ComeSailWithME

Here is a revised Thursday if we do Del Posto for dinner instead of the Little Owl.

Central Park (would love a rec to grab a bagel or pastry and coffee to take on our walk through the park when we want to sit down and relax)

Chelsea Market (samplings in lieu of lunch)- I forgot to mention we also want to wander around Artists and Fleas at CM.

Walk part of the High Line, endining with a pre-dinner drink at Le Bein

Dinner at Del Posto

EBS & Times Square at night

Thoughts?

ekscrunchy

Commenting only on the restaurants, both Little Owl and Del Posto are excellent choices.

Where are you planning to get samplings at Chelsea Market? I am not aware of any places that give out free food too individual visitors..there may well be some, I just have never encountered any. Buon Italia is not known for congenial staff, by the way.



I think you can add something else on Thursday..it does not take so long to see Chelsea Market and walk part of the High Line.

I am not sure that Faicco's Pork Store will offer much to the casual tourist unless you actually plan to buy food...

If I had to point a visitor to only one food store in Manhattan, I would point to DiPalo on Grand Street. Shopping there amounts to a tutorial on the food of Italy. They will let you sample cheeses, salumi, "real" balsamic vinegars, olive oils, etc, as long as you plan to buy a few things, and that you express interest and enthusiasm. I cannot tell you how much I have learned from shopping there over the years. It is family owned and run, and they have a shop next door featuring Italian wines. They also have a few take-out items so you could pick up lunch there. A visit combines with a visit to Chinatown or the remnants of Little Italy. You could fit in in on Wednesday or Friday. Their mozzarella and fresh ricotta are not to be missed. Prices are reasonable and they pack for travel.

I shop for food most days of the week, and range all over the city in my marketing. I would have to say that DiPalo might be the single most enjoyable stop, and I would think nothing of taking the train and a walk from my house to go there. For someone interested in food, it is a bonanza. Many times I actually see Italians from Italy shopping there for items to bring home!

On the day of a visit to DiPalo, you could also fit in Ceci Cela, one of the city's premier French bakeries. Or Payard, which now has a branch on Houston Street and is also among the city's top tier.


http://www.cecicelanyc.com/

http://www.fpbnyc.com/

http://www.dipaloselects.com/

If you do get to DiPalo, you might want to make an unusual stop nearby at one of the jerky shops in Chinatown, like New Beef King:


http://www.newbeefking.com/

ComeSailWithME

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply I was expecting free samples in Chelsea Market - rather, ordering small items and splitting them to try a variety of things while we are there. Enjoy to fulfill a light lunch so we would not spoil our dinner at The Little Owl OR Del Posto (gah! no which one?!) I guess the deciding factor would be which one would allow for my husband to enter in sneakers.

Faicco's Pork Store - I hear they have great italian sub sandwiches. They will also let you sample some of their cured meats. I planned on grabbing some cheese and a sandwich here to take for our picnic in Washington Square Park.

We plan on stopping inside the Standard Hotel and going up to Le Bain to relax and have a drink before heading to dinner too. So do you think 3 hours for Chelsea Market, Artists and Fleas, High Line Park, drink at Le Bain is enough time? I would like to have dinner around 530/6, so after we could head to Times Square and EBS and not arrive back in LI super late, so we will be getting up early to come back to the city for SOL cruise in the morning.

DiPalo sounds fantastic and I will add it to my list with these others you've mentioned for when we explore near Little Italy and Chinatown.

Momddtravel2

I had dinner at Del Posto and it was a wonderful meal - lovely place as well. Glad to see you crossed Carmines and Ellen's off - we enjoy both but Carmines for family style with a large family and Ellens with the kids for the singing waiters and silliness - neither for a "food" experience.

We ate here on Sat. night and the food was excellent, the service as well and it was a fun place! It is a little black dress sort of place... http://togrp.com/togrp-stk/ STK(we were at the meat packing location).

have fun!

ComeSailWithME

It looks like Payard has a location right near the SE part of Central Park. We would likely stop here for coffee, croissants and pastries to take with us inside of Central Park to enjoy on a park bench.

ekscrunchy

Faicco is a great store, but it is no match for DiPalo, in my opinion. One is a great spot for shopping; the other for shopping and learning about food.

You should be kind of "dressed up" for dinner at Del Posto. More casual spots would include I Sodi or Perla, in the WEst Village.

ComeSailWithME

Momddtravel2 - glad to hear you liked Del Posto. Can you tell me what the dress code was like? I am so concerned we are limited since my husband will be in sneakers.

Being from Chicago, we don't actively seek out steakhouses when we travel. Besides, we will not be dressed appropriately. Perhaps another time.

