New York 2008: The Top Ten List + More Raves & Reviews

In chronological order of this year’s highlights, we had a wonderful Christmas trip!

1.  Day 1:  Being upgraded from a queen to a king room upon arrival at the Sheraton.  Located at 7 & 53, we had easy access to everywhere we wanted to be!

2.  Day 1:  Getting 9th row seats to Wicked…then sitting in the 9th row on Friday.

3.  Day 2:  Using the gorillapod for the first time to take our picture in front of the tree!

4.  Day 2:  Expensive glasses of wine on the house with our Christmas lobster & steak dinner at Maloney and Porcelli because people had been cranky with our waiter all night and we were his best customers!  Rave & Review:  Although the decor and ambiance wasn’t anything to write home about, Maloney and Porcelli had a well-rounded classic steakhouse menu.  Our server was wonderful and the wine list was within reach for 2 non-Park Avenue residents.  We would definitely recommend this restaurant.

5.  Day 3:  A long romantic stroll through Central Park cannot be beat!  We finally made it far enough North to escape deep into the trails and feel lost away from the city.

6.  Day 3:  Seeing an old friend who is one of the chefs at the trendy Bar Boulud, eating food that he ordered andprepared, eating too much free dessert and then touring the kitchen!

7.  Day 4:  Surprise couples massages from my sweet husband!

8.  Day 4:  Finding La Pain Quotidien and having the best lunch ever.

9.  Day 4:  Free champagne at dinner before we left the city.  Rave & Review:  Cafe Centro didn’t receive rave reviews on Zagat or OpenTable but we had a gift certificate so we figured it was better than paying somewhere else!  We concluded that we disagreed with reviews we read and that the food might have been the best from the whole trip – the steak came with 3 incredible sauces, the tuna tartare was exquisite and then of course…we did get free champagne!  But really, the service was not pretentious, the wine was affordable and our waiter was very friendly.  Another great recommendation for dinner in the city.

10.  Day 4/5:  Making it home on the bus in EXACTLY 4 hours and not a minute more which meant we could make it onto the T and not spend $50 on a cab.