Out of the Bright Lights and into the Barn: a Weekend Escape

The only time my husband and I stay put during the year is during summer.   The city is beautiful especially when the sun is out, and us New Yorkers just crave the warm weather.  However, it is also the season for major tourist congestion.  Soho becomes like a flea market, and the streets are often crowded and chaotic.  The solution?  Get out and enjoy the suburban life.  Perhaps, even the farm life?

For starters, your quick getaway could be having leisurely brunch at the beautiful The Inn in Pound Ridge.  It’s an hour away from the city by car.

Only 1 hour from the city by car

Once inside, this Jean-Georges restaurant will not disappoint.  The interior looks vintage w/a farmesque feel.  A former inn, the place is transformed with mid-century decorations such as wooden tables and stone walls.  Getting a table in the basement is an absolute must!  If there is no available seating, come back another day.  Take my word for it.

For the price, food is absolutely worth it (since it surprisingly won’t cause a huge dent in your wallet).  Our group started off with the tuna tartare avocado with radish and soy ginger dressing, crispy calamari, crab toast and buttermilk pancake.  Yes, I said pancakes for appetizers. Lol.  The winner for this round is the tuna tartare avocado.  It was extremely delicious.

For our entrees, my companions had the croque madame, grilled yellowfin tuna burger, parmesan crusted organic chicken with artichoke.  I had the beef tenderloin with grilled squash.  For this round, most of us agreed that the chicken gets the gold medal, although hubby insisted on his croque M.

Dessert was slightly a disappointment.  We ordered the strawberry short bread cake which was a tad dry, but the lemon and raspberry sherbert more than made up for its flaw.  All in all, it was a very pleasant start to our day and we were looking forward to the next stop on my birthday itinerary.  Oh yes, did I mention it was my bday and that hubs planned this whole day affair? :p  That’s why he gets all the honorable mention on this post.

View from the basement seating area

Downstairs bar

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Our next stop was Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture.  This place was donated by the Rockefellers – and turned their old farm barn into an educational center while also partnering with Dan Barber, owner of Blue Hill in NYC, to build the very same restaurant at Stone barns.  The farm is about 80 acres of land where they raise chickens, geese, pigs and bees.  Children will definitely enjoy this place!  Our group did the 2 hour walking tour for $20 each to see the most of it.  My fave was being able to pick yummy wild wine berries during your stroll and eating on the spot!  And they grow everywhere…

As an alternative, if farm life is not your thing, you can also visit Kykuit, the Rockefeller estate in the Historic Hudson Valley.  It is about 10-15 mins. from Stone Barns and is quite a landmark in Sleepy Hallow.  This top of the hill mansion is home to 4 generations of Rockefellers, and an absolute delight to all art lovers.  A must see, Kykuit offers a 2-hour tour for either $25 or $40 – depending on the type of tour you’d prefer.  For us, the classic $25 tour was enough as this would give you a chance to see the inside of the house, a glimpse of the beautiful garden, and the view of the lake.  Afterwards, you can proceed to Blue Hill for dinner, however note that pre-fix menu starts at $200 per person + drinks.

 

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So go ahead.  Plan that quick trip.  New York City is not going anywhere.♥

NSJ

Roberta’s Pizza

New York, like Chicago, is a haven for pizza lovers.  If you’re lucky, you’ll find the very best hiding somewhere amidst the $1 slices sold at lunch.   If you’ve done your research, you’ll probably end up in places like Grimaldi’s, Lombardi’s, Patsy’s, Artichoke and Adrienne’s by Stone Street.   If you don’t trust the gen pop’s declaration of good, make sure you ask the Italians from Brooklyn.  They claim the best pizza are just around the corner made by their grandmother.  I would like to be invited to such homemade dinners with nonna!

My husband loves pizza.  We once made a trip to Naples, Italy just to try the pies where pizza was born.  The experience was so unforgettable as the dough that melts in your mouth.   Definitely one for the books as you will never quite allow pizza to taste anything less than the best.

Last weekend, my husband and I finally ventured to Bushwick to try this indie place called Roberta’s.   (I think the place reached high status back in 2011 or earlier, starting from food trucks in Mad Square).  From the outside, you’d be skeptical & hesitant to enter but I know better than to judge food from the exterior.  Once inside,  we were told the wait time for 2 would take up to 2 hours!  So we decided to try our luck at the bar.  True enough, a regular was just about finished from her meal and told us not to bother with the menu because the best pie is not on the list.

It’s called the bee sting.  Draped in maple syrup with sopressata, mozarella and tomato, this pie will just about blow your mind.  I would keep this a secret, but good food is meant to be shared.

While I like my pizza almost plain and simple, hubby also ordered the Maize Maze with prosciutto hash, corn, tomatillo and labne.  It was good, but you just can’t compare it to the sting of the bee pie!

For the ladies, don’t forget to order the vodka lime drink called Lady Killer.  It was surprisingly yummilicious and not at all pretentious! (Though it kinda looks it in this photo. Ha!).

Perfect summer drink for the ladies

Happy eating! 😉

NSJ