Thompson Hotels New York

Our visits to New York are usually foodie extravaganzas, but with our Central Park wedding and all of the preparations taking up a good portion of our recent trip, we were a bit more restrained. That was until our honeymoon in Montauk where it was indulgence all the way!

Instead, many of our New York food discoveries were low-key, but so, so delicious – the wonderland that is the Westside Market, the magnificent deli sandwiches at Cafe Olivero (I can’t even count how many we ordered over the week), the carrot cake doughnut at Doughnut Plant and the chocolate babka at Dean & Deluca.

Here are a few of our favourite New York finds…

Little Park

On the evening of our wedding, we dined at Andrew Carmellini’s latest restaurant Little Park at the Smyth Tribeca. I chose Little Park for a few reasons – its chic yet informal design, creative modern American menu and its relaxed sharing dish philosophy (so many high end New York restaurants impose three or four course set menus for dinner).

We enjoyed dishes such as Sullivan county chicken with morel, fava bean and garlic, Long island duck with rhubarb, broccoli rabe and confit leg and Rainbow trout with fingerling potato, celery and dill. They were all beautifully presented with interesting flavours and they went well with a selection of delicious vegetable dishes.

Desserts were Frozen Meyer lemon fluff with orange sorbet and sour candied ginger, Honey chamomile panna cotta with strawberry, lemon and amaro and our overall favourite – Cinnamon toast ice cream with brioche crumb. Each dessert was light, cooling and aromatic – perfect for the warmer months.

I highly recommend trying Little Park, it’s a refreshing take on casual fine dining and it attracts a smart urban crowd (but be sure to ask for a table in the main dining room).

By Chloe

Chef Chloe Coscarelli’s cool vegan fast-food cafe, on the corner of Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, was one of our favourite foodie finds in New York. In fact, it’s such a hit with New Yorkers and in-the-know visitors that it took quite a few attempts during our trip to grab a table – luckily on my birthday!

By Chloe is all about sustainable, plant-based comfort food that is oh so tasty and reasonably priced. It’s almost too hard to decide what to order from the all-day menu – Mac ‘n’ cheese, Pesto meatball sub, Smashed avocado toast, Quinoa taco, Kale Caesar salad and more…

We each tried a different burger – my Classic Burger was simple and full of flavour while Steven’s Mexican-inspired Guac Burger was more spicy with sweetness from the corn salsa and fresh, zesty lime. We accompanied them with a generous portion of the most scrumptious Air baked sweet potato French fries. They were so light and moreish with hardly any oil. You can also help yourself to little pots of all-natural tangy beetroot ketchup and piquant chipotle mayonnaise.

A second cafe has just opened in Silverlake, LA, and By Chloe is also expanding to Soho and Flat Iron, as well as Boston. Fingers crossed for London in the distant future!

Poulette

One evening, after getting drenched in a freak rainstorm, we were in need of some home-style comfort food. Thankfully Poulette, the popular French rotisserie spot by Parisian Adam Jama, was just a short walk from our hotel over in Hell’s Kitchen.

High quality, family farm-reared chickens are cooked with fresh herbs and lemon in an authentic French rotisserie machine, bringing a taste of the Parisian markets to New York. From the set meals, we chose a whole chicken for four people, which comes with a choice of four sides, for the bargainous price of $35.95.

The chicken was tender and juicy with crispy, golden skin and a subtle herb flavour. The skin-on fries were so moreish and I loved the garlic-infused string beans with mushrooms and brussels sprouts with tarragon. The rotisserie chicken also comes in a Caesar salad or sandwich and you can also order BBQ wings or chicken soup.

Momofuku Milk Bar

Our trip to New York wouldn’t have been complete without finally trying Momofuku Milk Bar, especially since the Midtown branch was just five minutes away from us. Chef and owner Christina Tosi’s whimsical baked goods and cereal milk™ soft serve ice creams have become the stuff of internet legend and I was keen to see if it lived up to expectations.

We tried three cookies that seem to bring out your inner child – confetti, blueberry & cream and cornflake-chocolate-chip-marshmallow. I enjoyed the fun flavours and the texture of the cookies, but they were super sweet and quite heavy on the glucose syrup and salt.

We revisited just before leaving for the airport for a sweet snack and some birthday cake truffles to numb the pain of the holiday ending, but the lunchtime queues were just too long. The cookies didn’t blow me away, but I still have unfinished business at Momofuku Milk Bar.

Ralph’s Coffee

Ralph Lauren’s debut coffee shop, inside the POLO flagship store on 5th Avenue, is one of my favourite new haunts in Manhattan. I’d expected Ralph’s Coffee to be chaotic due to its prime location, but it’s actually an oasis of calm with sleek design, charming staff and proper good coffee and tea.

It’s also perfect for people spotting, particularly that rare breed of New Yorker that lives and breathes the Ralph Lauren lifestyle. A preppy, suited Nate Archibald type was sat to our left sipping a green juice while Bunny MacDougal in a navy blazer and neckerchief held court near the counter – the sense of theatre was like that of a Parisian terrace cafe.

