I just got back from a whirl wind trip to New York City.

Although it was a business trip full of finding all sorts of wonderful new things for the store, we did find time to enjoy the city and some wonderful food that I thought I would share with you.

Our trip began walking around the city and stumbling upon Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market.  We hit it at the end of the day, in January, and totally by chance, but it was still fun to comb through the vendors.  Although we came away empty-handed, we did find a great place to come back to for dinner, Hells Kitchen.

Meals truly are the most memorable parts of trips for me.  I remember trips more for the food and the restaurants then everything else.  (Ummm…I just love a good meal.  It makes me so happy.)  The same is true for my time in New York City.  I really think the best part of the trip was the food and the places we ate.  Our first night we ate at Hells Kitchen.  I had the Mussels Provencal with white wine, plum tomatoes, and garlic (which came with a hearty slice of baguette) along with the Mesclun Field Greens.  Delicious.  I would totally recommend.  For dessert I had the Honey Vanilla Latte Double Espresso.  I love all things honey and could not resist trying their latte.  It was a perfect ending to a delicious meal.

The second day we enjoyed a treat from Crumbs Bake Shop while sitting in Bryant Park.  If you like cupcakes, this is a great stop.  With multiple locations, it is easy to come upon one.  I love cupcakes and am always on the search for an amazing one and was definitely pleased with the one from Crumbs Bake Shop.

The highlight of the trip though had to be the last day.  We ended our trip by going to Petrossian, located on 911 Seventh Ave (between 57th and 58th St.).  My sisters found this place years ago on a trip to NYC and fell in love with it.  For the past couple of times I have visited New York I have meant to stop by for tea and croissants and just have not made it.  For this trip, I made sure that it was a must.  Their Des Steppes tea, which is an orange and vodka blend, is really delightful.  As is the Tanta Bella Tea (Ceylon and Chinese blend), which is a blueberry black tea.  Their tea is just lovely.  And they know how to serve it… with steamed milk.  If you go, make sure to order a croissant.  Both the almond and butter are fabulous.  I think finding a good croissant is possibly one of the hardest things to do…harder than finding a good cupcake or restaurant.  Petrossian knows how to make croissants.  They had a flaky crust with distinctive layers that could almost be peeled apart.  The inside was soft with just the slightest sweetness to the dough and just perfect.  Although we went intending to just have tea and croissants, we were too tempted by the menu not to get lunch.  I ordered the Heirloom Tomato and Crenshaw Melon Salad with red onion, gorgonzola cheese, basil coulis & aged balsamic.   Again absolutely delicious.

A lovely and successful trip!  ….Virginia