A February Day with The Naptime Chef in New York City {Naptime on the Road}

The Rose Sculptures on Park Avenue

Last week I had a couple days of play time in New York. Well, I can’t say it was all play, I did squeeze in a dentist appointment, but I didn’t let a little teeth cleaning get in the way of my fun. The neat part about my New York adventure is that it spanned the course of two days. I miss living in my old Upper West Side neighborhood so much that it was a real treat to come in one evening for dinner and then back the next morning for breakfast. It was like being back home again!

Tuesday:

3:21pm: Scramble to make the Metro North train to Grand Central. Because of the snow storms several of the trains are out of commission and the regular train schedule is reduced making everything so much harder. Make the train by the skin of my teeth and it is smooth sailing from there. Use the train ride to catch up on emails, Facebook and Twitter. All this technology time makes me wonder what I ever did before blackberries were invented?!

4:40pm: Arrive at Grand Central later than planned because of an unexpected rail stop in the Bronx. Dash to catch a cab to meet Cara & Phoebe for coffee at City Bakery. I am so excited that their new book cover is on Amazon. Everyone start pre-ordering tout suite! The three of us try to meet up every few months to shoot the breeze and catch up on life. It is also a good excuse to indulge in the offerings at City Bakery. It is one of my favorite spots in the flatiron district – I lived 7 blocks away for 6 years! – and I am deeply devoted to the pretzel croissants and hot chocolate.

5:45pm: Have one hour free before meeting my husband and our friends for dinner and decide to treat myself to a quick mani/pedi. With dozens of nail spas on 7th avenue it is no problem to pick a clean, cheap salon. My nail salon visits are far too infrequent (in my opinion) so I take my time there very seriously – catching up on as much People and OK! as I can stomach in under an hour.

7:00pm: My Essie ballet-slippered nails are semi-dry and I am off to Colicchio & Sons for dinner. My husband and I meet up and go straight to the bar to meet our friends from North Carolina. They are big time foodies and chose to try this particular restaurant based on recent reviews. I am pleased to report that it lived up to its reputation. I loved my scallops appetizer and salmon entree, though my favorite were the desserts we split. The Coconut Cream Donuts with Lime Marmalade and Griddled Red Velvet Cakes were out of this world!

10:00pm: Man, two bottles of wine between four people and a three course meal makes for a long dinner. Time to get home to relieve the babysitter! Luckily, my husband drove in so we pop out of Manhattan in no time, reminiscing about how much we miss living there.

11:30pm: Tired. Contacts out. Bed.

Wednesday

6:00am: Wake-up, shower, contacts in. Quick cup of tea, rally tired self out the door.

7:00am: Walk to the train station from our place and wait on the platform with all the daily commuters. Most of them read the paper on the way in to work; I opt for two Advil and a quick snooze.

8:21am: Arrive at Grand Central station and go straight to the cab stand. Am dropped off at my dentist’s office with 5 minutes to spare and am ushered right in to my appointment. Thankfully, the dental hygenist has a nice TV in the room so we watch Regis & Kelly while she works. Good news, the dentist says my teeth are clean and problem free. I flee as quickly as possible before he changes his mind!

10:00am: Stop by the new windows of Bouchon Bakery in Rockefeller Center and take a picture out of sheer excitement that it will be opening soon. I am a devoted fan of the Time Warner Center location, their chai and TKO’s (Thomas Keller Oreos) are just about the best things I ever tasted. Continue my walk east. Destination: Cookie Bar.

The Cookie Bar Window

10:30am: It’s Dorie time! I went to Cookie Bar, Dorie’s pop-up cookie shop at the Mizu hair salon, last year and was thrilled when Dorie announced she and Josh were reopening it this year. I love Dorie, her books and every recipe of hers I’ve ever tried. My friend Barbara meets me there and we all admire the amazing rose sculptures on Park Avenue. Have you seen them? They are one of the best art installations I’ve ever seen in the Park Avenue malls. I attempt to appear modest as I buy two of every cookie Dorie and Josh have to offer. Did I mention her cookies are to die for? This year one of her new offerings are these amazing Jammers. Dorie explained that they are a rich, buttery sable base topped with berry jam and sweet, crumbly brown sugar streusel. I really hope Dorie considers doing Cookie Bar more frequently, it is so hard to wait all year long for these to arrive!

Cookie Bar's Jammers

11:15am: Barbara and I stroll over to David Burke’s at Bloomingdale’s for a fun lunch. I refuse to be a food blog idiot and photograph my sliders, but do snap a quick pick of the cool logo and mirrored walls before I head out. This is a great lunch spot and highly recommend it if you are ever in the neighborhood. The menu is known for it’s dressed up versions of every day lunch favorites. Barbara swears by the Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons and I think next time I’ll have the pretzel panini!

1:07pm: On the train back to Connecticut. Get home just in time to get the car and pick up the kiddo at school. She is happy to see me, and I am her, and we head home for naptime and Thomas play time for the rest of the afternoon.

The Cookie Bar Window