March 4th - 8. Purpose of trip was to see my DD, an FIT student, model in the annual FIT vs. Parsons student designer fasion show.

Left Wed via Jet Blue. Perfect – left on time, plane half empty landed almost 20 minutes early. Jet Blue Terminal “T5” is open, bright, and modern. No wait at the taxi line, we are at the apartment in Chelsea by 5:30. Plane landed at 4:30.

Wed nite met at Tia Pol, (10th/23), tapas restaurant. Hip, younger crowd, tiny place, only 3 tables that will seat more than 2 people. We got there at 7 and by 7:30 a crowd at the bar waiting their turn. Excellent service, friendly, helpful waiter. We tried about 8 different tapas and had a pitcher of Sangria. Normally don’t care for sangria, but we were promised it was excellent and it was. My favorite tapas: jamón serrano, artichoke, manchego bites. Pricey but good and fun. A stop at Billy's for cupcakes, 9th and 21st.

Thrs: Grand Central – bite to eat for b’fast, a look around, and stop at Penzys Spices. It’s located in the “Grand Central Market”, a long row of various food vendors. Bought all the spices on DH’s list, plus the “Norwoods”. I can’t believe how inexpensive they all were. Next stops: St. Patricks Cathedral and across the street to Rockefeller Center. Thought we might see skaters but they had the Zamboni out cleaning the ice. (FYI – Wed nite was in the 30s’ in NYC. Each day there it got warmer and by Friday it was 60, 70 by Sunday. They are back in the 40’s now.)

Thrs nite reservation for 7 PM at Chez Josephine but they didn’t have us on the list! They put us at the only table – next to the piano player. We said no thanks, we’ll wait, so we sat at the bar and had drinks. About 20 minutes later, the place was nearly empty – everyone left for the theatre. We were seated and treated like queens after that. I had the fried chicken – their specialty – which was very good. Everyone enjoyed their meal. Good, but not great.

Friday Metropolitan Museum. Great African Art exhibit. Then on to photography, the Masters – Renoir, Matisse, Van Gogh, Picasso, etc. After almost 4 hours we were on overload. Met my daughter at Cafeteria, 7th and 17th. A diner in the heart of Chelsea that is her favorite. She had an egg croissant and my friend and I only the tomato basil soup – to-die-for! I want the recipe. I looked around the diner and wondered if only good looking people frequented the place. Everyone was so pretty! (Including the men) There was “someone” sitting near us but still trying to figure out who. Selma Blair? Anne Hathaway?

Back to our apartment for a glass of wine and got ready for dinner at Vice Versa before the show. Highly recommend Vice Versa (51st btwn 8th/9th). I’ve eaten there before. A little upscale, but very lively. We shared a bottle of chardonnay, I had a simple salad that was perfectly presented with just the right amount of their house dressing. Dinner for me was risotto with asparagus and shrimp – perfect! My friend had veal medallions and felt the same about her meal. We split dessert – tiramisu. Well done. I'll eat here again in a heartbeat.

Off to Mama Mia. Pretty good seats, fun show. Not my favorite B’way play, but probably the most fun. I enjoyed the songs and the ending, when everyone came back out and sang more. We got a cab and went to Porters, 23rd and 8th, a block from out apartment and sat outside to people watch and have a glass of wine. Waiter kept bringing us free food – their homemade potato chips which are awesome, and fried calamari. I’m sure it was their way to keep us thirsty. Wonderful service. We moved inside for the second glass, ate more, tipped well.

Saturday morning we walked to Chelsea Market to look around. Ate at a diner on Bleeker St. Beautiful day, sunny and already in the 60s’. After breakfast went next door to Verve Shoes. The most beautiful shoes I’ve ever seen! Most were between $200 - $400, Italian or handmade in Spain. I found 2 of their cheapest shoes and bought both. The cutest I’ve ever owned for sure. My only splurge of the trip.

Sat Eve off to Parsons for the FIT vs. Parsons fashion show where DD was a model. She was beautiful, all the girls were. The design students are so talented and most of them only 18 or 19. We were sure the FIT students blew away the Parsons. Their designs were so much more thoughtful and beautiful. However, Parsons won the competition (judging on Sunday). We have no idea how that happened. After the show off to the apartment to change and went to a French Café around the corner from our apartment - Le Grainne Café, 9th and 23rd. I had the Linguini with spicy shrimp, mussels, tomatoes and broccoli. PERFECT. My friend had the tilapia with carrots, potatoes, onions, cooked in parchment. Excellent as well. Liked the atmosphere here. Very laid back. Everyone in that place worked hard. Kitchen was open, so you could see everyone cooking, prepping. Definitely would return.

Sunday we walked to Cafeteria. I had the Lemon Ricotta pancakes with blueberries. They were as delish as they sound. I will definitely make a stop at Cafeteria every chance I get. My friend had the salmon, bagel, cream cheese. Big portion.

We got to the airport a bit early to print tickets and check bags. The new Jet Blue "T5" terminal is really, really nice. They have a cool website that needs a bit of navigation to see all the pics - http://www.t508.com/ several restaurants – Italian, Mexican, French, American, Steak. We sat at the bar and talked to our bartender. He said he was amazed at how good the food is, especially at the Italian restaurant. We walked about 50 feet to our gate, boarded early, left a few minutes early and arrived in Austin early. Perfect ending to a great trip.

Austin - beautiful trip! What did your daughter model? And did she design it? I have to check out the shoe store.

Sounds like a good trip. thanks for posting, Austin.

The fashion show is a yearly event - FIT Design students VS. Parsons School of Design students. She modeled 6 different outfits. She is not a design student. There should be pics on the website maybe in a week or so. I think it's fusionfashionshow.com There are two "Verve" stores on Bleeker, just off Christopher. Verve Shoes and one tiny store that sells purses.

thank you , most enjoyable. Love practicle reports, lots of food and where to get it. Definately saving for Oct trip. Out of interest, what is your fav' Broadway show? We are going to try and see a couple while we are there. I've seen the Aussie version of Mama Mia (not a fan really) but DH loves ABBA songs (sad I know). Not sure wether to see something 'different' or a Broadway version of one we've seen? We've seen quite a few, albeit Aussie version and 3 West End versions of.......... Lion King, Billy Elliot & WWRU.

Aussie, we've seen Hairspray, Lion Kings, Wicked, The Color Purple, Mama Mia. First, sign up for "Membership" (free) on Playbill. My tickets for MM, purchased a month or so in advance, were $67 via Playbill. We were in the 18th row. They will send you occaisional emails of specials. If DH loves Abba then MM is IT. You won't be out much and if you reserve adhead of time, you can get good seats.

All the above have their merits. None beat the Lion King for set design and "costumes". Story line/acting/singing goes to Wicked. Fantasia in TCP was amazing. Hairspray funny!

I want to see Billy Elliot next. I hear all of the 3 young men who rotate in the lead are excellent. But I won't go again until May, and don't know if they will still be in the show. Search "Broadway" here and you will get many posts with suggestions. You can also read reviews on Playbill.com

Thanks for the trip report, Austin. Diners are one of my favorite places to eat, so I just might have to try the Cafeteria. Those pancakes sound just yummy.

Robyn