beXnlog

I Could Eat 50

Day 3 of Vacation in New York:

- No Sunday is really complete without starting at Vegetarian Dim Sum House. We ordered Mashed Taro Treasure Boxes, Rice Flour Rolls with Fake Ham and Cilantro, Monk Dumplings, Fried Bananas and a small Pan Fried Noodles with Mushrooms and Fake Ham. Surprisingly, we didn't have to wait for a table since Chinatown was uncharacteristically quiet. The food was very good and fresh, even the tea was more fragrant than usual. I love this place!

- After our yummy brunch, we headed uptown to The Rose Center for Earth and Space. I mainly wanted to check out the Hayden Planetarium (where we saw the "Passport to the Universe" show) but i was most impressed with the "Scales of the Universe" exhibit - really ungraspable notions of large and small. The geology exhibits were really interesting, too. Most notable were the beautiful polished slabs of banded iron.

- Since the Planetarium is part of the American Museum of Natural History, we spent the next few hours checking out exhibits on human evolution, mammals, dinosaurs, extinct animals and primates.

- A snack was much needed after so much walking, so we went to the Chelsea Market at 9th Ave and 15th St. Some of the food establishments were closed/closing by the time we arrived, but it wasn't too late to follow our noses to Fat Witch for brownies! The smell of baking chocolate was amazing AND the brownies were great, too! We each got a "Brownie Baby" (walnut and blondie) for $1.10 a pop. I really liked them because they weren't doughy and raw in the middle, yet still moist and chewy.

- Dinner was a cheese fest at Artisanal. We started with a small order of Gougeres, 8 flaky cheese puffs that were soft on the inside, served in a paper cone. P recommended them and now i wish she told me to order a large cone for each person - i could've easily eaten 50 in no time! At $7.50 for 8 puffs, each a tad smaller than a donut hole, you do the math. We just need to find a cheaper source of Gougeres or learn how to make them ourselves; my new favorite food! Instead of a cheese and fruit plate + main dish, we decided to have the Artisanal Blend fondue. It's nuttier than regular Swiss fondue, super creamy with a smooth texture. We had bread, Granny Smith apples and fingerling potatoes to dip, leaving us full of cheesy goodness. Artisanal serves really good food, but go for lunch since the price difference is significant.

- Our final event of the night was the observatory deck of the Empire State Building. I've been inside of it countless times for work-related issues but never to the top. Around 8PM the sky was clear so we trudged along with an hour's worth of line ahead of us to the top. Now that i've done it, i don't need to do it again, but it was actually a lot of fun recognizing buildings and seeing Connecticut off in the distance. We got one of those smooshed pennies, too!

posted by beXn @ 11:42 AM