thanks, mom!), and few buildings feel like home more than the museum. This trip was short (usually I spend the day wandering around visiting my favorite pieces like they’re my old friends [they are, I was a lonely child]), and we only saw two things: The reinstallation of the European paintings galleries (they did an excellent job) and the Africa & Byzantium exhibition (open through March 3). My husband loves Byzantine art, and I love seeing cultures interact and influence each other (my heart skipped a beat reading the word “syncretic” on one of the labels). In recent years, I have become more interested in medieval African cities, kingdoms, empires (such as the Mali and Songhai empires in the west and the Great Zimbabwe in the south), and this was a nice expansion to my education on the subject. I also had never made a connection between Byzantine and Ethiopian art before, so that was revelatory. If you’re in New York, you should go!
Sezane
After the museum we headed south to my annual pilgrimage to Sezane. I don’t remember how I found Sezane, but I’ve been in love with it since about 2019. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve even modeled my closet after their knitwear bar.
This year, the store had become so popular we had to wait in line to get in, which gave my husband time to scare up a gingerbread cookie from Little Cupcake Bakeshop for me (and a coffee for him). I tried on a few things and ended up finding what I wanted online rather than in stock at the store. The greatest disappointment was last year Sezane gave people free cookies and I chose not to eat one, and this year there were none left, and I fear I shall never recover.
After Sezane, we walked around a few stores afterward (my husband had an excellent time at Uniqlo, which is welcome to make its debut in Ohio WHENEVER) until it was time for dinner.
Osteria Morini
We made a reservation at Osteria Morini because Anthony Bourdain once said that it was his favorite place to gorge on pasta in New York. I figured that there is no better endorsement than that. I also trusted it to be tasty because it markets itself as an Emilia-Romagna restaurant rather than just Italian.
The food was sublime, and honestly, way better priced than some places here in Columbus. We started with the carciofi; both of us regretted not having artichoke in Rome this summer. For my main course, I had the triangoli with pumpkin, walnuts, and thyme. I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I had a meal with that much depth, and it made me want to become a better cook. My husband similarly had a great meal: the polletto all passatelli, comprised of chicken, spaetzle, mushrooms, and eggplant. We ended the night with the bomboloni, which were shockingly tasty. Much like my feelings about Le Diplomate, I wish I could transport this restaurant to Columbus. Honestly, it was a 10/10.
After that, we hopped back on the Long Island Rail Road and headed back to my hometown.
Some places I didn’t get to go but would have:
Any bagel shop that’s good: Don’t worry, I definitely had two bagels in the six day span I was in New York (I guess now that I’m writing it, it doesn’t seem like enough, does it?). BUT a bagel in Manhattan always makes me happy. The bagel must be a little toasted, smothered in cream cheese, and have some pumpernickel in it (either a straight pumpernickel or marble).
Joe’s Pizza (on Carmine): Some friends and I did a pizza crawl in 2015, and I am STILL upset that somehow Joe’s did not win. I love Joe’s. I’ve been eating there since I was in high school and ventured down to the Village for the first time to be cool. In my heart, Joe’s is the best slice you can get in Manhattan, regardless of the results of the pizza crawl.
McNally Jackson Books: I’ve had excellent hauls from McNally Jackson before, but the location I usually go to has moved, and I didn’t have the energy to find out where it went (it does still exist though). While my TBR list is long, I’m always down to find a new book.
Two notes on fashion:
The era of the puffer coat is coming to an end. Canada Goose’s chokehold on the culture steered us away from wool coats and instead led us to a seven year reign of the puffer coat. My observations of New York’s cool girls, however, has made it clear that puffer coats are less popular than they used to be, and wool coats are back in. I’m guessing this has to do with the resurgence of fascination with 90s style (and by extension Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy). The wool coats I saw were typically mid-length to long in muted and earthy tones, including camel. I, for one, am pleased.
Colored tights are back. I am also pleased about that.
That’s it! Have a great rest of your week!