ComeSailWithME

What about the dress code for The Little Owl?

We will just be stopping in to purchase food quickly in Faicco since we have so many other stops that day.

Wondering how to fit in DiPalo now on the day we have planned to go to Little Italy, it would be too late to visit.

Here is what our Friday looks like (revised from above)

SOL cruise
Battery Park 1-230 (Battery Gardens Beer Garden for quick bite and drink)
9/11 Memorial
Financial District – Luke’s Lobster for late lunch
Woolworth Building
Brooklyn Bridge
Little Itlay/Chinatown
Lower East Side
Katz’s for late dinner

ekscrunchy

Little Owl is casual.

ComeSailWithME

My other thought is to go from the High Line to DiPalo and then have dinner at Torrisi Italian Specialties in Nolita. This comes highly recommended, they have reservations available and sneakers (I am told) would be acceptable. From there, we would continue on to EBS & Times Square.

We could take the E train to the B train from High Line to DiPalo and be there in 25 minutes. Then it looks like it is a 3 block walk to Torrisi's.

ComeSailWithME

Am I missing out on anything in Little Italy if I only do DiPalo?

Do we need to make time another time to eat some dim sum, duck and egg rolls in Chinatown?

ComeSailWithME

Ahh it looks like Caffe Palmero is right near DiPalo, so is Caffe Roma Pastry - which one is better to stop at for cannoli?

doug_stallings

Del Posto is a very grand, upscale restaurant and fairly formal for an Italian place. I for one would not feel comfortable in Del Posto in sneakers or jeans. In fact, I would wear a jacket but no tie. I'm sure there will be people more casually dressed than that, but it's not that kind of place. Jackets are not required, but I've never seen people not dressed up. I think the dress code only forbids shorts and tank tops, so I'm sure you'd be seated but might not feel comfortable in more casual attire.

Both Little Owl and Torrisi are casual, and sneakers would be fine there.

Finally, Payard has excellent croissants, so I'm sure you can't go wrong there, but you're wrong about the location. It's near SW Central Park (i.e., near Columbus Circle, not the Plaza). If you are near the Plaza, it has its own wonderful food court and a great baker called "Three Tarts" (but they are known for cookies and such not croissants).

If you are on the SW corner of Central Park, then your choices are both Payard and also Bouchon Bakery in the Time-Warner Center. And if you like gelato, consider Grom, which has a store near Payard. I'm very impressed with their gelato; it's an Italian store originating in Torino, and I believe this is the only store on the East Coast of the U.S.

ComeSailWithME

I am feeling very torn between the Little Owl and Torrisi's now.

I feel if we do Torrisi's, we will be rushed with Di Palo's and explore the little bit of Little Italy that is left. We will not really be able to enjoy it in the way it should be enjoyed.

If we do Little Owl, we could go Di Palo's the next day and spend more time (and have more of an appetite) since we won't be going from Di Palo's straight to a 8-10 course meal.

We are visiting Bouchon before our Rockerfeller Tour, so I will do Payard at the SW corner and then head into the park. It will be too early for Gelato and we plan on getting gelato at L'Arte del Gelato in Chelsea Market later that day.

I will make a note of it though, in case we happen across it one day when we have room for more gelato.

ekscrunchy

Ok..I cannot weigh in on LIttle Owl vs Del Posto..they are very different experiences. Little Owl is cute with very good food. Del Posto is more of an upscale restaurant experience and you should be dressed nicely. Torrisi gets mixed reports; should be a good experience as long as you like the dishes offered that night. If you want casual setting and good American dishes with some Italian influence, go to Little Owl. If you want serious Italian food, go to Del Posto. But there are so many others...if you want an intimate place for Tuscan food, you can try I Sodi.

DiPalo, Alleva Dairy and Ferrara Pastry across the street, are the retail anchors of today's Llttle Italy. If you need pastry like cannoli, go to Ferrara. (I would try pignoli cookies instead of cannoli, unless you are assured that they have been filled on the spot. Frankly, the Italian bakeries in that area are not as good as some of the French-style bakeries like Ceci Cela, which is a few blocks away. (For great Italian-style bread and southern-Italian pastry, I travel to Brooklyn or to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, but that will not be on your itinerary on this trip)

Forget egg rolls in Chinatown. A few steps from DiPalo is Saigon Banh Mi where you can have one of the city's more famous Vietnamese sandwiches. A real example of fusion cuisine; inexpensive and delicious.

http://www.banhmisaigonnyc.com/

You can find Chinese food carts further south; look near the corners of Grand and Bowery.
Interesting tofu maker on that corner, too. You can also find stands selling exotic fruits like durian and mangosteeen and rambutan. Might be worth a look. See this article about a durian vendor:


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/ny...town.html?_r=0

There is a pair of Italian supermarkets in that area..one is on Mott just south of the corner occupied by DiPalo. For someone interested in food, this would be a must, along with one of the jerky shops like New Beef King.

