When I first heard of the Plaza Food Hall, I imagined the Food Hall at Harrods; enormous, magical and a food-lover’s paradise.
The Plaza Food Hall by Todd English is more of a hip and casual restaurant that also stocks a few specialty gourmet goods for sale.

It’s a great place to grab a quick bite; the layout is sort of like a cafeteria or ‘interactive’ kitchen if you will, it has eight various cooking stations for dumplings, grill, pizza, sushi, bakery, etc.
The atmosphere is casual with a nice attentive staff, it’s cool to sit and watch the food being prepared.
We had dinner here on our second night in New York; we sat at by the Dumpling Bar and watched mesmerized as the chefs created mouthwatering dishes.

We ordered from the Pizza Bar; flatbreads – Crispy Eggplant and Golden Potato.
Delicious… so good I think I may have overeaten.

The Food Hall which opened last summer is located in the basement of the Plaza Hotel.
The 5400 square foot space seats up to 80, also has take-out options, along with the various merchandise like produce, specialty foods, cookbooks and home-ware.

After my friend E. had her baby, she came up with an idea for a ‘milk bar’ – where lactating mothers would go and hang out and feed their babies in comfort.
And then she worried that people could mistake it for a ‘Korova Milk Bar’ type of establishment and then there’ll be all sorts of confusion – doesn’t that sound more like the beginnings of a Judd Apatow comedy?

Of course there are regular milk bars that just serve dairy based desserts, and in recent times milk bars have become hip, and perhaps the hippest of them all is Momofuku Milk Bar.
Visiting Momofuku’s milk bar was one of the things I was looking forward to on my trip to New York.
The concept of this innovative dessert bar fascinates me; they serve classic desserts like cookies, pies, ice cream and milkshakes but made with wacky ingredients like cereal, pretzels, kimchi, potato chips, etc.
The desserts have daring names like Crack Pie, Compost Cookie and Cereal Milk – how can you not want to try them?

I tried the Crack Pie which is gooey, sweet and chewy and very buttery, it’s awesomely good, so good you probably shouldn’t eat the whole thing. I have this thing where I get a little light headed and jittery when I’ve had too much sugar, and that’s always my cue to stop.

The Corn Cookie is so good, it’s addictive, you keep on wanting more and more – again there’s no skimping on sugar and butter here.

@adjoa tried the Cereal Milk which she proclaimed the ‘best thing ever!’ so I had to take a sip – it’s like really creamy Horlicks and leftover milk after you’ve had three bowls of Frosted Flakes.

And the Compost Cookie…? I couldn’t even begin to describe it – it’s sugary and salty and crunchy and buttery.
Someone described it as being like eating candy and potato chips all at once, and they’re right!
We got a few cookies for our plane ride home and to share with friends and family at home – except it never made it to those friends and family.

The prudent thing to do after indulging like we did at Momofuku Milk Bar would be to run a marathon; that is if you haven’t fallen into a sugar coma already.
We did the next best thing though, walking all over Manhattan, from Battery Park to Central Park.
Then we did a bad thing; we had pizza at the Plaza!
We were on vacation and it was all worth it.

The milk bar (East Village) had just moved to its new location when we went, it’s next door in a small unpretentious shopfront with high tables for standing about.

We took my mom out to dinner for her birthday last weekend.
I’ve been meaning to go to Il Nido for a while now; I haven’t been since the summer of 2005.
I remember this because the cast of a new Fox show (Reunion) were also there that night, and by winter Fox had cancelled the show.
I wrote about it here.
I remember my dinning experiences there fondly; the food was consistently good and I always had an amazing time there.
So why has it taken me so long to go back? It’s just a silly case of ‘out with the old’

This restaurant is truly a hidden gem, tucked away in a quiet plaza just a few steps away from the hustle and bustle of Robson Street.
I knew my mom would enjoy the food, and the quiet, cozy and simple ambience.
I ordered the soup of the day; a fresh and delicious minestrone to start, it was loaded with hearty vegetables, and quite comforting – I pretended my mom made it!
My mom asked the owner (Franco) for the recipe and he gracefully gave her his card and asked her to call him, when she’s ready to make it.
For the main, I chose a simple penne with artichoke hearts tossed in broccoli pesto, and it was perfect.
The pesto was so good… I used the foccacia from the table to sop up the sauce at the bottom.
My mom had ossobuco with risotto and greens – she loved it!
She said the meat (lamb) was succulent and divine! and she loved the wine sauce.
Dessert was a trio of tiramisu, panna cotta and blood orange gelato which we shared, our waiter called the gelato ‘revitalizing’ and I agree, it was quite refreshing.
The tiramisu was wonderful and my favourite was the panna cotta.

The best part though, was spending time with my mom.
I don’t always have time to do things with my mom, so having moments like this with her is nice.

Not to sound like a broken record, but I’m a vegetarian and a picky eater.

I don’t like cold mushy foods (especially the savoury kind), I’m wary of soy and HFCS scare me.

I try not to let my dietary quirks become a big To-Do, because it only gets in the way of fun… especially when I’m traveling

Finding places to eat in New York as you’d imagine wasn’t an issue.

Below are a few places we ate while in New York.

Church & Dey – Financial District.

This is a hotel restaurant with pretty decent food for a hotel restaurant.

We ate here twice and ordered room service the night we checked in.

The restaurant has views of Ground Zero and the environs; a nice place to sit, relax and watch the comings and goings, especially when you’re visiting and need a break, as you sometimes do.

