We are getting ready to spend the month of June in Manhattan.  We’ve rented a two bedroom apartment in the East Village, close to the coffee shop that was our favourite last time we were there – Bluebird Coffee.  We wanted a two bedroom so that friends could come and stay with us, and we wanted to be close to good coffee since that’s the one shop you may need to go to several times in a day.

So far we have made reservations at 3 restaurants.  The first one we’ll be going to is Eleven Madison Park.  Last time we were there, this restaurant only had one Michelin star and was in the 51-100 part of the Top 100 restaurants in the world list.  The food was delicious and very reasonably priced – I’d have paid more for what I got.  Since then, they’ve added another two Michelin stars and climbed to #10 in the world so I’m excited to see how they’ve changed.

Our second reservation is at Le Bernardin.  Neither of us are big on seafood, but a friend who is visiting is one of those “not big into red meat” people.  I decided to use this as a reason to go – I’m a bit apprehensive about shelling out so much money for food I’m not generally the biggest fan of, but at the same time I’m hopeful that they can make seafood that I will at least enjoy, if not love.

Our third reservation is at Per Se.  We’ve been once before and agree that it was the best meal we had in New York (and the second best we’ve ever had).  This is THE meal of the trip and I’m salivating just thinking about it.

We also want to go to Momofuku Ssäm Bar but they don’t take reservations.  We’ll also be investigating other food opportunities I’ve heard of through friends, books, and online.

Very excited!

-I