New York City’s food scene changes as fast as the taxis whiz down 9^th Avenue.  Since I’ve been traveling and somewhat removed from Manhattan, there’s no way I can keep up with the hot spot’s openings and closings.  This would be a full time job (one I hope to have someday). On a recent visit, to take the pressure off myself, I just enjoyed some new random spots that were either recommended to me by friends or places that I’d been to before that have stood the test of time (a pretty big feat in NYC).

My current favorite spots

Red Cat – Great neighborhood gem holding court in Chelsea for more than a decade with Mediterranean-American flavors & a cozy white-painted wood-paneled New England charm.  I’d eaten here with my grandmother (who lived just a block away for about 30 years) a few times, so besides the warm, inviting atmosphere, and especially tasty food, Red Cat holds special memories for me.

Birreria Eataly – I recently wrote about this fantastic rooftop bar and restaurant in the Flatiron District.  After enjoying the gourmand’s wet dream downstairs, climb up for some great views and tasty views under a retractable roof and cozy heat lamps.

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Typically big-box stores (a la: Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Target, etc.) and over-sized supermarkets have been an American import slowly spreading their bland conformity across Europe and beyond.  But this is a switch.

I first visited the mega-sized specialty market, Eataly, in Turino, Italy, in 2009.  I’d pegged it as an all-Italian ‘Whole Foods’.   My mouth watered and my eyes glazed over as I roved the many, stark-white aisles filled with sexy bottles of truffle-oil, silky gelato, and an amazing array of fresh meats, pastas, cheeses, and breads.

The Slow Food organization serves as a consultant to Eataly, and the artisinal super-store has adopted its three principles.  Slow Food is good, clean and fair food. 

• Food must taste good
• Food must be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health
• Food producers should receive fair compensation for their work

Like Santa bringing us gifts at Christmas, one red-faced, jolly Mario Batali, has now brought Eataly to all New Yorkers.   The huge store sits just across the street from the Flatiron Building and Madison Square Park and is a mecca of Italian foodstuffs, various fancy bar ‘stations’ (more like mid-store restaurants), and boisterous espresso and wine bars.

Upstairs, on the roof, Birreria opened this past summer.   The huge outdoor space is more than a beer garden, as sometimes described, even though they do brew some of their own ales as their name suggests (Birreria means brewery in Italian).   For me, the food is the draw here as the menu is stuffed full with all the delightful fixin’s of an ‘Italian picnic’ – charcuterie, cheeses, mushroom dishes, and other assorted savory morsels.   It’s not cheap, but the views are pretty priceless with the Empire State building looming overheard to the north and the Flatiron building just to the west, across the street, so close, you feel you can touch it.

See photo gallery here. Roll-over & click on each for larger image slideshow.

I’ve always loved cable ties. They are so good at tying cables. (Stay with me).  And one of the many things I love about New York City? There is always something to see or do right outside your door. And many of these things are free and unexpected. You are often treated to a free show or public art display as you simply walk down the street. On a recent visit, I was a bit entranced by this random Cable Tie Art wrapped around several street light posts around Astor Park in the East Village.  But this wasn’t the work of some random, stealthy street artist, this was a real art installation called ‘flaming cactus’ thanks to a partnership between New York City’s Department of Transportation and Animus Art.

Disclosure:  This is a sponsored post. Want to take your own New York tour?  Try Tours4Fun.

Today I went for a run in New York City.  I am back for one of my many visits.  This city gets me every time; one way or another it gets me. Do you know what I mean?  As I ran through the brownstone-lined, charming side streets in Chelsea, I couldn’t help but get all nostalgic.  Coming back here always brings up various memories, one of the largest centering around my grandmother who lived in Chelsea for around 3 decades.  That was my ‘home’ whenever I was in the city.  She was the center of it all.  Running right past her building brought instant tears to my eyes. How strange is it, even two years after her death (she was 94 and lived an amazing full life), to not be seeing her here in her city.  She loved it here.  She always said she could go right out of her door and get everything and anything she needed – and she did.  She was fierce and independent, qualities I realized much too late that I had learned from her.

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“Are we in Brooklyn or are we in Manhattan?”

We were walking across the Brooklyn Bridge from a requisite tourist stop at the always crowded, but always delicious, Grimaldi’s Pizza – home of some damn tasty coal brick-oven pizza.

I love transportation and bridges in general, but the iconic Brooklyn Bridge just knocks it out of the park.  It is a classic; a beautiful sight and an architectural marvel at that. One of the oldest suspension bridges in the world, the neo-Gothic limestone and granite bridge was completed in 1883 and spans New York’s aptly named East River. It cost $15.5 million to build and approximately 27 people died during its construction.

A little odd trivia for you: One week after the opening, a rumor that the Bridge was going to collapse caused a stampede, which crushed and killed at least twelve people. One year later, P. T. Barnum helped to squelch doubts about the bridge’s stability—while publicizing his famous circus—when one of his most famous attractions, Jumbo, led a parade of 21 elephants over the bridge.

One of the best (and FREE) things to do in New York City – take a lovely stroll across the bridge on its pedestrian walkway one level above the traffic.   In just two years, the Brooklyn Bridge will celebrate its 130th anniversary.