Eating and drinking. Drinking and eating. A lot of that occurred on my trip. A lot. But in a good way.

My 4.5-day trip to New York City was a bit of a whirlwind. I saw some sights, and got lost in Brooklyn on more than one occasion because of a directional blunder on the subway. It went to the tune of, "That train just arrived, and mine isn't moving...I'll just jump over there and see what happens." Brooklyn is what happens when you do that, FYI. But one of the Brooklyn mishaps provided a beautiful walk over the bridge back to Manhattan. It was a gorgeous day in the city...50 or so degrees...winds out of the Southeast at 6 MPH...and the sun shining brightly atop Ms. Liberty's crown. Genius.

I never made it to Di Fara pizza to visit the 76-year-old chef, despite my many unintentional trips to Brooklyn. As it turned out, I didn't do a lot of the things I had planned for. But I'm starting to realize that trips like that are fun...and that you actually can live without a spreadsheet tucked in your purse. I will say that my Evernote for Blackberry came in handy on more than one occasion though.

Making a list of 60+ bars and restaurants for a 4.5-day trip was probably not the smartest thing for a list-checker anyway. Did I feel a little defeated when I left and realized I'd only made it to roughly 3% of the places I wanted to find? A little. But I'm a go-with-the-flow type of person, and I can't help but think I made out just fine restaurant-wise. And bar-wise. And beer-wise. And even champagne-wise.

Here is a sampling of the fare that I sampled in the city:

Fig and Olive
420 West 13th Street
Cross Street: Between Ninth Avenue and Washington Street
http://www.figandolive.com

Katra Bar and Lounge
217 Bowery
Cross Street: Between Prince Street and Spring Street
http://www.katranyc.com

Aspen
30 W 22nd Street # 1
Cross Street: Between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue
http://www.aspen-nyc.com/

Nougatine
1 Central Park West
Cross Street: Between Broadway and Central Park in the Trump Tower
http://www.jean-georges.com/

El Parador
325 E 34th Street
Cross Street: Between 2nd Avenue and FDR Drive
http://www.elparadorcafe.com

Automatic Slims
733 Washington Street
Cross Street: Between Bank Street and Bethune Street
(212) 645-8660

CraftBar
900 Broadway
Cross Street: Between 20th Street and 21st Street
http://www.craftrestaurant.com/craftbar.html

Flute Champagne Bar- Grammercy
40 E 20th Street # 1
Cross Street: Between Broadway and Park Avenue South
www.flutebar.com

L'Express
249 Park Ave South

Get Directions
Cross Street: Between 19th Street and 20th Street
www.lexpressnyc.com
* approximate times
-

Citrine Lounge
59 W 21st Street
Cross Street: Between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue
www.citrinenyc.com

Spitzer's Corner
101 Rivington Street
Cross Street: Between Delancey Street and East Houston Street
www.spitzerscorner.com

Braeburn
117 Perry Street
Cross Street: Between Hudson Street and Greenwich Street
www.braeburnrestaurant.com‎


Ginger Man
11 East 36th Street
Cross Street: Between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue
www.gingerman-ny.com