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Our Magical New York Wedding

June 21, 2016 by cheriecity

Things have been a bit quiet on the blog front recently, but there’s a good reason why – we got married! We spent almost two magical weeks in New York and managed to squeeze in our wedding, honeymoon and my birthday – well, they say good things come in threes!

Steven and I got engaged in the Tuileries Garden in Paris last November and have since been planning our dream trip to New York, the highlight being our intimate wedding ceremony in Central Park. As it was a small wedding, a dedicated planner wasn’t necessary and we handled every last detail ourselves (mostly online from the UK). If you’re thinking of a New York destination wedding, I’ve put together a guide on everything things you need to know.

Like I said, our wedding was super-tiny with just us and the ‘rents in attendance, so everything was easy to co-ordinate once we all arrived (we travelled a few days ahead to get our marriage licence at City Hall in Tribeca). Our HQ for the wedding part of the trip was the WestHouse Hotel New York, a five star residence just a few block south of Central Park and Columbus Circle. We all LOVED this hotel and quickly felt at home.

Wedding Flowers

The day before the wedding, I went with my mum to the Flower District on West 28^th St to pick some flowers. The choice of blooms is quite overwhelming, but we eventually decided on the most beautiful pink peonies for my bouquet and lily of the valley for the guest buttonholes.

Thankfully my mum is a crafts goddess and had packed all kinds of floristry accessories in her suitcase to make the bouquet look perfect. She also made my wedding dress, just as my grandmother made hers. It’s a tradition that I really wanted to keep and we both quite enjoyed the process, from designing and sourcing fabrics to the final tweaks.

Cakes from Ladurée Soho

We then all regrouped for a walk around Greenwich Village and a picnic in my favourite Washington Square Park with deli bites from Dean & Deluca. Cakes for the reception were from the new spring collection at Ladurée Soho and I couldn’t resist adding a selection of macarons.

While everyone chilled out in their rooms, my evening was spent sweeping Henri Bendel for last-minute accessories and finally relaxing with an excellent mani-pedi at New York Nails, just a few steps away from the hotel.

Hair at Blo Chelsea

On the morning of our wedding, we enjoyed a light breakfast on the terrace at The WestHouse and my mum and I hopped in a cab to Blo Chelsea for a blow-dry and up-do. My stylist did a great job making my hair look all soft, romantic and not overly polished, finished with twinkling star and moon clips by Anthropologie to match the beaded silk of my dress. There was some kind of sorcery in those pins – they barely moved all day!

I did my own make-up with a complete Dior kit, using techniques and tips that I’d learned in my Dior make-up lesson a few weeks before. After adding the finishing touches to my bridal look and having a mini pep talk with my mum, I met my groom in the lobby and off we all went in a cab to Central park.

Wagner Cove, Central Park

Our wedding venue was Wagner Cove, a charming and peaceful spot with a rustic pavilion overlooking the lake. The weather was absolutely spot on with blue skies and shimmering sun and the only noises were passing rowing boats, birds chirping and turtles jumping off the rocks.

Of course, Central Park is a public space and so many people stopped to say congratulations, hear our story and take photos with us. It turned our small wedding into something much bigger and I have New Yorkers and the city’s friendly visitors to thank for that.

The wedding ceremony was simple and beautiful. Our officiant Sarah Smart put together some heartfelt and poignant vows and conducted it all without too much fuss. It was all captured by our wedding photographer Emilia Randler, who gave us helpful direction and made us feel comfortable throughout. For a blogger, I’m ridiculously camera-shy but with Emilia’s guidance, I managed to pose my way through Central Park’s most picturesque landmarks for a good two hours.

We took advantage of the quiet terrace at the WestHouse for our mini reception and finally got to taste those divine Ladurée cakes and macarons.

Dinner at Little Park

Then it was back in a cab to Tribeca for dinner at Andrew Carmellini’s latest restaurant Little Park. Would you believe me if I told you that it took over six months of nightly online research to find the restaurant that would fit my exact criteria? There’s an overwhelming number of fantastic restaurants in New York and I changed my mind a few times along the way, but Little Park ticked all of the boxes and didn’t disappoint.

