New York City: 2 Days, 2 People, $200

Grounded Coffee on Jane St. in the West Village

If you were in New York City sometime in the last week, you are the lucky few.  Crisp, clear mornings; falling yellow leaves; precious fading hours of amethyst daylight; these autumn days are the best days to be in New York. 

As such, I thought I would celebrate autumn, the city, and my 100^th blog on Pho the Love of Food with an imaginary trip to a few of my favorite spots in the city right now.  No doubt one can blow the bank on a single meal in this town, but if you live here, that is not the way of life.  More likely you learn how to eat well, often sharing food with a friend or lover to get the most bang for your food buck. 

So here you have it.  Two days, two people, two hundred dollars to spend eating and drinking in this best of all possible times of year in New York City. 

Day One

I rouse John from his precious slumber sometime around 10:00am with promises of coffee just a short walk from our apartment at Grounded.  We pull up two mismatched chairs to read the New York Times over one extra hot latte with organic skim milk and one Japanese Sencha full leaf green tea.  Once caffeinated, we split a poppyseed bagel, easy on the butter, and one of Grounded’s signature breakfast wraps- a tortilla stuffed with scrambled eggs and turkey sausage then griddled on a Panini press until crisp. ($13)

It is a weekday in this imaginary scenario so we hop the L train to the East Village for the “Duck Bowl Set Lunch” at Momofuku Ssam Bar (not served on weekends).  The sweet, sticky, juicy duck breast and shredded leg served with rice, lettuce cups, scallion pancake and a side of spicy roasted potatoes is almost enough for two people to share.  We throw in an order of duck dumplings for good measure all washed down with oolong iced tea. ($32)

After an afternoon long run on the Hudson River and some shopping for new releases at Book Book on Bleecker Street, John’s getting peckish.  A small order of fries with bourbon dipping sauce and two Belgian beers in courtyard at Vol de Nuit (otherwise known as “The Belgian Beer Bar”) gets us back in a good place.  ($25)

Do I feel any shame in eating regularly across the street from our apartment?  If the food weren’t so damn good at Corsino you’d have every right to call me lazy.  But the Tagliatelle with Pork Ragu and Mint is one of the most satisfying pastas in town.  We share an order of the tagliatelle and a half bottle of Valpolicella then call it a night. ($37)

Day Two

We take our paper over the Chelsea Market to stake out a table before the tour busses arrive.  A latte from 9^th St. Espresso for John ($4) plus an oat scone and almond brioche from Amy’s Bread and one green tea ($12) gets Day Two started on the right foot. 

Spicy Cumin Lamb Noodles

It is back to the East Village for lunch.  I’m pretty sure they add crack to the Spicy Cumin Hand-ripped Lamb Noodles because I get the shakes if it has been too many weeks between visits to Xi’an Famous Foods. While I take mine in a rich, soupy broth, John does his dry, or rather, stir-fried in a slick of chili-laced oil.  Our taste buds hum for hours. ($14.50)

We stick around the East Side and catch a movie.  By the time we come out the sun is fading signaling Happy Hour is getting started at Terroir.  We order two glasses of Musar Jeune, Chateau Musar 2010 (Lebanon) and an appetizer of sage leaves with lamb sausage ($20).

On the seven block walk south to Zabb Elee, I’m pretty sure I can smell the duck larb.  It’s calling to me.  Ground duck, shallots, mint, crispy duck skin, lime, scallion, chili.  My mouth is on fire. We wash it down by splitting a Beer Laos before moving on to the next spot. ($17)

We have room for one more beer and maybe a bit more food.  We continue the southward walk to the Lower East Side because there may be no better Asian food for soaking up excess liquor than the Ham Rice Cakes at Yunnan Kitchen.  The hearty bowl of chewy rice disks is tossed with shaved heritage pork and plenty of chili sauce.  It is drinking food with a conscience. We toast our successful two days of eating with an Ommegang Witte and a Victory Prima Pils.  ($23)

Total for the weekend: $197.50.  (Note this doesn’t include tax and tip but I’m pretty sure not everyone would be as inclined to eat or drink quite as much as us.)  I’m not sure eating this good can only be done in New York, but on gorgeous fall days like these, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be doing it. 

Amy Powell is a food and travel writer based in New York City. She is a graduate of Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration and the French Culinary Institute. Follow her on Twitter @amymariepowell

A Tea Cocktail to Lift Holiday Spirits

Tea is the perfect caffeinated boost for festive cocktails in this most spirited of seasons.

Tired of Red Bull induced heart palpitations? But still looking for a pick-me-up in your evening cocktail?  Try tea instead!

This season can be tough to survive.  Party hopping late on weeknights, follows with tired workdays and rolls right into crazy family time.  Keeping up the energy for all that celebrating can be difficult without a little help.

But the energy drink and vodka thing is so college.  For more gentle stimulation, tea mixes the perfect dose of caffeine with some serious flavor that works well with a variety of spirits. 

Spicy black teas like chai contain all those “pie” notes- clove, cinnamon, nutmeg- that we have come to associate with this time of year.  But I’m partial to the lighter flavor and milder dose of caffeine found in green tea. 

To use tea in a cold cocktail, all you need to do is brew double the strength you would if you were drinking tea straight- that is two teabags or two teaspoons of full leaf tea per eight ounces of hot water.  The extra strong tea ensures it won’t dilute too much over ice. 

For my softly buzzing green tea cocktail to lift my holiday spirit, I like to use a green tea infused with pomegranate, a fruit very much in season this time of year.  Vodka or gin makes a simple spirit base to which I add lime juice and an herb infused simple syrup for a punch of flavor.  Rosemary and bayleaf steeped syrup work wonders in this drink and leftovers can be saved for future cocktail experiments.  For garnish, a sprig of herbs, twist of lime, or even a few pomegranate seeds make for an elegant presentation on a simple and festive drink. 

Now there’s a cocktail that gets my heart all a flutter, in a good way. 

Pomegranate-Rosemary Green Tea-Tail

Makes 1 Cocktail

Herb Simple Syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

2 sprigs rosemary

2 bay leaves

2 tea bags or 2 teaspoons full leaf Pomegranate Green Tea

8 ounces hot water

1 ½ ounces vodka

½ ounce lime juice

Garnish: Lime wedge, Rosemary, and/or pomegranate seeds

Heat sugar and 1 cup water in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil and stir until sugar dissolves.  Remove from the heat.  Transfer syrup to a small airtight container.  Add rosemary sprigs and bay leaves.  Close lid and place syrup in the refrigerator for a minimum of overnight. 

To make cocktail, pour eight ounces of hot water over tea or tea bags.  Let steep for three minutes.  Discard tea leaves or teabags.  Let liquid cool to room temperature.  In a highball glass, mix vodka, lime juice, and ½ ounce of the herb syrup.  Fill glass with ice.  Pour cooled tea over mixture and stir.  Garnish with a fresh rosemary sprig, lime wedge, or pomegranate seeds. 

Note: the syrup will keep for up to a month in the refrigerator for use in this or other cocktails. 

Amy Powell is a food and travel writer based in New York City. She is a graduate of Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration and the French Culinary Institute. Follow her on Twitter @amymariepowell