This is the conclusion of my I Luv NY series of culinary and cosmopolitan explorations in the Big Apple. After a night at Momofuku, I thought I would not be wowed, but the combination of the food and a more traditional fine dining ambiance at Aquavit was impressive.

The Aquavit entrance is rather indescript as it is on the first floor of a business and residential space between Park and Madison. The clean designs of the interior would be exactly what one would expect coming from the Scandinavian theme of the restaurant. I chose to await my seating at the bar, where canisters filled with Aquavit or “Water of Life” and drunken fruit highlighted some of their drink specials. I must admit that the warm, spiced nut mixture served at the bar is definitely worth a little cocktail pre-dinner (but don’t let that spoil your appetite).

I was seated at a small table located in the back dining room for a late evening reservation. The restaurant was full, but rather intimate because of the thoughtful layout of the dining room. As a tasting menu is one of the best ways to understand and experience a chef’s repertoire, I decided to do the featured tasting menu that evening in conjunction with the wine pairing. This ran me a little north of $100. However, I thought, when in Rome do as Romans, and when in NYC take advantage of the Creme de la Creme. (My reality eating is cheese, bread, fruit, and wine on a TV tray at home.)

Below is the list of the courses. During the tasting, I was unable to keep track of the drink pairings that ranged from Aguavit (vodka like libation) to Riesling to Pinot Noir.

• Tuna Tartar, Oysters with fennel cream and caviar, Herring Sampler (Loved the tuna & I officially did my first raw oyster…still don’t think it is a aphrodisiac)
• Lobster Roll garnished with pickled apple, trout roe, bacon, lemon aioli (very nice and delicately presented to make Sushi chefs jealous)
• Foie Gras Ganache with quail egg, pickled tomato, mustard (Foie gras is always very rich and especially pared with a soft boiled egg…you can a theme from Momofuku’s soft boiler egg with chips.)
• Hot-Smoked Arctic Char with celeriac, fennel frond, apple-horseradish broth (Two thumbs up, a very hearty fish and sweet cider-like broth with a kick of horseradish)
• Seared Tuna with pea shoots, snap peas, lemon vinaigrette (I guessed that the next step in this progression was to a heavier fish, like tuna. It did have a bbq seasoning that led well to the net course)
• Vension Loin,smoked & wrapped in bacon with huckleberries, dumplings, morels (This dish brought me back to the Midwest with vension. This was a definite favorite, especially as it was wrapped in bacon. Goooooood!)
• Grapefruit Granite with frozen yogurt & orange (This certainly would clean a palate, but I really didn’t like this course as it was too much Grapefruit. It needed additional sugar or alternate fruits to make it work for me.)
• Arctic Circle: goat cheese parfait, blueberry sorbet, & passion fruit curd (I have never been a fan of goat cheese, but I do admit the passion fruit curd was very nice, a change from a typical lemon curd. I would have to say the desserts were a strike out.)

As you can see and assume from a Scandinavian menu, it was fish heavy. Now to be very honest, I am not a fish lover. As my husband would say, I have a “food aversion” to fishy stuff in taste or smell. I have come to realize that this is the fault of food preparers and the fact that I come from a non-seaside state. If done correctly and fresh, I love fish.

Can I recommend that all parents and school systems, please stop preparing frozen fish sticks and really bad tuna fish! It has turned me off to fish and it has taken many decades to erase such experiences. However, both of my NYC experiences, proved that fish and seafood has such a broad spectrum.

Check out my complete NYC cosmopolitan and culinary tour with my video:

While in New York, tasting the creations of some of the best culinary minds in the world is a must. However, getting a reservation for these hot spots is tough; especially, when one of the restaurants on your list is David Chang’s Momofuku Ko. This East Village hot spot has taken the reservation system to the next level, where elitist host staff and phone calls are obsolete.

