I know I am redundant, but I love New York.

Last weekend we had mostly evening activities planned so we played the daytime by ear. The city was an open book.

Saturday, we were up and out early for David’s scheduled fab birthday facial with Kristen. We headed across Central Park to the upper east side.

I dropped David off and meandered the east side until we all met up for coffee at the adorable Java Girl  on east 66th Street.

We had a 6:30 dinner reseveration at the Tarry Lodge, located on the border of Greenwich, Connecticut and Port Chester, New York so a Broadway matinee was cutting it too close.

I made the executive decision to take in Entourage which had opened on Friday.

The last time I saw a movie at the Cinema 1, 2, 3 across from Bloomingdale’s on 3rd and 59th, it was a total dump. Well, they just renovated the theater and we watched the big screen in comfort on wide leather reclining loungers. Even the popcorn was fresh and tasty.

Entourage was reasonably entertaining…not as good as the series, but Pitch Perfect 2 was way worse. The film was loaded with more celebrity guest appearances than ladies sporting rhinoplasty on Madison Avenue.

Lunchtime and I pulled the two year old Estela on Houston and Mulberry out of my bag of tricks.

We jumped the 6 train and were deposited a 30 second walk from the restaurant entrance.

Estela is an intimate, adorable, restaurant serving delicious cuisine. The ricotta dumplings with mushrooms and pecorino sardo is dreamy ($22).

We walked back to the upper west side, meandering through Soho, the west village, the meatpacking district and eventually hopping the 1 train once we reached the uninspired west 30’s.

We changed and were on the road to Connecticut by 5pm and had a lovely evening with my mom. We dined at the Tarry Lodge, the brainchild of Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich. The pizza, pasta and salads are always consistent and my mom was in high spirits.

Sunday dawned a gorgeous day and we jumped on our bikes and were cruising the Hudson River Bike Parkway by 8:30am, stopping for expresso at Pier i cafe at west 70th and Riverside Park South overlooking the Hudson River. A great start to the day.

The cruise ships were disembarking and the ignorant cruisers were standing in the middle of the bike path, mouths gaping, rolling huge suitcases. We took a few out and careened toward the Intrepid and Freedom Tower.

The views of the Statue of Liberty are always awe inspiring.

We rode over to Tribeca and had a delicious brunch at Little Park in the Smyth Hotel (Thompson Hotel)…the latest Andrew Carmellini restaurant venture to go along with Locanda Verde, The Dutch, Bar Primi, Lafayette and Joe’s Pub.

We dined under the shadow of the Freedom Tower.

The beetroot tartare with horseradish, rye crumbles and smoked trout roe is to die for ($15).

We rode home on Hudson Street, through the west village and hooked back up with the bike path on west 25th Street.

We strolled through the Hudson River Park between 57th and 70th and took in some of the latest art installations.

We jumped back on the bikes and ended our journey in Central Park with a good book.

The night ended on a fabulous note, having dinner at our favorite restaurant with Francesco, owner of Sociale.

We were a bit early so we walked the Brooklyn Heights Esplanade and took in the breathtaking view of lower Manhattan…now I understand why Patty Duke, a “Girl from Brooklyn Heights,” loved living there!

We meandered over to Sociale. Let’s be clear, you have to try Sociale at least once if you want to experience great food.

We spent three hours consuming delicious food, fabulous Italian wine and chatting with the charismatic Francesco.

The food, as always, was divine. I actually shared the house special hamburger with Francesco…seriously the best I have ever had.

New York, unlike people, never disappoints.

 

I had to include the theme song from The Patty Duke Show…I sang this to Courtny her entire life…