Having already visited and loved Ralph’s in Paris, The Polo Bar in the same New York flagship store is next on my list.

sweetgreen

I first heard about sweetgreen as Taylor Swift’s favourite salad place in New York and it’s easy to see why she’s a fan. This boutique chain of deluxe make-your-own salad bars is a pretty cool lifestyle brand – its stores are sustainably designed by the same architects as 3.1 Phillip Lim, it has its own sweetlife music festival, plus Kendrick Lamar and Debbie Harry even had their own tribute salads on the menu.

However, it’s not just style over substance – sweetgreen champions healthy food on the go with farm-sourced ingredients prepared from scratch in each store’s open kitchen.

The salads are absolutely enormous with a generous amount of fillings and this being America, substitutions are actually welcome. I loved the Kale Caesar, a lighter take on the classic with tasty roasted chicken while Steven’s Mexican-inspired Guacamole Greens was so zingy and full of flavour – tortilla chips were a surprisingly brilliant addition. The self-serve iced teas and agua fresca are amazing too – natural and not packed full of sugar.

The only problem with sweetgreen is its super-speedy assembly line system can leave you discombobulated on your first visit. Then there’s the no cash policy, an eco initiative that seems to infuriate New Yorkers and tourists in equal measures. We ate at both the Nolita and Greenwich Village Sweet Green stores and we were more savvy to the ordering system the second time round.

Have you tried any of these New York food spots? Where do you love to eat out in New York?

Photos by Chérie City (interiors by Little Park and sweetgreen)

SIXTY LES is the epitome of New York downtown cool with slick, minimalist design and a young, creative crowd.

Located just off the Bowery on Allen Street, the striking 18-storey, 141-guest room hotel towers over the neighbourhood’s tenements, offering up some spectacular views. It stands out from the landscape but is perfectly matched to the Lower East Side’s arty, style-conscious spirit.

Arrival

Inside, SIXTY LES has a buzzing vibe and the smartly-dressed staff orchestrated a swift early check-in. Within a few moments we were escorted in the elevator on the way to our room.

The Suite

Our very spacious Studio King Suite had a contemporary, industrial-luxe style with clean lines and Japanese accents. Designed in a colour palette of black, white and grey, the room features exposed concrete columns, black wooden varnished floors, a striped grey carpet, a shiny black mirrored wall and floor-to-ceiling windows.

Room features include a large LCD TV with premium cable and in-room movie library, iPod dock, a minibar filled with Dean & Deluca snacks and plenty of storage space. The plush lounge area is separated by a beaded metal curtain and has a sectional sofa and a coffee table with a stack of fashion magazines.

The king-size bed was incredibly comfortable and luxurious, covered in soft Sferra linen, which is a signature at all SIXTY hotels. Above is a stunning illuminated light box headboard by American photographer and artist Lee Friedlander that brings character to the room.

During the day, the room benefits from lots of natural light streaming in and at night it becomes more seductive, with mood lighting and the sultry glow from the city outside. A few nice touch were the bonsai tree by the entrance of the room and the Belgian chocolates on the desk at turndown.

Bathroom

The slate grey open-plan bathroom includes a separate walk-in rainfall shower and toilet behind frosted glass doors, a circular sink and a full set of REN bathroom amenities. The water pressure in the shower was very powerful and the oversized terrycloth bathrobes were perfect for lounging in.

Wifi internet in guest rooms at SIXTY LES comes with a charge, but we were told on arrival that there is free wifi in the bar on the first floor. Many guests flock to this lounge section of the bar with laptops to check emails and do business, so it has a sociable feel. The staff tend to leave guests to use the internet in peace, however, drinks and bites are closeby, should you wish to linger.

The Restaurant

The hotel’s popular restaurant Blue Ribbon Sushi Izakaya on the same level serves its own take on Japanese dishes alongside fried chicken and grilled NY strip steak and the Grand Buffet Brunch on the weekend sounds particularly tempting.

If you’re in the mood for a different type of cuisine, SIXTY LES is in a prime spot for sampling some of New York’s most exciting restaurants – we ate at the nearby La Esquina, The Meatball Shop and Pulino’s.

Above Allen

A special perk of staying at SIXTY LES is access to Above Allen, the exclusive members terrace lounge with great views over the city. Sadly Above Allen is usually closed on the day that we visited, otherwise we would have visited for a nightcap.

The hotel’s rooftop pool is surely the coolest in New York and it’s a real downtown hotspot when the sun comes out. Guests can swim over an Andy Warhol filmstrip and soak up some rays with a cocktail and light bites on the striking orange loungers.

For further relaxation, there is also a guests-only fitness and renewal centre with a gym, sauna and treatments rooms

SIXTY LES is an ideal base to explore the Lower East Side, matching cool design with a fun atmosphere and surprisingly reasonable prices. The hotel feels cosy and comfortable in the colder months, however to get the most out of the facilities such as the fabulous pool and outdoor dining, summer is the time to visit.

Cherie City was a guest of SIXTY LES

Photos by Cherie City and SIXTY LES

Where We Ate Out in New York