This is going to be a short one just highlighting my 3 days in NYC last weekend.
Stayed at the Benjamin (Lexington at 50th). Very nice hotel, great service and location. We had a one bedroom suite with a kitchenette. Very clean and well appointed.
Dining highlights:
* Montparnasse: French bistro 2 blocks from our hotel. Very good food and value.
* Ess-a-Bagel: the best bagels I have ever had! Thank you to those who recommended EAB.
* Hale and Hearty Soups in Chelsea Market. Yummo soups and salads.
* Moutard in Brooklyn for brunch. Another good spot, with lower prices than Manhattan (we were visiting relatives there). In a cute neighborhood on Brooklyn's 5th Avenue.
We caught a Broadway show before they went dark: Cyrano. Great performances by Kevin Kline, Jennifer Garner and Chris Sarandon.
Also enjoyed Central Park West, Shops at Columbus Circle, Rockefeller Center and Fifth Ave. If anyone has any specific questions, ask away.

I meant to include a note about Bond 45, a restaurant in the theatre district that our concierge sent us to prior to our Broadway show. While the service was good, the food was just okay for the price range.

trippinkpj: Excellent - always interested to read trip reports on NYC.

How much did you pay at the Benjamin and did you book directly with the hotel?

Sandy

Please refrain from using the term "yummo." It is highly insulting, idiotic, and juvenile. Surely, you can come up with a better word than that.

Who do you think you are, Rachel Ray?


Thingorjus

Marginal, I used Yummo on purpose because Chelsea Market is RR's stomping grounds. Maybe someone got my humor, LOL.
Thanks Sandy Brit.

Thanks for the recommendation for Montparnasse; it's not far from our hotel so we'll try it for lunch over Christmas

Great mini - Glad to hear you enjoyed Cyrano. Hope to get the chance!

Regarding RR. for me, she is to foodtv what nails are to a chalkboard. I am not alone in finding her and any connotation of hers annoying. She has become way over exposed. Yummo is absurd. She did not invent the term EVOO. it was alive and well long before she tasted it. She is not a landmark person to identify when thinking Chelsea Market, imho.

Thanks for the tr!

No questions, but thanks for posting!

Glad you got to see the show...Hope all will be up and running soon.

SandyBrit, I think we got a special rate just under 500.- for the 1 bedroom suite at the Benjamin.
Kswl, you will enjoy MP.
I like RR, and my sense of humor. No Apologies.
Hi again Icuy. Hugs!

Hi trippinkpj, your time in NYC sounds delightful. For some reason every time I tried to plan a trip to NYC something has come up so that I couldn't make it, sigh. Business, pregnant daughter not feeling well, father ill etc. So I have only gotten to JFK, lol. Maybe it is not meant to be? Anyway thanks for sharing your trip. And I love your sense of humor!

Nice TR. I would have LOVED to see Jennifer Gardner on stage!
Thanks so much for posting this

Thanks LoveItaly. It's a fun place to be, and next time I'd like to stay longer (a week maybe). You'd really enjoy it, and you can find decent flight deals at times from CA. With fuel cost going up, that may change though.

Thanks Starrsville. I was pleasantly surprised with Jennifer, who really held her own with Kevin Kline. Speaking of Kevin, he was also in the only other Broadway play I've seen, almost 30 years ago. It was called "On the Twentieth Century", and Kevin won a Tony for it. He was quite the scene stealer back then too!

Hey trippin, great report. And sounds like a perfect weekend, too. One of thsoe amazing bagels would be perfect right now lol
And how cool you saw kevin kline, he's a fav of our family. We saw him on a Warner Bros tour when he was filming 'wild wild west' and he was soo nice! Thanks for posting!

Thanks Ellen. I looked up Kevin's bio and couldn't believe he just turned 60!

Cyrano-The New Yorker gives it a rave review! Lucky you. Wish I could see it.

Thin is only teasing you-it's his style.

EVOO=extra virgin olive oil is the name of a resturant here in Boston long here, before anyone heard of bubblehead Rachel Ray
Thanks, trip

Thanks Cigalechanta, you made me smile! I have never been to Boston, and both DH and I would love to go. I want him to go to NYC, so maybe we could take 7 - 10 days and do both (in 08 or 09).

Trippin - we are going for 2 nights next summer with three of our children - would you recommend that location?

I stayed at the Marriott in Time Square in Oct and would not do that again - I was not a fan of being in Time Square.

Hi Dawn- Yes, 50th and Lex is a great location. A lot quieter than Times Square or the Fifth Ave. area. Still not dull and a lot of good dining nearby.

Thanks Trippin - we may end up using points if possible and just getting two rooms.

But this is good to know.