Drinks Archives - Page 6 of 6

Back in the Borough: Babies in New York City

Published on July 29, 2013July 29, 2013 by Cheryl Lock3 Comments

Hi friends,

This weekend Chris and I had a baby in New York City.

Not our own baby, mind you, but my nephew, and even though his father was with us the entire time I have to say … the experience left us both exhausted!

We had so much fun toting Rory around on his trip into the Big Apple, but it definitely gave me a new-found respect for moms who do this with their own children every day … especially those who travel around with them on their own. We couldn’t take a cab with Rory anywhere, since we didn’t have a car seat, which meant subways all the way! The one thing I will say that surprised me was how sweet everyone was to us–even when we were at Penn State in the middle of about a hundred people all trying to push to get onto the train. People were very respectful and helpful … it kind of renewed my faith in the people of this city.

Anyway, here’s a bit of what we did and saw:

Rory.CentralPark1 — ^^We started out with a picnic in Central Park, where we camped out behind a morning softball game, had tummy time and practiced our walking …

Rory.CentralPark2 — ^^Oh, and we got thrown in the air a lot, too. We kind of loved that.

After a brief meltdown, we headed over to Turtle Pond ….

^^We were none too impressed with the turtles. Guess we'll have to try this again when I'm a bit older ... — ^^We were none too impressed with the turtles. Guess we’ll have to try this again when I’m a bit older …

By the end of the picnic and the pond, the adults were ready for a brewsky, so we headed over to the Amsterdam Ale House. (As a side note, this is a great little bar with tons of tasty beer options, should you happen to be in the Upper West Side area …)

Rory and my brother-in-law were meant to leave after the Ale House, but we were having so much fun we decided to make one more stop and they would catch a later train. On our way to the second stop, Rory had Meltdown No. 2, though (someone was hunnnnggrrrryyyyy!!!), and it was raining, so we hopped into the closest restaurant, which happened to be Citrus. Of the many things I learned about having a baby in Manhattan this weekend, Number 1 was Baby always dictates where you will be going. Think you have plans? Think again, buddy! Anyway, the Cucumber Saketini drink at Citrus was delish, as was their shrimp quesadilla that we split, so it was all good:

Then it was time to head back to Penn Station, which meant one more subway ride ….

^^We mostly slept on the subway anyway ... — ^^We mostly slept on the subway anyway …

And then we were back to Penn Station where the adventure all began:

And that was it, my friends! I think Rory had a fantastic maiden voyage into the city, if I do say so myself. I really can’t wait for him to get just a bit older so we can take him to the museums and to the playgrounds and to a play …

I may be getting just a bit ahead of myself, though!

I’m off next Wednesday to D.C. for a baby shower–hope your summer’s going well!

Bis bald!

Back in the Borough: A Little Town for This Big One

Published on July 25, 2013 by Cheryl Lock1 Comment

Hi friends,

Last night I caught up with a friend of mine at Little Town, a bar that she recommended that is right in Union Square. While there’s not a whole lot to say about the bar’s atmosphere—it was pretty on par with your typical bar—the food and drinks there made me feel like I had to blog about it.

For starters, the bar incorporates beer from breweries all over the state. From their site:

“Little Town NYC is a contemporary brewhouse that pays homage to NY and everything it has to offer by bringing the tastes of its “little towns” like Ithaca, Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton and Long Island to the heart of it all, Manhattan. Boasting a menu of almost 100 beers all sourced from NY breweries and food specials inspired by local hotspots throughout NY State, Little Town NYC proves you don’t have to leave Manhattan for quality food and beer and to feel like you’re at home.”

[Pardon my horrible photos, I was feeling a bit shy and tried to take them stealthily … obviously that didn’t work too well.]

For food we got the toasted goat cheese & honey baguette and the hummus & crudite. Holy cow, people. Now this might sound a bit snobby, but I consider myself to be a bit of a hummus connoisseur. I’m a vegetarian, and I get it pretty much everywhere I go. And this hummus was, my friends, some of the absolute best that I’ve had. Anywhere. Ever. And the goat cheese & honey? Who in a million years would have thought that would be the most delicious combo ever?

Anyway, all of this is to say, if you’re in the Union Square area and you’re in the mood for some tasty food (I think they actually might be known for their oysters) and a ton of beer options, this is your place.

Then, if it’s a weeknight, check out the seriously eclectic group of people you’ll see hanging out at the Union Square subway stop, to include rows and rows of people playing Chess.

