Big Food in Big Apple

Maura and Mike (sister and bro in law) kindly offered to let us stay at their NYC apartment while they were away for the long weekend.  Pat and I both carried overnight bags with us when we commuted into work on Thursday morning.  Talk about a quick and easy commute "home" on Thursday night.  It was great.  They live in an amazing building on the Upper West Side, at 79th and Columbus.  That night we strolled up Amsterdam Ave to eat Italian at Celeste.  Yum.   I got to work way too early on Friday because of the much shorter commute.  :o)  That evening Pat and I had dinner plans, this time Greek food at Kefi.  Our starter was amazing - grilled octopus over a white bean salad.  I've had grilled octopus several other places but this was the best I've ever had.

Pat had some delicious lamb chops as his entree and I tried their version of mac n cheese.  Spinach, while I love it uncooked, it is not my favorite cooked, so it was not the best mac n cheese addition in my opinion.  Oh well, still not bad.

After dinner we took a nice little walk together and ended the night at Emack and Bolio's, our favorite ice cream shop.  Saturday morning Pat went and grabbed us bagels and then we took off towards Central Park.  On the way there we stopped in Teddy Roosevelt's Park, right by the Natural History Museum. 

Gosh, it was a beautiful day!

The Mall at Central Park

That evening, we had more dinner plans.  This time it was steak at The Strip House.  And once again, some delicious appetizers!  This crab cake was totally amazing!

And this golden beet and asparagus salad was equally fantastic.

I went with the filet, which was good but not the best.

Now the side, goose fat potatoes, were some of the best potatoes I have ever tasted.

So, the highlight of the meal was not the steak, but everything else.  (including Creme Brulee and our Brownie Sundae... gosh we ate too much this weekend!)

On Sunday morning, Pat went out and grabbed a croissant for me and we took it easy in their lovely apartment before heading out.  There is a farmer's market literally outside of their building on Sundays.

And a flea market just a couple blocks away.

Mirrors, furniture, bikes, crystal, china, clothing, etc.

I walked away with a brand new (still in plastic wrapping) 1000 piece puzzle for $5.

We made our way back to Hoboken that afternoon and had some time to kill before our train.

Thank you Maura and Mike for our wonderful weekend "getaway" to the Big Apple!  It felt like we were staying at a hotel!