The Bakeries in New York!

A coffee/tea, and a cupcake/pastry is a treat in NYC, especially with all the boutique bakeries! Forget Costa, forget Cafe Nero, check our favourite 10 out below, with our favourite treats from them...not that we have them often...$$$!


Magnolia Bakery
- Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village; Bloomingdales; Grand Central Station; Rockefeller Centre
Treat to buy:'Classic Chocolate Cupcake' or a 'Cup of Frosting'
Famous for: Cameo in SATC, made on sight in front of you!

Le Pain Quotidien
-All over the place, but our favourite, Broadway at 91st
Treat to buy: Hot chocolate, with accompaniment jug of melted Belgian Chocolate!
Famous for: Pastries and Breads, Communal table.

Crumbs
- All over the place, but our favourite 92nd and Broadway!
Treat to buy: White Hot chocolate Cupcake,Vanilla Cake filled with white chocolate mousse topped with vanilla cream cheese frosting edged with mini white chocolate chips and topped with marshmallows and white chocolate drizzle.
Famous for: Over sized sickly cupcakes!

Jacques Torres Chocolate shop
- DUMBO, Brooklyn and Chelsea Markets
Treat to buy: Classic Hot chocolate
Famous for: AMAZING CHOCOLATE.

Amy's Bread 
-46th and 9th, Bleecker street and Chelsea Market
Treat to buy: Double chocolate chunker (Brownie), Hot chocolate with a massive marshmallow.
Famous for: Handmade speciality breads.

Eleni's
-Chelsea Market, Madison Avenue
Treat to buy: New York Taxi Sugar Cookie!
Famous for: Playfully unique, nut free, kosher cookies!

Junior's
-Times Sq and Grand Central
Treat to buy: SHARE a piece of Devils food cheesecake!
Famous for: 'The World most fabulous cheesecake!'

Sarabeth's Kitchen

:numerous locations, we visited the one in Chelsea Market.

Treat to buy: Raisin Scones and Raspberry Orange Marmalade 

Famous for: Bakery and Jam shop!

Argo Tea

Columbus Circle, Union Square, Chelsea

Treat to buy: Iced Chai Bubble Tea, (Iced Chai tea with Tapioca), Green Tea Creme (Hot green tea, with cream and all frothed up!) 

Famous for: They created their own unique blends of all natural, tasty, healthy tea-based Signature Drinks, loose leaf teas with fruit juices, hibiscus flowers, milk and other natural ingredients to create 

distinctive flavours.

And we so couldn't forget the no.1!

Starbucks
on every single block throughout the whole of Manhattan, there are 255 stores.
Treat to buy: (thats not in the UK!) Apple Fritter and Vanilla Bean Frappe
Famous for: You don't need me to tell you that, and if you've never been there...YOUR MISSING OUT!

And on that note, I hope you are all craving sugar! And for you 'haters', yes we do eat cake, but we eat healthy too, yes we also exercise a hell of a lot... and no... we're not fat ....or going to get fat any time soon!

Les œufs!

Sunday Brunch...in advance for Valentines day due to us both having a meeting at 9am that day...we headed to, the French bistro,  Pastis, in the Meat Packing District. Rosina had gotten lucky with the reservation, they are like gold dust!

''The Meatpacking District owes its name to the meat distribution companies that once dominated the area. While some meatpacking houses still exist, nowadays you are more likely to find meat of the celebrity variety, twirling around the ultra trendy bars, restaurants and shops'.


Pastis was our choice due to it appearing in SATC, with Carrie and Aleksandr Petrovsky, and recommendations from our New Yorker friends!

French Toast it was for Rosina, washed down with a Cappuccino!

Sam had Eggs, smoked salmon, the 'house' fries and toast, washed down with a Green Tea!

C'était délicieux!

DUMBO

Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass...(Oh New York and your acronyms!)

We ventured into Brooklyn...again! Cold, overcast weather and an area that we had been recommended by many, 'have you been to Dumbo!?'.

Overall a very strange place but with some hidden gems! Up and coming for its Art galleries and over priced Lofts with stunning views of Manhattan, we were a little confused where to go at first, everything seemed very spaced out, empty and derelict (the renovated warehouse look!). We went a little too far north of DUMBO at first with expensive boutiques, flower shops etc, and 'Doggy Day Care' aptly named 'Cheeky Dog'...well the dogs as we looked in the window were being more than cheeky!

We then followed Water street in the direction of the Brooklyn Bridge, and found the more exciting part.

Jacques Torres chocolate shop is one of the biggest reasons people trek to Dumbo....amazing. Chocolate heaven, expensive Thornton's seemed like Primark! We had a hot chocolate to warm up, practically just chocolate , (however not quite as good as Le Pain Quiotidens Hot chocolate, where they give you a cup of frothy milk and then a jug of melted belgian chocolate but thats a different story!!) and a couple of taster chocolate...champagne fizz...phenomenal...chai latte chocolate...wow. We had to leave quite fast before we devoured the whole shop! Also loved the fact you could see into the factory, and the workers were packing FedEx after FedEx for valentines day orders!