Now that I think about it, I think I need to add it to my bucket list to find out how this whole tradition started. The Chess players have been here for years … it’s really quite fascinating.

Okay, bis bald, friends!

Back in the Borough: Saturday Night Out

Published on July 15, 2013July 15, 2013 by Cheryl Lock2 Comments

Happy Monday Friends!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Chris and I had a really great one as we continue to try to check things off my “Manhattan To-Do List”. I do realize that we have plenty of time to get these things done (if we do end up leaving the city, it won’t be for at least another year), but when you have a list of fun things to do, it’s hard to not want to take on everything all at once, ya know what I mean?

Anyway … back to Saturday. I set up this whole little evening for us to try out some of the places I had read and heard about lately, and that’s exactly what we did.

Our first stop was meant to be the Manhattanhenge.

Allow me to explain. Manhattanhenge is the term, coined by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, for the four times a year where the sunset happens to align perfectly with the city’s east-west grid layout which, as you can image, makes for some gorgeous photos. So Chris and I headed out to try to catch this phenomenon … but the clouds had other plans for us, unfortunately. The photo we ended up getting was this:

Compared to this:

^^Photo courtesy of Jonathan Bell and Time Out New York.

Oh well, there’s always next year, right? We’ve already set a reminder in Chris’s phone for next April to research which days it will so we can try again.

After Manhattanhenge we headed towards Chinatown to meet up with couple friends of ours (who recently got engaged … yay!), for dinner at Cutting Board which, according to this month’s New York magazine, has some of the best cheap eats in the city. On our way there, we just happened upon the Ghostbusters firehouse (Hook & Ladder 8) in TriBeCa, which I think was a little bit on Chris’s bucketlist because he recognized it (I never would have) and insisted that I take a photo of him outside of it:

P.S. If I may diverge here for just a moment. One of my absolute favorite things about this city is the ability to stumble upon things that simply amaze you–whether it’s a building, a hole-in-the-wall restaurant, people doing something magnificent, or just something plain beautiful that makes you stop and stare. You know, kind of like when we stumbled upon the Friends apartment building in the West Village a couple of weekends ago:

But I digress. So after Ghostbusters we went to the Cutting Board, where we were not disappointed in the advertisement of tasty, cheap food. (I think our bill came to $60-something, and that was for four people with drinks, three appetizers and entrees. That has never happened to me in this city before. Ever.)

The restaurant was a quirky combo of Chinese/Italian, but somehow it just worked. Here’s a bit of what we tried:

^^The calamari came with three different dipping sauces. Next to it was our spicy fries and seaweed. Yum!

^^Chris and company wanted to try something unique on the menu, so they ordered this toast that was covered with fried pieces of pork and condensed milk. I'm told it was not necessarily the tastiest... — ^^Chris and company wanted to try something unique on the menu, so they ordered this toast that was covered with fried pieces of pork and condensed milk. I’m told it was not necessarily the tastiest…

^^I started ordering bubble tea, but the waiter recommended I try one of their specialty aloe drinks instead. They did not disappoint. Pictured is my mango drink and my friend's grapefruit one. — ^^I started ordering bubble tea, but the waiter recommended I try one of their specialty aloe drinks instead. They were great. Pictured is my mango drink and my friend’s grapefruit one.

^^We all opted for some version of seafood, which I suppose was sort of boring. Still, my muscle pasta was seriously delicious, and I think it only cost around $9.

After dinner it was on to the 2nd Floor on Clinton. The bar is discreetly tucked away on the upper level of Barramundi, a regular ole’ bar that’s loud and pumping. What you have to do is walk all the way to the back of the bar, towards the bathrooms, and the staircase to the upper level bar is located on the left. I had read that a bouncer–usually wearing a hat and playing on a iPad–would be at the door, but instead we found an all-black clad woman who asked if we wanted to go upstairs. True to what I had read, she made a face when we told her we were a group of four, and made us wait for a couple of minutes while she “checked out” the upstairs area to see if there was room.

As a side note, we arrived around 9:45, and there definitely was room for us, but as we were leaving around 12:30, there were people waiting at the stairs to get up. The atmosphere upstairs is intimate, and it is actually a smaller space, so if you do want to make sure you get a seat, and if you’re a group of more than two, I would suggest trying to get there on the earlier side.