To get a reservation, you must use the official Ko site. First, create an account and enter your credit card information (yes, you need a credit card to even set up an account). Now, one week prior to your desired date, log on at 10 am. As there are only 12 seats per seating and the rest of the City wanting in, click and pick from any of the green check marks. Don’t be bothered that perhaps at 10:00:30 am that a dozen others have beat you. In fact, this happened to me despite being rather quick at the computer. Needless to say, I settled for a 9:30 pm reservation, entered my credit card information, and agreed to pay in full if I cancelled the reservation with less than 24 hours notice.

I arrived on time (for fear of loosing the sought after reservation) and was led to a stool. It was set up like a bar where the diners would sit side by side. There were a total of five couples that were seated at the bar during the meal. The kitchen itself was small with room for only three chefs. Each took the responsibility of preparing several of the coursing dishes, but also explaining the intricate plates to the diners. It seemed to me that each course had at least 5-6 ingredients of which many were unfamiliar to me (despite being married to an executive chef).

It was a coursing menu that included ten dishes. As pictures are not permitted (boooooo, bad policy Momofuku Ko), I was unable to photograph the courses, but if my memory serves me right, this was the list of the treats.

• Homemade soft tofu served in a spoon topped with a slice of plum, sweet biscuit with pork renderings and mirin, & a chicharron (The tofu was light and sweet, the biscuit scrumptious, and the fried pork rind brought me back to my trips to Mexico and street cart Chicharrones.)
• Smoked sea urchin in consomme with Asian greens (This was a first for me with sea urchin. It is definitely not one of my favorites for the strength of the seafood taste as well as texture.)
• Scallops sashimi (This dish was very light and clean. It was my favorite seafood dish of the evening.)
• Crawfish and Japanese sausage risotto (It was not technically a risotto as it was more like barley than Abrorio rice.)
• Shaved foie gras, lychee nuts, & peanut brittle served in a bowl like a sundae (It was definitely a combination of salty-sweet, but it was also incredibly rich. I couldn’t finish all of mine.)
• A soft-cooked egg that had been smoked, served open so that the yolk ran onto a mix of caviar and crunchy, nickel-size potato chips. (This was a yummy chips and dip.)
• Seared trout, skin on from the grill (This course was simply plain, but good.)
• Sous fise beef short ribs with spring onions. (The ribs were slowly cooked to be very tender. Then right before serving, they were finished by deep frying for crispiness.)
• Cantaloupe sorbet with sea salt and lemon ice(This was probably one of the best dishes. The sorbet was refreshing with the salty-sweet contrast. This combination mimicked the taste of a prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe slice at an Italian bistro.)
• Olive oil ice cream with seasonal berries and peppered ganache (The ice cream had a faint taste of olive oil that paired well with the blueberries and strawberries. This may sound strange, but it had almost a sour cream flavor. The peppered ganache was there for contrast, but I chose to omit the ganache.)

At Ko, the libations are limited to wine, beer, and sake. As the menu is all over the place, I opted for wine. I had anticipated fish, beef, and pork, so I thought that neither red nor white would compliment the entire tasting menu. I selected a sparkling white from Spain or cava (Yet another reference to Spain).

I have to say that the experience was unique from the beginning of the process of the reservation to the open kitchen to ten courses of surprising combinations. If one is looking for a culinary experience that is above and beyond the norm, Momofuku Ko is it. Now, don’t get me wrong; Momofuku Ko is not cheap. This is a place that will set you back around $100 per head before your drinks.

Ms Traveling Pants would give Momofuku Ko two thumbs up. To check out all of my NYC adventures, view my video summary.

As I wanted to see the island from the harbor as well, but without having a guided tour or wasting my culinary dining tour money, I chose to take the Staten Island Ferry. There are not many frills with the ride. The ride is free leaving every half hour from Manhattan and taking roughly 25 minutes to Staten Island. The ferry employees open up the doors for hundreds of commuters and tourists to rush to get the good seats or better said the best standing spots. Really you have to see it to believe it, but I would recommend wearing your running shoes, be strategic, and hold your ground.

Boarding at Manhattan, head to the starboard side or the right side of the ferry. Don’t bother with the seats. You will want to take a standing space along the open window section. From this position, you will be able to take great pictures of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. If you don’t have the chance to get this space, a second option is the stern, which will lead to great views of Manhattan as well as a less crowded environment. The third option would be on the return trip where you may have a better chance to get a spot in prime location, which would be on the port or left side of the boat.