Walking a little further towards the Brooklyn Bridge away from Manhattan Bridge (they are pretty close together) we found the end of Brooklyn Bridge Park which has Janes Carousel.

Jane's Carousel was created in 1922, the heyday of the American Carousel, by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company (P.T.C.). 

In 1983, as the designated developer of Empire Fulton Ferry State Park, David Walentas had commissioned a Master Plan for the park that called for an historic carousel to be installed. Jane and David Walentas purchased the Carousel at auction on October 21, 1984. Their bid for the entire Carousel prevented it from being sold off piecemeal. 

When purchased, the Carousel was in poor condition. Jane Walentas began its restoration at her studio here in Dumbo in 1984. Her initial tasks included making necessary carpentry repairs and hand-scraping away 62 years of "Park Paint" with an X-acto knife to reveal the original 1922 carvings, color palette, and designs

. Dozens of old beveled mirrors were reglazed. Mechanical systems were updated with new gears, motor and an electronic controller. Totally rewired, the Carousel now dazzles with 1200 brilliant lights.

Rosina got some slightly strange looks, however 360 panoramic views of the Bridges and Manhattans Skyline...all for '2 bucks' .

We then headed back to the subway, and rode the train home, Rosina also found her special book from a book seller 'The Curious New Yorker, 329 fascinating questions and surprising answers about NYC'....a true Curious New Yorker!

An Evening at the BALLET!!

Last night we went to the ballet, $15 tickets, bargain!

We saw a Triple bill program of:

Jerome Robin's Interplay;
A modern ballet in simple mono colour costumes creating different forms of play. Light hearted fun and enjoyable to watch.


The Seven Deadly Sins by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht choreography by Lynne Taylor-Corbett;
A contemporary ballet fused with vocals from the Broadway star Patti LuPone, representing Germany's dark yet witty outlook of american life with a great set innovative choreography and colour co-ordinated 'sins'.


Vienna Waltzes by George Balanchine with music by Strauss
A classic ballet beautiful waltzing, simple to the audiences eye difficult for the dancers. Floor-length circular gowns swirling the stage with elegance and femininity that is absent from modern life.

It was a great evening out sitting front of the stalls circle with the upper class and Mercedes Benz Fashion Week (where in Sex and the City movie 1 Samantha gets harassed by activists "Fur is murder!!") was happening next door.

Library Thursday!

It was a gorgeous day, I didn't have class til 4.30pm, I felt like being Left Brained for once...

“I am the left brain. I am a scientist. A mathematician. I love the familiar. I categorize. I am accurate. Linear. Analytical. Strategic. I am practical. Always in control. A master of words and language. Realistic. I calculate equations and play with numbers. I am order. I am logic. I know exactly who I am.”


and Sam was at class all day so I decided to do something he wouldn't have been too interested in!


I headed to Grand Central Terminal...

Walked up Library Walk, which contains a collection of ninety-six bronze plaques, quoting forty-five writers, imbedded in the sidewalk. 

And arrived at the Iconic New York Public Library. Iconic for being where Carrie Bradshaw is meant to get married...but also for its 16million volumes and being the 3rd largest library in the U.S.

You can't draw books out of it to take home, and its not somewhere you would go and ask for Narnia, but amazing for studying and research in some of the most unique books in the world.

I did a little research into works of Dance Science, as well as some notes on techniques used here in BDC, peace, quiet and no emails....however 5th avenue bustling back and forth outside the window.

Dance Moms!

Rumour had it in the Elevator up to BDC today that the cast of Dance Mom's were there...and they're they were Maddie and Nya (with Mum Melissa too!). They took the leaps and turns class, that we take, 9years old and absolutely killing it!

For non-americans who want to watch this reality show about kids in America that dance and there demon dance teacher (which is all so scripted), watch it online on something like ProjectFree TV, as you have to stream it from America! Remember thought to watch it with an open mind, and maybe even some thought for what you kids dance teachers say too!

*Funniest picture ever!!!

Superbowl Sunday!

New York Giants VS New England Patriots. NFL 46th Superbowl was today!

(American Football, although some would hate this comparison, is similar to Rugby, and nothing like English Football!)

We stayed in and watched the Pre-Match info to get the idea of what is going on with the game, then made in game snacks...nachos, hotdogs, lager and to follow Cherry Pie...and watched the nail biting final of this season!

New York Giants won, 21 - 17 but it was so close, one catch in the final 5seconds would have lost the game to the NY Team! We were on tentahooks (6points behind until there was only 1.04mins left!)...and although we are not the token 'sporty' type, we very much enjoyed the game and will hope to tune in next year...albeit the time difference!!!

Our man of the match was 44, Bradshaw, the running back, he was on it with his dodges and scored that all important 4 points casually just sitting down!

Oh and Madonna's set at half time was pretty snazzy too with lots of dancers, and a lot of ''voguing" which our masterclass is in next week!