Anyway, we were escorted upstairs to an entirely different scene than what was downstairs. Subdued lighting. Candles. Comfy couches and chairs. A waitress in a tux-like outfit. And while it wasn’t completely quiet, it was definitely much easier to hold a conversation than it would have been downstairs.

The bar doesn’t have food, but it has a cheese plate and, much to our delight, some delicious liquor-infused chocolates. The drinks are pricey (about $15-$17 per drink on average), but they were tasty, and I loved how personal the attention felt. When I ordered a drink that I wasn’t sure about, the waitress told me that we could return anything we weren’t happy with for something else, and for each of the two drinks my friend got she asked our waitress to essentially surprise her (with a few hints of what she likes and doesn’t like). She did a great job each time.

^^Vodka-infused chocolates with the Sailor's Punch (left) and the Amazonia drink. — ^^Vodka-infused chocolates with the Sailor’s Punch (left) and the Amazonia drink.

^^For my second drink I picked the Saracen, made with lemon bitters, sherry, cucumber and mastiha skinos liquer (whatever that is), among other things. The waitress called it 'earthy,' and said people either loved it or hated it. I happened to be on the love side. — ^^For my second drink I picked the Saracen, made with lemon bitters, sherry, cucumber and mastiha skinos liquer (whatever that is), among other things. The waitress called it ‘earthy,’ and said people either loved it or hated it. I happened to be on the love side.

We definitely ended up spending more on drinks than we did for dinner (I think the bar tab was around $67 each, without the tip), but that’s why it was good to have a cheap-o dinner.

This weekend I have a couple of new places I’d like to try out, as well as a canoe/kayak day trip that I’ve read is supposed to be a lot of fun. More updates to come, my friends … in the meantime have a great week!

P.S. Chris and I finally got around to booking our (late) honeymoon this past weekend — Great Barrier Reef here we come!

Bis bald!

Back in the Borough

Published on July 12, 2013July 12, 2013 by Cheryl Lock3 Comments

Happy Friday friends!

I wanted to quickly share a short round-up with you of some places I’ve been to in good ole’ NYC in the past few weeks. As Chris and I move towards this potentially big goal of ours for next year (I still haven’t gone into detail on that yet, I know … don’t worry, it’s coming!), we’re trying to make the most of our time here in the city.

[So yes, the big goal may involve a big move next year … I’ll get to that later.]

Anyway, I’ve had a list of places I want to visit in this fabulous city for quite a while now, and we’re slowly but surely putting a small dent in them. So without further adieu, here’s a bit of what’s been happening Back in the Borough lately:

1. Antique Garage

^^How homey! Photo courtesy of Antique Garage Website

Located on 41 Mercer St. in Soho, this cute little restaurant is everything I wanted it to be, and more. The restaurant itself was converted from an old mechanic shop, and it’s unlike any other restaurant you’ll find in the city. They’ve got live music most nights (although sadly not on the night we went when Chris’s sister and her boyfriend were in town from Australia), and their dinner menu is chock full of delicious Mediterranean and Turkish foods like Grilled Halloumi Cheese Salad, Turkish Hamburger Deluxe and Aegean Sarma (which is Halloumi cheese slices and tomatoes seasoned with fresh thyme wrapped in grape leaves and grilled).

Yum! Prices are pretty moderate-to-high, depending on what you consider high 😉 (Generally ranging from $24 – $35 for an entree)

2. The Raines Law Room

^^You have to ring this bell to be let in. And even then it's not a sure thing... — ^^You have to ring this bell to be let in. And even then it’s not a sure thing…

If you want to feel like the most special person in the world (or like you’re part of a secret cult/club), you should head to The Raines Law Room at 48 W. 17th St. You’ll head down a short staircase from the sidewalk to a black door with a doorbell on the left. (See photo, totally stolen from my friend who visited this place with me.) Inside (if you’re lucky enough to make it in) you’ll find a dark and mysterious room filled with comfy couches and tasty cocktails, champagnes, wines and liqueurs. Don’t expect to be able to taste something more than once, though, because the menu changes frequently. There’s an outdoor area as well, where it would be super fun to sit on a nice day. As one of the reviews from their site states: “I thought that I was over the whole neo-speakeasy mixologist trend but I guess not. You walk down the steps of a unmarked building, ring the doorbell, and are transported back into a scene from the prohibition era. There are plenty of private tables and velvet couches all equipped with wall buzzers that will summon your waitress.” And while the cocktails are quite pricey (mine were $17 a piece) … sometimes it’s just worth it.