Momddtravel2

My husband was in a suit no tie, and I was in a black dress/heels for Del Posto. It was a very 'upscale" place as has been mentioned. It is rather "elegant" imo.

ekscrunchy

Just be aware that Torrisi recently raised their prices to $100 pp for either lunch or dinner, before wine, tax, and tip.

ComeSailWithME

Thanks so much for all of this wonderful advice. We will likely go with the Little Owl, as it makes more sense geographically for us and I think the menu would better suit our tastes.

If we were staying in the city and had a chance to change for dinner, we would def be checking out Del Posto. I would not feel comfortable showing up in street clothes. Sad, but just gives us one more thing to want to come back for.

@ekscrunchy - are you saying we should skip Chinatown all together? thanks for these great recs, adding them to the list.

ekscrunchy

No, I did not at all mean you should skip Chinatown; I just do not think that you should seek out egg rolls, as those are really more Chinese-American and can be found in any corner Chinese restaurant, and there are so many more interesting food stops in the neighborhood.

I was trying to offer you some ideas that I would find more interesting than egg rolls--the jerky shops, the street carts, the tofu maker, the durian vendor, the banh mi shops (I mentioned these in my posts above) ...you can snack at each of these spots.

You could also include a stop for dumplings, on Eldrige Street, at Prosperity Dumplings or Vanessas, or at 106 Mosco Street, off Mott Street, the hole-in-the-wall home of cheap and legendary fried dumplings. Used to be 5 for a dollar, not sure of the price now.

The borders of Chinatown are fluid; you could spend about two hours walking around and sampling the places I mentioned; Begin at diPalo, then go across the street to Ferrara for pastry. Then back across the street for a banh mi.

Then head to one of the jerky shops, like New Beef King.

Then walk south and east, stopping at the tofu corner, the durian vendor, a street cart or two, and finishing up either on Eldrige Street or Mosco Street for an order of fried dumplings. Eldrige Street is close to Katz's, so you could continue your tour there, with a sandwich or two at Katz.



You could do all of these between the Brooklyn Bridge walk and the Lower East Side, provided you have decent weather and do not mind walking. It will all make sense if you plot out the stops on a map....this would fit in on your Friday, I think.

ComeSailWithME

Ok, I think this is shaping out nicely. Thoughts and suggestions?

- Wednesday -

DIY Food tour of Greenwich Village – picnic in Washington Square Park - Stop include:
Big Gay Ice Cream, Milk & Cookies Bakery, Murray’s Cheese Bar, Faicco Pork Store, Pasticceria Rocco (cheesecake), Artichoke Pizza

Exploring/Shopping in the Village/Union Square Farmer’s Market/Madison Sq Park/Flat Iron Building
Directions: From the WA Square Park arch, go up 5th Avenue 4-5 blocks, passing the two pretty churches and other nice architecture. Then go east on 12th or 13th Street to University Place. Up University 1-2 blocks to 14th Street and you're at Union Square. Wander through the greenmarket and exit at the NW corner, at 17th Street & Broadway. Up Broadway another 6 blocks (to 23rd Street) and you're at Madison Square Park and the Flatiron Building. From there you can go back to Penn Station.

Back to LI for pizza

- Thursday -

Central Park South (enter SW corner Need somewhere to stop for coffee/breakfast to go) – exit near the met and then start waking down 5th ave.

5th Avenue shopping (The Plaza hotel (stop inside food court and get a slice of mille crepe from Lady M and some baguettes from Pain D'avignon)

Lower East Side Food Tour (starting at Katz’s for lunch)

Little Italy & Chinatown– Take J train to canal street, walk to New Beef King, walk to Canal/Bowery and then up to Grand/Bowery and to the Supermarket on Mott Street Di Palo’s, Alleva Dairy, Ferrara Pastry.

Grand Central Terminal – Junior’s for cheesecake

- Friday -

High Line

Chelsea Market / Artists and Fleas

Rockefeller Tour (5 pm) and TOTR (6-7 just before and during sunset)

Times Square

ESB

Somewhere to have dinner?

- Saturday -

SOL cruise 10-1

Financial District – Luke’s Lobster for lunch

9/11 Memorial

Woolworth Building Tour

Drinks/Dinner beer garden rooftop at Eatlay ?
OR Dinner at one of these places?: Eisenbergs, Shake Shack, Sagaponack