I tried the pita wedges, hummus and olive tapenade which was very good, so good I’ve been trying variations of this at home.

We also had a delicious baked flounder dish and greens with strips of plantain.

Dean & Deluca – SoHo

On our second afternoon, my sister and I stood across from Dean & Deluca waiting to cross, we’d just walked from Washington Square Park, my sister looked on seriously, like she’d been thinking and said;

“It must have been really convenient for Felicity to work here, looks like it’s just a quick walk from schoolâ€

Sad I know, but the doubly sad part is I was thinking about Felicity too!

Dean & Deluca has been my alternative to restaurants and fast food places for years.

We used to do the Capital Crescent Trail on weekends when we lived in Maryland, and we’d treat ourselves to brunch at the Dean & Deluca in Georgetown afterwards.

The trick is to try not to spend all your money here; you have to buy the right things (I have to do a post on how to shop gourmet one a budget on of these days)

The food and produce section here is diverse and it’s easier to make healthy scrumptious choices.

Standard Grill – Meatpacking District

We had a quick lunch at the Standard Grill on Easter Sunday after exploring the High Line and browsing stores in the Meatpacking District.

The restaurant is  below the High Line, the space is splendid and the atmosphere great, we got a chance to linger and explore the hotel a bit.

Our waiter was nice and attentive and we were seated next to a very lively couple who made for a fun experience.

The food, drinks, everything was delicious.

Whole Foods – Union Square

Whole Foods is my other alternative to restaurants when I travel.

I don’t always agree with some of their ridiculous prices and the food elitism culture that tend to be associated with them, but I trust Whole Foods, and it’s not as expensive as you think if you buy right.

Now before I go any further I have to say this…

I have shares in Whole Foods (not a lot), I have shares in Hain Celestial; one of Whole Foods’ bigger suppliers, my brother works for Whole Foods and I’ve been shopping at Whole Foods for over a decade.

The Union Square location is huge and incredibly crowded – which didn’t make for a good eating experience.

I can’t imagine doing my actual grocery shopping here, it’s sheer craziness, the checkout system alone scares me.

Maybe it was because of all the over crowdedness but the salad bar/hot food bar section didn’t look at all appealing.

I settled for a soy-free vegan scone and fresh orange and carrot juice from the juice bar.

Thankfully it was a good combination, and I was grateful for the vitamin C fix.

Red – South Street Seaport

We went here on our last night in New York, because the location was nice.

It’s right on the Seaport and we hadn’t made any prior plans for dinner.

The food is supposed to be Mexican but it’s mediocre at best.

The service is poor and the drinks are ok.

I was sort of expecting this so I wasn’t really disappointed, just a little sad.

In all, we had a few good dining experiences – we made some good food choices.
I can’t wait to get back and try some other awesome places.

I got asked the other day what I ate on my vacation and I had to think about it for a minute.
It feels like ages ago now, being a vegetarian and a picky eater, I try not to make too much fuss about the food I eat.
Luckily I had some really great food; even though I didn’t always have time to sit down to a proper meal.
I drank a lot of Lucozade for all those times I was running around.
I had foods I hadn’t eaten in ages, foods that reminded me of Ghana and other far off places; I drank real ginger beer like the kind I used to drink at Paa Amadu’s.
Here are a few of my favourite culinary experiences, not included are those scrumptious foods of friends and family because… well, I wouldn’t want you to show up at their door.

Base Brasserie & Cafe – Baker Street, London
I found Base thanks to the Google Places app on my phone, it’s very close to the tube station, I was hungry and the reviews didn’t suck.
I had lunch there, the atmosphere is charming and stylish and the food French/Mediterranean.
I had a really good pan-fried aubergine wrap with humus.
The service was amazing; our French waiter gave us valuable tips on what to do in Paris.

Caffé Nero – Various locations
I feel I have to give this chain its due, travelling with a heavy coffee drinker we made a lot of coffee stops and the drinks were always consistent here.
And that was a good thing.

La Frégate – 1, Rue du Bac, Paris
Very friendly and attentive service here, I had the salade végétarriene which was amazing!
I never thought a simple salad with Dijon mustard dressing could be that good.
They also have a great selection of good wines.
It’s in a central location close to Musée d’Orsay and the Louvre, and right by the Seine.
The décor is stunning, just like you’d imagine a brasserie in Paris.

Publicis Drugstore – Av des Champs-Elysées, Paris
This isn’t just a drugstore; it has two restaurants, cinemas, boutique, bookstore, wine cellar, room humidor, grocery store and a fancy drugstore.
We had drinks here at the bar; it was worth it just for the location.
It’s at the top (or is it end) of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, close to the Arc de Triomphe.
The patio is great for relaxing and people watching. Nice ambience too.

Pierre Hermé – Publicis Drugstore
Guy says macarons are an excuse for grown adults to eat happy colourful sweets often meant for children.
But I love macarons! I would live off macarons if I could except it’s really hard to find good macaron in our part of the world (not that I’m an expert or anything).
Fortunately, Paris is the land of pastries and Pierre Hermé the Picasso of macarons.
There’s a small Pierre Hermé shop in Publicis, and there are no queues as there are in his other shops, although the selections are probably limited here.
His macarons are simply inspiring, delicious and bewitching, the rose and quince macaron is possibly the most exquisite thing I’ve ever tasted.

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