3. The Marrow

Full disclosure: One of Chris’s good friends works at The Marrow so yes, we are a bit biased. But still–it was delicious. And I’m pretty sure you’d say that even if you didn’t know the head chef. Cocktails here are fantastic (I went for the namesake Marrow 75, made of bitter truth pink gin, lemon, sage and blanc de blancs, pictured above), and the food is even better. I had the Crispy Kale & Bale Scallops appetizer and the pasta special, which was a squid ink linguini with some other deliciousness. This is an adorable little restaurant located in the heart of the West Village at 99 Bank St, but if you’re going here remember to make a reservation. Even if the place looks empty, you’re not likely to get a walk-in seat.

4. The Lobby Bar at the Ace Hotel

Although our visits here haven’t necessarily been recent, I’d be remiss if I didn’t include The Lobby Bar at the Ace Hotel in this list. This comfy spot has slowly become one of our favorites, as we’ve visited a handful of times now. With nothing even remotely resembling a normal, typical hotel lobby, The Lobby Bar is as eclectic a place as you’ll find. It’s dark, noisy and most of the time crowded … but none of that matters. The music is fabulous. The people are interesting. The drinks are tasty. And if you’re lucky enough to snatch a seat on a comfy couch or chair, I defy you to try spending less than an hour there just people watching.

Our Final Day in Arizona

Published on July 11, 2013July 11, 2013 by Cheryl Lock3 Comments

Hi Friends,

So back to our last day in Arizona, which was last Saturday. (We caught the red eye home. There’s a story about that, too!)

We woke up around 7:30 a.m. all prepared for a hike up the Cholla Trail on Camelback Mountain in Scottsdale. Mina, however, had come home from her early morning run with her running club and was a bit worried. Everyone was telling her she was crazy, she said, that it was way too hot to take us out for a hike on that mountain … that surely it wasn’t a good idea.

Looking back at this now, I think it’s funny that I didn’t pay attention to their warnings. I mean … I HATE hot weather! I’ve never pretended that I like it. I do nothing but complain about it. Not liking something and allowing that to stop you from doing something are two different things, though, and I scoffed with Chris and Mina at the thought. “We’ll be totally fine!” I laughed.

Boy was I wrong. But I’ll get to that.

Anyway, we stopped off at the Gilbert Farmer’s Market in the morning to grab breakfast before we headed out. This allowed me to take some photos of the cute downtown area, as well:

So that’s the downtown Gilbert area in a nutshell. I thought it was very cute, and all the people we met seemed to be super friendly. I give it an A+.

After our breakfast it was on to Scottsdale for this doomed-from-the-start hike. I think I need to not make a big deal out of what happened, because honestly it could have been a lot worse, and I think I caught it in just enough time before that happened. Essentially the hike is about 1.5 miles up and 1.5 miles back, so all in all, not too long of a hike. However, by the time we started at 10 in the morning, it was already 100 degrees outside.

Me no likey .. to say the least. The second we stepped out of the car I felt like I had been punched in the face by a heater. Dry heat, my you-know-what. It’s a myth, to me at least, that dry heat makes anything better.

But I digress. So as we started into this journey of ours, I was perfectly fine. I was taking it slow, stopping along the way to snap photos of our beautiful surroundings:

Then, suddenly, at about 15-20 minutes into our (strenuous, if you ask me!) hike, I started to feel it. To be honest, I can’t even really describe to you what it was, exactly. I felt like someone had hit the ‘off’ switch to my body, and I simply could not go any farther.

Now if you know me, friends, you’ll know that I don’t like to give up. I’m competitive and stubborn (annoyingly so, some times), and throwing in the towel less than halfway through this hike is pretty much the last thing I wanted to do.

Which is why I knew something was really wrong … because that’s exactly what I did. Realizing that we had quite a while to go still in this upwards climb, I knew that there was no way that even if I made it to the top (which to be honest was highly unlikely), there was no way in hell I’d be making it back down. My legs were shaking. I felt like I couldn’t even be bothered to talk I was so exhausted.

And so we turned back around. And just as quickly as we started our last hike in Arizona, I ended it. Chris, in all of his loving husbandness, offered to run (RUN! In 100+ weather! If that’s not love, I don’t know what is), back to the car, turn it on, blast the air and drive to pick us up. The next stop on our list for that day was Mina’s parents’ house for lunch, and I laid in the back seat of Mina’s car for the 20+ minute drive there, just doing everything I could to cool down.