There are little to no frills with the Staten Island Ferry, but the views are better and much less costly than the other tourist versions. The roundtrip will probably take you an hour and a half. It takes around 25 minutes to arrive in Staten Island, but it is difficult to catch the return trip immediately as typically others have been waiting prior to your arrival.

Keep you posted on other NYC adventures!

New York City is famous around the world for being the Big Apple, the City that Never Sleeps, and the home of the best pizza in the world. This summer, I had the opportunity to revisit NYC. This time it was not on business as my past two trips, but a relaxing weekend. Believe it or not, it has been nearly twenty years since my first tourist tour of the City. At that time, I went to many of the museums, shopped the garment district, saw Cats on Broadway, and visited Lady Liberty and Ellis Island.

As you can imagine, much can change in twenty years; however, most of the changes were in me. Now having traveled the globe, lived abroad, and married, the city looks so different. I appreciate its diversity, embrace its buzz, envy those that live in the thriving city, and jealous of those foodies that get to experiment with the countless numbers of cafes, bistros, fine dining establishments, and street food carts.

I have to admit, over the course of three days, two areas of my body got a work out: my feet and my stomach. The whirlwind culinary and cosmopolitan tour of NYC did span the city with just enough sightseeing in between stops to burn some calories. The first day began at Grand Central with a quest for one of the New York musts, pizza. The difficult decision was where to get the best pizza. Knowing that I could use a seat and a cold beer to pair with a New York pizza, I passed the numerous Ray’s pizza shops, so and so’s places, and headed to John’s Pizzeria on Bleecker Street. My better half and I got off at Prince Street and walked Bleecker Street taking in the eclectic surroundings and envying the diners that had already settled at the street side tables, but we were on a mission and wanted the best margarita pizza in New York.

With its typical Italian sign in Red, Green, and White, John’s pizza is a nondescript restaurant that advises that the line starts outside as the seating inside is little, only two small rooms with wooden booths and tables that have been carved with previous pizza eaters’ names. Having missed the rush hour of Friday’s lunch, we got a booth and a whole pie, as slices are not an option.

Being in New York, the Midwestern style of Chicago pizza that I grew up with is not its claim to fame. New York pizzas have thin crust. Each slice is about the size of your head. In fact, the real New Yorkers only eat pizza by folding it in half to do a couple of things, eat it faster and avoid the grease. As I enjoy a little spice, of course, I needed the cracked pepper flakes to kick it up a notch.

So the libation of choice at John’s is draft beer. They offer either pints or pitchers. We chose to go outside off our typical beer comfort zone and tried a Yuengling, which appeared to be a darker beer, but it was an absolute delight with the pizza in the mid-afternoon.

From John’s, you are only a quick walk from Washington Square, the home of musicians, chess matches, the “Arc de Triomphe” look a like, and great people watching. Just steps from NYU, the park is a place to see college students reading, catching some rays, and then the rest of the city enjoying playing in the fountains, listening to area musicians, and watching the city’s best mimes, magicians, and the like.

As a whole pie deserves a long walk, I opted to navigate a course to another New York icon and may I mention it was free. Yep, we hopped the train to City Hall/Brooklyn Bridge and headed for the pedestrian walk/bike path of the Brooklyn Bridge. The bridge itself is a beautiful architectural wonder, but it also facilitates great views of downtown New York City and most importantly Manhattan’s mid-town with the Chrysler and Empire State Building. The walk takes about thirty minutes each way if you are taking some pictures and enjoying the sights.

As New York City is the city that never sleeps that doesn’t mean that Ms Traveling Pants toured the city without rest. After a train ride and day of SoHo, Washington Square, and the Brooklyn Bridge, it was time for a nap before a world class meal, which I will highlight in future posts.

Do you have a recommendation for Ms Traveling Pants for New York Pizza? Or a favorite spot in along this NYC route?

Keep me posted.