The menu was modern American with a focus on locally-sourced ingredients and beautiful presentation. 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.

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.

We ended this magical day on the terrace at the WestHouse marvelling at the Manhattan skyline and sharing our favourite moments of the wedding.

Honeymoon in the Hamptons

After the wedding was over, we could let loose a little (ie. make up for lost time with the hotel’s daily afternoon tea) and explore New York without a schedule. Then it was on to Montauk in the Hamptons for our honeymoon, before spending my birthday back in New York, staying in the beautiful Modern Art Suite at hotel Warwick New York.

Our New York wedding was an absolute dream and looking back, I wouldn’t have it any other way. If you’re tempted by a New York destination wedding or elopement, I’ll be posting about how to plan it, with a few helpful tips that we learned along the way.

Photos by Chérie City (wedding photos by Emilia Randler and restaurant interior by Little Park)

Art, New York

Frieze Exhibition: ArtSpeak at The Surrey, NYC

April 13, 2016 by cheriecity

Frieze Art Fair is one of the most prestigious international art events in the social calendar, with must-see fairs in London, New York and Berlin that bring together the industry’s movers and shakers.

To celebrate its fifth year in New York, Frieze has partnered with Upper East Side Relais & Châteaux hotel The Surrey as the only official hotel partner.

Drawing on its reputation as a notable art hotel, The Surrey launches ArtSpeak curated by Natasha Schlesinger, Art Expert in Residence and founder of Art Muse.

The lobby and public spaces will be transformed into a mini gallery with art installations by eight emerging and mid-known artists, presenting 11 works that will be on show in the lead up to Frieze until the end of August, so there is plenty of time to catch them.

The line-up of featured artists includes Ryan McGinness, Faile, Desire Obtain Cherish, Annabel Daou and Leila Pazooki. Their works were chosen to fit the installation theme of “cultural influences of media” and explore the use of language and symbols in art to comment on culture, society and personal reflections.

There’s also an exciting rooftop garden botanical piece by Peter D Gerakaris and daily ArtSpeak tours with curator and Art Expert Natasha Schlesinger.

The thought-provoking pieces also compliment The Surrey’s most prominent permanent artworks including Jenny Holzer – You are My Own, Claes Oldenburg – Study for Sneaker Lace – White, Richard Serra – Promenade Notebook Drawing III & V and Chuck Close – Kate Moss.

Best of all, you don’t need to be part of the art elite or even a hotel guest to view the works, as the exhibition is open to the public. With its prime location close to Museum Mile and its see-and-be-seen Café Boulud and Bar Pleiades by Daniel Boulud, The Surrey is the place to take in the best of the New York art scene.

ArtSpeak at The Surrey runs from 4th May to 31st August. For more information, visit: www.thesurrey.com

Brunch, Hotels, Hotels - Luxury, New York, Restaurants

Asiate Brunch, Mandarin Oriental New York

July 23, 2013 by cheriecity

What could be better than spending a lazy Saturday in New York over an indulgent brunch looking out over Central Park?

Asiate at Mandarin Oriental New York has an enviable position, perched on the 35th floor of the Time Warner Center, by Columbus Circle. The spectacular floor to ceiling views are matched with exquisite food and a tantalising contemporary Asian and American brunch menu.

Arriving a little early, we took some time to wander around the 35th floor of Mandarin Oriental New York and stopped to admire the curved lobby’s stunning Dale Chihuly glass sculpture. The Lobby Lounge was also buzzing with weekenders enjoying afternoon tea and dim sum bento boxes.

Asiate is an elegant, expansive restaurant whose minimal-luxe design lets the views do the talking. The large tables feature comfortable seating and guests can dine overlooking the south-west corner of Central Park by the window, or nestled in an intimate booth to the sides of the room.

While Asiate is all about clean lines with dark wood highlights, the centrepiece of the restaurant is a beautiful silver tree branch sculpture, referencing the trees of Central Park in winter. Another interesting design point is the wall of wines, including over 1300 bottles.