By the time we arrived at her parents’ house, I was starting to feel a bit better, but I have to say that I think that’s really because I made us stop as soon as I started to feel evenly remotely off. I never felt nauseous, or got a headache, it was just that my body felt physically unable to move anymore.

I suppose it could have been much worse, right?

Besides that bit of scariness, we ended up having a lovely rest of the day. Mina’s parents are Persian, and they cooked us the most delicious lunch. Then we went back to Mina’s place and hung out in the pool a bit, before heading out to Nando’s Mexican Cafe to have the final couple margaritas of our trip. (Oh, and a tequila shot, of course!)

Spending only two full days in Arizona felt like a bit of a jip, to be honest, but at the same time we managed to cram quite a bit in. Mina and I would love to do a little elementary school reunion of sorts in Arizona next year with a couple other of our close friends. Maybe do the Grand Canyon, or Fossil Creek, which was closed while we were there this time because of fire hazards.

And that was it, my friends …. the end of our little getaway! It was short but sweet (except for the heat exhaustion thing!), and we’d love to make it back some time soon for more hiking adventures.

Oh and so about the flights. Randomly, and for reasons that were never explained to us, Chris and I were upgraded to first class on our red eye back! It was sort of a waste of first class seats, since we pretty much slept the entire time … but still, I’ll take it! I’ve never slept more comfortably on a flight in my life! Maybe, finger’s crossed, this will happen to us on our trip to Australia in September?

What? It could happen ….

July 4 2013: Charlotte, N.C. and Arizona

Published on July 10, 2013July 10, 2013 by Cheryl Lock4 Comments

Hi friends!

The few days since Chris and I got back from our trip have been a bit crazy, but I really wanted to take some time to post thoughts from our trip as soon as possible. So without further adieu, last Wednesday Chris and I were in a cab and off to La Guardia to catch our flight …

Continue reading “July 4 2013: Charlotte, N.C. and Arizona” →

Arizona In Instagram Pics

Published on July 7, 2013July 7, 2013 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Hi friends!

Hope everyone had a fabulous holiday weekend! For reasons that I will go into in more detail in my full trip post, I ended up taking the majority of my photos on this trip with my iPhone … which of course meant posting them directly to Instagram.

So I figured I’d just post a quick preview of things to come in my full-on post by uploading all of the Instagram pics here. But before I do that, just some highlights from our trip:

We spent 12 hours in Charlotte after missing our connecting flight to Phoenix because of rain delays, but that’s okay because we got to eat a wonderful brunch and check out the downtown area because of it.
We went on amazing hikes, ate delicious food and drank lots of tequila.
I experienced a slight case of heat exhaustion … not fun, my friends! And after all that research I did to avoid it!
We did lots of swimming in my friend’s pool.
We were randomly, and for reasons still unknown to us, upgraded to first class seats on our flight back from Phoenix. Not too shabby!

Here’s a taste of what’s to come …

^^Rain made things pretty, but is not optimal for flying.

^^Bloody Mary's in Charlotte on our pit stop to Phoenix. — ^^Bloody Mary’s in Charlotte on our pit stop to Phoenix.

^^Biscuits and grits. This is Charlotte.

^^Catching up with the person who is probably my oldest friend.

^^Porous shoes on a 7-mile hike = lots of stopping to empty them out.

^^Sedona hike--unbelievable. — ^^Sedona hike–unbelievable.

^^Spinach enchilada with a mango margarita.

^^Bye-bye Sedona. It's been real. — ^^Bye-bye Sedona. It’s been real.

^^Gilbert Farmer's Market. — ^^Gilbert Farmer’s Market.

^^Vegan quinoa breakfast bowl with strawberry scone and iced coffee.

^^99 degrees? Check. I will be hiking to the top of this mountain. Wish me luck. (Hint: this is where the heat exhaustion came into play... duh duh duhhhh!) — ^^99 degrees? Check. I will be hiking to the top of this mountain. Wish me luck. (Hint: this is where the heat exhaustion came into play… duh duh duhhhh!)

^^View from about 1/4 mile up Cholla Hike, Scottsdale.

^^Who got a free upgrade to first class on the way home? This guy! (And the gal he was with!)

So that’s it for now, my friends! I’ll be back soon with the full details of our (amazing and very hot!) trip.