Chef de Cuisine Angie Berry’s weekly-changing brunch menu features a well-edited selection of seasonal classics with an innovative twist.

We were warmly welcomed by the attentive, friendly staff and swiftly set up with a bottle of chilled still water, a choice of artisan breads and a glass of Champagne. Asiate’s semi-set menu brunch is a fun concept, serving three courses in smaller tasting portions. The starter and dessert plates are chosen weekly by Chef Berry and guests can choose two dishes for their main course.

We started with the beautifully-presented Gourmandise Tasting, made up of four bento dishes. The Cauliflower Veloute with smoked bacon foam and chives was thick, creamy and ever so smooth. Ahi Tuna Poke, avocado crème and wasabi-sesame tempura was plump and fresh while the Farmhouse Frittata with country sausage, goats cheese and roasted tomatoes was light, bubbly and full of strong flavours.

My favourite bite was the Miso Chilled Shrimp with green papaya and mango salad with ginger dressing, which was succulent, aromatic, well-marinated and so tasty.

Following the Gourmandise Tasting, we enjoyed a refreshing palate-cleanser of home-made Mango Sorbet.

As we ordered only savoury dishes for our main courses, Asiate’s pastry chef kindly sent us a scrumptious Belgian Waffle with berries, whipped vanilla cream and Vermont maple syrup that also features on the menu. It was a heavenly treat between courses and worth ordering as part of brunch.

For my main course, I went for a duo of Croque Madame with sunny-side-up egg, grilled country ham, red watercress, bechamel sauce and toasted sourdough and Cavatelli with pancetta, mushrooms, parmesan cheese, garden herbs and parmesan broth.

The Croque Madame was deliciously rich and decadent, smothered in thick bechamel. It was the perfect French classic but with an interesting addition of sun-dried tomato jam spread on the sourdough, giving it a tangy edge.

The Cavatelli was cooked perfectly al dente and was accompanied with chunky, meaty pancetta, silky mushrooms and torn garden herbs. The parmesan broth was well-seasoned and light and the roughly-cut parmesan finished the dish nicely.

Steven ordered the Grilled NY Steak with market vegetables and the Eggs Benedict BLT with soft-poached egg, pancetta, arugula, heirloom tomatoes and bacon hollandaise.

The sliced medium-cooked steak was tender and nicely charred, served with sauteed courgette and slow-roasted carrot. The Eggs Benedict BLT was another rich dish with thick pieces of pancetta, lashings of peppery bacon hollandaise and a perfectly-cooked poached egg.

Dessert was a delicious duo of Double Chocolate Crème brûlée and Strawberry Lemon Shortcake – ideal if you find it hard to decide between chocolate and fruit. The luxurious crème brûlée custard was velvety smooth and made using 64% semi-sweet chocolate and 70% dark chocolate. The caramelised natural sugar had a thick, crisp crust and was topped with two biscuit curls.

The Strawberry Lemon Shortcake was a lighter affair with infused sponge cake, lemon curd cream, strawberry glaze and wild strawberry sauce. It was delicate, zesty and light as air – the ideal dessert after an epic brunch.

We finished with a pot of fresh mint tea and lingered a little to soak up the last of the incredible Central Park views. Before leaving, we were invited to fill a little lime green take-away box with cookies, biscotti and candy, as a sweet souvenir of our visit. It was a lovely touch, putting the cherry on the top of a fabulous afternoon that ended with a marathon walk around Central Park.

Brunch at Asiate is a wonderful experience that tourists and New Yorkers can delight in equally. The food is outstanding, the menu is exciting and the small plate concept allows you to sample lots of different tastes and still leave feeling happily full. I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather spend a lazy weekend afternoon in Manhattan.

Brunch is priced at $54 and speciality cocktails are $19. For more information and booking, visit: www.mandarinoriental.com

Chérie City was a guest of Mandarin Oriental New York

For more New York travel ideas, read my review of:

Hotels, Hotels - Luxury, New York, Restaurants, USA

Lunch at Palm Court at The Plaza New York

May 31, 2012 by cheriecity

The Plaza is a New York landmark, immortalised in the pages of American history, literature and film since its opening in 1907. The Plaza has had some great moments – the tea garden was featured in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (The Beautiful and Damned was based on the author’s exploits at the hotel), Eartha Kitt played The Persian Room, The Beatles stayed during their first trip to the U.S and Truman Capote hosted his legendary Black & White Ball in the Grand Ballroom.