Bis bald!

A Slight Change in Plans …

Published on July 2, 2013 by Cheryl Lock3 Comments

As Chris and I get ready to head to Arizona tomorrow, our travel plans are slightly dampened by the news that 19 firefighters died in Arizona on Sunday while fighting a fierce fire outside of Yarnell. As the NY Times reported, the loss of these heroic men was the greatest for firefighters in a single disaster since September 11.

It’s so sad.

Fire is a fact of life in dry, arid climates like Arizona, as Chris and I are coming to learn in the days leading up to our trip. If I wasn’t already slightly worried about the fact that we’re heading to Arizona in what may very well be one of the hottest weeks they’ve seen in a long time (yikes excessive heat warning and 100 degree + temps!!!), a text from my friend who we’ll be visiting put me ever-so-slightly-more on edge:

“They’ve closed fossil creek due to extreme fire hazards. It’s hot and hasn’t rained in a while. I’m going to look into a couple of other hiking areas in the Sedona area.”

She followed up quickly with a note that we’ll try heading to Oak Creek Canyon and Slide Rock, but I’m already on full alert. I’m still looking forward to the trip, don’t get me wrong, but I just thought it wise to perhaps do a bit of research ahead of time regarding staying hydrated and healthy while exercising (aka hiking) in 100 degree + heat. Here’s some of what I’ve found:

For starters, it’s important to know and be able to recognize signs of heat exhaustion, which include general fatigue, weakness, nausea, dizziness, muscle cramps and an increase in body temps. As WebMD reports, temps above 104, combined with an inability to sweat, acute respiratory distress and loss of consciousness can be signs of heat stroke, which is much more serious than heat exhaustion.
Experts suggest drinking 20 ounces of water two hours before exercising, at least 8 ounces of water shortly before going outside in the heat, and gulping water every 15 to 20 minutes during the exercise. You should also be sure to drink fluids throughout the day as a precaution.
Perhaps most importantly (and something I will continue to convey to Chris) is it’s important to be okay with being slower when temps get this high.
Wear lightweight fabrics that wick away sweat, and wear light colors that reflect the sun, not attract it. If you’ll be wearing a helmet (or in our case, a hat), remove it during times of rest to allow your head to breathe and cool off.

My friend’s already told us she’s taken care of the sunscreen and the bladders, and she’s a seasoned hiker in the Arizona heat who I trust to keep us safe while we’re en route.

But trust me, I’ll be on guard the whole time we’re at it … it only makes sense to be as smart as possible when it comes to heat and your health.

Okay friends–wish us luck! It’ll be an adventure (and quite interesting!) for sure! I’ll be back next week with what I’m sure will be amazing photos.

Bis bald!

Back in the Borough: A Walk on the West Side

Published on May 5, 2013May 5, 2013 by Cheryl Lock1 Comment

Hi friends,

So yesterday was my sister’s boyfriend’s birthday, and they took a little day trip into the city to hang with us. Chris and I wandered through Central Park, across the Reservoir, to get to the West side, where we met up with the pair at The Boat Basin Cafe, an open-air cafe/bar right on the Hudson River.

After the Boat Basin, we walked down along the river, out onto the docks, and had some sangria while sitting outside at the Pier Cafe. We ended the night with burritos as Blockheads back on the east side, where you can never go wrong.

Some photos from our day:

Bis bald friends! Hope your weekend was just as sunny 😉

Back in the Borough: A Sophisticated Placed to Tea

Published on February 22, 2013February 22, 2013 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Meeting a friend for tea feels oh-so-sophisticated.

Hi friends,

So I was out with another friend this morning at Alice’s Tea Cup, and I thought I’d throw up a quick post about it. If you’re a lover of tea (which I am not, but luckily the coffee is just as yummy!) or you have kids, this is a really fun place.

There are three locations around the city, but we visited Chapter III, over on 81st St. between 3rd and 2nd Ave. There are really cute decorations, they serve the coffee in humongous mugs …

And the scones are to die for …

Pumpkin and vegan banana scones with whipped cream and blueberry sauce. What?!

I glanced over at some of the tables around us, and the tea comes served in cute little tea kettles, too. We met up around 9:30 and the place was pretty empty, but by the time we left around 11 it was bumping.

Anyway, just a more sophisticated suggestion should you ever happen to be in this beautiful city. (You know, since my last blog post was about beer and pretzels!)

Bis bald, friends!