More recently, Sex and the City and Gossip Girl have played a part in maintaining The Plaza’s reputation as the most desirable place in the city to get married, enjoy afternoon tea or a glamorous cocktail hour. Of course, being located in New York’s most prestigious spot, overlooking Central Park and 5th Avenue, certainly helps.

We visited The Plaza for lunch at Palm Court, the renowned restaurant and focal point of the hotel. Entering the spectacular dining room feels like walking into a bygone era, with a stunning stained glass cupola, crystal chandeliers, marble pillars and elegant palms.

Palm Court is ever so civilised and romantic, however the atmosphere is refreshingly informal. The waiters are polite yet warm and friendly, making conversation as though it was an old family establishment.

Afternoon tea is a particular favourite at Palm Court, with four special teas available – The Classic, The New Yorker, Chocolate Tea and Eloise Tea (named after author Kay Thompson’s young character Eloise, who lived at The Plaza).

We ordered from the lunch menu by Executive Chef Willis Loughhead, which features classic American dishes and European brasserie favourites.

We both started with the Jumbo Lump Crab Cake with grilled melon and whole grain mustard aioli ($21). The crab cake was meaty and plump, with crispy golden breadcrumbs on a bed of lamb’s lettuce and juicy grilled melon. The whole grain mustard aioli was potent and piquant and worked perfectly with all of the flavours.

For my main dish, I was tempted by the Braised Beef Short Rib Stroganoff with mixed mushrooms, Harrison Creek Farms grey shallots, wide egg noodles and Dijon ($30). The meat was tender and slow-cooked and fell off the bone. The Stroganoff sauce had a light yet creamy texture and absorbed the flavours of the meat and mushrooms.

The noodles resembled thin fusilli pasta rather than the long ribbons I was expecting, however they were light and tasty. I later found out that in America, the difference between pasta and noodles is whether a wheat or egg dough is used, even if they may look like pasta shapes.

Steven ordered the Beer Braised Barbecue Pork with fresh tomato salsa, avocado, pickled red onion, brioche and house-made potato chips ($22). The pulled pork was moist and well marinated and the fresh garnishes stopped it from being overly rich. The thick-cut house-made potato chips were crunchy, properly seasoned and full of flavour – a welcome change from fries.

My Hazelnut Napoleon with hazelnut meringue and milk chocolate Chantilly ($14) was an absolute delight! I loved the contrasting layers of wafer-thin chocolate, whipped Chantilly cream, dense chocolate ganache, nutty sponge and a decadent, crunchy praline base. Any fans of Nutella or gianduja won’t be able to resist this dessert.

Steven went with the classic French Apple Tarte Tatin with caramelised Granny Smith apples and vanilla ice cream ($14). This was a simple dessert done extremely well, with deeply caramelised soft apples on a flaky pastry base. Pastry Chef Jasmina Bojic certainly brought flair to the dessert course.

We finished with two large pots of fresh mint tea, accompanied by a platter of the most exquisite chocolate truffles. Hand-painted and vibrant, these luxurious white, milk and dark chocolates resembled little meteorites and were filled with interesting combinations. After three delicious courses, we had no room left, so our waiter kindly boxed them up for us to take away.

A popular alternative to the lunch menu and the afternoon tea is the Chef’s Table – a selection of seasonal soup, salads, grilled vegetables, charcuterie, seafood, meats and desserts ($36). This self-service selection at the centre of the room was beautifully-presented and there were plenty of dishes to choose from. This option makes dining at The Plaza more affordable, particularly for families.

Palm Court is a fabulous emblem of ‘old world’ New York and it was a real treat to have dined at The Plaza, in the footsteps of America’s great and good.

For more info, visit: www.fairmont.com/theplaza

Chérie City was a guest of The Plaza

For more New York dining ideas, read my reviews of: